Magdalene laundries! Wow. Mary has been living rent free in my head lately as I too contemplate the power of logos. St. Peter and his followers really did a number on her. If she was truly a prostitute (arguable) she was very successful. It seems she may have bankrolled Jesus's ministry.
Importantly, Mary's Gospel seems to be the true teaching, one where inner, spiritual knowledge is the key to salvation, where women and men have equal standing based on their understanding of the message of the Savior, one where we must rise above the demonic gatekeepers of the physical cosmos rather than believe in dogma or the death cult waiting for daddy to come back. In this Gospel, Mary Magdalene is the true inheritor of the Gospel of Christ rather than Peter who attacks her solely based on her gender, despite her profound relationship with the Savior and her understanding of his secret teachings.
Who's story gets adopted can change history, but I believe that even my story and yours, written with love, compassion, and a full heart can change the universe, even if unread.
Our stories are a message to the ineffable. The universe is built on stories, and if we can't get them into the public consciousness. Mary's story was suppressed for millennia, but it seems to me she has inspired generations of us, even though we may never have read it.
This is very constructive and supportive of liberation! Your insights and articulation with all the quotes are great!
I love so many parts! “Stay incarnate. Tell what happened. Express who you are.
And yes, even tell the story knowing it will evolve; realizing that memory is imperfect; recognizing that tomorrow you may understand yourself differently. Tell it anyway.
Storytelling is the ancient human act of cooking raw experience into meaning that can be shared, witnessed, and carried together.”
Such an excellent post. As I read, I was also thinking that the other thing these no self/no story spiritual teachers feed into is the self-critic inside us--it's so easy to "fail" at this no-self business and continue to need their help. To spend our lives finding all the ways we can love and accept ourselves, warts and all, rather than to work to disappear our particular self, feels more like a pathway to loving all humanity, which is perhaps, what we're here to do...
Loved this. I'm a flower essence practitioner, and 30 years ago I used this quote from GK Chesterton for my flower essence guide: "We are all in the same boat in a story sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty." It wasn't til about 10 years ago, when I was updating the guide and now had the internet, that I learned I had misquoted--Chesterton actually said "stormy" sea, not "story" sea. I kept my version.
The line that lands hardest for me is "for the silenced, storytelling is re-entry into reality." That's the one I'd defend too.
What I keep coming back to is that a birth chart is the one story none of us chose. The placements are handed over at the first breath, before we have any say in them. So you would expect a chart to be the ultimate no-self argument, proof that a person is just a set of conditions. But the people who get real use out of theirs do the opposite of dissolving it. They treat the chart as raw material and then author meaning from it, which is Solnit's victory almost exactly. The story isn't denied, it gets told.
The "there is no authentic story" move has a quieter cost, too. Telling someone their narrative is an illusion can sound like liberation, but it often just relocates authority away from them, and the people most encouraged to release their story tend to be the ones who had the least power over it to begin with. A chart read well does the reverse. It hands the pen back. Here is the material you were dealt, and you are the one who decides what it means.
Let me start with THANK YOU.....This was such a timely column in that this administration is taking down statues, taking books out of libraries, schools and universities;pretending they didn't erase people who they felt fell under "DEI" from the historical archives until they got caught by Jackie Robinson's family and then "oops"......So YES....STORYTELLING is a way to Honor, our past, our peoples .It is also there to remember the horrors of the past so they are not repeated.
Then there are Our stories...have we made them our victories or our recurring traumas? ex. I had a re-occurring pattern....the last time it happened i said " i thought i was doing better" and the voice said "You are...but how would you know if it wasn't presented to you again"....and THAT time, I responded differently to a pattern i had reacted to the same way each time. THAT was the last time. Now, I can actually hear if a person is using their story to show how they became victorious from/through their trauma or patterns; or telling their story as part of their pattern, feeding into the pattern/trauma.
Then there is Rob Brezsny, who, in my opinion, is this "braniac" that is so wellread and wellspoken, that you should get printed for your articles, because I learn of a new writer, philosopher, poet, etc., that i've never heard of and that leads me to do more investigating and quiet moments.
Yay! This aligned from a posting awhile ago regarding "addiction", mine being 'victimhood, martyrdom' is especially apt. Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, my journal awaits.
I love every bit of this. As a professional storyteller, my work is a lovely mishmash of telling stories to kids (folktales from many cultures, stories from books, my own stories), teaching grownups to do the same, and running workshops on telling our own stories. Stories connect us. As Jonathan Gotschall says, “we are storytelling animals.” Our stories matter in the world.
Thank you so much for the wisdom, kindness and stories you offer, Rob.
One of your very best columns ever. Thank you for this 🙏❤️
Magdalene laundries! Wow. Mary has been living rent free in my head lately as I too contemplate the power of logos. St. Peter and his followers really did a number on her. If she was truly a prostitute (arguable) she was very successful. It seems she may have bankrolled Jesus's ministry.
