Imagine a sacred space.
A space that matters deeply to your soul.
It can be a real place or an imaginary one.
But allow everything that is there to be alive.
Allow everything there to have vitality.
Allow everything in this space to have meaning.
Let it be a place where you sense renewal and feel a connection to your soul.
Not just within you,
But all around you.
Almost like a transparency.
Where there is no separation between what's outside and what's within.
Or as Joseph Campbell puts it,
To live in sacred space is to live in a symbolic environment where spiritual life is possible.
Where everything around you speaks of exaltation of the spirit.
In sacred space everything is done so that the environment becomes a metaphor.
Sacred space is a space that is transparent to transcendence.
And everything within such a space furnishes a base for meditation.
Knowing that this is a safe and sacred space that you've envisioned,
Welcome another being into this space.
Someone who's supported you in incredible ways in the past.
Someone who perhaps helped you when you didn't expect it or was there for you in intuitive ways.
You may think of many,
And it doesn't matter who you ultimately choose,
But let it be just one person.
This person is symbolic of the supernatural help we've received in our life adventure.
That came about like Campbell shares when we step into living our true adventure.
He says,
If it is something appropriate to your deep spiritual need or readiness,
Then magical guides will appear to help you.
If you say,
Everyone's going on this trip this year and I'm going too,
No guides will appear.
Your adventure has to be coming right out of your own interior.
If you are ready for it and where there would not be doors for anyone else.
As you greet your person and they greet you,
Enjoy your connection,
Appreciate your bonding.
You've been living your journey,
But they've been watching and glad to support you.
Know that this person has a gift for you.
This gift is a symbol of your journey.
It's a metaphor for the meaning of your adventure.
It's a sign about your own gifts that you bring to the journey of why you're on it.
Don't try to judge it or make it up yourself.
Let the depth of this supportive spirit share with you this precious gift,
But note that this item has a numinous quality.
It may remind you of something,
But it comes from a deeper place.
Before you ask yourself what it means,
Feel the meaning.
First Campbell reminds us,
When symbols are interpreted spiritually rather than concretely,
Then they yield the revelation.
If you find in your own heart a center of experience for which the symbol has been substituted,
The symbol will dissolve.
Think of what is this metaphor when you find that the symbol will lose its blocking force or will become a guide.
Know that this symbol you're receiving is meant to be a guide for you,
Not to find an answer but a way of being in the world that resonates with your soul.
So slowly allowing each aspect of our visualization to return to the unconscious.
The item represents the inner gifts we have to give and the art we have to share.
The individual represents the support of the universe,
Mysterious but always all around us,
And the environment we've envisioned.
It represents the undisturbed nature of our soul.
We know that all of these are expressions of our true selves.
A final reminder from the wisdom of Joseph Campbell.
The goal of the hero trip down to the jewel point is to find those levels in the psyche that open,
Open,
Open,
And finally open to the mystery of yourself being Buddha consciousness or the Christ.
That's the journey.
It is all about finding that still point in your mind where commitment drops away.
It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.
Where you stumble,
There lies your treasure.
The very cave you're afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you were looking for,
The damn thing in the cave that was so dreaded has become the center.
You find the jewel and it draws you off.
In loving the spiritual,
You cannot despise the earthly.
The purpose of the journey is compassion.
When you have come past the pairs of opposites,
You have reached compassion.
The goal is to bring the jewel back to the world,
To join the two things together.
