In this episode, I speak about how to create a relationship with imaginary or spiritual beings in order to develop their attributes in yourself. How can we enrich our life with imagination, and build a rich inner landscape to pull from?
Get notified when the Silken Mirror membership opens in 2023 : http://eepurl.com/dxzCk9
Follow us on Instagram @moonlitpathchannel
This podcast is hosted by Laure Porché: http://laureporche.com. You can follow me on Instagram @laureporche
If you're enjoying the podcast, consider sharing it or leaving a review on Apple Podcast :)
In this episode, I speak about how to create a relationship with imaginary or spiritual beings in order to develop their attributes in yourself. How can we enrich our life with imagination, and build a rich inner landscape to pull from?
Get notified when the Silken Mirror membership opens in 2023 : http://eepurl.com/dxzCk9
Follow us on Instagram @moonlitpathchannel
This podcast is hosted by Laure Porché: http://laureporche.com. You can follow me on Instagram @laureporche
If you're enjoying the podcast, consider sharing it or leaving a review on Apple Podcast :)
[00:00:00] Laure: Hello, everyone
[00:00:01] So last episode I was talking about how we could be inspired by other people to expand our understanding of what is possible for us. And I wanted to continue on that thought and on that practice. And that made me want to do an episode about fantastical beings. And by that I mean all the magical beings that populate fairytales and fantasy, and also the idea that some of the characters that are heroes or heroines for our stories might exist in a more concrete way than what we think that what we believe.
[00:00:58] And not many people know this about me but I have a shamanic background. I was trained in shamanic healing, shamanic practice by Betsy Bergstrom. And in shamanism, we consider that fantastical beings like angels, gods, goddesses, fantastical beasts, spirit animals, demons, all those, the lot, elemental beings, fairies, et cetera, et cetera. We consider that they're real, you know, and that we can actually interact with them, have conversation, receive wisdom, and that they interact with our lives as human.
[00:01:44] You can have several beliefs around these beings. And one of them is that they're real, they're independent intelligences that are outside of us, and that are actual real people in a way. And that's one way to think about. And another way to think about it is that they're a projection of our inner world, you know, that we project outside of us parts of ourselves with which we can then interact, which allows us to use those parts or to have access to the wisdom of those parts of ourselves. And then the third option is that these beings are created by the collective subconscious, where they are so present in the collective unconscious that they become tangible.
[00:02:36] Or basically they're a human co-creation. Personally, I believe that those three explanations are right and they're not mutually exclusive. And they're not mutually exclusive for the simple reason that if we are all one, as we, as we say, if actually we're all facets or everything that exists is a facet of one source or one intelligence or one being trying to experience itself through life on earth, then certainly all those explanations work simultaneously. And personally, I don't think contradiction is a problem or paradox is a problem. I think you can have very different explanations for the same things and believe that they are all true. That's something that I've managed to find in myself. The point is it doesn't really matter what you believe, whether they're real or not, or that they're projected parts of you. What matters is that the relationship that you can create with those beings will help you in your life, will help you digest certain things, will help you be resourced, will help you face life in a different way.
[00:03:49] And so it might be interesting to consider the importance of fantasy characters, you know, the heroes of the stories that we tell or that we read or that we understand, because ever since the dawn of humanity, we've been telling stories and those stories had protagonists. And the protagonists are pretty much the same in every culture.
[00:04:14] You know, there're the gods and goddesses, and there's this trickster and there's the great mother and there's the warrior and what we would call archetype, right? Archetypes. And archetypes are really a great resource because they do encompass, and you can stay within the realm of human archetypes, that's already a lot. Or human-like archetypes, which would be, you know, gods goddesses, fairies... And all the ones I said before, like mother, maiden, crone and warrior and the healer and all of that. And of course there's many different characters that fit into those archetypes and you could develop a relationship with the ones that feel like they resonate closest to you and your culture, but you can also go into different realms, different types of archetypes, which are animal or elemental or beings that are really non human.
[00:05:11] Or even places like some sacred places can become a certain type, like they hold a certain type of energy or quality. And I really believe that as human beings, we have all the palette of human and non-human capabilities and qualities available to us if we want it and that we can tap into those qualities or capabilities and that having relationship with these beings can help us with doing that.
