23/06/2016
WHAT GANGSTERS AND FENG SHUI LOVERS KNOW
In a special healing space that we go to, we enter through the outside door, go up several stairs, go through a second door, turn, and then go through a third door into the healing space. There is something very important about those layers of separation...outer, intermediate and inner. And as each door closes behind us, we feel ourselves gradually letting down our guard, sensing that we are one more door removed from distractions and interruptions.
Like Cancer the crab, there is a part of each of us that looks out at the world from within a “shell” or layers of protection that we carry with us at all times and is constantly tracking for safety. In public settings, we generally stay safe behind these layers of protection, but in private settings—whether in our home, healing spaces or other places where we feel safe and comfortable—we gradually let down our guard and take off these layers. So these layers of protection that we put on and take off are instinctive—and vital—for safeguarding our vulnerability.
However, it take an enormous amount of energy to maintain these layers of protection, energy that is otherwise not available for healing and the inner life. So it’s also vital—for our healing, energy and personal growth—to have an environment where we can peel off our layers of protection. But it is much easier to take off our deepest inner defensesif we can substitute them for outer defenses: a familiar area behind closed doors with few windows, and the agreement that the people therein are not to be disturbed. Because when we hear voices nearby or sense a disturbance is near, we put those layers of protection back on, which can deeply alter the effectiveness of the healing session.
To some degree, we all have an instinctive awareness of the levels of safety and the impact that physical spaces have on us. Loud, bright, public areas are not the ideal setting for letting down one’s guard, and there is something about having your back to people and to open doors that both gangsters and feng shui lovers are sensitive to. Circles have a very different energy and power differential than classroom settings, because in circles we can generally see everyone and are less vulnerable to who or what is behind us. So whether it is a meeting room or a healing space, the familiarity we have with the space, the shape of the room, the seating or standing arrangements and placement of doors and the amount of light also affect our perception of safety, as well as the amount of noise and the sense of separation from the outer world. To create that separation, it is often better to have two or three doors between us and the outside world. So when we move from an outer area to an ante room and an inner room, there is an unconscious process that happens in which we understand that we are crossing a threshold into a space where there is more potential for relaxation, healing and experiencing the inner life.
So we invite you to consider the healing spaces that you provide or frequent. How many corridors, doors, windows, screens, curtains and other barriers lay between you and the outside world? Are they impacting how much you are able to relax and let down your muscular and mental defenses? And do you notice a correlation between those outer layers and your experience of your inner life?
We write more about this phenomenon in our book, The Temple of the Zodiac, 2015 edition, a free preview of which is available at Amazon.com.