from Jung’s Red Book
These illustrations from The Red Book, which Jung called his confrontation with the unconscious, seem appropriate for this story. It’s from D Page, who seems to have experienced her own confrontation with the unconscious.
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The past two months have been very strange for my husband and I. In October, I was battling my second round of bronchitis. On the 28th, the hot water pipes exploded in our shower while I was standing there. Within 45 minutes, our home was flooded. Within 8 hours, we were evacuated to a hotel 10 miles away. Then things became even stranger: the very day the work on our home was to be completed, the hot water heater exploded on the man who was finishing the tile work in the kitchen. (I am grateful he was not hurt.)
This created a second flood which covered area of the new floor and walls just completed. It also flooded the only space that wasn’t flooded in the previous incident. Also curious: no personal items (furniture, books, clothes, guitars, computers etc.) were destroyed by the flooding itself. When the work was finally done on our home on December 16, we moved back in. The adventure didn’t end there.
As this drama was unfolding, I was asking myself “What does this
mean?”
Trish MacGregor reminded me to analyze it like it was a dream….and I finally had a “light bulb” moment. All of it can be explained through the language of alchemy. In particular, the stage of
dissolution! Jung wrote several books on the language of alchemy as a metaphor for the individuation process.
Some of symbols representing the alchemical dissolution process include: whale, fish, toad, dragon, a stag in a forest, flooding, breaking apart, rivers, streams, tears, pools, warm bath, baptism, dissection, dissembling, dismemberment, the near death experience, mid-life crisis, lungs, the color blue, the metal tin. The first alchemical apparatus for use in experiments with water and dissolution were invented by a Jewish alchemist named Maria Prophetissa, sometime before 100 B. C E. Maria Prophetissa is considered a female Hermes (Hauck/1999). Hermes is the mercurial trickster force behind the alchemical process. The alchemical bath has since been called the
bain-marie (French for Mary’s bath)
. This process can be repeated-
solve et coagula: dissolve and solidify — several times before it’s done.
Prior to the flooding, I was battling bronchitis, a lung disorder. I have several problems with my immune systems as well as ME/CFS, so any illness can create complications. The first person on the scene to help me after the hot water pipes exploded was a woman named Mary. When my husband and I first walked into the lobby of the hotel that would be our refuge from the flood, we encountered a giant whale sculpture.
The lobby was also decorated for Halloween with pumpkins,
skeletons, and
skulls. During the first three weeks of our stay, the maid assigned to our room was named
Maria. The room was decorated in
blue. The view outside the window was of a surrounded courtyard with 3
heated pools. During this period of time, I read
The Millennium Trilogy by Steig Larsson. The main chraracter in this trilogy is Lisbeth Salander, aka “the girl with the
dragon tattoo.”
During this time, I had 3 dreams about shamans. In one dream, I was traveling over water on a boat in the Florida Everglades. I had 3 dreams that involved structures dissembling. I also had 3 dreams where I was communicating with people who have died. During the 3rd week of reconstruction, the hot water heater exploded, creating more flooding. At this point, we can say that the 2nd process of alchemical dissolution had begun. The day after Thanksgiving, we went down to the lobby. The whale in the lobby now had antlers and a sweater, decorated for Christmas.
Our alchemical
whale had become a reindeer/
stag. The following weekend, we moved to the fifth floor, into another blue themed room. This time our view was of a steep,
forested hill. It was in this room where I celebrated a
mid-life birthday.
During a dissolution phase of psychological alchemy, one finds oneself in a position of having no control over one’s life passage. When my husband and I entered the hotel, we no longer had our own identities. For 6 weeks, we became anonymous. Even the account at the hotel was done by a third party. We became Mr. and Mrs. Page, the displaced couple. We had none of our usual props in our daily lives. Very little belonged to us. We didn’t have our usual daily routines. We were living amongst a sea of anonymous, transient people. Even though we had computers, the hotel had very limited internet contact. The TV had very few channels (unless you paid extra).
Larry’s job was the only thing that remained constant, but even that was effected by the dissolution process. On one particular day, he went work to find corporate personnel in the office. Several of his co-workers were gone, either transferred or let go. There was no warning for this incident.
We were going through the dissolution together as a single body: the Sun/Moon, or King/Queen. (Larry and I). I have a natal (his)Sun/Moon (mine) conjunction in astrological charts.) We were removed from our collective body, our home, and taken to an anonymous bardo, or transition state, while our body (home) was dismembered and reconstructed. This is similar to a shamanic dismemberment & initiation. The point of this whole process is to learn to live in the moment.
Just this… Now.
