Alysse Aallyn

Category: #InnerLife

  • Sleeping Orchid – Creative Bootcamp for Sensitives & Empaths with Alysse Aallyn

    The Storm – Conflict

      When This Archetype Chooses You – Something’s coming. Are you having bad dreams? Maybe about natural disasters like storms, volcanoes and flooding? Do you fear war, robbery, violation, home invasion? Or do you dream about your loved one’s face turning bitter and their words cutting sharply? Conflict is inevitable. It is even necessary – birth pangs seem objectively terrifying. In dreams, we rehearse our fears until some of us fear to dream.

      It Always Comes Before You’re Ready – Here it is – the reason you became a creative. To figure out, even if only metaphorically, what is going on. You will have to seize control of yourself to seize control of your tools. It’s battle or go under. The force against you is superior – no question about that – you must be wily and assess when to expend energy and when to conserve your strength.

      You are a Force Field. By virtue of your temperament as a creative you are a magnet for desire, change, for evolution itself. Others may tell you to stand back, take your place in line or wait your turn but your appearance into this chaotic universe triggered no such guarantee. We are here to learn to use our power.

      Conflict Makes a Creative – Force stirs up resistance. Actions create re-action as we swing back and forth in our determination and direction. We clash and crash. Sometimes we regret it bitterly, “why did I do that?” Sometimes we fear loss or harm so much we become immobilized. The challenge is to assume your stride, elucidate your goals and plan a direction.

      Creative Danger – It’s all too easy to make others fear you. The one with the biggest weapon THINKS he wins every fight. But what looks like compliance to you could be revolution – you will be toppled and lose your heart’s desire.

      Creative Opportunity – Learning to use conflict constructively and creatively is a Superpower. Other people are force fields, too. If there is any way to blend these powers and head in the same direction, we become invincible. Welcome the knowledge provided by the Storm archetype in your Creative Oracle deck.

      Study Your Opponent – Some clever scholar has separated these opponents into groups & classes. Read up! Some opponents – physical contests, weather conditions – don’t even have a brain. So who – or what – are you playing against?

      You Are Playing Against Yourself – your own fear, incapacity, beginner status. Seek mentoring so you have advice along the journey. Who is the sensei who will guide you? Someone who desires both your safety and your growth.

      Reward Yourself – The best place to do this is your Training Journal. Think hard about every contest and how you performed. Assess your challenges and accomplishments. Way to go!

      Models & Mentors – “I used to tell myself, boy, if you can survive this, you can survive anything” – Tom Lichtenberg

      “Laughter is the proof that our tragedies don’t define us. Laughter is the survivor’s language” – Josh James

      “Cancer didn’t bring me to my knees, it brought me to my feet”
      – Michael Douglas

      “If you want to awaken humanity, awaken yourself. If you want to eliminate suffering, eliminate what is negative in yourself. Your gift to the world is our self-transformation.” –Lao Tzu

      Haiku: Sleuth

      Named is
      Tamed.
      Brainstorm:
      Exceed
      Outstrip
      Surpass
      Unveil
      Lay bare
      Prevail

    1. Sleeping Orchid – Creative Boot Camp for Sensitives & Empaths with Alysse Aallyn

      The Thinking Artist

        When This Archetype Chooses You – YOU ARE AN ARTIST ! You possess the creative power of making Something out of Nothing. Think. Feel. Look at the tactile world around you and reach out your hands.

        Creatives and Artists immortalize themselves. Sometimes their works are so intriguingly beautiful that we are drawn in and our critical senses – our fear – is tranquillized while we allow the artist to work magic upon us. Artists change us. Artists aspire to be magicians of the mind and soul.

        Creative Challenge – You create something unforgettable because you do not want to be forgotten. You want to open hearts, minds and brains just as yours were first opened, long ago, when you looked upon this amazing world for the first time and felt the power & potential of what you saw. Creatives feel the same thing. We march to a different drummer we feel inside ourselves. We are inner, not outer directed.

        Creative Danger – There is possibility here for such overweening pride that you place your own psyche above Creation in importance. If you seek to divert worship of creation to yourself your own soul will harden unto death, and your creative powers will be extinguished.