Importantly, Mary's Gospel seems to be the true teaching, one where inner, spiritual knowledge is the key to salvation, where women and men have equal standing based on their understanding of the message of the Savior, one where we must rise above the demonic gatekeepers of the physical cosmos rather than believe in dogma or the death cult waiting for daddy to come back. In this Gospel, Mary Magdalene is the true inheritor of the Gospel of Christ rather than Peter who attacks her solely based on her gender, despite her profound relationship with the Savior and her understanding of his secret teachings.
Who's story gets adopted can change history, but I believe that even my story and yours, written with love, compassion, and a full heart can change the universe, even if unread.
Our stories are a message to the ineffable. The universe is built on stories, and if we can't get them into the public consciousness. Mary's story was suppressed for millennia, but it seems to me she has inspired generations of us, even though we may never have read it.
This is very constructive and supportive of liberation! Your insights and articulation with all the quotes are great!
I love so many parts! “Stay incarnate. Tell what happened. Express who you are.
And yes, even tell the story knowing it will evolve; realizing that memory is imperfect; recognizing that tomorrow you may understand yourself differently. Tell it anyway.
Storytelling is the ancient human act of cooking raw experience into meaning that can be shared, witnessed, and carried together.”
Such an excellent post. As I read, I was also thinking that the other thing these no self/no story spiritual teachers feed into is the self-critic inside us--it's so easy to "fail" at this no-self business and continue to need their help. To spend our lives finding all the ways we can love and accept ourselves, warts and all, rather than to work to disappear our particular self, feels more like a pathway to loving all humanity, which is perhaps, what we're here to do...
Loved this. I'm a flower essence practitioner, and 30 years ago I used this quote from GK Chesterton for my flower essence guide: "We are all in the same boat in a story sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty." It wasn't til about 10 years ago, when I was updating the guide and now had the internet, that I learned I had misquoted--Chesterton actually said "stormy" sea, not "story" sea. I kept my version.
The line that lands hardest for me is "for the silenced, storytelling is re-entry into reality." That's the one I'd defend too.
What I keep coming back to is that a birth chart is the one story none of us chose. The placements are handed over at the first breath, before we have any say in them. So you would expect a chart to be the ultimate no-self argument, proof that a person is just a set of conditions. But the people who get real use out of theirs do the opposite of dissolving it. They treat the chart as raw material and then author meaning from it, which is Solnit's victory almost exactly. The story isn't denied, it gets told.
The "there is no authentic story" move has a quieter cost, too. Telling someone their narrative is an illusion can sound like liberation, but it often just relocates authority away from them, and the people most encouraged to release their story tend to be the ones who had the least power over it to begin with. A chart read well does the reverse. It hands the pen back. Here is the material you were dealt, and you are the one who decides what it means.
In the spiritual path I have studied, we all do indeed choose our birth chart and soul's code, within the constraints of our karma.
You are brilliantly articulating something I have felt with unease but had not been able to name. Thank you.
Me too :).
Thank you very much, dear Rob Brezsny! Unbelievable helpful!💟😊💐
Let me start with THANK YOU.....This was such a timely column in that this administration is taking down statues, taking books out of libraries, schools and universities;pretending they didn't erase people who they felt fell under "DEI" from the historical archives until they got caught by Jackie Robinson's family and then "oops"......So YES....STORYTELLING is a way to Honor, our past, our peoples .It is also there to remember the horrors of the past so they are not repeated.
Then there are Our stories...have we made them our victories or our recurring traumas? ex. I had a re-occurring pattern....the last time it happened i said " i thought i was doing better" and the voice said "You are...but how would you know if it wasn't presented to you again"....and THAT time, I responded differently to a pattern i had reacted to the same way each time. THAT was the last time. Now, I can actually hear if a person is using their story to show how they became victorious from/through their trauma or patterns; or telling their story as part of their pattern, feeding into the pattern/trauma.
Then there is Rob Brezsny, who, in my opinion, is this "braniac" that is so wellread and wellspoken, that you should get printed for your articles, because I learn of a new writer, philosopher, poet, etc., that i've never heard of and that leads me to do more investigating and quiet moments.
Yay! This aligned from a posting awhile ago regarding "addiction", mine being 'victimhood, martyrdom' is especially apt. Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, my journal awaits.
I needed this. Thank you, Rob!
That brought a lot of clarity to my purpose . Seventh generation Talbott in the “New World.”
less like an old version of myself. stepping in to a new space... unafraid, lonely, but willing.. so willing. full moon reveals and illuminates/
Finding lots of inspiration here✨ Thank you ✨
Muy, lucid, Mister! 😁
I love every bit of this. As a professional storyteller, my work is a lovely mishmash of telling stories to kids (folktales from many cultures, stories from books, my own stories), teaching grownups to do the same, and running workshops on telling our own stories. Stories connect us. As Jonathan Gotschall says, “we are storytelling animals.” Our stories matter in the world.
Thank you so much for the wisdom, kindness and stories you offer, Rob.