[00:05:44] Actors. I believe that actors are really good at that. And it can even be somewhat dangerous because very often they don't necessarily always understand what they're dealing with. And I'm thinking of actors who've died. Especially, I'm thinking about Heath Ledger for instance, cause when he inhabited the Joker he tapped into a certain archetype that has been here for a long time. Like that character has existed in the collective subconscious for years and years and years. And so if we consider that the human consciousness has the capacity to manifest what it believes in or what it holds in itself, then by all means you can think that the field of the character of the Joker exists. That there's a certain vibration that's associated with this character that you can step in and out of.
[00:06:41] And for people who do constellation work they're very familiar with that because as a representative in the constellation work, you can represent anything or anyone and basically, the experience will be, you'll feel as if you're stepping into that person or that thing and begin to feel like they feel. And that's a very powerful experience. And in constellation, it's really clear that once the constellation is over, you have to let go of that and there's a ways to do that. But very often, in the case of characters that have existed for a long time, actors may not be aware that they're not creating the character, that the character is already there. And they will give it a certain voice and a certain, but the field of the character, the imprint, if you want, the hologram, already exists. And that, that hologram can actually take them over.
[00:07:30] And that happened to a friend of mine actually, when she played lady Macbeth, which was a life-changing experience for her and the highlight of her artistic career, but then at the end of it lady Macbeth wouldn't leave. And so she had to go see someone who was from a shamanic background and who knew how to get that being or hologram off her. Those are experiences that I've been privy to or that I've had the firsthand experience of.
[00:08:02] And so I tend to operate under the assumption that any fantasy imaginary character that has been around for more than 20, 30 years actually exist now. And that means that you can have a relationship with them. You can actually hang out with them or you can ask them questions about what they would do in certain situation, or if you're a shamanic person, you can journey and, have a conversation with them.
[00:08:27] But it's always the same question. You know, the same question is how can this help me? Like, how can those beings, be them fairies or youkais, or gods goddesses, who am I drawn to, for one? What am I drawn to or who shows up also? Cause you might notice that in your life, certain beings keep showing up either they're animals or you keep seeing mentions of them or you keep pulling cards, if you into tarot or oracle, you keep pulling cards that are about these beings. Or you keep reading books or things that mentioned them. And so it's interesting to ask yourself, okay, what is this being? What is this character telling me about where I'm at, where my life is right now?
[00:09:18] And again, it can be like non-corporeal beings that you're working with spiritually speaking, but it can also be the hero or heroine of the novel that you're reading right now. Notice, cause it's never an accident. Like it's never a coincidence. You don't end up reading a certain book at a certain time or watching a certain movie or a play or a certain animated film.
[00:09:43] And so ask yourself. Okay, I'm reading this or I'm watching this, or um, this character, it keeps showing up from you. I feel really, really drawn to this story with this character or this character in this story. And sometimes it's not the main character, sometimes it's another one and ask yourself if it was a part of me, which part of me would it be?
[00:10:03] Do I have relationship with that part of me? Do I know that part. Does it get time to play outside? You know, do I feel like this part of me that is represented in this being, in this archetype, in this goddess, do I feel like that part of me gets acknowledged? If that being was a facet of who I am, if I had access to their qualities, to their strength, to their beauty what would change? Like how would I be in my life? Do I already have access to it? Am I using that access? Because very often we're drawn towards beings and stories and people, who embody parts of ourselves that we have trouble connecting with, that are really hard for us to be in contact with, or things that we long for. We get pulled towards imaginary beings or characters that are people that we long to be, or that are parts of us that we long to free or to be connected with. And so it's always interesting to ask yourself, okay, who are my favorite? Who are my favorite characters?
[00:11:17] And I know we've done this with the stories, you know, what's my favorite story. And I do that and every interview episode, but you can go further and it's interesting to do it with characters or beings or helping spirits, because then you can enter in a relationship with them. It's not as easy as human beings for us to say, oh, I'm gonna enter into a relationship with a story, but it is easier for us to imagine ourselves having a conversation with our favorite character. And I know that the new generation is actively trying to shift into parallel realities of their favorite books or stories.
[00:11:56] Which is an equivalent in a way of shamanic journeying, I think. And goes to show that probably yes, those realities exists. You know, they're held in the collective unconscious and they exist parallel to our own. So maybe the new generation won't even need to ask those questions because they'll be doing it. They'll be journeying whenever they want to, wherever they want to.