We were finally able to move back in to our home on Dec 16. The alchemist would ask at this point: “Will the newly constructed vessel be able to contain without leaking?“
On December 21st, there was rare eclipse (sun/moon, or king/queen)– last seen in 1378. On Dec. 22nd, San Diego was hit by a storm that would bring record rainfall and flooding. On Dec. 23rd, we awoke to standing water– up to 8 inches — surrounding 3 outer walls of our condo. This had never happened before. The men who had just spent 6 weeks working on our home happened to be on the grounds already, so we were able to work fast on preventing damage to the interior of our newly remodeled home.
Christmas day was celebrated with family and friends. I received a beautiful golden bronze stag as a gift from my friend Teresa.
On the morning of December 28th, I pulled back the curtains to find many doves sitting outside my front picture window, looking inward at me. Usually there is only one or two, not several. The dove is prominent above the heads of the King and Queen in alchemical imagery– after the dissolution is complete.
At this moment I knew all was exactly as it should be. The storm on Dec. 29th did not cause any further flooding. The work of this phase of the alchemical process was complete. I hope we don’t need to repeat it.
oh, what an offer, cj! yes, i can see the two of us, too, just as you described! last few days of rain and chill have taken their toll on my usually sunny chipper leo personality, i can tell you!!!
I think one of those underwater portals may be here:
https://ofscarabs.blogspot.com/2009/05/underwater-area-51_14.html
When Rob sent me his book THE FOG a few years ago, I read it several times and pondered the issue of these ocean sightings of unidentified (multi-colored lighted) objects that rise and fall out of and into the sea, and wondered if there is a portal (more than one besides those that may be in the Bermuda Triangle area) where the electromagnetic energies shift frequencies and the entities who inhabit those undersea spaces may take the planes, ships, and humans. It's always been a subject of serious study for me, especially since we live now so near the ocean and often see unidentified objects coming and going.
Well, there have been numerous documented sightings by credible witnesses, (law officers, military, etc), of apparent UFOs rising out of the ocean and also disappearing into the ocean. They've been reported for years. So, maybe disclosure will be these UFOs who live in the deepest abyss of the seas where no man has ever seen or been! That would be something! cj
Cj – glad to see you as someone other than anonymous!
Interesting about "water."
Vicki D. you are so right! We are our own little community here in MU and my day begins and ends with a trip to "our space" to see and hear what's going on! We can always count on Trish and Rob to keep us informed and intrigued! And of course I then travel to the other blogs to snoop on everyone else and learn what's happening!
Relevant WV: "rings"
Cousin Gyps, I'm a bit tardy reading these comments, but you are always welcome in our guest room, although right now we are almost as cold as you are, just without the white stuff! I'm sure if you were here we'd wrap up in our snuggies and sit like cross-legged buddhas in the middle of the bed, drinking nice hot tea and talking the night away! Stay warm over there in LA! We're still in the teens chill factor and the wind bites to the bone. Trish, I've done some Tarot spreads on pending ET Contact. Curiously, the spreads also focus on "water".
Perhaps the ETs who may be revealed are the ones who have their homes beneath our oceans?
It went up briefly a couple of days ago, but the type was messed up, with some parts not showing, so we had to rewrite it.
ok, now, i know you know what you've posted and i wasn't going to embarrass myself by asking but since vicki did first [;)] i'll mention that i could swear i'd already read this too – so did we see it over at weavers?
Vicki – had to take it down and rewrite it because it didn't all show up. No deja vu!
Daz, great to hear that you are okay.
We are our own little community here and many of us were thinking of you and your family.
Trish and Rob, didn't you post this story before, or am I having deja vu?
Great to hear you're ok, Daz and nice to hear from you!
It sounds as if Brisbane is going through its own alchemical dissolution. I watched a video clip on nat's blog of some cars being washed away, and saw some other vids showing the inundated houses. Really sad.
Stay safe. Now of to look @ your links.
Great story Debra,and thanks for the well wishes,too.Let's hope it's all smooth sailing from now on.
When I saw the photo of that whale,I couldn't help thinking it was wearing a South Sydney Rabbitohs jersey,which is a Rugby League team in New South Wales,Australia,owned partly by Russell Crowe.
Here's a link,so you can see their new jersey colours,to give you some idea of what I'm talking about;
https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/
Their older jerseys looked more like the one the whale's wearing,because they had no black,and more white in them
I notice the whale in the picture just happens to be coming from out of the blue (water),too.
The New South Wales (Whales)
Rugby League team is nicknamed "The Blues"and the Queensland Rugby League team are known as "The Toads" or "Maroons"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_League_State_of_Origin
In the Rugby League world this clash is the most anticipated 3 games of the Rugby League season.
The states almost come to a standstill as Queenslanders and New South Wales supporters either pour into the stadium or watch it on TV.
The state beer of New South Wales is Tooheys which has a stag on it's metal cans of beer;
https://www.abcca.com.au/NewCansJan2006-June2006.html
N.S.W use to be sponsored by Tooheys beer but are now sponsored by Wizard.