        Creative Opportunity – Join the goddess in creating something entirely new that the world will not want to live without. The joy of sharing, the rapture of being known, the ecstasy of expression, of gratitude of being understood, will be yours.

        Are you an artist because you say you are or because they say you are? Well, are you a creative because you say you are or because they say you are? I think it should be obvious that is TOTALLY NOT UP TO THEM. You MUST decide you are a creative, you have to FEEL like a creative and they can NEVER “tell” you what you are. It’s exactly that way for artists, too. It’s a temperament, a way of viewing the world, and because it’s in harmony with Creation all around us, it’s enormously satisfying. Really gets those alpha waves going.

        The Creative in You needs to Protect your Creativity. It is always under threat.

        Hustle Culture – Art can’t hustle but the merchandisers and the monetizers hasten to tell you: “Close enough – let’s get this thing to market.” But you need to find out what’s there – why this subject, these tools are drawing you. You need to think, to explore, to experiment, to start the process of 10,000 “failures” Edison said are the steps to success.

        The Creative Creates – If you’re not being Creative for yourself, you’re highjacked as someone else’s creative and that’s a living death. Strategize. Speculate. Get out that Training Journal. Dream. Speak to your soul. Allow it to shine.

        Models & Mentors – “Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.” – Albert Einstein

        “Creativity can’t get used up. The more you use the more you have.” – Maya Angelou


        “Creativity is just connecting things.” – Steve Jobs

        “There is no innovation, no creativity, without failure.” – Brené Brown

        “What’s so fascinating about life is the constant creativity of the soul.” – Deepak Chopra

        #Haiku: “The more neurosis, the more wisdom”

        Difficulties create
        Enlightenment;
        Recognize,
        Participate.

      1. Sleeping Orchid – Creative Boot Camp for Sensitives & Empaths with Alysse Aallyn

        Doubt – Regret

          Stop Second-Guessing – Something’s bothering you. Do you lie awake at night recalling bad moments from the past? Doubt – Regret sabotages you from moving forward. From experimenting. This archetype says you need tackle the problem of “change” NOW. What moods flood in when you close your eyes? What would you change NOW? How do you WANT to change?

          Why are People So Afraid of Looking Inside their Psyches? Because of Regret, that’s why. The things we’ve already done or that we already are that can never be changed. Sorrow floods in – now we feel helpless, we hate ourselves and we can’t fix anything. We fear we are in for a bad, cold, frigid winter of discontent.

          Lighten Your Load – No one can do this but you. You are serving as prosecutor against your own life and guess what? – that’s not fair. Fundamental Attribution Error means people blaming individuals for actions that were the result of mass decisions or life circumstances over which they had no actual control. Look into it, if you want to. (Sometimes we need to.) Or you can just forgive yourself and move on. After all, we’ve got the future to think of. Creativity won’t be stymied.

          Creative Challenge – First, forgive yourself. You were held hostage by fortune (we all were) and inevitably you went full-on Stockholm Syndrome and identified with your attackers and tried to please them. (We all did. It’s called Society.) Now you’re madder at yourself than you are at them. Forgive yourself.

          Creative Danger – The moment you drop that burden, you’re in another part of the forest. Surprise! This wasn’t the plan but here you are. The Danger is – you’ll give up. Don’t. NEVER GIVING UP IS THE CREATIVE’S SUPERPOWER. We CREATE paths where none existed. You can easily see from every fairy tale and hero’s journey you’ve ever studied that now we’re getting to the Good Part. By testing your muscle you get to grow your muscle. If your muscle is never tested, it withers. So get ready.

          Creative Opportunity – We don’t know everything. Even Jesus demonstrated surprise about the way things turned out. Be gentle as a dove, he advised, but wily as a serpent. Serpents can get out of anything. (Ask a herpetologist.) And so can you. It’s just a bigger world than we knew – both inner and outer – so get mapping. I guarantee you – IT GETS BETTER.

          YOUR Superpower: You feel too deeply, that’s how you got into this snarl, but guess what? It’s a super power. Our brains are constructed in a way that allows us to move backward and forward through time, watching and judging ourselves from the outside, always considering multiple possibilities, outcomes and problems. We have a tendency to regard this power as a burden and envy those whose lack of questioning seems to make them more carefree. But it is this exact superpower that designates us as Creatives.

