In the Absence of the Ordinary

We have entered a time of descent that takes us down into a different geography. In this shadowed terrain, we encounter a landscape familiar to soul: loss, grief, death, vulnerability, fear. We have, in the old language of Alchemy, crossed into the Nigredo, the Blackening. This is a season of decay, of shedding and endings, of falling apart and undoing. This is not a time of rising and growth. It is not a time of confidence and ease. No. We are hunkered down. Down being the operative word. From the perspective of soul, down is holy ground.

Many of the great myths begin in a time such as this. The land has become barren, the king, corrupted, the ways of peace, lost. It is in these conditions, that a ripeness arises for radical change. It is a call to courage (from the French for full heart) and humility. Every one of us will be affected by the changes wrought by this difficult visitation. It is time to become immense.

This collection of fifteen essays and reflections were written over the years, often in response to local or cultural experiences. They form a primer on ways to hold this wild terrain through practices rooted in soul. May they offer you some ground upon which to find solace in these unsettled times.