Topic: Little more on masks and lights and shadows

[Endless Whisper]

This is a snip from what I wrote over at Loris several days ago, which additionally took a snip from a book to explain a bit more about the old myth of Tez and Quetzacoatl, which has been interesting how since I posted that article, interesting shadows have been surfacing in various ways, little bumps in the night.

Ill snip from the Metzner article as well:

This is from Divine Hunger: Cannibalism as a Cultural Symbol By Peggy Reeves Sanday:

“As it is told and related that many times during the life of Quetzacoatl  certain sorcerers attempted to shame him into making human offerings into sacrificing humans. But he would not consent. He would not comply, because he greatly loved his subjects who were Toltecs. The offerings he made were always snakes, birds, and butterflies. And it is related, they say, that he thereby angered the sorcerers, so that they took to mocking and taunting him. And the sorcerers asserted and willed that Quetzacoatl be vexed and put to flight.

Then they tell how Quetzacoatl departed: it was when he refused the sorcerers’ decree that he make human offerings, that he sacrifice humans. Thereupon the sorcerers deliberated among themselves, they whose names were Tezcatlipoca, Ihuitmecatl, and Toltecatl. “He must leave his city, for we shall live here,” they said. And they said “Let us make pulque [Note from wiki: In the Aztec pantheon of deities, pulque production was represented by the god of pulque, Tepoztecatl, and the gods of drunkenness, such as Macuil-Tochtli or Five Rabbit and Ometochtli or Two Rabbit, both part of the pantheon of Centzon Totochtin, the four hundred rabbit gods of drunkenness.]. We will have him drink it, to corrupt him, so that he will no longer perform the sacraments.”

And then Tezcatlipoca said, “I, I say we must give him his body to see!” . . .Tezcatlipoca went first, carrying a two-sided mirror the size of an outstretched hand, concealed in wrapping.

In Tezcatlopica’s mirror Quetzacoatl sees his own evil: “The eye-lids were greatly swollen, the eye sockets deeply sunk, the face must distended all over and bilious.” Shocked at his image, Quetzacoatl goes into refuge and has a mask made to cover his face. Looking again in the mirror, he is pleased with his new image and comes out of refuge. The sorcerers then got Quetzacoatl drunk with pulque and in this state he has a sexual encounter with his sister, a high priestess. When he wakes from this, he is heartbroken and realizing his authority has been betrayed, he leaves Tollan, with the result the city falls. When he left Tollan, he promised to return and reestablish his kingdom. The rulers of Tenochtitlan were aware of this prophecy and awaited his return to claim the kingship.

The confrontation between Tezcatlipoca and Quetzacoatl in this scenario illustrates the Aztec belief that the cosmos were not perfectly balanced between elements representing chaos and those representing peace and order. In this scenario, Brundage suggests, the Aztec thinker was expressing his belief that the ‘inexplicability of God exceeds his resources of justice.” The figure of Tezcatlipoca represents his passion and untrammeled will, which were, in the Aztec view, just as necessary for living as was Quetzacoatl the priest, with his penances and his wisdom. In other words, there is a time when the ambivalent nature of the human spirit emphasizes the dark as opposed to the light, the objective experience of evil as opposed to the subjective knowledge of it….The tempting and being tempted, Both Tezcatlipoca and Quetzacoatl show an awareness of the human participation of the cosmic dimensions of chaos. The mirror and the drunkenness indicate the knowledge that evil is internal as well as external and part of human interaction. The story of Quetzacoatl’s fall, like the Adamic myth, portrays evil as residing within the actions of humans and as distinct from good.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Metzner:

"This is the multifarious figure whose features can be detected somewhere behind the persona-mask of every man and woman. It is the beast that haunts every beauty, the monster that awaits every hero on his quest. But if we recognize, acknowledge, and come to terms with it, a great deal of knowledge, formerly hidden, unconscious, in the shadows, becomes conscious. When we recognize this devil as an aspect of ourselves, then the shadow functions as a teacher and initiator, showing us our unknown face, providing us with the greatest gift of all -- self-understanding. The conflict of opposites is resolved into a creative play of energies and limitations."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

K me post on next post:

[Endless Whisper]

If anyone knows the story by Steinbeck called East of Eden, either read the book or saw the movie (I did both), it was a rendition of the story of Cain and Abel. Cal (who is 'Cain') murders his brother Aron ('Abel'), in one full swoop, when he discovers that their mother is not dead, or was an angel/madonna whilst alive. But she's alive and well in a Whorehouse not far from them. Its a story of many secrets, of generations. And as these secrets surface more and more, and the sibling rivalry persists, finally, when Cal allows his own shadow to take over, and his conscious steps aside fully, he murders Aron's soul by taking him to meet their 'mother' in the whorehouse.

Aron had lived under the lie, the illusion, about his mother. He'd developed an anima along with (his soul) which was pure and stainless. So, What this vehemently does is destroy his own anima within. All men have an anima, as all women have an animus. Then the 'murder' occurs when he enlists for war, while drunk (as Quetzacoatl got drunk), only to be killed in that same war.

Then ultimately, when too late Cal feels utter remorse for his actions. As his mother technically was a devil in her own right, per many things she had done in past (and additionally put their father, Adam, under her 'heel' and destroyed his manhood - she is not "Eve" insomuch as a dark Lilith in the story), he goes to his father for forgiveness. Several things occur as he awaits the forgiveness of his father. This is his only chance at atonement or his own spiritual transformation or resurrection. The godhead, the father, is the only one who can save Cal from his own 'stain' of sin. Or, he can judge Cal for his actions, as he felt judged and like a devil all his life, being the 'bad son,' over and over. The father does, forgive, and restores Cal to life.

