 Dear Friends,
In the ancient days of wooden ships, when a storm was approaching, sailors would sometimes tie themselves to the mast to protect themselves from being washed overboard. And in Greek myth, Ulysses is said to have had himself tied to the mast of his ship, when he wanted to hear the song of the Sirens, yet avoid being tempted by them to jump overboard and be devoured.
That metaphor, of tying yourself to the mast during a storm, has always made a lot of sense to me. I see the ship as my soul, with its guidance that I trust will infallibly carry me to the highest good for all, and the storm as a situation which has the potential to drown out my soul’s ‘still, small voice’. We all know situations like these – times when we’re called upon to work so hard that we become too tired to hear our intuition; times when we’re so weighed down by emotional or physical pain that we can no longer distinguish up from down.
At times like these, we all need a mast we can tie ourselves to – habits and connections we have formed in our lives that will continue to hold us on the right course even when we can no longer hold ourselves. These might include habitual uplifting thoughts that we’ve repeated so often we know they are right, even when we’ve temporarily lost the power to feel their meaning. They might include habitual reactions which you’ve trained yourself in over time – reactions which express awareness of the oneness of all life. They might also include true friends, who we know will get us to ‘do the right thing’ even when we’ve temporarily lost the will to do it. And they might include promises and commitments we have made under the prompting of our souls, and therefore know we will have to keep, even if we’re so tired or miserable we’re tempted not to.
Well, I’ve just found a new way of ‘tying myself to the mast’, and it’s having wonderful effects, so I want to tell you all about it. Now, I don’t want to sound like a corny sales person, but I have to say – it’s the Wisdom Cards Diana Cooper has created with her son-in-law Greg Suart, which we’ve been offering in the Cygnus Review since they were published in September. They come in this really cleverly made box, which stands up so you can display the card deck on your desk, and look at it at odd moments throughout the day. It has become my habit to choose a card first thing each morning, while I am waiting for my computer to boot up.
Now the wisdom on these cards is not fluffy! I find it deeply satisfying and helpful, and – although one may ‘know’ it already – it’s the kind of wisdom you can never be reminded of too much, because knowing it, and doing it sometimes, is not enough. For it’s habits we need to form; habits of wise, soulful action and judgement that are so much second nature to us, that we can react in the right way without even thinking about it – even in our sleep – whatever we may be feeling or not feeling at the time.
Diana and Greg have written the Wisdom Cards with our life at work, as well as at home, in mind, so what is said on the cards can often have amazing relevance to the choices you have to make at work during the day. Thus they can become a powerful aid to remind you to put soul-values at the centre of your working life, instead of somewhere half-forgotten, at the periphery. In my own case, they’ve helped me avoid at least one business choice that would have been unwise for Cygnus, and which I was hell-bent on until I drew three cards on three successive days which finally made me realise that perhaps my choice was not the best one. And every day – when difficulties crop up as they always do in a working environment – I’m amazed at how helpful the card I have drawn is, in understanding and approaching these situations more wisely and cheerfully.
Looking now, at the year ahead, with all the learning experiences we’re no doubt going to go through under the ever more urgent impulsion of our souls, I think we’re going to need as many ways of ‘tying ourselves to the mast’ as we can muster. For we are being urged – by stormy waves when we won’t follow the gentler currents – to reach the shores of soul-awareness while we have the chance on Earth. And this is not just for ourselves, but so that we can bring our soul-awareness to bear in every practical way imaginable, so as to free the Earth from the harm our ignorance has inflicted upon it.
Sometimes, bombarded as we are with doom and gloom on every side, it can be easy to lose courage, and despair of ever being able to find our way out of the maze. I know we can do it though, because we are here. And that, in itself, is a very hopeful sign.
May the warmth of courage and the light of trust comfort all our hearts in 2008.
With much love,
Ann, Geoff and the Cygnus team
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