A long-time client and I were in session conversing about her recent anxiety over a situation at work, and she wanted to alleviate the feeling of profoundly uncomfortable pain that was in her chest. As she spoke about the problem, her hand would go just beneath her throat, and she would massage the area with a gentle frown on her face.
I defaulted to my favorite way to work – using imagery. I floated the idea and she was happy to give it a try. We settled in, did some deep breathing, cleared some space and brought her attention to the feeling in her chest. After a bit, I asked about the texture, movement, color, shape, and size to garner more about this feeling. She was quick to report that it was poking at the sides and causing pain. Eventually, she described it as a “black ball with long spikes”.
Awesome.
I let her sit with that for a bit and she finally described it as a sea urchin. Uni! (Sorry).
Again, more of her sitting and courting the image, just allowing it to shift and do what it needed to. Then, after a minute or so – she said that the image of a lily came up. Alright! We chatted some more and I asked her to court both images and seek their symbolism for next session.
So what happened? In accessing her unconscious, the issue and the solution to her concern was revealed – as symbols. Now came the work of unearthing what the images require of her.
Let’s have a look at this! The sea urchin, I easily imagined, but what image came up for you when you read “lily”? I imagined the Easter Lily and a Calla Lily. My client eventually shared she saw a Spider Lily.
What we can see immediately, is that both the sea urchin and the lily have projections that are oriented outward. Similar enough – but with different purposes.
The spines of sea urchins are meant for defense, can be venomous in some species, and can help the urchin move by propelling it. My client’s anxiety alerts her to something not being quite right in her situation—the spines of the urchin press against her chest to let her know that this cannot continue and that something must be done.
Enter the lily. The “projections” are the stamen and carpel of the flower. Secondary school biology has finally paid off. These are the male and female parts of the flower, respectively.
I imagine that maybe she is being asked to balance her boss’s choppy/disorganized masculine energy – with masculine energy that is more directed, competent, decisive, grounded, organized, aware and supportive (her animus), while engaging her feminine energy that is vastly creative (I’ve seen it!), intuitive, grounded, rested and wise.
Of course, she is welcome to have her husband offer her the healthier masculine energy (and he did), but her boss/job will likely be difficult for some time to come—and she cannot control him. The reality is, that she will eventually have to discern if there is another way to get him to understand her concerns (she has already tried a few times with little improvement); continue to work, be anxious and spend time soothing herself – rinse and repeat; or make a decision to leave (allowing the urchin’s spines to propel her along) and find a job that allows her to apply her great knowledge, expand her learning and thrive in her career and life.
END
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