you & me

The Labyrinth: A Series of Art. {Part Sixteen: Dark Side of the Moon}

{Photo credit: Kristi Stout}

Really, the only thing any of us are afraid of is our own power and how much work it is to be in power (empowered).

Mostly because the ego doesn’t get instant gratification when you are empowered, but rather your soul does, and it’s a different kind of feel-good. As you are doing the work to make yourself authentically better, whether you play the victim or the hero in life, beware of the ego. It loves to be gratified, and is usually the only thing holding you back from the flow of your own true power.

But when the ego is gratified, it never lasts and it’s insatiable, always wanting more, and it’s never enough. The soul, however, when it is gratified, satiates your person, transforms your character, and makes you authentically heroic.

It takes work to live co-creatively with Source, wielding authentic energy, power, currency (not to be confused with money), and meditation (not to be confused with sitting cross-legged in silence). But it’s a work that doesn’t drain you, rather it sustains you, supports you, and also makes you stronger, able to take hits and setbacks without dumping you into pits of despair and unnecessary suffering.

Like tending the garden that you planted with your own hands, with the seeds you yourself harvested. It’s perpetual and sustaining and inspiring, and yes, rabbits and insects might eat things, but you learn how to work with them and keep them at bay (humanely, and in a way that respects and honors the creative role they play within the ecosystem).

But first you have to step out of  the comfort that is stagnation, and be willing to begin in total internal darkness (like a seed does), which is not for the faint of heart, and it truly is a bit like survival of the fittest — and that can feel scary.

This darkness is essential for the seed to germinate, as it’s like a practice space where you learn to trust that you are not really in control, and you learn to work with your power and energy by — ironically — surrendering control.

Trusting being out of control sounds like a total contradiction, but rather it’s more that we are learning to work co-creatively with our own power and how it uniquely expresses through us, which may not be a fit with the Joneses. But who are the Joneses anyway? And why are we trying to keep up with them?

It’s allowing creative expression to manifest as it wants to, and in earnest, learning how to work with it in this society’s structure, or with whatever structure you belong to. This, blended with rational thinking, integrated with right action, makes co-habitation with societal norms not only easier, but also more sustainable, and also puts us in better sync with joy.

Most comfortably, I like to refer to it as the part of us that is connected to the Cosmic, or the One Source. That intuitive side of us that is our True Wild Nature, and not the nature they told us to be.

This is where the Dark Side of the Moon enters in silvery, sultry silence. This energy is subtle yet powerful. You won’t see it working, though it will be, literally in front of your eyes, until one day you wake up and realize how different you are and in a really good way.

This is indication that the Dark Side of the Moon has been working with you — subtle energy that is always influencing you, that you aren’t (consciously) aware of. But the paradox is that it comes from your own light shining and reflecting on the cosmic beacon that is designed to light your way in darkness and work with you in cycles.

Not only externally in a physical matter, as the moon influences the earth, but also your own inner moon that lights your path in darkness — as above, so below.

In this regard, you are both the source of its light and also the reflection of it, which is why it’s important to embrace paradox, not to understand paradox, as we are not meant to. Yet it is still a very real force of nature, and nothing or no one can explain it away into something mundane or linear, which is why it’s so powerful. It exists without explanation and cannot be objectified.

I liken Dark Side of the Moon to a woman, namely a motherly one who quietly takes care of things in the shadow, so that what you see in the light is flawless. Be it housework, social events, or child-rearing, she does it all without any question, qualm, or complaint.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes a mother needs to vent or debrief. But, even Earth has to let off steam in the form of earthquakes and volcanoes from time to time — can you blame her, with her children’s incessant demands on her precious resources?

The Dark Side of the Moon is the energy operating on you that you are unaware of, but it always operates in your best interest. Like most good mother archetypes, your lunch is magically packed and ready in the fridge every morning before school. All you have to do is remember to grab it.

{Photo credit: Kristi Stout}

Dark Side of the Moon influences you, yet lets you believe you did it all on your own, and rightly so, because you really did do it all on your own. By arriving to these ideas on your own, and also because of her influence. She doesn’t need any credit. That would be beside the point.

In fact, taking full credit for your own transformation is the point of it, so that you can see and know how powerful you are and trust in that.