The stadium which is flooded at the moment in Brisbane by the river,is Suncorp Stadium (home of the Toads,who play the New South Wales Blues there,every year)
The St.George Dragons (from New South Wales coached by a Queenslander)won the National Rugby League Competition last year,and oddly enough the first town flooded in Queensland was a town called St.George (which is still flooded BTW)
So,a lot of your symbols:
the whale, fish, toad, dragon, a stag in a forest, flooding, breaking apart, rivers, streams, tears, pools, warm bath, baptism, dissection, dissembling, dismemberment, the near death experience, mid-life crisis, lungs, the color blue, the metal tin,could equally apply to the Queensland/New South Wales flood crisis too…in my Rugby League symbolism (which is huge in the Queensland/New South Wales psyche…right Nat?)
And If you look at Russell's movie credits on the IMDB site;
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000128/
you will see he appeared in such movies as;
"Rough Magic"
"No Way Back"
"The Sum of Us'
"For the Moment"
"Love in Limbo"
"Proof"
"The Crossing"
and "A Good Year" among others.
Which could apply to your story as well maybe?
Wishing you and your family many "A Good Year" in the future,Deb.
Cheers / Daz
P.S. One of the Saint George Dragon's greatest coaches of all time was Harry Bath he started his playing career at SOUTHS,Brisbane (Davies Park),which is now flooded in Brisbane.The Rabbitohs are also known as SOUTHS,Sydney.
Plus real whales migrate up and down both the New South Wales and Queensland coasts every year.
Sorry for the long ramble,I just couldn't help seeing your symbols,which are major symbols over this side of the world,turning up as I look on my flooded city and state.
Thanks,Nat.
I hear N.S.W. is copping it now,too…so I hope you and your family are O.K…and will be O.K.,too.
Cheers / Daz
Glad you are okay, Daz.
Thanks for the link Debra.x
RE:
From Mike Clelland's Hidden Experience Blog…
"Brizdaz – people on the blog were worried about you after hearing about the floods in your area. Hope you're all right! – Trish"
I went to Mike's site this morning to see if he had put my comment to 'Red Pill Junkie' up yet,
(Mike goes hiking a lot,so it can take a couple of days until he reads them)
and I saw your very thoughtful comment there.
Thanks Trish.
It's nice to know someone misses me.
But,yes,I'm high(legally)and dry where I am,which is literally just outside Brisbane
(Logan City,to be exact)
I wanted to write you a reply this morning,but I had to rush off to work.
As far as the floods go,it's a tragedy for everyone in Brisbane,even those who's houses aren't under.Here's a link to our local newspaper to give you just some idea of the heartbreaking stories,pictures and video coming from this tragedy.
https://www.couriermail.com.au/
P.S. Jeff Lindsay attended the Brisbane Writer's Festival,which was held in the State Library at Southbank,which is about 1000 feet upstream from the Ferris Wheel, which you have probably seen on your television screens…so where he was is probably underwater right now.
We do have predecessors! It's a long story…
I don't know for certain about Emma being one, but Von Franz is.
Magdalene is definitely part of the mystery- her story is alchemical allegory.
"The key to Nicholas Flamel
Is his wife, Perenelle."
That book hasn't even been written. Who are these female alchemists? Do we have predecessors? Was Emma Jung one of them, with her work with the grail? Was the magdalene one of them? I know you've got the scoop, debra! Share…please?
I adore Jung… definitely an alchemist. His work needs to be carried on… like it is here on the synchronicity site.
Here's a book that hasn't been published yet: lives of female alchemists.
I've always seen Jung as an alchemist first,k a psychologist second. You're in good company! I'll check out that book, Debra.
Trish & Rob, thanks for sharing this story. I'm glad others enjoyed it.
There is a basic book on the alchemical symbols and personal experiences (written in a non-obscure way): The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation, by Dennis William Hauck. (There's a Kindle edition too.)
I've always loved the language & imagery of alchemy.
Good news about Daz, Gypsy. Thanks for the update! I think debra's story really addresses a process that many of us probably go thru at some point in our lives, but we don't connect the dots as she did.
She's an alchemist, no doubt in my mind!
great story DP – so much to absorb and be absorbed by! really staggering!
oh, by the by, i've seen Dz around on other blogs – i wouldn't be concerned – seemed his regular self to me –
off to find a warm spot – um, that may mean in your guest room, T&R and/or cj! 😉
Wow, Debra. This is really amazing. Having just gone through my own dissolution, it was particularly poignant for me. Here's hoping that both our dissolutions have ended!
Me, too, nat. If this had happened to me, I don't know that I would have been able to figure it out! Any news about Daz?
I am noticing that 'Maria' was the first commenter.
I am intrigued about this alchemical process. Hmm…….
wv= preochim
Hmmm……pre chem?
This sequence of events reads very much like a dream. D is fortunate to have figured out the deeper meanings.
– Maria