Opus Animae and The Divine Discontent
It has been said that many roads lead to Rome. As the capital of the Roman Empire all roads radiated out from that center and as a proverb it means, since the middle ages, that many different paths or ways can lead to the same center, home, goal, conclusion or outcome.
The objective of my work is shared with many psychologists, life coaches, therapists, counselors, astrologers and spiritual or religious guides. We all essentially seek the same: to assist and support our clients in the process of becoming more whole, an eternal theme in human experience. There are endless approaches of how that end may be pursued, all depending which specific branch of the helping profession has been embraced.
The ambiguous Latin words “Opus Animae” translate into “Soul Work”, which describes the work I do with my clients but they also mean “the work the individual soul has to do”, which represents the roads we have to follow to return to wholeness. Psychologist C. G. Jung calls it “the integration of the personality” or “individuation”, a process that leads to psychological and spiritual maturity. It entails the integration of the “Shadow”, the repressed and unconscious parts of our psyche or in other words our unlived life.
As an astrologer and life coach I offer my own unique approach, which symbolizes the many paths I have taken to come closer to my “center”. There are inner and outer paths I have taken, all fueled by the divine discontent, that endless irritation that keeps us gravitating towards “home”, the place we came from and bears many names. Like the pearl that is formed by endless layers of lustrous coating wrapped around an irritant which worked its way into an Oyster, the vexations of our lives, when dealt with constructively, transform slowly into precious jewels of wisdom which enrich and irradiate the evolved soul. Nature teaches us to embrace the irk, the discontent or enemy which may come into our lives in the form of an outer event or person. Alternatively, we may experience it as an inner conflict of seemingly incompatible needs, desires or values.
I have traveled some treacherous roads lined with obstacles and dangers lurking in the shadows of obscure underpasses. Yet I have come to cherish and honor the outer and inner challenges of my life. They have taught me to accept pain as a necessary agent of change, to leap into the cryptic abyss of the great unknown of my own psyche in order to discover my wings, to transform fear, anger and resentment into faith, love and forgiveness but most importantly: to die while staying alive with grace and fortitude.
I have a great love, respect and admiration for the struggle of our souls to find the roads leading back “home”, whatever that may mean for an individual. Assisting my clients on that journey through illuminating their inner map and supporting them in the process of becoming who they are is deeply rewarding to me.
May we all find and be found.