SAMHAIN.
FROM CHAOS TO CELEBRATION
Here we are on the stage and it contains the complete works of Shakespeare! – all the great human dramas, tragedies, comedies, histories, and tragicomedies. Here we dwell in the shadows of expectation and the dilemmas of disappointment. This production is about life as a story and our attachment to that very story. We are the best actors in existence because we’re so immersed and involved in our story that we identify fully with the character and cast in our lives. Just as Shakespeare was trying to get his audience to do, it’s really valuable to think about our cast – our family, friends, lovers; all the people who for good or bad, have helped shape our life and made it the show of a lifetime. It’s also important to contemplate all our disappointments and regrets, the hurt we’ve caused others at times and the paths that didn’t turn out the way we wished. If we’re young, time contemplating our future is important too, as we consider our dreams and aspirations and how attached we are to their outcomes. None of this is wrong, in fact it’s all perfect, it’s the epic human drama. As the key players we’re here to really know the human drama. The most central player in this drama is always the same character for each one of us – it is death. All roads lead to death. It is ultimately deeply getting to know what our relationship to death really is…
As the stormy clouds and mist of death flows in and out of the scenes of our lives we realize that it is an eternal entity that is unpredictable and cannot be eliminated. It comes and goes as it sees fit leaving destruction and chaos, while also giving way to rebirth to new and exciting scenes. It is the creator of the climax and the harbinger of the cliff hanger. We live in our own personal hells propagating misery and suffering and instigating pain by living to eliminate death and resisting change. This type of drama, as Shakespeare depicted many times leads to one of two possibilities. One is that we make the most of every moment and create our life as a work of art, a life dedicated to beauty. Leaving a legacy of pure joy and ecstasy. The other is that we decide to be selfish and get what ever we want for ourselves because there isn’t anything else to live for. The former scenario is rare, and the latter is a chaotic hallmark of our modern world. This deadly end of seeing death as the end instead of a new beginning leads to apocalyptic scenarios.
When we allow death to take his arm to journey beyond, we see that there is so much more. There are many lives to live and so many dramas to enjoy. Why would we want it to stop? Why be in a hurry to die and not slow down enough to live. Life is full of death and rebirth. In fact you cannot have a drama without it.
We live with this resistance through the disappointment of hopeful expectations. We feel we need to change the world to make life better, only to discover that we only need to look at ourselves. We lose trust in life and in others. And the disappointing resentment begins. We become victims of fate.
There are two sides to being a victim. The first is we let life hit us from every direction until we’ve given up on our dreams because nothing works out the way our heart really desires deep inside. The second is that we believe we’re in control of our life and can therefore direct it through pure force of will. Both are destined to disappointment and an exhaustion of trying. Whichever way we turn we’ll find disappointment, and then we run out of energy and time. We find that we are so wrapped up in the drama we forget to breathe and live. The true purpose of expectation and disappointment is to teach us the rare art of letting go.
Letting Go. Letting death take the overwhelming need to have expectations and constantly trying to go after life away from you. Allowing life to happen and going with the flow. We begin to see the universe putting things into place that place our hopes in dreams in front of us like on a silver platter. This detachment of making desires happen, allows us to see what we really want and how it comes to be when we trust. As we become more detached we become more playful with the drama. We engage more with life and its richness and become a whole human, loving life, loving the mystery, loving whatever life delivers because we know it’s all for our highest purpose and refinement. To know that everything that happens is for our further refinement is a magical and beautiful scene in the story to reach. We become a Master of letting go and nothing clings to us. We become joyous and more human and loving and compassionate. We begin to celebrate life.
A toast to the best dramas ever lived or written. And to the many more we will create.
Blessed Samhain and Happy Halloween
Agape Covens