[00:12:20] I think it's still really interesting to ask that and to ask: okay, if I could be in relationship with this being, whatever being it is, whether it's Chihiro from spirited away or whether it's Harry Potter or whether it's Atreyu from the Neverending story or Bastian, or, and those are all like children stories obviously, but you can definitely go for more adult themes. Personally, I like to work with a goddess called Brigid who's been transformed into a Saint in Ireland, but who was originally is a goddess and I have several animals that I work with and, and several crones as well. And now I'm doing um, a nine months program with Betsy Bergstrom on the Nordic practice Seidr. And in that practice, we get a lot of conversations and wisdom from Freya and Odin and the Norns and the Nordic saga characters.
[00:13:18] And so if you could have a conversation or have a relationship with one of those beings that are attractive to you, that you long towards, what would that relationship be like? What questions would you ask them? If you could get their help for anything, what would it be? How would they help you? And then you can do two things. You can either ask them directly for help and say: hey, okay, I'm asking directly this being of this character to help me with this thing. And that might work more for you if you're shamanically inclined or religiously inclined. it's almost like a prayer in a way. Or you could ask yourself, okay. Which part of me can provide that? Is there a part of me that's really brave?
[00:14:09] How can I be in contact with it? Is there a part of me that has the resources that I need right now. And how can I bring that part out into the light? Is there a part of me that knows about the things that I can't know about with my mind? And though I'm always a big proponent of working from the inside out, sometimes it can be really helpful to work from the outside in. And so you might ask yourself when you want to establish a relationship with a character or a being or you want to contact the part of you that is in resonance with that being. How could I bring that being's energy or field more strongly into my life.
[00:15:04] As kind of like a scaffolding, you know, for you to rest upon or for you to more easily connect to that part. And, you know, I think we do this unconsciously all the time, but it's interesting to do it consciously. So how can I bring more of that energy in my life? And it can be many ways. You know, if you're shamanically inclined, you might make an altar with images or likeness of this being, or some of the attributes of that character. And you might give offerings and stuff like that.
[00:15:44] You know, and we do that mostly for gods and goddesses and helping spirits and stuff like that. But you might also think about, how is this being embodied in their likeness? And I think actually cosplayers do this all the time. And if you're not a cosplayer. Without going, as far as cosplay. You could ask yourself, okay, how can I bring some of that character's vibration into my wardrobe. How do they dress? How does it feel to be dressed like them, to introduce items that they might be wearing or that they might be holding for themselves? And I had a whole phase in my life where, you know, I was a big fan of all the romantic heroines, 18th, 19th century romantic heroines. And this was a phase where I used to dress like that. Like I used to wear corsets and long skirts all the time. And I had jewelry from that period, I had a pocketwatch that dated back from there. I just surrounded myself with I guess pieces, literal pieces. I don't exactly know what I was looking for at the time. Cause obviously I was much younger than now, and I didn't have the awareness that I have now. And so this process was not done consciously.
[00:17:09] It was mostly unconscious. It was like, I really need to step into that scaffolding or to step into that persona because it's helping me. And to do what, like, I guess if I thought about it, I could probably come up with what was going on at the time. But very honestly, I don't remember it well enough. I'm too old now. Like It was almost 15 years ago and I'm like, I don't remember exactly what was going on. But, you know, without going, as far as wearing corsets and all that kind of thing you can certainly have like small tokens or reminders on your person that kind of remind you of whatever character you're trying to emulate or you're trying to borrow, or you're trying to be related to.
[00:17:54] That's one thing you could do, you could also have, you know, those reminders in your environment, in your house. And again, I think we do that unconsciously. You know, my Harry Potter collection is not as developed as this some of my friends, but it's still quite big. And so there's something in that where I'm trying to stay connected to something. And we do that a lot. We do that with, I think universes or worlds that we want to stay connected to. I have lots of japanese items in my home and stuff like that. But you could do it much more specifically for characters, for like, okay. I'm trying to borrow this character's determination for instance, cause I'm lacking discipline. I'm lacking, whatever. And so how can I help myself, you know, bring that character into my space, into my wardrobe, into my thinking. Have maybe like a mantra of like, okay, what would be that character's mantra that they would go to to help them? How does that resonate with me? It's quite playful. I'm certainly not saying become someone else and who you are because it's not the idea. Right. It's not the point.
[00:19:06] The idea is , how can I have access to all parts of myself and develop them. When I say we're attracted to characters or people who embody parts of ourselves that we have trouble contacting, I still believe that they're there. I don't believe that you would be very attracted to someone who embodied something that is not you at all. Who you don't have in your makeup.
[00:19:31] But there's plenty of things that because of our environment because of our culture, because of our family because of the way we were raised, there's plenty of our attributes, our facets, our qualities, our talents that just go dormant or stay undeveloped. Either because they're perceived as like not helpful for survival. Or they're unacceptable wherever you live or stuff like that. And so I feel like when you recognize it in the character, then you can start engaging with that part outside of you in a way. Which makes it somewhat easier in some cases and start resourcing yourself around what you're trying to contact. Asking yourself, you know, the very famous phrase of like, what would so-and-so do or what would so-and-so say? And maybe it's a silly pop culture meme, but actually it can be quite helpful depending on who you're referring to, obviously. And depending on how anchored you are into yourself. The caveat of this is that, and that's for you to know, obviously, is to not use what I'm talking about as a way to escape who you are.
[00:20:51] You know, cause I think a lot of people do that and I've done that, saying like, Oh, I want to be somebody else than who I am. It's a fine line between I'm going to become a completely different person, which never works in the longterm, or I can feel kinship with this character or this being. And I can feel that having a relationship with that will help me develop a part of myself that is under developed. And that's a completely different intention, you know, as usual. As, as you know, as I've said, many times: you can do the exact same thing with completely different intention. And the result will be completely different. And you know, one action can be misguided, and the same action can be wonderfully resourceful depending on your intention and that's for you to know. You can relisten to the new year's episode cause I think that's where I went more in details about this. But the reason why I speak so much about all of those ideas of how can you use the stories, the characters, what happens in your life, is because really we're surrounded with resources. Surrounded with resources at all times. And that all we need to use them very often it's just a little permission and a little imagination . There's a huge realm of supportive information and supportive framework that is available to you if you start asking yourself the question of what helps me.
[00:22:33] What helps me beyond I guess adult things. You know, like what helps me beyond taking a bath and doing meditation or doing your sensory exercises, or giving myself a gift or like stuff like that, but like what helps me to have a rich inner landscape that I can pull from at any moment to support myself.
[00:23:01] Of course there's the whole aspect of practical self-love and practical presence with oneself and practical compassion. But there's also the whole aspect of can I look at the world with wonder and imagination, you know, and see the richness that is available to me, and give myself permission to reinvent my life at any given time. Or to at least use my imagination to enrich my life or to enrich what I'm perceiving from the outside and what I'm also bringing to the world.
[00:23:43] And so that's why, you know, all those series of episodes about how you can use what you love, whether it's fiction or story or characters, or crafts or whatever it is. How you can use that beyond the confines of the activity itself. To not stop at reading the book or watching the series or making the object or the thing. But to bring it into every aspect of your life consciously. We do it unconsciously all the time. This is nothing new that I'm talking to you about. I'm not inventing the butter knife, as we say in France. But you can start doing it more consciously every day. Like becoming, starting to have the habit of reaching for it when you need it. And I'm still, you know, that's like a long-term process. Because I've been doing this for a long time. And very often I don't have the reflex or the automat ism of reaching for that when I need it.
[00:24:51] I'll be in my anxiety or in my whatever's happening in my life. And instead of reaching into, Hey, how can I resource, you know, like I really need some bravery right now. I really need to feel strong or I really need to feel like I can face a situation. And instead of going and resourcing the dozens of female warrior that I love and that I've watched intently in all the series or read about, or, or the warrior goddesses, or even Brigid that I was talking about earlier, who is also a goddess of the Smithy, like the forge, so in a way a goddess of war, and instead of doing that, I'll just be like, oh my God, I can't. This is, you know,
[00:25:33] So, it will need a friend of mine to kind of remind me of doing that. So I'm trying to be that friend for you and be like, Hey, remember, like you have so many resources that you can pull from. And kind of like pull on like a coat. You know, what would it be if you could put on some characters or some characters traits like a coat when you need them, like, oh, okay. I need to be really patient right now. So who could I, who could I put on or I need to be really strong and stand my ground right now. So I need some kind of warrior. If you're like me, if you're a geek, a space fan, there's so many female warriors that you can pull from. And so it's just a question of reminding yourself, remembering that. And that episode is to help you remember and start doing it more and bringing it more intentionally into your life.
[00:26:24] That's it for today. If you're listening to this episode as it's coming out, you have a few days left to sign up for this year's Moonlit Path. And you will hear me again in a couple of weeks talking with my friends Doris Samuelson about all things shamanic.
[00:26:46] In the meantime I hope you walk in peace and beauty.