Charybdis

Daughter of Poseidon and Gaia, Charybdis was a sea-nymph who flooded the land in order to take possession of it for her father. Zeus, angered that his land was being appropriated, turned her into a monster with a ravenous thirst thrice daily. As she took in water and spewed it out, whirlpools would form. This was treacherous to passing ships and a phrase was born - between Charybdis and Scylla. Scylla was another monster inhabiting the other side of the same channel of water.

Mythology. What in the world does it have to do with survival of the fittest?






Image from Carta Marina

Maelstrom

Moskstraumen.
Saltstraumen.
Old Sow.
Corryvrecken.
Naruto.

These are the five significant whirlpools on our Earth. Tides alone cannot explain their existence. It is the tides plus what the tides encounter. Below the surface the contours of the unseen landscape disrupt the flow. If the hindrance is enough . . . dangerous chaos at the surface.

The word we use in English for these large whirlpools is "maelstrom." Mael means "to grind." Strom is from "straumen" or stream. Literally, then, the "grinding stream." The name pictures what happens when boats stray near.

The topography of the seabed has great impact at the surface. Our lives are no different. The topography of the heart affects the outward flow. Whatever we bury deep down causes the flow of our lives to eddy and swirl. Much of the time the unrest remains below the surface where no one else can see it. But when the stuff that's buried piles high enough, the surface roils. That is a problem - not just for you, but for those around you.

Lots of people refuse to deal with their stuff. They bury it and it stays buried alive. It never goes away. They live sad and heavy lives. They end up living all over everyone around them. The current of their lives sucks the energy out of anyone nearby. If it's strong enough, it will destroy those closest.

Descent into the maelstrom can be true of the sea. There are places that will pull you down. You will not escape. It can also be true of people. They can be grinding streams. Beware the tides.

Jose Gonzales - Heartbeats

Peter Gabriel - The Feeling Begins

Gravity - Orbit Part II

Black holes suck up everything within their influence. Mass determines direction. Black holes have mass; lots of mass. They overpower lesser bodies with massive gravity. They, in a manner of speaking, direct.

Extrapolating that to our lives it is easily seen that we can be directed by influential presences of what we allow near our psyche. The mind, will and emotions can be controlled by one or more such determinatives. We let some people and things have so much power in our lives that they will eventually make decisions for us. It is a frightening thing when the gravity of something outside our frame directs the outcome.

Solutions . . . become an island where we are drawn into the echo of preoccupation with self. Or, find a positive weight. Something real, tangible, good, permanent. In fact, the more permanent the better. The Hebrews called such a weight "glorious." It is how to live: We permit the gravity of the glorious scribe the arc of our souls.

The Orbit of the Soul

When one has weighed the sun in the balance, and measured the steps of the moon, and mapped out the seven heavens, there still remains oneself. Who can calculate the orbit of his own soul?

- Oscar Wilde


Welcome, friends, to the orbit of the soul. As the center is sure, the orbit is steady. When the center shifts, the circumference is eccentric. As with atoms to the heavenly realm, so with the soul and it's attractants.

What draws the mind, will and emotions? Are those things stabilizing? Are they wondrous? Or, are we merely seeking relief?

Whatever magnetizes our self gives orbit to the soul. These are some of the things that tug on me.

Sc