Consider these words from storyteller and mythologist Martin Shaw:
To become a sovereign [in ancient Ireland] you had two wild horses attached to your chariot, setting out in different directions. Your task was to create, between the warring directives of each, a third movement, forged from the tension of both wills. If you could thrive under that discord, stay upright in the unknowing, make play from the tension, then you had the capacity to be a sovereign. And it wasn’t just a case of bullying the horses but making a kind of alchemical covenant between the two: you rode the counterweight and something new was birthed. That requires patience and a certain amount of discomfort.
So what could that look like in our lives? It means rescuing little ideas that gleam for a second in our soul then disappear. Coaxing them back. It means attention to not this or that but possibly both or some other way entirely. This isn’t necessarily easy, being so conditioned as we are to yes or no, black or white. And sometimes that third position is not what many would call a logical response . . .
. . .
What deserves to be re-imagined, re-seeded, re-beheld?
That’s where the joyful work is. I’m handing you a spade.
This is a moment of unexpected possibility.
Martin presents much more food for thought in his essay “Navigating the Mysteries” here.
(My thanks to Martin Shaw via Emergence Magazine.)
The Gentle Nudge
Join other Rafters this week for . . .
WEDNESDAY: Creatives’ Coffee (Zoom, 4:00-5:30PM Central, at this link)
THURSDAY: Poetry Pick-Me-Up (Zoom, 12:00-1:00PM Central, at this link)
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Was taken by these words: “…….making a kind of alchemical covenant between the two: you rode the counterweight and something new was birthed. That requires patience and a certain amount of discomfort.”
Love….love is the alchemy. In all things ❤️🙏
A powerful sensitive piece. Looking for a third way that is not
“Yes” or “no”-“rescuing little ideas” “staying upright in the unknowing”. Yes. Thank you🤠🤡