          Even When We Enjoy We Regret: There’s always something we could have done differently. And that unknown outcome is bound to seem preferable to the reality in which we find ourselves. Don’t waste time on regret. You drew the “Regret” archetype to remind you that time – even pleasurable time – is always limited. Restrict the amount of time you spend on regret! Congratulate yourself on your ability to play a multi-level game, forward and backward through time, peopled by a panoply of characters. Open up your Training Journal and take a God’s eye view of your world. See anything different? Fresh? Exciting? New?

          There’s Lots to Enjoy About Beginning! You’re going to surprise yourself. It’s never – ending! The world is freshening up and so can you.

          Models & Mentors – “I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than the things I haven’t done.”
          – Lucille Ball

          “There are no regrets in life, only lessons.” – Jennifer Aniston

          “We have only one life, and the second life begins the moment we realize that fact” – Confucius

          “I was designed by my Creator to not only feel pain and love but to become whole inside it. I am a Creative” –Glennon Doyle

          “Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile” – William Cullen Bryant

          Haiku: Regret

          Coulda
          Woulda
          Shoulda
          Didn’t. Now you
          Wish
          Things
          Different.
          Clean slate.
          Write.

        1. Sleeping Orchid – Boot Camp for Sensitive Creatives with Alysse Aallyn

          The Eagle – Energy

            What It Means If This Archetype Chooses You – Do your dreams pulse with power and excitement? You are gathering force for a great work. You are readying yourself for some great task.

            You Are The Power – You struggle to take command of your force. You feel the power and strength of undefined wishes and an inchoate longing to create your place in the world. No guide exists to this wilderness, you will have to map this forest yourself. Be brave.

            All Connection Is an Energy Transfer –When you make any contact – even exchange a glance – with another living being, a current of energy passes between you, even if the “other” has been ruled “non-sentient” by our limited – and limiting – standards. In the depth of your being, you feel the electric thrill. This is the basis for “crowd bathing”, “flash mobs”; “forest bathing”; “garden bathing.” Even museum and gallery visits and cinema attendance can inspire and renew your power.

            Energy Drainage – This sets up the possibility that energy – your life force – can be sucked right out of you. Recognize when this is happening – you are being fed upon. Get away from the predator as fast as you can go.

            Creative Challenge – There are plenty of traps ahead. Do not become discouraged. Accept that the flow of energy pulses with your every heartbeat, with your sleep/rest cycle, with the obligations you willingly seek to stir, supplement and smooth your path.

            Creative Danger – Some of these obligations become too heavy, others seek to deter you from your set course. Still others offer false maps that seem to promise the ease of “I don’t have to do this alone.” We are all alone inside our heads and you – and only you – must be satisfied with the map you create. If you aren’t there’s no fellowship or wealth that can compensate you for that loss.

            Creative Opportunity – We revel in and with our fellow travelers. There could be a Soulmate among them – for a time or for a life. Accept the wisdom of others, the wisdom of the path, feel free to consult other maps in designing your own. Be prepared to alter your map – joyously – with each new and fresh discovery. There will be many. Salut!

            How Did People You Admire Manifest the Life Force? Jesus spent an epic 40 day & nights in the desert. Margaret Mead lived in Samoa studying the Samoans. Carl Sagan describes his “defining moment” as visiting the World’s Fair at four years old. It exploded and expanded his mind. Who are your models? Research them and study their transitions and experiments.

            Magic & Mystery: A you accept yourself and accept your changes, you are confronting the dynamic of change, which is the manifestation of energy in existence. We are all alive and moving. This is a dance and you are the choreographer and star. Erik Erikson said “A good life is like a weaving. Energy is created in the tension. The pull and tug, the struggle, is everything.”

            Commit to tiring yourself out during the day with thought, exercise and interrelations so that you can enjoy healthy sleep at night.

