As a child I used to be afraid of the dark – room with the lights off, the night outside, the creatures of the shadow. Everything related followed me to adulthood and used to give me chills, all kinds of fears.
Disturbing and unspoken, lived and relived.
I needed something sturdy that could hold imprisoned all that scary stuff,
the perfect, grounded cube, “Pandora’s Box”.
The thing is, once I captured my monsters, materialized and confronted them, they lost their power to instill the fear in me.
True story, the Power is actually mine – one of the jewels I uncovered, the jewel buried in the depths of me.
There are reasonable fears like survival instinct which exists in human biological makeup, but despite that, fear is the sign that we are out of touch with our jewels, that we lack of trust.
The fear of the dark – both physical and metaphysical –
Just sit with it, observe.
Give no reaction.
Understand and embrace.
Stillness – active presence is your vessel to the other side of the fear.
courage, curiosity, trust, calmness…forgiveness
expects you there
According to the ancient Greek myth, Pandora was the first woman on Earth, graced by the Gods with many gifts (“jewels”) – beauty, creativity, curiosity and other virtues. The meaning of her name is “the one who bears the gifts”. Shortly, the Gods plotted against humankind and wanted to punish them, originally because of Prometheus who caused the wrath of Zeus for stealing the fire and giving it to humans. Pandora was sent to Epimetheus to be his wife, but he was warned by his brother Prometheus not to accept her. Prometheus foresaw the devious play by the Gods. But Epimetheus accepted Pandora immediately, being stunned by her captivating beauty.
As a gift for her wedding, Pandora “the cursed beauty”, received a box from Zeus, but was told not to open it. She couldn’t resist the curiosity (which was purposefully installed in her as a God-given gift from Zeus to trick her). She opened the box and by that released the evil spirits -all the misery and suffering into the world. As she was pure-hearted, she got terrified and closed “the box” immediately. The evil was out, only hope left trapped inside. Zeus wanted to teach the humans not to disobey the will of Gods because they wanted to stay superior. The hope was left in the box according to the plan because in the time of misfortune people would look up to the heavens, obey by praying and hope for mercy.
In the olden days, humans were supposed to fear God, fear the unknown, the mystical unseen force. It was a form of societal control that later birthed dogmas. It was needed, maybe. In this day and age in the more civilized world, yet we are on the verge of a great shift and awakening. And we are free to interpret this legacy from our forefathers in a new light, with a fresh perspective. Extract inspiration and offer brand new conclusions.
Pandora’s symbol in my picture is an open box.
Leave it open, there is nothing to be feared.
Let even the hope out, stay empty for a while.
Leave the room for your jewels, unbury them, raise your awareness, love and polish them daily. Preserve what’s good – observe, understand and release what’s not.
This is how you pay true respect to your creator.
Suboart Magazine 