It is hard to describe the language of Soul in words as Soul is mercurial, meaning it is hard to define and can be mysterious. There are about 7500 languages on this beautiful planet so there are probably about 7500 ways to describe Soul. Although Soul is hard to describe in words there is a way Soul communicates with us and below is various ways in which if we pay attention we can remember our essence, our Soul calling and purpose in this life. In essence if we learn to be good trackers of our wild Soul we can uncover the mytereies. Have a read below on the imagination, Story, Poetry, Wild nature, Body based knowing ,Crisis and opportunity, Ritual and ancestry.

Imagination

The French Philosopher Albert Camus said “ a persons work is nothing but a slow trek to rediscover through the detours of the imagination those two or three images in who’s presence their heart first opened”.

The renowned Psychologist C.G Jung stated that Images are the most immediate encounter with Soul.

James Hillman, another renowned archetypal psychologist stated that the act of imagining is the act of Soul making, literally we can dream ourselves into being through active participation and contemplation of the imaginal.

So you see there is something important about paying attention to those images that arise in us through dreams, mindful exploration, active imagination and wild nature.

The old idea is that the imagination and the imaginal realm is completely independent from us and that we must court and nurture this relationship like all relationship. The more we nurture and tend to this relationship with the imaginal realm the more the imaginal responds to us. And these images arise from soul, we could say that we are really nurturing the relationship with our own soul and the soul of the world when we pay attnetion to the image.Soul also known as Psyche in Greek mythology, which is where we get Psychology from, literally meaning the study of Psyche or the study of Soul. In Western Psychological understanding however there is a sense that Psyche is inside of us but a lot of the mystics and lineage holders of the imagination would argue that we are inside of Psyche. So the question becomes how am I being parented by Psyche today? Or how is Psyche showing up in my life today? These are curious questions to ask as we tend to and nurture this relationship with imagination, the Psyche/Soul.

According to Frances Weller one of the most important tasks of the imagination is to reknit the fabric between self and world. In other words, we not only remember our relationship with our own soul but also the soul of the world and the more-then-human world. As we tend to and nurture this relationship, we again fall in love with a living breathing alive earth. This is in my opinion one of the most important tasks of out time. If we love a living Earth, we are willing to protect and tend to it rather then take from and deplete. So the power of connecting to the imagination is the power to revive the Earth, the imagination moves our sensuous animal bodies into a wider cosmological connection with a living alive universe.

 Story

“We have forgotten the old Stories but the old stories have not forgotten us.” Martin Prectel.

For centuries stories have been told around the campfires but what was the purpose of this? Stories have both prophetic and pastoral information in them. They weave together the ancient past with the modern day present and if we know how to tune our ear we may just get a glimpse into those one or two images that move us deeply as we wrestle into the depths of these old stories. Storytelling in its most ancient form was a way that some shamans moved the psychic energy around keeping the village healthy and flourishing. As we listen to these old stories we can be moved and touched emotionally, energetically, viscerally and through the lens of the image, the imagination. Its amazing to share a story and witness each individual see themselves or be touched by different parts and places of the story. It is a truly magical encounter. Story is another way to enter the door into the imaginal and the language of Soul.

Poetry

“Poetry at its best is the language your Soul would speak if you could teach your Soul to speak”. Jim Harrison.

“Now I a four fold vision see

and a four fold vision is given to me

tis four fold in my supreme delight,

and three fold in soft bulahs night

and two fold always,

may god us keep from single vision and newtons sleep.”

William Blake

This Poem by William Blake is one of my favourites and touches my Soul in a way that nourishes something deep within me. Maybe for you it moves you in some way.

Poetry is another doorway into the language of our Soul. Have you ever read a poem and be so moved that the image or the line of words has stuck with you for weeks, months maybe ever since you read that line. This is the power of poetic understanding and another way Soul communicates through us.

Body Based Knowing

“There is more wisdom in your body then in your deepest philosophy.” Frederick Nietszche.

Have you ever experienced a time when you were so fully alive and connected you just did not want to leave the experience or situation. Or maybe it was the opposite where you felt unsafe, disconnected and wanted to leave the experience as fast as possible. What was informing you at these times? A gut feeling? A contraction somewhere in the body? A heart full of love? These are all body sensations we can attune to and also become aware of to inform us if we are following the right path. It is also another way our Soul can communicate with us. Sometimes this is through sensation but a curiosity is also at times when we become unwell, injured or we are absolutely gull of vitality. Again if we sit with these moments with open curiosity and ask the right questions we can begin to open the door to a more soulful life. The body is full of so much wisdom but we must be able to slow down and pay attention, to embody ourselves back home.

Crisis or Opportunity

“The greatest tension within we all carry is the sacredness of the Souls longing and the strategies of the Wound” Frances Weller.

The Soul would have us be bold and fully expansive taking our place and embedded fully into our life purpose.

The wound on the other hand would have us hide away and contract.

This is the great tension we as humans all hold and yet if we connect and work with the wound we uncover the gift hiding with in. This is the old idea that right behind the wound in every being is a wisdom and gift that will benefit humanity. It can be scary to begin to peel back the layers of the wound but in doing so you allow the Souls longing to spring forward like a Hawk guiding in a thermal. As we do this we may get opportunities that open up to us that just feel right, that by following the thread we gain insight and a deeper understanding of who we truly are in this world.

Sometimes however if we have not tended to our wounds the Soul may communicate through a crisis to shift the path you are on. This could be a relationship breakup, an illness or some other life crisis in order to fulfil our path in this life. So crisis and opportunity are another way that the language of Soul may show up in our lives. If we are willing to pay attention, these can be treasured gifts.

 Ritual and ceremony

“Ritual is the passageway of the Soul into the infinite”. Algernon Blackwood

Ritual and ceremony provides us a container where we can be inside the Souls longing to belong. These Rituals also allow us to be fully ourselves and move through our grief, sorrow and wounding so we can be fully alive in our lives and empowered in our purpose. Inside ritual space is where we are connected to somethinhg larger than ourselves, to connect to the eternal.

Wild Nature

“ A walk in nature walks the Soul back home”. Mary Davis

"You must go in quest of yourself, and you will find yourself again only in the simple and forgotten things. Why not go into the forest for a time, literally? Sometimes a tree tells you more than can be read in books."

~ C. G. Jung

We are Nature and when we remember ourselves back home and slow down to the rythyms of the Earth we allow space for our Soul to shine. Wild NAture time also allows us to free of distractions and when we cant distract ourself we can be with ourself. The Soul loves this.

Ancestry

“Every person is the quotation from all their ancestors” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Are you connected to your ancestry, the deep roots from which you came and are going to? One of the questions I like to contemplate is am what im doing training me to be a good ancestor? Its a powerful question. I also belive if we have a deep understanding of our ancestry we get a glimpse into the house of belonging and it also can shine light of intergenerational wounding or patterns that we are able to heal.