            Models & Mentors – ‘Every thought has an energy. Thoughts send out a magnetic frequency” – Rhonda Byrne

            “Energy is the power that drives every human being. It is not lost by exertion but maintained by it – for it is a faculty of the psyche” – Germaine Greer

            “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration” – Nikola Tesla


            “The more positive energy you throw into the universe, the more positive energy you get back”

            • –– Nitin Namdeo

            Haiku: Catalytic Action

            Partake:
            Energy blooms;
            Whirlpools
            Dance;
            I am
            Limitless
            So are you

          1. The Sleeping Orchid – Toughening up Empaths & Sensitives & Fostering Creativity with Alysse Aallyn

            1. Eye – You Your ego has work to do. Jung tells us that in your dream, you are everyone. You chose the Ego archetype to start your day. Or did it choose you? Life is a battle. You are a warrior for art, as well as an advocate for yourself.

            You Are A Seeker – You are self-defining and self-validating. You are on a quest. You wish to explore your possible incarnations.

            Planning & Mapping: Creatives lead a designed life. A diary (also called a Training Journal) offers the ideal format in which to plan. Attempt to quantify the difficulties that you feel and assess possible reactions. Just because a situation is tough does not mean it shouldn’t be explored – on the contrary:

            • Repel takeover – You are your own creative – not somebody else’s hired gun.
            • Feel what you have to defend – your soul will reveal it to you – through relationships, through instinct, through time and through dreams.
            • Know when to let down your guard – there are times to connect, to share, to Love.
            • Learn from mistakes to hone your art. There is no Failure: only Learning. All education is precious.
            • Respect criticism; it is resistance training – it sharpens our game. We are each other’s cuttle bones, as well as cuddle bones.
            • Don’t Fear Difficulty – Take the attitude that the more time it takes the more fun it is. Your life is a long story, full of exciting challenges. Creatives love gathering around the campfire to share adventures.

            The First Resistance – Often it is our own self who resists most deeply; even savagely. Ultimately we must realize we have hijackers inside our brains wrestling for control. You can recognize these by their negative content. These negative voices clearly wish to subdue us into clones which is NOT HEALTHY.

            Becoming a Creative – It is this resistance that first marks our Creative status. Congratulate yourself. You are on the road.

            Danger– The worst hazard of self-reflection is not navel-gazing (micro study can be very revealing) but solipsism. Aloneness may in fact be Hell. We can never lose touch with those around us because it is others we are inspiring us. Avoid anyone who fail to treat you with respect. In our increasingly autocratic world we are very familiar with Aging Babies who want the rest of us to nursemaid their fussy, immature modality because Growing Up is Ouchy. For God’s sake, for your own sake, for the benefit of the Universe and in hope of Eternity, don’t cater to or worse yet, BECOME one of THOSE.

            Challenge -set a Spirituality Schedule to reflect your needs and interests. Appoint time to be absolutely alone, for meditation and reflection. If you cannot find a room to yourself, a closet will do. You can sit in the meditation position or assume any position that allows you to be comfortable enough to become physically forgetful. Concentrate first on building a life that allows both inner and outer growth. Surround yourself with people who respect this decision.

            Opportunity – This is a journey. Accept it. Begin a journal with 1. “I” and write down your meditation thoughts and desires. This can be a poem, a fantasy, a checklist – whatever pattern occurs to you as supportive of your desires. Make a list of goals. Push shame away. This is about YOU. Naturally as you evolve, your goals will evolve, and your journal will reflect that. When you have completed your Time Alone – ten minutes to an hour – whatever works for you – pat yourself on the back. What an achievement! You are started on a path of making changing Nightmares into Dreams and making dreams come true.

            Training Journal – Carefully assess your desires versus the demands on you. List expected results if you gave in to either. Develop a concept of health. Is ”freedom” staying up all night, consuming whatever substance makes you “feel better”? Clearly not. Assess the negative voice; “You’re weak”, for example. Being “in flight” from the negative voice is actually giving it mastery, you must stand up to it. Learn to answer back – “I’m in training. I did better today than yesterday.” Keep track of your achievements. Even really small ones: “I meditated for 10 minutes” are significant.

            Accept mystery: Life isn’t “win or lose.” It can’t be quantified because we are magical souls with magic coursing through us. Sometimes it’s impossible to figure out and must simply be absorbed, not rationalized. Learn to enjoy art and accept the relief it offers. Reflect back as much magic & mystery as you can muster. Your tastes will develop according to your growth – that’s a good thing. Treat yourself like a loving sensei who wants the best for you.

