Now, right now, we are living the experience of our own breathing, reading these words, perhaps hearing noises around us, and perhaps feeling heat or cold…
And even now, here, clinging to us are the stories of our experiences—the interpretation, the evaluation, the conclusion—like a shawl wrapped around each of us and the current experience.
The difficult thing about the mental level is that it lasts much longer than the experience itself, becoming a belief crammed into a filter that we take with us in the next moment and that determines what we experience next, what we see or don’t see at all.
Many of us are familiar with such beliefs, conclusions we formed in early childhood that continue to impact our behaviors and recurring decisions in our lives. Like an algorithm, they filter out anything that doesn’t fit the story we’re loyal to. Even when we know they are limiting and to our disadvantage, we look for evidence to support them, and sure enough, we find them – self-fulfilling prophecies.
When, caught in the net of our own filters, we end up entwining them with the filters of others, our perception becomes more and more dense and the lens through which we look more and more opaque, making us live the illusion that what we see is the only truth.
If we get caught up in these limiting stories, we completely forget about the much bigger story we are a part of. We are afraid to break free and cling to our little stories, deluding ourselves that in this way we avoid feeling irresponsible, or resigned, avoiding admitting that we are actually embracing the very thing we despise. When we identify with our stories and beliefs, giving them up could feel like self-abandonment. Maybe even as a kind of death!
“Who am I without my stories?”
Now, the stories of mythology have been replaced by urban legends, which are also a way of understanding the world and managing threats in a safe environment. From the perspective of the individual locked into their own beliefs, urban myths act as evidence and reinforce existing beliefs. This helps validate a person’s worldview and helps legitimize their fears as real and authentic.
But it is the great stories of mythology that give us guidance, mirroring the fact that when we step out of the maze of our old stories and beliefs, we open ourselves to the possibility of connecting directly to the resourceful source of power. From the great stories of mythology we learn that just beyond the edge of our limits lie the values that heal and enlighten us and the truth that unites us.
When we peel back the old stories and for a moment remain vulnerable and sensitive, then we step out of fate and into destiny.
Ever-changing challenges and opportunities are what make up life on this Earth.
Things are not what they seem.
But not different either.
erception defines our reality. Within us is the limitless power of Creation; we just have to re-remember this and make the choice: we keep the opaque filters, woven from the thousands of little stories of a hostile and limiting fate, in which we huddle like in the bed of Procrustus, or we throw them away.
Close your eyes and remember: you are seated in a circle, with brothers and sisters of the tribe, swayed to the hypnotic rhythm of the drum, around a large fire, embracing you with its warmth, whispering in your ears the long-forgotten story – ” In the Dreaming, the world was flat, barren, and arctic. The Rainbow Serpent was sleeping deep, underground… And in her womb, peacefully, all the animal tribes were sleeping, waiting for their birth…. When the time came, the Rainbow Serpent sought its way to the surface of the earth, calling the animals to wake up from sleep. She created the Sun and Fire. He threw up the earth, creating the valleys, hills, and mountains, and poured out the Water over the Earth, forming the rivers, lakes, and seas…”
Did you re-remember?
We await you around the fire, within the Medicine Wheel, to immerse ourselves in the practices of the Q’ero shamans, learning to navigate the labyrinth of our stories and, accompanied by the wisdom of Sachamama, the Serpent Mother, to re-remember together the great stories and we peel away the limiting ones, allowing ourselves to grow.
