Agape, Eros, Soul

What? The Soccer World Cup has started in this country and I haven't said a word about it?
OK.
Bread and Circuses.
That's three words and they pretty much sum up my feelings about it. But wait, I'd be remiss if I didn't just add a bit about my rabid dislike for the vuvuzela.
They're made of plastic. They're not even pretending to be musical instruments in the way of, say, highland bagpipes. They frighten children and old folk when blown indoors. They're made of plastic. The sound is like to a bull elephant farting. They're made of plastic.
Did I mention that they're made of plastic?

Enough.

What I've really had on my mind, apart from screwing my iPod more firmly into my ears as I try to avert data disaster at my work and flying the EcoAnarchy flag on my desk instead of the jingoist national ones, is the Soul.

The Soul, that bridge between immanent Earth and luminous Spirit, is often overlooked both by Earth religions - who tend to equate it with Spirit - and transcendent ones like Buddhism, who see it as somewhat illusory.

To me, at this point, the Soul is pretty primary. It leads from the Mother to the Father, or from birth to death - a rainbow bridge in truth, the only non material part of Us which is truly individuated.

The Soul may be partially lost during the course of a life. Forgotten, denied or misunderstood, this numinous encapsulation of self is of great importance in coming to terms with our Earthly nature and our Spiritual ground.

I find that if I don't put in my daily meditation practise, my Soul gets a bit blurry, as a slightly untuned radio. Recently, I had to forgo sitting practise for three nights, and at the end of this I was starting to become pretty cranky.

Soul is what gets damaged by traumas as we grow up and out, from the ground into the wide sky. In some ways, it's built to take it, rather like a heavy-duty bull bar on a bakkie. It stands as buffer for the flesh and the spirit, and can take some fairly serious hits for both.

Journeying into my soul landscape at last, I noticed that the grass had grown a little sere and brown; the trees a little bare and twiggy. My soul's house was fine, however, and inside one of its rooms I had a good session with Cernunnos, Lord of the Wildwood, God of the green and running things. He strengthened my ties with the forms of Life while at the same time affirming the real calling of Agape to Eros which is quickening my Spirit at this time.
I was made to know that I am three-stranded in three different directions - the geometry looks complex but really isn't, when you're alive inside it, and it's perfectly sensible to me.
But more than this, I have a better realisation of how to treat my soul - how each one of us should treat our soul - and that is with Love.

The soul resembles an abused child from some angles. We need to treat it very tenderly. That means not being so harsh on it as to upbraid it for every mistake it seems to make. After all, these mistakes are the result of ill treatment at our - and Our - hands.

Enfold the Soul gently. Cherish it and care for it as you would a Beloved. Let it have breathing space, but always a place to come Home to, in ourselves. And in Ourselves, yes.
Let the Agape pass through it,  descending, and Eros ascending, between our Earth selves and our Cosmic selves. Let it know the warmth of the human flesh and the brilliant luminosity of the Spirit beyond.
And it will return that care a thousand fold.

Image:Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti