hunab_ku

Hunab Ku

What do sacred symbols, archetypes and geometric patterns have to do with collective wisdom?

In this first of a series of “seeded conversations”, we are exploring material from  Hunab Ku: 77 Sacred Symbols for Balancing Body and Spririt, a new book by Karen Speerstra and her son Joel.

There is an in-depth presentation of their work in the Collective Wisdom Initiative website, complete with a gallery of selected images.

We invite you to offer your thoughts and reflections on what sacred symbols have to do with collective wisdom, and your responses to the four symbols we are featuring here. You can either scroll down this page or click on one of the images in the left column to join the discussion on that symbol.

[Seeds for Reflection]
... Wisdom arises out of the invisible, the 'space in between' - it does not come from rational analysis, but uses reason, facts, and experience in the crucible of paradox.  Symbols and ancient patterns evoke “wisdom” deep in our core.

... By evoking ancient patterns, we tap into a collective unconscious that is truly a shared reservoir of meaning.

Please add your thoughts and comments via the 'comments' link below:

"Mother"

This triple spiral found in Ireland, deep within the NewGrange mound—now a World Heritage Site—speaks to anyone willing to enter. Spirals incorporate lines and circles and in this case, create an image with no beginning and no ending. Think of the “threes” that surround you. Some people, when faced with the “concept” of a trinity, think: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Some think of Mother, Maiden, Crone. Some think Father, Mother, Child.

[Seeds for Reflection]:
... So many of our most valuable offerings are on the inside, held in the intuitive and feeling experiences as well as in the thoughts we don't usually share (or perhaps even acknowledge to ourselves).  The triple spiral, an image without beginning or end, is an apt description of the continuous stream of consciousness that runs below the surface of group experience, held within each of us.  It is why authentic engagement and safety in group encounter are so interrelated.

... Ancient Delphic priestesses sat on a three-legged stool—the golden tripod—to receive messages wafting up from deep within the earth. The messages, they said, came from “The Mother.”  What messages spiral through you? How do “feminine perspectives” integrate with “masculine perspectives” to create a more expansive holistic wisdom?

... If you were seated in the gaseous fumes of Delphi, what images of trinity might be speaking to you?

Please add your thoughts and comments via the 'comments' link below:
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"Serpent"

Jeremy Narby in The Cosmic Serpent opens his book with this quote from the ancient Heraclitus: “Those who love wisdom must investigate many things.” Snakes are the last things many of us would care to investigate—but what might this Ohio earth mound be inviting us to see? You recall seeing the cobra spiraling up from Ancient Egyptian headdresses—and you’ve perhaps experienced your own inner “kundalini” spiraling up your spine.

Both images call us to “wake up!”

Scientists discovered DNA’s snake-like double-helix in 1953. Twinned serpents. Dualities, yet one.  The stuff of life. The DNA molecule, Narby reminds us, is a single long chain, but made up of two interwoven ribbons.

[Seeds for Reflection]:
... Polarized thought patterns create equal and opposite formulations.  Wisdom can be found in a “third way.” The twinned serpent and its corollary in the DNA double helix offers a profound image of seeing larger contexts, embracing duality without being subject to its polarizing nature.  This is a particularly valuable skill in groups, to see singular propositions and even oppositional points of view and embrace them in larger contexts.

... How does diversity play a role in our spiraling now? What do you sense is writhing and wriggling? What’s keeping us collectively at the edge?

Please add your thoughts and comments via the 'comments' link below:
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"Dragon"

From the prow of a Norwegian burial ship, this dragon figure epitomizes all dragons— mythical beasts that breathe fire. Fear sometimes feels like fire-breathing. But in some cultures, in China, for instance, the dragon’s gentle breath brings rain.

To be wise is to see differing viewpoints. What we fear can also brings us gifts. The Tao Te Ching tells us “There is no greater illusion than fear… whoever can see through all fear will always be safe.”

[Seeds for Reflection]:
... Holding that 'space' for the unknown and the unexpected is an essential condition for anything new to emerge and especially so for collective wisdom. The dragon is a powerful dual image of the fire we fear and the gentle breath we seek, the impulse to take us beyond our preconceptions.

... Collective wisdom comes out the realm of the unknown and the dispersion of illusion. In Buddhist traditions, respecting the dragon’s power means understanding its capacity to evoke terror and alarm, leading us to learn about our own inner trials and terrors. It also means grasping that the dragon is an inner image whose power comes from our own fears. What might it be like to learn to feed the dragon what it needs, rather than to simply fight it? How can we in groups recognize when the dragon has been evoked and learn what is needed rather than simply reacting to each other?

... What happens when you name your fears? What are you most afraid of? What needs confronting? How do you define “security”?

Please add your thoughts and comments via the 'comments' link below:
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"Mystic"

This is the Eleven Circuit Medieval Labyrinth inlaid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France around 1201. Many things are reflected in the labyrinth: the brain, the intestines and the structure of the cosmos.

Dr. Lauren Artress has called this labyrinth a 'divine imprint,' because walking it not only quiets the mind, but opens the imaginative capabilities that lead the way to psycho-spiritual transformation. This sacred path offers safe passage due to its clear boundaries and highly structured path. Labyrinths are not mazes. Mazes are designed to lose your way; labyrinths are designed to find it.

The six petaled rose in the center of this famous labyrinth holds many meanings: the six days of  creation; the rose of Sharon, the lily (a symbol of rebirth) and the petals of the lotus.

[Seeds for Reflection]:
... Have you walked a labyrinth and/or participated with a group using the labyrinth? If so, please describe. What was your interior and exterior experience of this practice?

... What did you notice in walking the labyrinth about the conditions it enables for communion, sense of connection and collective insight?

Please add your thoughts and comments via the 'comments' link below
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