Five Archetype: Nature Octave
the power of undistractedness
Archetype FIVE is part of the Social triad.
The Archetypes in this triad form the foundation for Mental Belonging.
Each is expressed within the Divine, Nature, & Human Octaves.
At the Nature Octave, Archetype Five is the domain of hidden knowledge and the Power of Undistractedness that enables what is not yet perceived to come into focus.
The great blue heron embodies the perspective, patience, and attention needed to detect what is above and below the surface of things. Although it is a social creature, the heron often forages alone and can be solitary for long periods. This stoic being possesses a quiet attentiveness to and contentment with what comes.
The arrival of this card suggests patience and focus are needed to reveal what is now hidden. When your mind is undistracted by the vastness of what is unknown, it can align with the wisdom of body and heart. That will enable you to perceive your place in the web of Social Belonging, and to trust your innate capacity to appropriately respond to whatever appears.
Archetype Five Activity: Creating Space for the Unknown
Spiritual practice is an act that creates space to encounter Mystery. The simple act of pausing can become a spiritual practice that allows something beyond habit and the discursive mind to inform how you move through the world. To bring this idea into your lived experience, you might try the following:
When you’re done reading this article, pause before you do to the next thing.
Close your eyes and become more deeply aware of your breath…and aware of your body temperature…and aware of how you are actually feeling.
Then open your eyes and gaze at the world around you with a soft focus. Keep breathing and notice how you feel as you look around.
Ask yourself, Where is my energy drawn? What is my body subtly indicating?
Let yourself be surprised by what your body indicates when you pay attention.
Perhaps you’re pulled to stretch or to step outside for fresh air before going on to the next thing. Maybe you’re drawn to call someone who came to mind or something else that is completely unexpected.
Can you somehow honor your spontaneous impulse? Whether you follow it or not, notice what happens next. What becomes revealed?
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When I pause, as you suggest, I notice a deeper listening. Or rather, a calming pull downward somehow guided by an interest in some inner enriching stillness. It’s as if listening itself is in love with allowing me to be in contact with finer and finer subtleties… I remember poet Walt Whitman, “I think I will do nothing for a long time but listen, / And accrue what I hear into myself… and let sounds contribute toward me…” I notice I’m not listening for any specific words or message. It’s like listening itself is the message and the meaning, and I think of Rumi in a “constant conversation” with the unnamed Beloved who appears to be everywhere…And now Whitman comes to me again, “Mine is no callous shell, / I have instant conductors all over me whether I pass or stop…/I merely stir, press, feel with my fingers, and am happy. / To touch my person to someone else’s is about as much as I can stand.” Finally, an image appears, from a poem by Rilke… “Animals created by silence came forward from the clear / and relaxed forest where their lairs were, /and it turned out the reason they were so full of silence / was not cunning, and not terror, / it was listening…”