            Models & Mentors: Always survey possible models. Who do you admire?
            Is it

            Bruce Lee? “The difference between a creative and an average man is laser focus.”

            Is it Carl Jung? “I am not what happened to me I am what I choose to become.” Read. Study. Educate yourself. Develop your own models.

            “Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego falls with it” – Colin Powell

            “Don’t let your ego get in the way of your success”- Tony Horton

            “The ego seeks to divide and separate. The spirit seeks to unify and heal.” – Pema Chodron

            Haiku: Id vs Ego

            Argumentative
            Executioner
            Prowls brain
            Seeking
            Loopholes

          2. Butterfly Language for Caterpillars – Soulmate Seeking with Alysse Aallyn

            The Daisy = LOVE “Is love real?” “Love Waves”

                        Love is the secret. Love is the answer. Love is what we say we feel when we look into the Soulmate’s eyes According to our long, rich tradition of romantic literature, it’s a connection/identification with someone else so powerful (and so rewarding) you would walk through fire for that person. 

                        Biblically defined as:

                        “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” 

                        Love is the opposite of the winner/loser “fuck you” ethos. 

                        Love is patient. We can’t expect the Soulmate to be on the same page with us immediately, or all the time. We must work out our differences, analyze our difficulties and strategize        solutions. Love takes time.

                        Love is kind. We handle each other gently, with care. Thoughtfully, with reverence. Slowly. Savoring.

                        Love does not envy. We are not competitive with each other. When we wrestle, it is in play, for joy, not because we want to         trounce the Soulmate or knock the feet out from under the Beloved.

                        Love does not boast. We are not seeking to impress each other. Love is not a hierarchy where we can lift our status above the Loved One.

                        Love is not proud. We can admit fault. We can say we are sorry. We can weep with the Beloved and we can begin again.

                        Love does not dishonor others. There is no “score”, no winner  and no loser. We don’t take tattletales of the Beloved to friends, family, social media or the public space. 

                        Love is not self-seeking. It is not transactional: “what can I get out of this” “you are not giving enough” “you are not making me look good.”

                        Love is not easily angered. We resist anger, touchiness, rage over our wounded narcissistic self-importance. If we are angry we cannot join, touch each other, embrace whole-heartedly or solve problems. When you get angry over a problem, now you have two problems. 

                        Love keeps no record of wrongs. When we say, “I forgive you”, we mean it.

                        Love does not delight in evil. We do not seek the diminishment or disrespect of the other. Popular “bondage” and “sadism” games that memorialize the helplessness and subjection of the Other are dangerous, volatile and can be triggers of past dangers and will map out a bleak and lonely future.

                        Love rejoices in the truth. The truth evolves because our brains evolve. Truth is a process as our lives are a process. We are all heading for an end goal – both together and separately – if we        can   figure out what it is. Truth is our ally in this dilemma, because it tells us the real results of all our strategies which allows us to calibrate our efforts and improve our outcomes.         We must speak truth to each other and we must grow in stature enough to dare to speak truth to Power.

                        Love protects. We shelter. We nourish. We steward. We cherish. We assess. We unite.

                        Love always trusts. We believe. We have the best assurance that God is good and that truth, justice and love will win in the end.

                        Love always hopes. Things will get better tomorrow. We will         work towards constant improvement.

                        Love perseveres. We will never quit. We are in this for the long haul.

            Meditation:  I am part of all I have met  – Tennyson

            #Haiku: Love Waves

            Sound travels forever

            Like love;

            Stars’ boundless dance

            Launched

            By mortal hearts

          3. Butterfly Language for Caterpillars – Soulmate Seeking with Alysse Aallyn

            Cherry Blossoms = Paradise=BLISS “Love the Magician”

            Finding your bliss: Cherry blossoms promise: “Good things to come.”

            Everyone’s Paradise is different. For some it will be just like church, for others it’s the eternal “fish-fry” described in Green Pastures.

