~ speaking from an authentic voice, the truth ~
The Black Egg contains one of life's essential treasures -- the truth. Inside of it resides no confusion, excuses, small talk, noise, or lies (not even white ones). This living and breathing vessel harbors only that which rings true. When this essence is in balance we speak slowly and clearly. We are drawn to activities like writing, reading, teaching, singing, or perhaps public speaking. Sounds draw us in, books draw us in, the concept of truth itself draws us in. We start asking questions like "What do I know to be true about myself?" and "What is true about the world?" When the energy of the Black Egg is not yet accessed we speak from an unsure place. We say things others want to hear, gossip, or repeat stories to justify our subpar behavior. We might even try to convince ourselves that we have no inner truth at all. The energy of the black Egg hovers and waits for us to reconnect. It is available at every moment, in every situation. It's the epicenter of truth, the birthplace of our voice.
~ the black egg and the fifth chakra ~
The subtle essence of this card resides at the base of the throat, at the vishuddha chakra. The ancient sages saw this center as the hub that governs our speech and expression. Vishuddha translates as "especially pure." The balance of this center is important for all of us, but is especially essential for writers, editors, musicians, and teachers.
Hi friends! :) Welcome to week 25 of our yoga series - exploring this life through the symbolism of the animal kingdom. Each creature represents a different aspect of our human journey, helping us to better understand and connect to our inner and outer worlds. Every 5 weeks in our yoga classes, we cycle through each of the 5 elements (earth, water, fire, air, space) and their respective animals in this card deck.
Last week, the bee of the air element helped us reflect on our roles at work. Our "work" being not only our job, but all areas of our lives where we're "doing"... so literally anything haha. Our relationships, our health, our hobbies... anything. When the bee within us is in balance, we are creative and enthusiastic workers and collaborators; however, when we become overworked or burnt out... those things that once brought us so much joy and purpose now feel annoying and dull. The bee taught us the importance of stepping back and resting when burnt out so we don't sting and sabotage out of exhaustion.
This week, we complete our fifth cycle of the elements with the black egg. This card is associated with the space element, which differs from the other four elements. Space is the container that holds the earth, water, fire, and air. It is the stage upon which the other elements dance. The space element cards point us toward a deep, primordial aspect of ourselves... an underlying current - a deep calling. The black egg holds our unborn truth -- it is the pure essence within that breathes life into our expression. All we say or express comes from this sacred place.
Our last space element card, the golden egg, represented the pure essence of our heart -- of love... where we listened for truth. The black egg represents the pure essence of our voice -- of the expression of this love and truth... where we can share our truth out unto the earth.
Within us rests love and truth and power, which swirl together creating our essence, in its purest most potent form. This is true for every single person. The yogic path, and all spiritual paths, are a journey of the human being shedding the layers that create an apparent barrier between our experience and our essence. So as we journey forward, we are able to access more and more of that pure essence within.
It is as though you are a lamp with many scarves draped over top. At first, your light may be very dim... but it's there -- you can see it's glow, feel its warmth. So step by step, in a way that's usually not so straightforward, one by one, you begin to pull the scarves away. As you do so, not only does your own light and warmth become known, but everything around you is illuminated as well.
These scarves are the many decorations of the human experience. Some are hideous, mangled and dirty. Some are gorgeous, with intricate designs, made of silk. But no matter how the scarf appears, it is still a blockage separating our essence from our experience. Because we may be experiencing more scarves than light. The scarves mask the light, they may change the color, or the way shadows cast onto your surroundings. The scarf represents our conditioning, our culture, our biology, our human-ness.
Scarves aren't bad. They're what make us human. But quite often, we experience our scarves as a burden -- they weigh us down, obscure our clarity. Or sometimes we may love a certain scarf so much we don't know who we'd be without it... sometimes we cling to the dirty ones in this same way. Sometimes we pick up a few new ones. And none of this is bad -- it's all part of the human experience! When it's time to drop a certain scarf, it'll happen. I'm really running with this metaphor here haha, but I think it's working.
The golden egg (associated with the heart chakra) helped us to recognize and tune into that light... to listen... so we gather the wisdom for our path. Our heart's calling -- our direction. The black egg (associated with the throat chakra) helps us, from a place of already having listened to the heart, to express that wisdom into existence. This can be through words, actions, creativity, or even simply our thoughts and emotions.
So as with the lamp metaphor, if our truth, our light, is covered up by hella scarves, it'll be more difficult to express ourselves authentically because we aren't even experiencing ourselves authentically. The heart beckons the experience, and the voice beckons the expression. Is this making sense? First we must experience our (truth love power) then we can express it.
As the card's description explores, when attempting to express our truth when our truth is clouded (by scarves) we will be expressing through a "scarf filter". The way we express ourselves may be through an "insecurity filter", an "anger filter", a "pride filter"... and these filters may hinder us from expressing ourselves in a way that really feels FREE and TRUE. Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if we experience insecurities, anger, or pride, or whatever else... because that's what makes us HUMAN. What matters is that we feel free in our experience of these things. And often the more we pull back the layers and connect with the light within, the more autonomy and choice it feels we have to wear our scarves with dignity and confidence... as not something to weigh us down, but something that makes us unique.
Maybe all our scarves are a little dusty and they just need a nice clean... so we take one off. Maybe it's a designer scarf, maybe it's a plain and tattered one. And in the process, we are getting to know and understand ourselves better, we are glimpsing the light below. We clean the scarf, we learn about its patterns, its past, its material. And then maybe we put it back on maybe not.
That's life baby! That's the human experience. And the reason we do this is because we are curious, we are dreamers, we are looking for deeper and deeper ways to connect and to love. And as we become more connected and loving, as a byproduct we express more authentically, more unguarded, more unapologetically. And in doing so... we become more connected and loving. It's all a reciprocal process.
Unless it is our dharma (our life purpose) to become some kind of enlightened saint, none of us are going to end up as pure lightbulb with no shade or scarves. Even the saints say they still need to wear a little somethin somethin -- they still need to hold onto a little bit of personality and identity to stay in the human experience. Otherwise, they'd "drop their body"... and just merge into the oneness of the universe.
So, flaunt your decorations babe! Hell yeah! Human experience! But remember, sometimes our decor is enhancing our light, and sometimes it's covering it up. The black egg is our unborn truth. She calls for us to yearn for more light, more honesty, more authenticity, more looooove. And from connecting to that precious place of truth, we pour it out effortlessly unto this earth -- our truth warms and lightens all that it touches.
...
Next week, we begin a new cycle, returning to the earth element. The fox within us is a smart, sexy, and committed partner. This can be in reference to our romantic or platonic relationships. When the fox is unbalanced, she is sneaky and unsure about her identity. Don't let the fox slip away for too long, you are a wise teacher and a magical friend -- your life path asks you to connect.
til next time ✌︎
dream extreme!
♡ kat
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