Shadows of the Sacred-Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions

by Frances Vaughan

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Wheaton, IL: Quest Books – The Theosophical Publishing House 1995   318 pp   $21.95

This is a book worth tasting, a little morsel at a time, and chewing upon thoughtfully. Frances Vaughan shares of her own wisdom and, through profound quotes, from observations of others across space and time.

The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for, until the cord be broken, the bird cannot fly.                                                          - St. John of the Cross

Though her book is more than a dozen years in print, it is timely in the context of the needs of humanity to waken to our connection with the All if we hope to survive the planetary crises facing us today. Vaughan notes, "The seeds of grassroots spirituality seem to be springing up everywhere through the cracks in the old order." (p. 3)

An essential aspect of reconnecting with the needs of our planet is the clearing of many issues within us that are driving us to destroy the environment, to suicide as a species through global heating, and to kill most, if not all other life on the planet at the same time. The accumulated personal and collective angers, fears and hurts within us are, to a large extent, outside our conscious awareness. These dark aspects of ourselves have been called the shadow in Jungian terms.

Whether we think of the shadow as the unacceptable “other” in the psyche or the voice of the soul that has been repressed, it makes itself known to us whenever we turn attention to the inner world in search of spiritual renewal. Authentic spirituality cannot ignore the shadow.
Authentic spirituality implies awareness of who we are as whole human beings-including body, emotions, mind, soul and Spirit – existing in a web of interdependent relationships with the earth and the cosmos. Authentic spirituality contributes to a sense of freedom and inner peace, and to love, service and responsibility in the world. I believe authentic spirituality is a powerful force for healing and social change. (p. 5)

Another aspect of the Path is to connect with inner guidance. This guidance appears to connect us with the collective consciousness of humanity, of all aspects of the planet, and to higher, unseen sources of wisdom.

The wisest, like fools, are said to follow their own counsel. It seems that the further one goes along the way to spiritual maturity, the more one learns to trust inner guidance, and the more trustworthy the guidance becomes. (p. 25)

Vaughan (referencing Wierzbicka) notes that our language distances us from connecting with our soul.

In English soul has become impoverished and discredited in the rational scientific climate of Western culture. In psychology mind, which connotes rational, intellectual knowledge, devoid of emotional or moral overtones, has displaced soul in designating the invisible component of the person. Something is lost in translation when Teilhard de Chardin’s use of the French, ame, and Freud’s use of the German, seele, are rendered in English as mind. Shorn of spiritual connotations, mind is disconnected from values and emotions and does not fully convey what is meant by ame, seele or soul. (p. 108-9).

We relate to each other and to the world around us largely through our mind, a left-brain concept that by habit disassociates us from our feeling, intuitive, spiritual awarenesses. Living through the guidance of our mind, devoid of spiritual connections, we are more likely to seek our personal advantage over the good of the All; more easily led to attack 'others' upon whom we blame our own problems; and less likely to look inside ourselves to explore those shadow aspects of ourselves that drive us to aggress against others and ourselves.

Vaughan goes on to discuss Soul and Spirit and our relationships with the All. This is a book to be treasured and reread periodically as we deepen our understandings of ourselves and our world.

References

H. Smith, Essays on World Religions (New York: Paragon House, 1991), 123.
A. Wierzbicka, “Soul and Mind: Linguistic Evidence for Ethnopsychology and Culteral History,” American Anthropologist 9 (1989): 41-58.

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