THINK! - 1 - Meet my Daemon - Archives
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- Written by Marian Moore
KRYSAN
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
T H I N K (!)
SOCRATES
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
MEET MY DAEMON
(An Experiment in Appreciative Living)
by
MARIAN MOORE
"When all the souls had chosen their lives, they went before Lachesis. And she sent with each, as the guardian of his life and the fulfiller of his choice, the daemon that he had chosen." (Republic X)
PLATO (PHILOSOPHER)
I'd better explain.
I heard my Daemon (sometimes called the Higher Self) over an extended length of time - a period of twelve years - 1989 to 2001. Throughout the whole of this time, none of my nearest and dearest suspected anything untoward was happening. All they knew for certain was that I was very perplexed and very afraid. They heard nothing unusual. I let no-one at all into my secret, lest I also frighten them, nor did I have the words to describe ... Nine years have now passed since my life changed for the better. I have over the years recovered to everyone's apparent satisfaction (and - more importantly - to my own) and the secret which I kept for twelve years is no longer a secret.
Thankfully, in the year 2010, people everywhere are more knowledgeable about the causes and the symptoms of mental (or psychic) distress. Shortly, I will be speaking about my journey through and beyond mental illness to trainees on a Mental Health First Aid course and also, on another occasion, to trainee medical doctors. A new generation of teachers and healers will learn that voice hearing is not unusual - even commonplace. I will acknowledge my voices with gratitude - an essential part of my journey - and I will tell the audience how they melted quietly and gently away when I recovered my senses and started out on the business of living again. I know the exact time. I know the exact day. I know the exact place. And, who wouldn't remember? This was when my husband got his wife back, my children got their mother back, and I got my life back. I also discovered my grandchild! Or did she discover me? I'm not sure, but I know for certain that,
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." MARCEL PROUST
New eyes were provided. Job done ...
I suppose some people would have another name for my Daemon or Higher Self. This power that I experienced would be called my Spirit or my Soul, my Guardian Angel or Good Shepherd - and all the names will be familiar. My grandchild is also well-worth another mention. She is still very much a presence; still working for good here at Krysan. With regard to the fear for which I had no words, that's gone and gone completely. But, I would make mention of something said by a doctor who knew, seemingly through intuition, that I was too afraid to even speak of something so completely beyond my comprehension. Twenty years ago, he told me that the Spirit comes from within. The message took a long time to sink into my traumatised soul and broken heart. But, sink in it eventually did, and as a result of new eyes, I am now on a real voyage of discovery. Maybe this is a good time for another quotation,
" ... our supreme purpose in life is not to make a fortune, nor to pursue pleasure, nor to write our name on history, but to discover this spark of the divine that is in our hearts ... when we realize this goal, we discover simultaneously that the divinity within ourselves is one and the same in all - all individuals, all creatures, all of life." EASWARAN, 1996
This is the human experience. Love, compassion, meaning, hope, and freedom from fear are not qualities we need to acquire. We simply need to uncover what we already have. And, this - the spark of divinity - is hidden in every one of us, regardless of our personal liabilities or past mistakes. Think on that - and on this,
"Goodness has no need to enter the soul, it was there already, simply unperceived." FOURTEENTH CENTURY CHRISTIAN
I have now made a start on taking the wraps off sometimes sensitive topics that are still largely off-limits to many people. I make no apologies. Always remember, it is ignorance that breeds fear and this fear leads to stigma and discrimination and to broken lives and broken hearts. Let none of us stand accused of being insensitive and hurtful to others who are perceived as different. So much is easily remedied by a bit of effort of the cerebral kind and, of course, a bit of compassion for our fellow man (and woman!). My only further comment on this score is that when we open ourselves up the wonders of the universe, we see more wonders. Then, we ourselves can be seen as wonders. As pointed out elsewhere, 'seeing and being seen takes intention, mindfulness, risk, and - yes - love'. LOUIS ALLORO, 2010.
And so, with some thinking outside the box, I open another box - this one is to become a significant part of my on-going experiment in appreciative living. Sounds good and is good and surely an experiment worth more than a mention on some other occasion. This new box should be (and is) full of goodies from the Open University. The course I am to study is called rather grandly, Philosophy and the Human Situation. And, you will know something more of why I am taking it when I list the most important contents of the box - six books,
This is a gift with a price above rubies. The course is assessed throughout with seven essays (50%) and through a three-hour examination (50%) at its end. The two components - essays and examination - are thus equally weighted for assessment purposes. This is not going to be an easy ride, but hopefully it is going to be an exciting one. And, I'm asking you to join me.
Here on this page in the future you will (occasionally) find a bit of this and a bit of that from what I learn as a philosophy student. Now, when I can safely say that I was in another world for twelve years too afraid to even speak (and often too afraid to even move), I am opening a new box, one that is certainly not a delusion! I am, as I write, savouring the thought of becoming involved in doing Philosophy and wishing to share the joy of an adventure that promises much.
I have high hopes. But, whatever the outcome of the course in terms of the grade result, I already know it is the process of learning that counts. With the proviso that you will catch only a glimpse of what the course has to offer, let that not be a stumbling block. I say no more other than the common theme of each of the six books is a series of problems about how to view ourselves and our place in things. Again, I invite you to join me - enjoy the journey. I think that, somewhere along the line, we will find that ...
Socrates was a voice hearer - too!
Who would have thought ...
Marian
Here is a final quotation, this from the late President Roosevelt,
"There's nothing to fear, but fear itself."
I know that - now.
REFERENCES
BASCOBERT KELM, JACQUELINE (2005), Appreciative Living: The Principles of Appreciative Inquiry in Personal Life, North Carolina, pub. Venet Publishers.
EASWARAN, EKNATH (1996), Original Goodness: On the Beatitudes, California, pub. Nilgiri Press.
AFTER THOUGHT
I am entirely on the side of the mystery. I mean, any attempts to explain away the mystery is ridiculous ... I believe in the profound and unfathomable mystery of life ... which has a ... divine quality about it ...
~ ALDOUS HUXLEY
For those who wish to know more about the phenomenon of hearing voices (and some possible explanations that I have rooted out), go to PUBLISHING, choose ARCHIVES, and select 'hearing voices' from the list. Again, I have left a trail of book titles that you, too, might like to read and ponder ...
Marian