BEFRIENDING THE SABOTEUR…
" Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the indibidual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is."
Carl Jung
The Saboteur, I have come to learn, is an incredibly important figure in the Archetypical hierarchy of personal growth and evolution.
There is a famous saying that goes…
"With great power comes even greater responsibility"…
But what if that great power were unlimited, without opposition and corrupts the King/Queen? If there were no one to thwart our all powerful ego oh what a horrible tyrant we would likely be.
Learning how to honour, understand and hear the Saboteur as a trusted council member, instead of repressing, oppressing, battling him as an enemy, is an important undertaking and not an easy task I once believed.
Having found the Saboteur to be someone or something that arrives unexpectedly, when I least expects it I see now is because I have repeatedly not been listening to the inner voice and song of the land, of the greater beyond, for long enough that the Saboteur is called out of hiding.
In this way the Saboteur serves as a great guardian of the realm and a much needed failsafe.
If the King is to be a servant King and not a Tyrant then the King needs to let go of his crown at times. To humbly dawn his mud boots and go work in the fields, grab an apron and enter the kitchens, do the cooking AND the dishes, clear out the livery, and so on. It is then that, when he returns, smelling of the earth, food and shit, he may sit on the Throne nobly.
The true throne, within me, is not a place I am born to inherit, it is earned by questing, appreciating, contemplating, letting it all go, and learning how to go beyond into even deeper loving.
The throne, for me, represents a divine portal which will slay me if I am anything less than in service.
Just like role of the King the Saboteur is also here to serve.
The Saboteur is the shadow of the King
And therefore can never be escaped
Unless, perhaps, the King becomes aware, that we are all light. (Theory)
To fight the saboteur, I believe, is not wise but potentially good for a chuckle from time to time.
It makes him go underground.
Chronic fatigue, illness, addictions, unconscious shadows running all over the bell towers and hallways, who wants that crap?
Over the years, some of my relationships have served me by becoming the Saboteur role... when I was unprepared to call myself out on my own shit.
I too have served that role for others, I believe, and likely may again, both serve and be served, when unconsciousness needs it.
Today I officially welcome the Saboteur into my council
I ask him to take a seat beside and behind me so he can give me a good poke with a bamboo stick if I seem to need it.
The jester is welcome on the other side with his rattle and magic bag of tricks though it is challenging to get that child to sit.
I ask him, I invite him, the Saboteur, to speak in serving ways that teach me so that I may hear the divine, hear when I have not been taking the time;
To go back into nature, or
When I have been ignoring the sage,
The Queen
The young lovers who only want lovemaking,
For the Magician's latest Invention and
My own inner meditations.
And so it is,
May it be so.
As a Practical Piece I practice:
In my own sacred space in my studio/home I have created a clear effigy to remind me to turn to, to be reminded, to ask, to listen, to openly and carefully hear in my body, heart, mind, etc… the voice of the Saboteur and what he might offer me?
What may I be missing…?
And while I give the Saboteur this freedom, responsibility and authority I am clear that I am the King and you are an aid, a servant, like me not an usurper with unlimited tyranny either.
You are my friend
And I welcome you as such equally.
Thank you for those times you have been such a staunch adversary
And more importantly for being such a loyal companion to the needs of the Realm.