The Mask of the Little-Self

The sense of a transformation of the soul rests upon the old understanding that there is something essential within each of us that we can turn to and continually learn from, that we can draw upon repeatedly and grow from continuously. Call it a universal myth, an open secret, an eternal truth; the human soul comes to life both gifted and aimed. In the human psyche, transformation involves a reclaiming of the deeper self and the core imagination that secretly shapes each of us from within. This deep self turns out to be the source of our natural capacity to truly change and at critical times transform our lives. Unless we awaken to our own nature and our innate connections to the source of life, we cannot conceive of or fully relate to the underlying unity that exists in ourselves as in the world. While the caterpillar's transformation into a butterfly remains a biological fact, it also depicts a mysterious process. Its metamorphosis presents essential insights into the inner nature and hidden aims of the human soul. Unlike the larva, which must completely disappear for the butterfly to be revealed, the human ego, or little-self can loosen at critical times in order to give way to the knowing self within. It does not require a psychologist to recognize that a deeper self or intended personality can remain hidden behind the mask of the ego or persona that each person presents to the daily world. As it is with the butterfly, a deeper and greater self or soul seeks to awaken and emerge from within each of us. LEARN MORE Free Online Event-'A Time of Transformation on Earth'-REGISTER Since a coherent inner center exists in the depths of each soul, a person can at any time have a moment of awakening in which it all seems clear, and the underlying unity of life is truly sensed and fully felt. At the same time, the moment in which the presence of the deep self appears can be fleeting and may go largely unrecognized. The mask of the little-self can quickly snap back into place and obscure the awakening intended to happen from within us. Carl Linnaeus chose the Latin termpupafor the cocoon phase in which an early stage of life must be shed in order that a greater form of life can be born.Pupacomes from Latin roots that give us 'pupil,' or 'student,' but can also carry the sense of 'a young orphan.' The human stage of adolescence or youth can be seen not simply as a phase of biological growth, but as a betwixt and between state like pupation. In being no longer a child yet not fully grown, a young person enters a disorienting condition that at times feels like being an orphan. In traditional rites of passage, once found throughout the world, a young person would become an initiate or neophyte entering a radical, transitional phase of life. Like the nascent butterfly, the pupil or novice would begin to awaken to a deeper sense of their inner nature by being separated from everything and everyone they knew. Dramatizations of the symbolic condition of youth included a brush with death, which makes letting go of childhood a more conscious and thorough experience. Typically, initiates would enter a state of ritual seclusion in a cave or a dark hut that on one hand represented death and on the other symbolized being in the womb before birth. Eventually, the novice would emerge from the cocoon-like state and become acknowledged as one who has been reborn of the spirit and the soul. In this old way of seeing, each person was expected to undergo a transformative experience in order to reveal their inner nature, natural gifts, and the original aim of their life. This once-universal youthful rite of symbolically dying in order to grow would become the model for continuing to transform throughout life. Each additional life stage as well as each crossroad in life could become a transformative experience that further revealed the knowing self within. Knowledge of a deeper self or soul has been known or intuited throughout time. Many metaphors have been used to express the sense that each person is here not simply to grow up, but to awaken to a greater sense of self that was secretly present all along. This idea appears in many forms because it is a mystery trying to be revealed, a mystery trying to become, not simply solved, but consciously known and uniquely experienced. A life fully lived does not depend simply upon completing the stages from infancy to old age. Rather, being fully alive involves becoming able to transform when faced with the inevitable crises in the course of life. Each transformation serves as a rite of passage in which we more consciously connect to the deep self and soul within us. In that context, transformation appears as the secret aim of all the challenges, obstacles and defeats we experience in life. As many poets and seers have pronounced, until we experience a sense of dying and being reborn, we have no real sense of the nature of life or the unique spirit trying to awaken within us. Michael Meade's new bookThe Heart of Transformationexplores how transformation is the way of the world, the mystery at the heart of each soul, and may be the only way out of the troubled times in which we live. PRE-ORDER SPECIALS Signed book with discounted shipping -$23.95Two signed books with free shipping -$39.90 PRE-ORDER BOOKS Join Michael Meade on Thursday, October 1 for a free online event as he brings to life key themes from his new bookThe Heart of Transformation. Thursday, October 1 :: 6:00 - 7:30 pm (PDT) REGISTRATION FREE, Donations Welcome Includes HD recordings of live event REGISTER + LEARN MORE Drawing from the realms of nature, depth psychology and mythology, Meade shows how transformation is the way of the world, the mystery at the heart of each person and possibly the only way out of the troubled times in which we live. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support this work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe now