Know the active, the masculine
Yet keep to the passive, the feminine
And you will cradle the World.
If you lovingly hold the World
You will know eternal goodness
And will become again as a little child.
Be aware of the obvious—the light
But keep to the mysterious—the dark
And set an example for the world.
Be an example for the world
And do not stray from your calling
And you will return to the Eternal.
-Lao Tzu
Translated by Rev. John Mabry
“God as Nature Sees God”
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - Day 2 of Hyperbaric Dive
I became a happy baby yesterday, even though I awoke at 4AM with an aching body, a hungry belly and a pervasive fatigue. I roused myself out of bed with leaden legs, shuffling off to the kitchen for my usual breakfast of medium boiled eggs, avocado slices, cranberry juice and tea, followed by the consumption of more pills, powders and potions than I care to admit.
Since I was up so early, I thought, why not start writing about my first day in the Hyperbaric Oxygen chamber? I wrote for several hours, and only upon completion did I realize the bodily aches were gone, and a sense of renewed energy began to kick in. I had so much fun designing the blog and newsletter that went out, choosing a collage from my “Alchemy of the Divine” series to initiate the descent, along with an “alchemical poem” to accompany it. As the blog went out to the wide world of cyberspace, a bearable lightness of being overtook me. I found myself as joyous as a little kid. I love being creative! Such an important part of the healing journey for me.
I decided to consult “The Oracle of Alchemy,” an as-yet-unpublished divination tool that I have created from my Alchemy of the Divine collage series. (“The Oracle of Alchemy” features 66 visionary images that show a process of alchemical awakening through the four elements and processes of transmutation.) The Alchemy series, like the Gateways of the Divine which proceed it, are both the fruit of a visceral initiation, and initiatory in themselves. The next octave of consciousness… (To learn more, you can read “Evolution of a Modern-Day Alchemical Initiation” at Alchemy of the Divine) The Alchemy of the Divine series really emerged as my health began to unravel 8 years ago, and making the collages became an anchor and a potent force for healing in the early years of this journey through chronic illness, with its dismantling fires, dissolving waters, grounding earth, and resurrecting airs.
It occurred to me, why not let this oracle that came through me be part of my initiation into Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy? Each day, an imaginal reflection, and its accompanying poetic illumination, weaving a thread of remembrance as my cells awaken and transform through the life-giving airs I’m being given. (The card for yesterday was Alchemical Communion X, the image of the baby at the top of this blog, along with Rev. John Mabry’s inspired translation of Lao Tzu.)
It’s the air I’m most grateful for as I entered the hyperbaric chamber for the second time. It was easier this time, the pressure now raised to 2.0 or the equivalent of 35 lbs. of water pressure, urging the oxygen deeper into my system. I decided to forgo watching the Bollywood movie I’d brought (a remake of an Ingmar Bergman film, if you can wrap your mind around THAT) and chose a film from the clinic’s library, August Rush, a magical film I’d already seen and loved, so I knew it would be healing for me to watch again, as a baby in the incubator, so to speak. The film opens with a young orphan boy in a wheat field, listening to the symphony of creation in the rustling wind, rippling leaves, and shimmering light:
Listen. Can you hear it? The music. I can hear it everywhere.
In the wind...in the air… in the light. It's all around us.
All you have to do is open yourself up.
All you have to do... is listen.
Collage Image - “Alchemical Communion X” from Alchemy of the Divine, ©2006-2011 by Colette de Gagnier. To order prints from this series, please visit Alchemy of the Divine and Colette's Visionary Art Gallery.
For more information about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and the wonderful clinic Advanced Hyperbaric Recovery of Marin, please visit ImproveHealing.com
For more information on the inspired writings of Rev. John Mabry and his Apocryphile Press, please visit Apocryphile.org
