04-06-2019, 09:52 AM
The catayst of the body is the wheel, because there are many cycles that we experience in physical reality. Diurnal cycles, moon cycles, other planetary cycles. Hormonal cycles, eating cycles, some of us poop at the same time every day. Some of us need a cup of coffee every morning. Some of these cycles are immutable, and most of them affect us on an instinctual, animal level. For instance, ERs being more busy during a full moon, or when we feel sexually aroused by simple stimulus, or when we smell delicious food and it makes us hungry. Our bodies were designed to keep us alive and viable without conscious awareness (the sphinx). So many things we do in a day are unconscious, routine, and solidified by habit.
The experience of the body is a woman holding closed the jaws of a dangerous animal. To me, I see the left hand on the throat as "choking" the animal, and I see the right hand on the top of the nose as more like "stroking" the animal. We have two choices when it comes to "taming" the cycles of our instinctual body - we can force it into submission with fear and abuse, or we can accept and love and work in cooperation with the "dangerous animal". Both choices have the effect of keeping the jaws of the lion closed. The birds on her head symbolize that she has already cooperated with the body in a successful fashion in one way or another.
So, for instance, you get a new puppy. The puppy's main instincts are to play, they also go through a teething process where they chew. They also have to be taught where to go to the bathroom, what they are and aren't allowed to eat - etc. The two options are often referred to as "negative reinforcement" or "positive reinforcement" - you can beat your dog every time he goes to the bathroom in the house to get him to stop, or you can reward him every time he performs the behavior that you want to encourage. We have the same choices about how we treat our own bodies, and also, the planetary body at large. Am I going to punish myself when I eat sugar, or am I going to reward myself with praise when I choose to eat fruit instead? Am I going to spray my garden with pesticides so that no bugs exist to eat my plants, or am I going to learn to understand and cultivate a microecosystem where all the parts contribute to create a greater whole? Do I want to subjugate the body to my will, or do I want to learn to understand and cooperate with it through patience and perseverance?
The experience of the body is a woman holding closed the jaws of a dangerous animal. To me, I see the left hand on the throat as "choking" the animal, and I see the right hand on the top of the nose as more like "stroking" the animal. We have two choices when it comes to "taming" the cycles of our instinctual body - we can force it into submission with fear and abuse, or we can accept and love and work in cooperation with the "dangerous animal". Both choices have the effect of keeping the jaws of the lion closed. The birds on her head symbolize that she has already cooperated with the body in a successful fashion in one way or another.
So, for instance, you get a new puppy. The puppy's main instincts are to play, they also go through a teething process where they chew. They also have to be taught where to go to the bathroom, what they are and aren't allowed to eat - etc. The two options are often referred to as "negative reinforcement" or "positive reinforcement" - you can beat your dog every time he goes to the bathroom in the house to get him to stop, or you can reward him every time he performs the behavior that you want to encourage. We have the same choices about how we treat our own bodies, and also, the planetary body at large. Am I going to punish myself when I eat sugar, or am I going to reward myself with praise when I choose to eat fruit instead? Am I going to spray my garden with pesticides so that no bugs exist to eat my plants, or am I going to learn to understand and cultivate a microecosystem where all the parts contribute to create a greater whole? Do I want to subjugate the body to my will, or do I want to learn to understand and cooperate with it through patience and perseverance?
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