            Some people say it will be a place without animals, enemies, insects or unbelievers, others say it will be just like Earth. Some think it’s an endless loving embrace, others say a “roll in the hay” with “70 virgins.” (Imagine that being appealing!)

            These ideas are understandably small and based on limited and very individual human knowledge. This makes Paradise a mental construct; some kind of an existence of all joy and no pain. We can almost barely imagine that. What we can’t seem to imagine is a Paradise where all participate; in other words, how can we feel joy if “wrong thoughts”, “impure behaviors” and “bad people” are rewarded?

            Jesus was asked this question and his answer sounds suspiciously like “get over it.” He told a long story about toilers in the vineyards paid the same amount no matter how late they showed up, just because the owner was so full of generosity and joy.

            Something to think about. I personally treasure the idea that Paradise is a place where “every tear will be wiped away.”(Revelation)

            Once we have faced up to our personal inadequacies, admitted the power of our global longing and contemplated the possibility of severance, are we ready to surrender to bliss? Cherry Blossoms guarantee that ecstasy is coming. But what is ecstasy – how uncomfortable will it be and how will we recognize it?

            Ecstasy is the blurring of our boundaries into the beloved. Time vanishes, there is only the ecstatic present. You have experienced this before. Disappearing in to the safety of a loving parent’s arms you felt connected to them in a galvanic way – you and they were part of each other’s being. This is the connection Jesus offered when he called God “Daddy.”

            A mature connection with the Beloved is even more powerful, because we get to be both parent and child, recipient and giver, all at once and in the same moment. What joy!

            Meditation: Long live the weeds and the wildness – Gerard Manley Hopkins

            LOVE THE MAGICIAN

            The Magician is a Capricorn
            Bleeding cock’s milk from nipples
            Pale like mine but
            Maler.
            Illusion, he says is memory
            Of things that should have been.
            Doves and rabbits he entices
            From sacred groves between my legs
            Placed by ruse, and freed by art.
            When he dies, passion turns his eyes
            To quarters.
            He hears the world but faintly
            Through his one good ear.
            The other turns to me,
            Safecracker’s daughter.
            Trust the magician, voices tell me
            He knows when to drop the dice.

          4. Butterfly Language for Caterpillars – Soulmate Seeking with Alysse Aallyn

            The Gazing Ball = PROPHECY “You Are Not Lost”

            “Who can foretell the future?”

            If you could, would you?

            Would you find yourself performing all the same actions all over again?

            What do you most regret? Sometimes grief lies in wait for us at our happiest moments. What would you change, if anything? How about altering your Soulmate, fellow traveler on life’s journey? Would you roll those dice again?

            Skeptics say a stopped clock is right twice a day, but whatever the causation, sometime prophecies come true. A creeping suspicion bubbles up out of nowhere – manifesting as reality. We guess restlessly at “The Truth.”

            This glittering gazing ball at the center of our garden reflects our hopes, wishes and dreams, one of which is that it confers the gift of prophecy. We know we must be right about some future event; but if we share our knowledge too often we are discredited or disbelieved.

            Perhaps all we need is to cultivate our gift; forget “knowing”; concentrate on the blur of memory and project it forcefully into the future. Think about past, present and possibility, making all our choices with our Wisdom Eye fully open. It could be that the answer to the question we seek is already known to our Soulmate if we can only learn to trust and understand.

            What fresh new worlds might we create with our clear shared minds?.

            YOU ARE NOT LOST

            Do forests think?
            These trees know where they are
            In spite of all our attempts
            At subjugation
            We are all still here
            In spite of prophets who
            Calculated chances of survival
            With the eye of a murderous god
            Every one of us
            Who has ever been
            Is still here

          5. Butterfly Language for Caterpillars – Soulmate Seeking with Alysse Aallyn

            Thorns = The thief = DISPOSSESSED “On Being Disinherited”

            “Could you steal? Have you?”

            The rose attacks; you are cut, pierced. Thorns signify “Don’t mess with me or you’ll be sorry.” The Garden itself has the capacity to cut you to the quick.

            What if the garden itself is under attack? Ravaged? Despoiled? Extinct?

