Preface

In every Anima Mundi seminar we do an archetypal journey. Each journey is unique as it is arises out of the moment, out of the place and out of the group. The following record of an actual journey may convey an insight into the work with the Anima Mundi.

You will notice that there are some unusual constructions of sentences in the text. I deliberately kept the wording in order not to destroy the web that the journey has woven.

Anima Mundi Seminar on the 10^th of June 2006 in London

Record of the Archetypal Journey

Image that you are sitting under a tree. You are leaning against the trunk. You are taking your time to look at the tree, to feel it. You are experiencing the roots, the trunk, the branches, the leaves. You feel how the tree is taking in nourishment through the roots. You feel how the life juices are flowing up through the trunk into the smallest branches. You sense its pulse of life. You feel how the tree is connected to everything on the earth. It is as if there are invisible branches or threads of light to every being on earth connecting every being with the tree. You feel that this ancient pulse of life goes through the tree to every being in this world. What is interesting is that the connection of the beings to the tree is interrupted that there is no circulation. The tree nourishes the beings, but the beings don't nourish the tree anymore. That is why the tree is losing its power more and more. And you feel all this in this moment because you are sitting under this tree and are leaning against its trunk.

You ask the tree what you can do for it just now in this moment. The tree shows you a way into its roots, into the deepest roots of its being. You know that you have to get down this way to the deepest roots of the tree. You get up and set out. In the moment that you are getting up you sense that you are not alone. You see an elf coming towards you. This elf is handing over a sword to you. She is putting a belt around your waist where you can put the sword. You notice that this belt is very ancient. It is woven out of many different yarns of different colours. It is very simple and very precious. You know that this belt will protect you because magic has been woven into it. You see the sheath of the sword. You can see that it has been used. This sword is very old and with great respect you put the sword into the sheath. On the handle of the sword is a ruby. And the same kind of ruby is on the ring that you are also given by the elf. The two rubies belong to each other, the one on the sword and the one on the ring, like twins, like things which complement each other. You put the ring on your finger. You bow to the elf.

The elf asks you to hand over the sword to her. You give the sword to her. You kneel down in front of her. The elf puts the sword on your head. You sense the old oath that is hidden behind this to serve the tree of life, to serve this principle. You are willing to renew this oath. And you do that in your own words, in your own manner. With that the oath is renewed. The elf passes the sword back to you. In the moment when your hands touch each other, in the moment when the sword is handed over from her to you it is as if as flame appears on the sword, a snake that coils around the blade. And then you put the sword back into the sheath.

Together you walk to the roots of the tree. The elf opens a passage for you so that you can go into the earth. You enter the earth and you go deeper and deeper. The passage becomes narrower and narrower. You sense that this passage hasn't been used for a long time. You follow the path very deep into the earth. It is as if the roots of the tree reach into the centre of the earth. Exactly there you come to a cave. You enter this cave. A shaman is coming towards you. He invites you to sit by the fire. He asks you why you have come and you tell him your story. You ask the shaman if he can help you. He nods and says that the tree of life needs to be reborn. It needs to be reborn out of the fire you are sitting around. It needs to be reborn out of the earth, out of the tears of human beings and out of the tears of all the other beings of the world, and out of this longing to renew this ancient connection. And for that it is very important that the elements of the world come together that is the earth, the air, the water, the fire, the wood. You watch the shaman poking up the fire, putting more wood on. He asks you to make water and earth available.

And when all that is brought together the shaman begins to sing. He asks you to join him in his singing to call all the beings in the world. All the beings who are willing to participate in this process or who live in the longing of renewing this ancient connection to the tree of life. So you begin to sing. It is like a call. The ancient beings of the world are being called. And also in this call you can feel the longing, the longing for this coming together to give birth to something new. The singing, the call has finished and all you can do is to wait.

You can hear a whisper and feel a soft blowing that comes from all directions. Like a wind which arrives very gently from all directions at this place. Gradually you see different beings enter the cave through the different passages. Beings from the ancient peoples. It is a recognition after all this time. You all sit down in a big circle around the fire. From each of these old peoples (the dwarfs, the fairies, the elves, the human beings) the wise men and women come together. They come together in a circle to celebrate a ritual. You watch how they bring the five elements together in this ceremony. They do it together, hand in hand, equal to each other. You notice how a small flame is rising out of the fire. The flame is totally different from the fire in the middle. It is like a drop of water, it is like a flame, it is like the sunshine, like the wind. And it is just a small flame.

And now you hold the flame in your hand. You notice that the others also hold this flame in their hands. You realize what potential this flame contains. And again it is like a drop of water and at the same time a flame. This flame, this drop of water is a seed of the tree of life through which the tree of life can renew itself. This seed has the possibility through the ritual that has been performed, through the beings that have come together, through the ancient peoples that remember the connection to re-establish the nourishing circle between the tree of life and the beings of the world. That is why you and all the others are being asked to take this flame/this drop of water/this seed and to nourish the tree of life with it.

Together with all the beings that have come together in the cave you go back to the tree of life. You reach the surface of the earth. The elf seals the entrance to the earth again. Together you walk to the tree. You kneel before the tree of life. There, at the root of the tree, you give back this flame/this drop/this seed to the tree. This drop/this seed seeps into the tree.You notice that something is very slowly expanding. You feel that the tree allows you to sit down and lean against it. Again you feel the tree of life; you feel how his life juices are rising. You feel as if another note has been added, something is different. There is like a smile between you, a new intimacy. This different note is vibrating beyond the tree into the connection that the tree has to the beings of the world. All you can do is to witness this note in your life. Because now you know of the new connection/this flame/this seed that is now living in the tree of life. And your task is to see that in your everyday life again and again. That is why you have been present at this ritual to witness this.

You know that now you will say good-bye to the tree of life and come back into this tent here. You say good-bye to the tree of life in your own personal manner and come back here into this room.