There’s an expression in the Bible where Christ says one must have the heart of a child to enter heaven. On the one hand this expresses a psychological truth. It is our child-like energy and expression -- innocent, curious, open, living in the present and not judging what is -- that transforms the world into a place of magic. When Christ later says “the Kingdom of heaven is spread out upon the earth and men do not see it,” he implies that heaven, hell, and the promised land are not actual places -- pieces of real estate that exist somewhere -- but inner conditions, lenses through which we see and thus experience the world as wondrous or frightening.
If this is so, our real enemy is not some devil who inhabits an underworld, but the habits of mind and forms of perception that disconnect us from the mystery and make us feel small, scared, angry, and alone.
Many fairy tales address the inner enemy who wishes to steal the gift. Among Grimm's tales, it is often the older brothers ("The Water of Life," "The Gnome") who betray the younger, as the older sisters do in Cinderella. The elder siblings are given first opportunity to seek the prize or healing remedy. Displaying arrogance, attachment to social position and the trappings of wealth and power, they fail in the quest. Viewing the world and their place in it only in terms of their success, in social terms, renders them blind to those clues or allies that could offer them aid or direction.
In contrast, the younger sibling embodies good-heartedness. Only after the older siblings have failed in the quest, is he/she, begrudgingly, given a chance. To be younger is to be closer to our original child-like nature, hence more whole. Displaying innocence, openness, and honesty, this child undertakes the quest and succeeds.
The older siblings then attempt to steal the prize and gain the reward, betraying the younger in the process. These siblings represent the regressive or stagnating impulse (the ego). By trying to mold the world to their will and being unwilling to change their modus operandi, these characters prove themselves unworthy and fail in the quest. They are older, more socialized, more attached to position and appearance. This impulse wants to possess the gift for egotistical ends, and in attempting to do so, fears and denies the transformative and renewing powers for the "kingdom" or community.
In these tales, it is the ego that tries to steal the key to heaven. The ego, the separate self, cut off from nature, from community, from the wisdom of body and feelings, is an essentially artificial construct. It is a fortress, a defensive and protective response to trauma and wounding, i.e. the loss of primal connectedness. It is a false self, not the self at all.
As artificial construct, the ego must continually protect itself and deny its ephemeral nature. It fills the mind with dialogue. It selects and molds perception to fit a story, a story in which it ( "I" ) is the central character, around which the world turns. Committed to maintaining this position, the impulse to open to the world, to a greater Self, represents a threat. The brothers must steal the gift. The transcendent light must be captured, tamed into a lantern; the genie kept in a bottle for personal use. The gift of heaven, when controlled and used for purely earthly ends, becomes idolatry, the worship of grave images.
The classic example is Faust. Faust enters the realm of primal forces, he encounters the spirit world in the form of Mephistocles, "the devil." He makes a bargain -- supernatural help to attain social and material ends in exchange for his soul. He welcomes the spirit, not to transform his self, but to serve egotistical ends. Spirit, or God has perverted and diminished -- a mere errand boy in service to the self.
The price of this, the loss of soul, only becomes apparent to Faust later. Perhaps it is midlife or the awareness of approaching death that alerts us to the hidden costs of this bargain. The lesson may well be that "the devil" is not an external entity, but the internalized impulse to make this trade, to serve the wrong "god."
This may take many forms in daily life. It is the addict rearing its head, wanting to binge when one has started on the road to recovery. It is the guru, using spiritual giftedness to amass a fortune, collect worshipers, or acquire sexual favors. It is the church, seeking spiritual monopoly for the same ends. It is the undertaking of "self- improvement" as a means of acquiring power and getting what you want. It is spiritually masquerading in appeals for "abundance" and "prosperity." It is physical fitness, not as connection to the senses and earth, but for a good body image; the codependent seeking healing in order to be more attractive or popular.
The older brothers betray the younger, stealing the water of life to gain the father's favor and, hopefully, the kingdom. This is one danger of the return, the alchemical reversal, turning gold into lead. As one reintegrates lost parts of the self and becomes more whole, one may acquire powers, gifts, and these powers may be used, co-opted by the still unhealed, separated self. The pickpocket meets the saint and sees only the pockets.
Comments