            Dispossession is much more complicated than mere loss. It means something we thought was ours isn’t. “Thorns” remind us of hidden dangers. Ownership may be quietly transferred behind the scenes, or they may convince you it never existed at all. What is “ownership”, anyway? Are we entitled to the Soulmate’s love?

            Entitlement of some kind is at risk. Property? Dignity? Expectations? It can be very modest; a chair, a single room, a blanket. Not yours anymore. Nothing you can rely on. We must ask ourselves; are those we trust to act for us are fundamentally untrustworthy? Who or what do they represent?

            Contracts dissolve. In a class based society we suddenly find ourselves divested, plummeting down, down to the despised and the ignored. This is frightening and disorienting.

            The rules have shifted; the law has changed. We are looked on as an interloper at someone else’s party. Now we are viewed as dishonorable supplicants in danger of capture and incarceration.

            Thorns remind us of a wider meaning; a warning that ultimately we can “own” nothing: everything we use is shared. Even our own body, this ship we use to forage through the seas of life, can turn against us, behaving in completely unpermitted and unfamiliar ways.

            Feeling dispossessed is a shock to the system. Hustle culture places pressure on us to take, take, take, grab or “lose out.” When ‘Thorns” appear in your daily meditation it means it is time to have some serious thoughts about the nature of “ownership”; what you want versus what you can have; what you can control versus what you can’t and ultimately, who you can trust. Who’s feathering their private nest instead of honoring a contract?

            How can you gain through losing? Does real freedom lurk behind these dispossessions? The hermit crab carries his house on his back. When he outgrows it is when he shops for another house. It clearly wouldn’t benefit him to be dragging two houses around; he wouldn’t be able to move.

            But some of us are so burdened with junk we’re completely immobilized. Yet being robbed not only isn’t any kind of relief, the sense of violation lasts for years. The only person who can rid us of our stuff is Us. We just must set to it and figure out what’s baby and what’s bathwater. It’s a lifelong process. But being light and free can be intoxicating and addictive. Maybe a contract needs renegotiation, or shouldn’t exist in the first place.

            Sometimes a Soulmate fails the test or sharing, caring and giving. Or we fail. Maybe it is just once, and after a recovery period we will be better communicators. But maybe, like the hermit crab, we have outgrown this particular shell.

            After all, we’re planning to end up with wings. Maybe once we’ve soared we won’t want to live any other way.

            ON BEING DISINHERITED

            These are the tasks
            Performed without feeling;
            The snipping the
            Slashing
            The shredding
            Bundling into bunches
            You are the remote ogre
            And I the crying child.
            Why do partitioned pieces
            Melt before they touch?
            You fear to give;
            I am helpless to receive.
            Imagine we change places.
            Would that explain
            Your fear of me?

          6. Butterfly Language for Caterpillars – Soulmate Seeking with Alysse Aallyn

            Version 1.0.0

            Thistle = RESISTANCE = “The thistle”

            “Do we really want love? Can we tolerate togetherness?”

            The thistle threatens, “Touch me Not.”

            It is inevitable that we experience Merging on some level as Identity Loss. This is the source of the power struggle which plagues, and should plague, all relationships: who’s going to drive this bus? (The answer is Each/Both/Neither. Power flows in, out and between, like the tide.)

            If “who will drive” doesn’t emerge into consciousness then the problem lies very deep and must be urgently addressed. It’s always important to keep in mind that one soul isn’t “absorbed” while the other “inflates”! That’s not how it works at all!

            For example, those who study the contemporary meanings of the word ”fuck” will be justifiably alarmed. If you are “fucked” you’ve been “taken.” You’ve been “had,” emptied, eviscerated, exploited. You are left worse off.

            One person is diminished, the other is a conqueror in this scenario. Soulmating cannot and will not happen under such conditions – both souls will be erased. Considering that sex is the glue that fuses souls, exploitational thinking is profoundly destructive. “Mated” is a much better term, but even that fails to encompass the transfer of self into a central Us that is so much desired, feared, dreaded and resisted.

            You desperately need each other’s pollen to ignite true fertility in the soul. Relax. Experiment. Allow the Other to instruct you in their Wildness. Offer up your own exotic difference. Join.

            #HAIKU: The Thistle

            Pry me out
            I fly back hard
            Invigorate world
            With wilder honey