But it was her quiet influence, humble cajoling, and eternal support that enabled you to find the power (which was your own the whole time) to do the changing, all the while silently hearing her discerning and sweet words in your proverbial subconscious ear, that you weighed against your internal knowing, and with free will, you made a choice, then took right action to create it and make it so.

And rest assured, you wouldn’t be influenced by Dark Side of the Moon if you weren’t ready to be so or if you didn’t want it. Because if you are content in your stagnation (as many are), you wouldn’t care to listen to her even if she did speak to you loudly, as can be so easily exemplified in teenage children.

Dark Side of the Moon speaks, then waits to see if you respond in right action. If you do, she speaks more. And in turn, you act more.

Together then, you co-create — you and this cosmic force at play from within your very own being and emanating from within your core, like the bright center of a galaxy, powering its own arms of billions of stars with its own right action, spinning in a bright, gorgeous dance, which brings you forth into your highest good.

Dark Side of the Moon is a subtle energy which may not be seen, but it packs a strong pull nonetheless and affects us. And being that we cannot ever see the Dark Side of the Moon from earth’s vantage point, as it’s tidally locked with our planet’s orbit, it doesn’t mean it’s not a powerful face to support the light that shines for us in darkness.

Perhaps taking the heaviest beating from outer-space dust and rock, acting as a shield of sorts, for our fragile yet powerful human selves down here on Terra Mater, as we meander through life engaged in our various life dramas and stories, completely unaware of everything the moon and earth are doing for us daily, enabling us to be in our own dramas.

And the intriguing truth is, the moon’s dark side is constantly facing outer space and not the sun, but only from our vantage point — as it spins on its axis tied to earth at the same rate as we do in synchronous rotation. Yet, it too spins and the dark side does see the light of the sun, but we will never experience that from our vantage point.

In fact, when you watch an animation of the moon and earth orbiting the sun, it appears as though earth and the moon are dancing a couples’ dance together as they spin together holding hands, and we only ever see about 59% of the total moon’s surface.

I find it fascinating, because what we experience and see as truth (from our perspective) doesn’t exactly mean it’s the True Truth. We always see the same face of the moon, appearing to us as though she’s stationary, yet she still spins, contrary to our perception.

Holding space for this kind of truth, truth that is beyond our perception (and not dismissing it or shunning it), is one of the most gracious things we could ever do, as it enables us to have rich compassion for what’s different from what we are and what’s beyond us.

What’s true for me may not be true for you. I perceive and experience the moon in a certain way, but personify the moon and her experience — and from her vantage point, she lives an entirely different truth from what I see of her.

How many secrets does the world hold from every vantage point? There is so much we do not know and will never know. And I find that infinitely humbling. It puts me and my life in a perspective that makes me appreciate every moment and every breath. I take nothing for granted, not ever.

Everything that happens in front of me, is something powerful to behold, looked at with sacred eyes, and taken in graceful stride.

The moon as an archetype is associated with what is secret or internal (emotional). Not out in the light, yet still representing a light source by reflection, which makes it not an actual source of light, yet still something richly luminous, affecting, and enlightening. Like the terrains of our internal worlds, which are very much a part of us, but aren’t seen outside.

And as above, so below — just because you do not see my internal world does not mean it’s not something that affects me in True Truth. Perhaps you see in me serenity and contentment, but the True Truth can be something far different and far beyond what you have ever perceived.

How often do you make it a daily practice of trying to see beyond your own perception and into a different one? And expanding our perceptions is really the only thing essential for ushering in a more worldly and united experience of tolerance, joy, and peace.

{Photo credit: Kristi Stout}

This is an ongoing series by Kristi Stout. Tune in weekly for the next chapter in ‘The Labyrinth’.
If her art resonates with you, and you’d like prints, contact her through her website or Facebook.

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Kristi Stout

Kristi Stout

Kristi L. Stout is an artist, mother, and lover. She considers herself a Renaissance woman, in service of Love in its many forms. It is her belief that inside each of us is our own sacred, Wild nature -- a hidden instinct that is not forgotten as much as it is dormant, like leafless trees in winter. It is the part of us that is connected to all things. A knowing without knowing. The part deep inside that understands darkness is necessary for the moon to simmer silver, and recognizes that even if you’re lost in the middle of nowhere you can always find a sacred somewhere -- like an internal compass pointing true north to your heart center. Her passion project, work in progress, is She Is Wild. You can find more of Kristi’s work here or connect with her on Facebook.
Kristi Stout