Phases:

Phase 2 – Departure

During this phase you leave home—or at the very least, you leave ‘what is known’ or ‘what is safe.’ This phase marks the physical beginning of your journey, you step foot out into the unknown into the wildness and mysteries of life. Perhaps you wish to expose yourself to them so as to be changed.

In the case of trauma, you step into the days and weeks that lead up to the moments of your trauma.On the way, you may encounter obstacles to your breakthrough in the case of a peak experiences. The barriers beacon you, “do you really want this breakthrough?” In the situation of transformation through trauma, warning signs may await you here. The person that just happened to have said, “be careful” or the inner voice that warned, “I think that person is up to something.”

According to mythologist Joseph Campbell, it is during this period that you may encounter people that remind you of your mother and/or father. You might encounter a situation that where you have the opportunity to open your heart, see them differently, forgive, accept, let go, speak truth, or even confront.

Read Poem

Lotus Seed Poem

Have you seen that fine gold dust
on the wings of moths?
Who would have guessed
A worm in solitude
Could imagine the magic powder of flight?
So there’s no sense
Complaining about your meditation.
Once on that road
you can’t tell what’s going to happen or when.
When prayer stops
And the one who whispered it
Dissolves in the Ocean of the Endless One
Someone comes from the deep place
To do the work we can’t do while awake.
The more I surrender the more I’m like that caterpillar
Who always dreamed of flying.
-Dan Shanahan, from the Lotus Seed Poems