THE DANCE OF LIFE - CHAPTER 2

Cast in Stone

As long as we are able to grow the circle of life

we must be content

There is no purpose cast in stone

Save to strive to love, to live, and to let live

Be at peace.

Theanthropic Pendulum Polarity and Concentric Cradling Craft

So how do circles fit into Maia’s Massage Therapy?  Most of the massage techniques involve circular movements and a cyclical motion – creating circles within circles.  Each masseuse develops his or her own unique signature ritual or technique.  It is this individuality that sets each of us apart, whilst yet all being part of the greater body of therapy known as ‘massage’.    

The phrases ‘out of sync’, ‘off key’, ‘having a wobbly’, all signify a state of imbalance or disharmony.  The world we inhabit is fraught with difficulties and challenges, that can literally throw us off balance. We are all affected by external and internal factors that cause or contribute to this undesirable state, be it mental or physical, or both… usually both.

Unless I am in tune with All, I am unable to do myself or anyone or anything else any good.  When one’s inner circular motions have become unbalanced and are not functioning optimally, it impacts not only on one’s own functionality, but also on whomever and whatever one comes into contact with, physically and immaterially.  It also affects inanimate objects, because everything has an energy field.  The power or reality of the effect of prayer or subtle energy transmission is a widely accepted concept today.  In fact, it has been so since the dawn of civilisation – it is only the manner of belief systems that have changed.

There are many ways of addressing and readjusting this imbalance – massage is just one of them.  Without taking care of our body, mind and spirit, we become unhealthy in all.  Many illnesses take root in the mind or spirit and thereafter manifest in the body.  It is essential to work on all levels to promote realignment and healing.

The phrase ‘theanthropic pendulum polarity and concentric cradling craft’ is one which I invented, when considering the intuitive nature of the work I do.  It is a multi-faceted process.  My therapy is focused on balance and healing.   In this process, I am a channel or conduit for the facilitation of such process.  Theanthropic means both divine and human – it is the combination of the divine spirit working through me which effects change and alters the state.  Pendulum polarity is what I envisage as being the realignment of energy through theanthropic influence.  As a pendulum forms its motion into a particular orbit and rhythm, it is affected by the forces of polarity, aided by the theanthropic force, which alter the structure and manner of oscillation.  This combined effect creates harmony, balance and stability in the subtle and the physical body.  I am the pendulum.  As such, I need to be in a state of harmony and open to the divine force.  This is brought about by prayer and meditation.    

Concentric cradling craft implies a circular, holding motion and it is precisely this.  From birth, we have the instinctive need to be held.  We need this comforting to feel safe.  When we are held and gently rocked, it instantly relaxes us and soothes us.  The rocking, both at the start and the end of a treatment, is done in a circular manner, according to particular cyclical patterns.  It is the greeting and farewell.

THE DANCE OF LIFE - MAIA'S JOURNEY

INTRODUCTION

 

The ancient Greek philosopher I feel (I say ‘feel’ because philosophy to me is more a touchy, feely thing since you can’t prove or disprove it, even when it’s precept is based on rationalism) I can most closely relate to, is Socrates, who said ‘what I do not know I do not think I know’, or more commonly interpreted as ‘All I know is that I know nothing’.   This, to me, stands out as being the only true thing anyone can say about this finite life we find or lose ourselves living.  Yes, some of us do lose ourselves and that is very sad.   We can think we know things and we can even be so clever as to prove them, but when it comes to understanding the meaning of the things we think we understand, we really have no idea.  And ideas are all we have in the end…  and in the beginning. 

I also like Socrates’ belief that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living and ethical virtue is the only thing that matters’, which although I was unaware of this until reading it just now, is the inner driving force that prompted me to continue the search for meaning and purpose that began when I was about 5 years old, when I stood in a silent garden and tried to imagine there being nothing at all.

My aim in expressing my thoughts in writing is not to provide any new information, because everything is possibly already known - only not by us - and possibly because Kahlil Gibran had the idea that source is continually evolving, which is an enticing concept.  Nor is my aim to discuss the merits or otherwise of hypotheses of a myriad of philosophers (I leave that to those erudite intellectuals to put in their Ph D’s). 

I just want to tell you how I found my way through the maze of madness that is life by getting back to basics and down to the nitty gritty – in other words, finding simplicity at the heart of profundity (or vice versa), and thereby some semblance of sanity.  In a nutshell, I found my way through circles and cycles, joining up the dots and putting together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is the dance of life.  This is Maia’s Journey.

CHAPTER 1

Back to Basics  – the Nature of Circles or Cycles

Circles in Motion

What struck me one day, probably when I was lost in my magical wonder-world of singing snatches of old songs while searching for treasures on the beach - my favourite daily pastime - is that everything in nature is circular or cyclical.   It’s hard to miss, when all the waves, the drops of water, the sea shells and beach stones look that way and the same songs keep going round in my head. 

To extrapolate on this with a broader brush - we are governed by the laws of nature, whether we like it or not.  For every action there is a reaction.  This is the first lesson in learning about circles.

I have always loved circles, never knowing why,

Till I saw that there is more to it than meets the eye –

Circles are the magic key to seeing how and why.

There are innumerable examples of circles or cycles, so just to put you in the picture (and by the picture, I mean the vast incomprehensible universe that you and I have not the slightest inkling in the world of what its possible content, extent  or meaning can be), here are a few of the obvious ones.

·   Life and death:  we speak of the cycle of life, dust to dust, ashes to ashes.  Religions commonly believe in the incorporeal body either returning to another plane or returning to another earthly lifetime;

·    Our solar system: the structure and movements of the planets, the moon and the sun

·    Anatomy and physiology of the human body: the basic structure of the cell; the shape of the body (legs, arms, body, head, orifices, organs);  the circulatory, respiratory, nervous and digestive systems all act in a cyclical manner;

·   Natural constructions: shells, snowflakes, raindrops, sand grains, planets, stars, the formation of sand and stone by wind and water erosion;

·   Structure of matter: an atom comprises a nucleus with one or more protons and/or an equal or similar number of neutrons, and an electron or electrons rotating around the nucleus.

·    Seasons:  we speak of the turning of the seasons, of summer coming around.

How do circles work?

When operating at maximum efficiency for whatever its intended purpose, circular or cyclical shape and motion create balance and harmony.  The reverse is also true.  When there is sub-optimal efficiency, there is corresponding imbalance and discord.  If all the right parts are present and are in good shape, the machine will work well.  If not, it won’t.

It is not just desirable, but paramount to develop the most effectual functioning of your being (by this I mean everything that you are – body, mind and soul) and thereby to create balance and harmony for yourself and in turn, for the universe.  It begins with self.   Unless I am in a state of wellness and balance, I cannot project wellness and balance to others.

Having said this, I believe there is yet a greater force at work, which supersedes the minute motions of our meagre existence; the complex workings of which are far beyond our reach or influence in the greater scheme of things.  This is the mystery of life.    In the words of the Desiderata –

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.  And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

The second lesson in learning about how circles work is that they are all conjoined and indivisible from one another.  There are infinitely circles within circles in every sphere of creation.  It is the realisation of this that brings us into a state of awareness.

Awareness comes

with the conceptualisation

of the simultaneous

individual yet indivisible

existence of opposites.

One is all

and all is one.