Sacred Season

                                   High-Holy Days

“At times I feel as if I am spread over the landscape and inside things, and am myself living in every tree, in the splashing of the waves, in the clouds and the animals that come and go, in the procession of the seasons.”

Carl G. Jung

          This is my favorite quote by Jung. He was a man of the earth and such an introvert that he built a tower in which to live at Bollingen, a village in Switzerland. Jung was so at home there, and spent so much time making it his own, that he felt soul-related to everything else that existed there. Much of his pioneering work on the human psyche was conceived there. I wonder if there is a place on earth where you feel that connected.

          Having an identifiable habitat that suits your soul is important to becoming fully yourself. The place where we feel most secure and at home, allows us to drop the subterfuge of social conformity and simply be ourselves. It allows the conservation of energy usually spent “making adjustments” to oneself, shaping oneself according to what is expected by others or by the culture in which one resides. You can be you. Jung was himself at Bollingen.

          From time to time, I see photos posted by friends on Facebook of the view from a condo at the beach. The caption is, “Ah, home sweet home!” The ocean is where they feel most connected to the earth, and they recognize it as their spiritual home. I feel that way about the mountains of North Carolina—there is an ancient umbilical cord attached to me and to all my relatives even beyond the ones I have known in life. I have friends who feel soul-connected to the southwestern deserts, or coastal marshlands, or a lake. The song of the loons is their own wild call and resonates in them far beyond their ears. Every landscape has its own vegetation, its own assortment of wildlife, its own weather, which also feel like blood-kin.

          As we enter the sacred season of high-holy days, consider making a pilgrimage to your own holy-land. Your beach, your lake, your mountain, river, or desert to reconnect your soul and replenish your spirit. If you can’t go there in person, go there on your laptop, or revisit those 10,000 photos on your phone. Take a little soul journey. That’s what high-holy days are all about—reconnecting with holy-you.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane