W. Brugh Joy - Avalanche: Heretical Reflections on the Dark and the Light

This book made available by the Internet Archive.

To Life: The ultimate teacher of heresy

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I am pleased to acknowledge the work of John S. Niendorff, who edited the manuscript of Avalanche. He contributed significantly to the clarity with which this material is presented.

Have you ever suspected that unseen, almost mystical, forces are moving a project? I swear such forces lie behind the writing and the publication of this work. Part of these forces flowed from a group of individuals I term "The Women." Signe Quinn Taff, Cheryl Woodruff, Susan Petersen, and Liz Williams ... thank you!

PART II: INDUCTION 87

Chapter Four: The Sage, the Shrine, and the Sacred Object 89

Centering 90

The Force of Induction 92 Induction by Spiritual Teachers, Religious Figures, Elders 93

Owning the Warrior Self 97

Induction through Saints 99

Sacred Places 101

Objects and Images as Inductors 104

The Patterns Behind Telepathy 106

Placebos and Sacrifices 109

Television, Films, and the Dark Side 110 Chapter Five: Induction: From Inner Imagery to

Group Meditation 114

Exercise: Entering the Sacred Temple by the Sea 117

The Purification Bath 119

Evoking the Sacred Temple 120

Entering the Sacred Temple 121

Leaving the Sacred Temple 122 Quick Reference to Sacred Temple

by the Sea Meditation 123

Inductions through Collective or Group Meditations 125

The Collective Force Field 128 Chapter Six: Induction through Ritual, Rites of Passage,

and Crisis 132

Who Heals? 134

Exercise: The Rosette RitualA Circle of Healing 137

Preparation 138

The Ritual 139

Deepening into the Heart 140

Transmitting Healing Energy 141

The Importance of Collective Rituals 143

Rites of Passage 144

The End of Childhood 145

The Mystical Marriage 147

Induction through Crisis: Trauma as Life Teacher 148

Chapter Seven: The Immortal Patterns Behind Reality 152

Unconscious Patterns in Relationships 155 Past Lives/Present Patterns:

An Alternate View of Reincarnation 158

Tools for Perception: Pattern Projections 164

Sacred Creative Patterns 167

The Dance of Patterns 171

Dying to Death: A Repatterning 173

Chapter Eight: Experiencing the Unconscious: Dreams and

Projections onto the Screen of Reality 178

Dreams 181

Witnessing Our Dreams 187

How to Fuse with a Dreamer 189

Projections onto the Screen of Reality 190 Rage and Compassion: The Flaw in the Doctor's Facade 192

De-struction, Con-struction 196

Love, Light, and Rage: Fury at Findhorn 197

Projecting onto Leaders 202

Reading Cards and Clouds 203

Chapter Nine: Experiencing the Unconscious: Other Pathways 206 Doing the Opposite of What We Think We Ought to Be

Doing 206

Repeated Life Experiences 210

The Problem of the Many Selves in Marriage 213

. Marriage Is a Spiritual Path 217

The Whole in Each Part 219

Chapter Ten: Nonordinary States of Consciousness and the

Unconscious 223

Who's Doing What? Shifting into Other Selves 226 Exploring the Unconscious through Individual and

Collective Crisis 228

The Power of Peace/The Power of War 230

Some Unexpected Benefits of Television 231 Living through Catastrophic ChangeThe Dance

of Survival 232

The Collapse of the Sacred Father 233

Mortification of the Flesh 237

m CONTENTS

Part of the Work Is to Play 239

Chapter Eleven: Spirituality and Sexuality 240

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden 244

Gen. 2:4-25 244

Gen. 3:1-24 245

Gen. 4:1-2 248

Analysis of the Story of Adam and Eve 248

The Creation of Eve 254

The Serpent 256

Adam and Eve: The Symbolic Drama 259

A Summary of Psychological Insights from the Story

of Adam and Eve and the Garden 262

Moses and the Golden Calf 264

The Golden Calf (Exodus 32) 266

Analysis of the Story of the Golden Calf 268

A Summary of Psychological Insights from the Story

of the Golden Calf 271

Jesus and the Virgin Birth 271

Matt. 1:18-25 272

Luke 1:26-38 272

Analysis of the Story of the Virgin Birth 273

A Summary of Psychological Insights from the Story

of the Virgin Birth 274

The Many Aspects of Jesus 275

The Deification of the Parent 277 Chapter Twelve: Cathedrals, the Pelvic Mystery, and a

Teaching Dream 282

A Teacher's Teaching Dream 285

The Awakening of the Feminine 300

Chapter Thirteen: Elderhood 303

The Blinders of Youth 308

New Perceptions of Parenting 311

Possibilities for the Future 313

The Realization of Presence 315 Exercise: Six-Part Meditation on the Realization

of Presence 316

CONTENTS

Xlll

II. Stimulation of the Chakras 317

III. Purifying, Balancing, and Heightening the Developmental Stages and Their Aspects 320

IV. Soul/Spirit Blending 322

V. Acknowledgment of the Center 323

VI. Final Merging 323 Commentary on the Meditation 324

Part I. Psychological Preparation 324

Part II. Stimulation of the Chakras 324 Part III. Purifying, Balancing, and Heightening the

Developmental Stages and Their Aspects 325

Part IV. Soul/Spirit Blending 326

Part V. Acknowledgment of the Center 326

Meditation Summary 327

Part I. Psychological Preparation 327

Part II. Stimulation of the Chakras 327 Part III. Purifying, Balancing, and Heightening the

Developmental Stages and Their Aspects 328

Part IV. Soul/Spirit Blending 329

Part V. Acknowledgment of the Center 329

Part VI. Final Merging 329

Epilogue 331

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Heretical Reflections on the Dark and the Light

PROLOGUE

A decade has passed since I wrote Joy's WayA Map for the Transformational Journey. In that book I discussed the many experiences, thoughts, feelings, and insights that moved me from the practice of traditional medicine, as an internist specializing in diagnostics and pulmonary diseases, into the rich and varied world of the Life Teacher. In that latter capacity, I was to work with and teach such things as awakening expanded ranges of human awareness, self-healing, the meaning and interpretation of dreams, the use of the Tarot, human energy fields associated with the chakra system, inner Teachers and outer Teachers, and the extraordinary power of Unconditional Love and the Heart Chakra state of consciousness.

Joy's Way was a distillation of those teachingsteachings that I presented in my two-week residential Conferences, and that had moved and inspired people from all walks of life over the preceding five years. That book had to be written so I might capture the power and significance of the first major change of my professional life... from the traditional, ordinary, and orthodox to the nontraditional, the transordinary, and the unorthodox. At the end of Joy's Way, I also indicated that I felt another major change was about to occur in me. Now, eleven years later, I can finally articulate what did occur and how powerfully my viewpoints have shifted and matured.