Water is the basis of life. In fact, we say that life itself is what is sustained by water; we know that our bodies are made of the greater part of water, and also the Earth, the greater part of the Earth, is made of water. Water is within all of the life forms that are here on Earth. And indeed, it is in other places in the cosmos. Water has been a very important archetype. In ancient traditions across different cultures, there are water deities like Neptune. And coming from India, there’s the goddess of water goddess Aapah. And then, later on, the deity of water, Varuna.
I have been preparing my next course, which is called Invoking the ancient waters: dance as the secret intelligence of water”. I have been dwelling in the domain of the archetypal intelligence and teaching of water. I’m going to share some reflections with you around the water archetype, and importantly, what it offers for us in our times.
Sometimes, we think that archetypal wisdom is quaint. And it’s kind of interesting, but there are myths and legends and what bearing it can have on our everyday lives. And yet, the intelligence of archetypal traditions is incredibly important, especially for the times we live in. At its core, archetypal wisdom offers ways to navigate the plurality of reality. Reality is diverse and plural. When we only lead with the paradigms of the mind, however useful they are, we are not equipped to deal with the multifaceted multi-dimensional domain of reality, which cannot be arranged into a linear rationalization all the time. Of course, there are parts of reality with which we can do that. But the whole movement of reality is unavailable for this kind of neat linear arrangement. These archetypal traditions were vessels in which all other parts of reality, including our mental consciousness and all of its paradigms and narratives, find their rightful place. And that’s the beauty of archetypal intelligence is that it doesn’t deny anything. It just allows things to fall into the rightful place when we are able to approach reality from the lens of that archetypal intelligence.
Originally published on Moving Archetypes
