In ancient times, the traveler might seek to visit the temple of a particular god or goddess to invoke or pay respects to a deity when the road taken took him by a temple. On our life journey, we are like these travelers, who came across the temples of different gods on different stretches of the road. The vicissitudes of life constellate situations that are archetypal, so that on one part of the journey, we encounter a particular god or archetype; at another place, we visit the temple of another god.
If we were to go inside the temple of a god, we would also find an unseen goddess was there. This was Hestia, the eldest Olympian, who was present in the temples of all the other deities. Hestia was Goddess of the Hearth and Temple. She was the fire at the center of a round hearth- an image that is a three dimensional mandala, symbol of the archetype of the Self, which Jung considered the center of the personality, the archetype of meaning and wholeness. style="font-size: >Hestia’s presence made house and temple sacred places. A new bride took the fire from her family hearth to her new house, and only then was it sanctified. The fire colonists brought to new temples from the home temple made the new building sacred. Hestia’s fire was thus both the center and the connecting link.
As a goddess she is an archetype in women. But she clearly is a presence in the psyches of many men as well, men who need physical order, free of clutter and noise, in order to feel centered in themselves. Men who need and enjoy solitude, finding it gives energy to other aspects of themselves, men who have a sense of wholeness and intactness.
Hestia was the fire at the center of a round hearth in the temple of each deity, an image that corresponds to the sacred dimension of each archetype. When what you do gives you a sense of meaning that feels deeply connected to who you really are, an archetype is active in you that specifically relates both to the activity and at the same time to the Self. A man (or woman) who is totally absorbed creating something in his studio or workshop, for example, is in a psychological space that metaphorical ecstatic quality enters lovemaking and there is a sense of communion, love is being made in the temple of Dionysus. When an athlete on a playing field enters a timeless moment and feels as if he has all the time in the world to make a pass, even as opposing players are charging towards him, he is a centered Ares, who in the midst of action is simultaneously in contact with his own inner still point-symbolized by the fire at the center of the hearth.
In contrast, when you feel gratitude the experiences of harmony and bliss that come when you do work you love, or are with people special to you, or enjoy solitude, you are aware that there is depth and meaning in your life. That consciousness and thankfulness parallels visits mortals made to the temples of their gods.
A mortal entered a temple by choice, conscious of what he was doing. Within the temple, he encountered an image, usually a statue of the god. He felt the presence or energy of that particular deity. Although he focused on the deity whose temple it was, Hestia was also present, in the fire and in the clean-swept temple. This is a metaphor for a man (or woman) who lives authentically because he is in conscious relationship within himself, through which he feels centered and certainty that there is a sacred dimension in his life. The temple represents the wholeness you already are and the fire is the engine of love that gives meaning to each an every instant of your existence.
Yes, such union with feminity exists
I will add… such union as very little to do with the present liberation movements of women.
As a men I'll say, this feminity go beyond duality.
I like you post, thanks!
"When what you do gives you a sense of meaning that feels deeply connected to who you really are, an archetype is active in you that specifically relates both to the activity and at the same time to the Self"
Thanks Adriana
Mieke
I am nothing without Hestia, this much I know.
Happy New Year Adriana! I think this why I like fires and I like cleaning, and particularly sweeping. (vacuuming not the same). Making order, as a way of healing. Always keep your hearth clean. That goes for what you let in as well. Do not let mischievious make mischief in your life, you are the top by your presence, not by anger.
So good to see you, hoping all is well for you, it is for me, much better, and a brand new year. take care, love ya, jas
Jean-Fran
Mieke, a big hug!
It is incredible to see clearly as the observer the distinctiveness between the roles we play, our faculties, how we respond and the way we feel. Of course we know deep inside that the self is ever present, unbounded and infinite.
thank you Mieke
love
Adriana
Aren't we all my dear Ed.
big kiss
Adriana
My dear Jas, it is so nice to see youuuu!
A very happy new year to you too.
My dear, your birthday is soon upcoming, thus we are de-cluttering things as the goddess of the hearth to look forward with a clean smile like Janus. Leaving behind all that we do not want to carry any more.
I am happy things are looking better for you.
Things are looking bright for me and I am very happy to dance in intent with all of you.
tons of love
Adriana
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