Adam being the father, the original man, has the ability to restore Eden, or the spirit of Cal and end the battle, within. Of course the battle on the outside was all but lost. But the battle within, would've never ended, and his own personal hell would've continued if his father - his only hope - would've declined the offering of forgiveness. What does this ultimately say? Forgiveness from within is the restoration of Paradise within, Eternal Bliss. This is the true harmonization of the 'halves' of the individual. This is the redemption. And going within, to the original, the primal soul, is the way. No matter, the journey 'within' must be confronted, if we were even to take the story of Cal and Aron, or Cain and Abel, as our own silent quest, it isn't simply about transforming ourselves on the path, it is about reconciling our own inner sides, the mind and soul, that will bring about the spirit - and then Paradise and Peace. Cain is 'mind,' and is it no wonder, than the 'Mark of Cain' was put in the forehead, before he was cast out to the Land of Nod? (and we 'nod' with our head, lol). Cain is the 'mind,' and Abel is the Soul. And 'Adam' is the house of the spirit before the fall, when Eden was perfect, and Adam was in perfect union with God. There was no separation between Adam and God. This is Paradise. This is what made Eden a marvelous place.

This story also shows that, while going 'straight' to the God isnt so easy to do, as God, isn't approachable direct at all times, but its a through and through process with our relationship with mankind. Its through other people and how we relate. The more we allow God to come 'through us to others,' then 'through others God comes through.' But it takes a repentance for actions, and forgiveness of them from within, and being entirely conscious of our actions, and doing the dangerous at times, journey of confronting our soul, in its light and dark aspects. If we do not do this, and we only wish to cleave to the good stuff, and shun the bad stuff, as we can put it, then we're only getting half of the picture of our soul. This process isn't about finding the icky crap on the soul, the residues of leftover past actions, or even crap thoughts, and holding up the mighty stick and judging the crap out of it - but it is to identify what the soul is about, what the 'self' truly is, and what its potentials can be.

Adam's last word, to Cal is timshel, or the Hebrew timshol, which means 'thou mayest,' or thou mayest rule over it (Eden). What his father was telling him with this one word, was there was a way back to Eden, that he did have the ability to change. He had a choice who he could be. He wasn't condemned for his actions, or condemned because he had his mother's blood running through his veins, or he may have been a product of an adulterous relationship of his mothers, making him some alleged hell-spawn. He had an opportunity that the original Cain had, though Cain had a mark, he also was not condemned to death. Cain had the opportunity when sent 'east of eden' himself, to the land of Nod, to find his way back to the grace of god. But of course, this would take a resurrection of the soul (Abel), and it would have to be to purify his mind (Cain).

Additionally we need to look more at the story, the 'mark of cain' was a protective symbol by God, so that no one would dare murder cain in respite. As Cains fear of being banished was that "they" would 'surely kill him!' The protective mark was placed on the forehead (either as warning, talisman, letter vav of hebrew alphabet), but one thing this does potentially say, the mind cannot be murdered, this will exist, no matter what, but the soul can be murdered. Cain could achieve redemption, as a 'wanderer,' but he'd have to work for it, and find a way. But he could never escape his mind, that would be the way it was, for it was mind. Additionally, who was 'they?' He didnt necessarily declare people in the outer world, (as in some hostile environment, then we're dealing with the factors of being born of the first man/woman, tho there was people around). However, 'they' could have simply been Cain's own inner demons, not the outer world, but the inner world manifested into tormenters - he had the opportunity, the grace of God to continue and keep his sanity. But his sanity did mean, he'd never be able to eradicate what he did. You step on a puddle, you cannot 'unstep' on it.

We cannot unite our mind and soul, if we have a mind that is infiltrated with the 'mark,' or continually, believing that with us either we are 'wholly bad' or 'wholly good.' Cain and Abel both have to be embraced in some manner. If there is ever a chance at paradise within.

And going back a bit to the issue of Quetzacoatl and Tez, the two warring brothers. They are not much different than Cain and Abel. We could view Quetzacoatl like Abel, the 'good shepherd' who was good to the flock, and Tez as the tiller of the soil who didnt feel appreciated as much as his brother who got more attention. Tez, when he held up the mirror, did not destroy Quetzacoatl - but he did reflect to him his 'other face' or another face which frightened Quetzacoatl to no end. Quetzacoatl saw that his face looked just like Tezcapolitas. They were one coin, and each side was one and the other. This is why Quetzacoatl went and made a 'pleasing mask,' he did the utmost damage to himself by hiding what was right there. A two-sided mirror and a two-sided coin. If he had allowed this image to reflect - he could've achieved wholeness. And not unlike the story of the fall, as Quetzacoatl ran from himself, the 'paradise' of the Toltecs and the golden age, ended, and they disappeared from existence, not unlike Atlantis falling into the ocean forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So on the path, like any warrior or hero journey, one must do several things. Meeting the shadow at the 'crossroads' and seeing the face, the potential within us to be what we can at our worst. Then, once we can integrate, which is really accept and not deny that side of self, we can move bit by bit over to the region of soul - and unite mind and soul - and figure the way to harmonize and 'clean up' the soul from whatever is stinky and rotten about it, or what polluted it.  Transforming the inner harlot into the virgin may not be totally feasible, but acknowledging the two of them, is. Accepting the message of the father that there is 'choice,' and always choice, not only gives freedom and a passageway back to Eden, it still gives in the hands of us, our own responsibility. Any 'enemy' is not as much in the outer as in the inner, thus its feasible to be able to restrore the healing garden, take the soul there, lower it into the ground, so it may grow fresh and anew. But like working on any garden, it takes work. It takes clearing the weeds out. Finding "Eden" within the soul, is like finding an abandoned healing garden left there by God. But we have to make the right moves at the crossroads to get there and reach it. The Path with the Heart.