A unique take on the Covid situation

[Apparition of Jack]

First, I hope everyone is staying healthy and keeping themselves occupied, especially as countries move towards lockdown. This will be an interesting experience for all of us to say the least. If there was ever a chance to meditate, do art, self-actualise, start a blog, catch up on movies, now is the time.

Anyway, moving onto my main point. One way to look at this situation is essentially the global shift from left-brain, Masculine-dominant consciousness towards a more right-brain, Feminine dominant consciousness.

We in the modern world - and especially in the modern West - are very masculine-dominant in our outlook and activities. We value control, progress, delineation, movement, industrialism, individualism - all very masculine-heavy aspects. However, what this Covid virus will expose to us is the aspect of reality that is instead about being receptive/dependent (instead of in control), cycles of time, connection, stillness, environmentalism, collectivism - things we have either suppressed or ignored for a long time now and is now being made clear to us.

Because this is the basic truth - as much as one can stock up on food, take supplements, follow the news, practice social distancing, and so on (and I highly encourage everyone to do all these things, except maybe the news part too much), there's still only so much you can do, and odds are you, or someone close to you, will end up catching the virus anyway. This is nothing to say of the collective consequences of this - despite our best efforts, we will have a recession, politics will be shaken up, old ways of thinking will die, public institutions will fail to meet the demands, you catch my drift.

I'm not saying this to make you afraid or angry, quite the opposite actually. I'm saying this because the way to be able to navigate and come out of these collective processes we will go through is to get acquainted with the Feminine. Instead of compulsively reaching for the news app every time you feel a negative emotion about the virus, invoke the Feminine and do a piece of art on how you're feeling instead (bored, nervous, sad, doesn't matter). Instead of getting neurotic about every little thing you eat, invoke the Feminine and trust that so long as you are healthy and have been taking dietary precautions, your body will do the rest of the work. Instead of catastrophising about the end of days, about people fighting over scraps and nations falling into anarchy, invoke the Feminine, let yourself experience these emotions, and trust that the world is more secure than that and the way forward for humanity will be shown, so long as you let the Feminine help you let go of your obsession for control. Also, I say this a lot in my posts, but cultivating Love and reaching out to others is always a valuable and uplifting thing to do, since it binds your being to another and helps take you out of whatever internal distress you were feeling. The Feminine thrives in these connections.

How you imagine the Feminine doesn't really matter IMO. I visualise her as Sophia, the Goddess/Spirit of Wisdom that the ancient philosophers, gnostics and Christians have devoted themselves to for millennia. For you it might be another Goddess, maybe St. Mary, or Gaia, or Shakti, or Tara. It might just be "the Feminine" aspect of God/Truth/Reality without having to put too much labels on it. Maybe it could be your Anima, if you're a guy and are into Jungian psychology. Be creative, whatever one appeals to you the most - however you conceive of the Feminine aspect of your True Self/God/the Universe is 100% fine if it works for you.

Also, how you interact with her is up to you to. I know Leo doesn't speak too highly of bhakti but if you're so aesthetically-inclined, a shrine to the Feminine might help keep your mind grounded during uncertain times, so long as you don't start mistaking it as something "outside of" yourself (she is just You, after all. Just a part of You that you might not be familiar with). I know I have a little shrine to her in my room. Or, you might just "feel" her when you need guidance/support/wisdom and leave it at that. Maybe you could watch YouTube videos by wise women who speak with a very truthful and reassuring energy. Again, whatever works for you is good.

If you do all this and let the process unfold, many wonderful things could happen. I wish to reiterate that I'm not saying any of this is a replacement to doing the nitty-gritty Masculine work that needs done, nor is it a solution to whatever problems arise, just that it is the emotional, psychological and spiritual framework we will increasingly have to get used to in order to give us the individual and collective space and security we need to deal with this thing. The Feminine is the aspect of Reality that loves, accepts and connects unconditionally, no matter what is going on on the surface. She will be here throughout this thing entirely.

 

[Preety_India]

 

Feminine is not about passivity or let go. 

You forgot the biggest aspect of feminine - creation. Birth. Fertility. 

 

Women like to create, make better, improve. They are not just lying around waiting for things to pass. Most women want to actively build things and make them happen which is the aggressive feminine. 

But some part of feminine is about relaxing and hoping and letting go. 

 

 

58 minutes ago, Apparition of Jack said:

Instead of compulsively reaching for the news app every time you feel a negative emotion about the virus, invoke the Feminine and do a piece of art on how you're feeling instead (bored, nervous, sad, doesn't matter).

The Feminine here can be to have self control and realize how it is going to make the self anxious. Remember your kindergarten female teacher told you "baby it will be alright, relax." 

The Feminine way to deal with anxiety would be to cuddle a teddy bear and look for support. Eat a bowl of ice cream. Sleep in your bed and watch movies. 

Think the boogeyman has gone. 

Keep warm. Stop thinking too much. 

 

59 minutes ago, Apparition of Jack said:

Instead of getting neurotic about every little thing you eat, invoke the Feminine and trust that so long as you are healthy and have been taking dietary precautions, your body will do the rest of the work

 

The Feminine here can be - 

Don't overdo. Don't get paranoid or aggressive. Shussssh. 

Again control. Say to yourself that you are already doing fine. You don't need much. Focus on the moment. 

Have you eaten right and enough for the day? Now time to relax. 

Use your energy for tomorrow. 

Feminine tries to save and conserve the energy for the tomorrow. Doesn't exhaust it right away. 

 

59 minutes ago, Apparition of Jack said:

Instead of catastrophising about the end of days, about people fighting over scraps and nations falling into anarchy, invoke the Feminine, let yourself experience these emotions, and trust that the world is more secure than that and the way forward for humanity will be shown, so long as you let the Feminine help you let go of your obsession for control.

Here the Feminine aspect can be 

So what if the world is acting crazy and going crazy, my feminine energy will bring balance. It will stay strong and resilient in the middle of crisis. 

"I won't break down even if the world does. I will stay strong during the storm like a tree in the wind." 

I'll absorb the shock with my gentleness and reassurance and grow older and stronger. Not bitter. 

Feminine seeks the positive and encouragement even in negative situations. 

It fundamentally believes that even in the worst circumstances, good can be found and good can be created. Because that's what related to creation procreation or birth. 

Basically the Feminine aspect is fertility. 

Making a barren land fertile. 

Sowing hope where there was none. 

That's why the nurse the teacher the mother gives hope to the child even when the world is crashing down. 

Have a great day! 

----------------------------------

 

For me the Feminine that I worship is Hecate, Gaia, Diana 

 

Gaia 

 

 

[Emerald]

I have been thinking of this as well.

 

 

[Forestluv]

Beautiful post. A few observations within your framework:

The virus is "invisible" which prevents a challenge to standard masculine aggression against a human adversary. The virus cannot be dehumanized, since it is already not human. The virus cannot be "otherized" because it is not another human. One cannot create an inter-personal, inter-racial, or inter-national conflict with the virus itself because the virus has no personality, race or nationality. The virus is invisible to our sight. 

Yet there still seems to be some "masculine" energy of conflict. The masculine cannot create an "us vs them" conflict with the virus, yet it can create an "us vs it" conflict. We are already seeing this in the U.S. as politicians has now framed this as a "war against the virus". Aspects of this is seen in the drive to develop and promote more testing, so we can "see" and identify the "enemy". As well, there is a massive 24/7 effort in the scientific community to develop a vaccine to destroy the enemy. . . .We could consider nurses and doctors to be soldiers on the front lines of the war. They are putting themselves in harm's way and isolated themselves from friends and family to protect their loved ones. 

As you wrote about the feminine, there are also energetics of getting in touch with one's feelings and emotions - and developing ways to express those emotions - perhaps through journaling, art or conversations with others. As well, developing greater empathy for others. Last night, I watched a video with clips of Italians speaking to Americans - to tell Americans what is coming next week. The video was filled with empathy and concern. They have the direct experience and produced a video to help Americans prepare and cope. One woman spoke about how people in her community went to their balconies and spontaneously started singing together in unity. Beauty within tragedy. . . Many of us will feel anxiety about the virus. Many of us will experience feelings of boredom and isolation. The energetics of this direct experience can be expressed by lashing out at others as frustration and anger. It can also allow greater understanding of what others are going through. It can allow for reaching out and developing human connections and mutual support.  

 

[ivory]

On 3/18/2020 at 9:20 AM, Apparition of Jack said:

This is nothing to say of the collective consequences of this - despite our best efforts, we will have a recession, politics will be shaken up, old ways of thinking will die, public institutions will fail to meet the demands, you catch my drift.

Interesting, I was just talking to my roommate about this a few minutes ago. This is a time when people are going to have to reassess what's really important. I've been saying this for quite some time, but real change often requires a crisis.

[ivory]

On 3/18/2020 at 9:20 AM, Apparition of Jack said:

If there was ever a chance to meditate, do art, self-actualise, start a blog, catch up on movies, now is the time.

I'm going to make adapt and take up some new hobbies. In addition to my meditation routine I'm going to take up yoga and write poetry!