Watching the Pears Grow

It's been unplanned, but I've developed a practice every day thus far in my first week of Sabbatical. Just being on the ground underneath the pear trees. Sometimes I nap, sometimes I read, sometimes I sit, sometimes all of the above.

There is something about being directly on the Earth for a couple hours that just slows everything right down.
I have found that the shade the trees provide in the late morning is lovely, and I follow it as it travels around the grassy parts of the backyard.

My dear friend Stacey is going through a difficult time right now, and when she came over and we sat under the pear trees, I assured her that once the pears were ripe -- around the Autumnal Equinox -- we would sit here again, enjoying their honey-sweet, delicately crisp deliciousness, and things would be different for her than they are right now. That's a season. I have put myself on that time frame as well. At the Autumnal Equinox, I will check in with myself about where my energy is and whether or not it is time to initiate the Active Phase of the Professional Development Plan. Until then, I am in the Receptive Phase. Which may last two seasons. Just like nature. And as Mister Rogers once said:

"In the long, long trip of growing, there are stops along the way. It's important to know when we need to stop, reflect, and receive. In our competitive world, that might be called a waste of time. I've learned that these times can be a preamble to periods of enormous growth."

The Divine Child

Today is Christmas, and as the western world celebrates --in some form or another-- the birth of the Christ Child, and the triumph of light over darkness, I am inspired to write about the Divine Child archetype. (BTW: Lots of videos in this post. Take your time; they're really sweet.) This archetype can seem a little inaccessible, but I'd like to point to some present-day examples that are a little easier to connect with.

NATIVITY by Patrick Q

I've always been drawn to Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell's work with archetypes. And I guess it was five years ago now that I obtained the Carolyn Myss book, Sacred Contracts, in which she rather blends an astrological chart system with a person's chosen 12 primary archetypes to learn about personality, life challenges, etc. Though I suspect she and ole C.J. might say that the archetypes choose the person. That's the "contracts" part: That you come into this life having previously made a contract of sorts for the kinds of things you're suited to do.
Five years ago, I took myself and this book off to Breitenbush Hot Springs during the Autumnal Equinox -- which also happens to be a women-only time and also happens to be a silent retreat time -- to spend the weekend working through the exercises in the book to discover my 12 archetypes. All there was to do there is eat, soak, rest, and read and write about archetypes. Rinse, repeat. There was blessedly none of the chit-chat at meals or anywhere else: "Where are you from? What workshop are you doing? I'm a social worker from Portland... wocka wocka wocka..." In the span of the weekend, I was able to stay focused, and "find" all 12 of my archetypes, which I may share about later.

Carolyn Myss theorizes that everybody has four main archetypes in the mix of the 12: Child, Victim, Saboteur, and Prostitute. And before that starts sounding questionable, it's important to think of archetypes as essentially neutral and capable of both positive and negative expression. Light and Shadow. Like electricity: It can light up a room or kill someone.

Wild Christmas Tree Star by nebarnix

The child is the most readily understandable of the four. Sacred Contracts identifies several variations in the child archetype, the Divine Child being just one of them. We were all children once, and depending upon how it went, Myss suggests we might identify with the following:

• Orphan
• Wounded
• Magical / Innocent
• Nature
• Divine
• Eternal Boy or Girl

She devotes an entire chapter to the child archetype, and provides descriptions of each type in an appendix, with information about myth, religion, movies and literature in which each archetype has been featured. She says that everyone has expressions of each of these aspects of the Child Archetype, though one is usually dominant for each person.

She says that the Divine Child is closely related to the Magical / Innocent Child (think The Little Prince or Shirley Temple), "but is distinguished from them both by its redemptive mission...The Divine Child is associated with innocence, purity, and redemption; godlike qualities that suggest that the Child enjoys a speical union with the Divine itself."

Infant of Prague by hollyziggy

There is, of course, the Christ child. Some have found parallels to the Egyptian god Horus, divine son of Isis and Osiris and Christ. In Buddhism, it is said that Siddhartha Gautama was born proclaiming the the cycle of birth and death was about to end. And not to leave out Jizo Bodhisattva, guardian of children, often pictured as a child-monk, and characterized by fearlessness and an undefended heart.

A person who has truly realized the principle of nonviolence has the God given strength for his weapon, and the world has not yet known anything that can match it.
~Gandhi

This is a powerful archetype to reveal itself in so many major religions -- such that it can be difficult to identify with. Myss proposes another example of an expression of the Divine Child archetype; someone currently living: The 14th Dalai Lama.

The movie Kundun portrays the Dalai Lama being found by the Tibetan Lamas, as a very young child he was drawn to them, and knew that certain personal items of the previous incarnation (even when placed among other very similar items) were "mine!"



The Dalai Lama has maintained his loving, open-hearted, childlike nature. Here he is talking about how interconnected we all are in the world, and how -- knowing this reality -- in the 21st Century, war is "outdated."

"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change."
-Carl Rogers

I appreciate this current-era example of the embodiment of the Divine Child archetype. One I would also add from the Christian tradition is none other than Mister Rogers.

Though he is no longer with us, the work of Mr. Fred Rogers embodies the Divine Child archetype. He was a Presbyterian minister, but once he saw television, he became very concerned with how it might be negatively impacting children, and said, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there was some way of using this fabulous instrument to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen."

Here he is, single-handedly (single-heartedly?) winning back 10 million dollars for public television that was about to be cut by the Nixon administration in 1969:

I love it when he says, "Feelings are mentionable and manageable."

Here he is receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Emmys in 1997.

Taking ten seconds to invite everyone to think about those "who loved us into being," Mr. Rogers opens the hearts of an entire auditorium.

And if you haven't already, seriously, grab some kleenex before you watch this, his good-bye message upon his retirement.

Jung wrote about the humble origins that often characterize the Divine Child. Also its paradoxical vulnerability alongside its uncommon strength and power. Entering through the lowly mess and chaos of a baby, the clear message of selfless devotion, love and peace. Fred Rogers, armed only with the Truth of his loving heart, wins 10 million dollars for public television. And keeps telling us over and over that we're wonderful just the way we are. The Dalai Lama, continues to view the Chinese as special friends, or important teachers, and harbors no ill-will towards the Chinese, whose occupation has perhaps inadvertently caused a worldwide interest in Buddhism.

From Little Acorns Do Mighty Oak Trees Grow by HatHome

An acorn is another good symbol for the Divine Child. Within its seemingly tiny confines, it embodies all of the majesty of the oak tree. A miracle, if ever there was one.