Following the river

For millennia, the river has flowed into the Canadian rockies in British Columbia and then wound its way south through Washington State to the border with Oregon and then west until it empties into the vast unlimited Pacific Ocean. There, in that wide junction, it forges a turbulent entrance as well as a vital seaport for the northwest. 

The Columbia most profoundly and powerfully staggers the imagination. Time travelers, past and present, find her mysterious power compelling. Is it her ability to take life that draws our breath away as we experience her substantial and timeless flow?

I grew up on the Niagara. As powerful as she is with her capricious currents and terrible under toe, she can be cruel, occasionally tragically taking life in her roaring falls. In winter, when the falls glisten in the frigid moonlight, her dark depths are forgotten in the delicate magical essence of her frozen mists glazing everything nearby.

Unlike the Columbia, the Niagara doesn't hide her power. It is on display as a warning. Both have a mysterious past which entice the imagination and invite deeper reflection as we plumb the power inherent in their depths, spiritually matching our own inner, watery worlds. 

There is a dramatic beauty about the Columbia that speaks to me every morning as I cross from Washington to Oregon for work. East of the bridge I travel on, Mount Hood either hides from view or rises proudly in the morning sunrise. I have come to look east for Mother nature's wisdom in the merging dance of light and dark, grey clouds or sparkling sunshine on the dark, often moody river.

So, why?  Why does the river fascinate me so much. Why do I love her, fear her, listen to her, but I would never swim in her. Her depths terrify me, but above, on a bridge or a boat, I can flow with her, watch her. I have come to find an answer to that question.

In my awe of the Columbia, I have come to realize the river is a symbol of Neptune's mysterious abode. It is alluring in the mystery of its contents.  If nothing were down there, then there would be no fear. But, there is something down there - a lot of something and that's where my fear comes from.

Recently I read Underworld  by Graham Hancock who is a leading underwater archaeologist.  He has explored underwater ruins throughout the planet that stem from predeluvian civilizations that were flooded and remain submerged in oceans around the world. They serve as evidence that the great flood really happened.There have been at least three global floods.  

One especially haunting underwater structure is Krishna's Dwaraka temple off the coast of India. For thousands of years, historians thought the ancient temple was myth.There was no evidence of it. Then recently, Hancock discovered it. He rationalized that given the water tables had risen since the last flood, logically it would be in a certain location off the coast. He talked to the locals. Some of the fishermen said there's a certain spot off the coast where their fishing nets get caught on something.  

Hancock began scuba diving there and found it. He has done the same around the world and found pyramids and other ancient temples and structures just off coast lines in Japan, the Philippines and in the Mediterranean, among others.   

And, seriously, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Neptune does have a world down there - our world, our history, stories long forgotten, and yet for the world they contain essential information that reveals from where we have come, what we valued and did, and perhaps warnings we should heed.

And, that's only on the external, global level. We each have buried in our own minds ancient familial relics and personal messages. As we trace the flow of our own timelines, as a river, we may uncover things we have just assumed were acceptable, but aren't. Without challenging them after discovering them, our lives would continue down a trajectory to a destination we would choose not to go.

A friend and I traveled a good distance along the Columbia, where the Lewis and Clark expedition once traveled. We explored where the Oregon Trail struggled along, until ultimately ending in Oregon City. We saw history with new eyes, an enlightened vision, and gasped at the terrible cost in Native American lives, and loss of life among Buffalo herds. We saw the meaningless cost of those early covered wagon trips to come to a completely undeveloped remote part of the continent. Why did they do that? Was it necessary, we boldly asked. 

But, that's all another story. That's our American story. What about our own deep internal buried memories? What holds me back? What holds you back? What is blocking each of us from our encounter with the great ocean, to where the I Ching says we need to flow? What is holding us back?  What ancient submerged temples are catching our nets? The answer is what lies undiscovered in our unconscious, those sunken ships or temples that are still actively seeping their beliefs, ideologies, religious myths, their judgmentalism, their messages to conform to a past that is gone, but still haunting us.

By listening mindfully to our thoughts and the events of our lives, our intuitive leanings, all comparatively against where we want to go and be and do, we can identify what is blocking us. As we look at what we have magnetized into our lives, we hear what the old haunting messages are. As we reflect on them, sort them, and analyze them for what benefit they offer, we can trace the emotional pain or the nonworking parts of our lives back to the source. 

As you explore the past by tracing back to your own early life and the unconscious programming there, you may find beliefs and ideologies that have informed your beliefs which are drawing certain circumstances into your life which may not serve your goals, dreams, hopes.

Our lives' vitality and purpose, joy, peace and power depend on it. Our ability to fish out of life what we want and need might be impeded by ancient temples that catch our nets.  Maybe we will learn not to fish there, but we can't know it until we disarm the power they hold lurking there. Wisdom says to listen deeply, mindfully, and with respect for your past and love and longing for your future, which you can create when you cut the strings with which the past is mysteriously still controlling you.

One thing is certain, once you've heard the old stories those submerged ancient structures have to tell you, and you forgive any ancient, buried, grievances you still hold, your bondage will disappear. And, as you release the old ghosts, sending them into the light through your forgiveness, your power will surge up under your own control, and your life will flow unimpeded into a brighter future. And, maybe then you, and I, won't have to work so hard at life, and reaching our dreams.