There she was, technicolor.
Frozen in place by my mindless footfall.
Chartreuse swirl with raspberry lashing
tongue.
“Dont mind me, I’m minding myself” -
I suppose her doubt was the lesson
before she slithered away to be unseen.
Both victims to different outcomes.
-Paul Shaw
Memories from the Root -
Driving downward, compelled by the need to enrich, nourish - the trunk, spine. Lay upon your chest the mantle of our ancestors born of hide and wool and silkworm - the fruits of the greater mother of whoms bones were knit from the stars. We are pinpoints of awareness, fractals repeating. One awesome, infinite heartbeat.
Why do we feel so disconnected?
Perhaps we have forgotten our place in the cosmos? Maybe it’s the illusion of fear and scarcity of basic needs like water, food, shelter and safety which lead us to victimhood and division. Ambika Wauters shares in her work Chakras and their Archetypes, Uniting Energy Awareness and Spiritual Growth, “Life is always a perfect mirror for the attitudes we embrace.” She artfully weaves the Jungian view on achetypes with the ancient Hindu chakra system to workshop the 7 energy points in the human body.
Susan Seddon-Boulet
The Root Chakra is located at the base of the spine or tailbone. Wauters articulates the function of the root chakra to filter “energy up from the earth” connecting our higher energies to the basic reality of life. She goes on to say, “The emotional issues relating to this chakra revolve around the essentials we need for survivial and our sense of security in the world.” The block at this level is getting aquantied with your inner victim or your self at the mercy to external forces which work against it.
Wauters provides the following questions as an exercise to tap into your emotional victimhood:
1) Recall an experience in your life where you felt like a victim. This would be a time when something happened to you which was out of your control and left you feeling unsure of yourself.
2) What are your feeling about this situation now? Are you angry, enraged, sad, grieving? Are you willing to tell yourself more about how you feel regarding this situation? Be willing to take the lid off your feeling and expereince them as they are.
3) Look at other people and situations in your life that have made you feel as though you were a victim. In your mind’s eye withdraw the energy you have invested in them and take your power back into yourself. The way you do that is to say: “What I feel about…is…and I freely chose to release myself from these negative feelings.”
4) As you take responsibility for the people and situations in your life think about what your projection are. For example, you may say that someone didn’t love you enough or respect you enough. To own your projection is becomes necessary to say that there was a part of you that didn’t love yourself enough or respect yourself enough.
What is your attidute towards:
Happiness?
Respect?
Health? (including self image)
Love?
Money?
Friendship?
Success?
Is there negativity that surfaces around these themes? Everyone deserves to be supported in these areas of life. We are entitled to a stable foundation. Work to reframe your attitude towards fulfillment.
“We have to be very careful with our perceptions, otherwise we will suffer”
Photo by Paul Shaw, Brookgreen Gardens
Grounding
Embodying the victim can immobolize you (avoiding) and also push you into hyperactivity (reacting). This creates tension in your body. Grounding engages you with your body and connects you to the earth. Dance, swim, run, walk, practice yoga or stretch, garden, go barefoot - physical activity opens what victimhood restricts.
Finally, seek to empower yourself through intentional self talk. Whether this takes the form of a mantra, journal entry, or quote that starts your day, the goal is to change the pattern of how you speak to yourself. Be concise in order to recognize and release the victim archetype:
I am never alone. There is always support at my disposal.
I am capable and resilient because I have learned from my own experience.
Depending on myself is enough.
My feelings are valid.
I do not owe for my past mistakes.
I am enough.
Bringing awareness to your perceived powerlessness will be fortified by the Victim’s polar opposite, The Mother. The Root Muladhara Part II
In gratitude,
Paul