Lua Nova

A truth seeker of the Hopi and Apache traditions, tells a story he learned from his people about a race of beings who knew no limitations, who existed far outside this physical universe. One day one of them declared his intention to visit Earth and take on a body just for the adventure of it, for the experience. His friends cautioned him, as this universe had a reputation as amnesia-producing, a place of no return.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ But the entity laughed that off and promised to come back after one lifetime.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Centuries passed, and the entity never came home. One of his comrades decided to enter the physical world to go look for his friend. He promised not to get lost in matter and to return with the other individual. More centuries passed, and neither being returned.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ So another immortal entered physical mass, and he also never came back.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ In time many members of these unlimited beings incarnated in human form, and the story goes, none of them yet has gone home. Maybe we are those people, starting to remember who we are.

Cultures that use ritual and shamans to heal trauma may seem primitive and superstitious, but they have one important advantage—they address the problem directly. These cultures openly acknowledge the need to heal when someone in their community has been overwhelmed. Most modern cultures, including ours, fall victim to the prevailing attitude that strength means endurance; that it is somehow heroic to be able to carry on regardless of the severity of our symptoms. A majority of us accept this social custom without question. Using the power of the neo-cortex, our ability to rationalize, it is possible to give the impression that one has come through a severely threatening event, even a war, with “nary a scratch”; and that’s exactly what many of us do. We carry on with a “stiff upper lip,” much to the admiration of others—heroes, as if nothing had happened at all.⁣⁣ ✨⁣⁣ By encouraging us to be superhuman, these social mores do great injustice to the individual and the society. If we attempt to move ahead with our lives, without first yielding to the gentler urges that will guide us back through these harrowing experiences, then our show of strength becomes little more than illusion. In the meantime, the traumatic effects will grow steadily more severe, firmly entrenched, and chronic. The incomplete responses now frozen in our nervous systems are like indestructible time bombs, primed to go off when aroused by force. Until human beings can find the appropriate tools and the support necessary to dismantle this force, we will continue to have unexplained blowups. Real heroism comes from having the courage to openly acknowledge one’s experiences, not from suppressing or denying them. ⁣⁣