Walking in Two Worlds; The Myth of Persephone

The gift of the wounded healer is not that we are perfect, but that we've been to the underworld and made it back, broken and healed, over and over again such that those who find themselves in a dark place can trust that they too, can heal and find their way through.

Within each person is a vast underworld or subconscious, and a vast topside world or consciousness. Our human energy field is a map of both, and the communication between these parts allows for what we call 'wholeness' or 'being integrated, authentic.'

It seems that certain people, due to certain life circumstances, usually fragmentation through early childhood trauma, or being outcast to the larger society as a whole, find themselves frequent navigators of multiple realities. A really beautiful cosmological myth that brings this into perspective is The Myth of Persephone.

For those who need a refresher, Persephone was a beautiful maiden who was suddenly and unexpectedly kidnapped and taken to the underworld where she would eventually become Queen, married to a dark King. As part of the agreement for her hand in marriage she was allowed to return to the upper world half the year. Persephone is one who spends her days cycling back n forth between the underworld and the topside world. For those who can relate to this tale of cycling between two realities, light and dark, and experienced a rite of passage into the underworld, especially as a child, we often find ourselves on the path of the wounded healer as we become quite familiar with the terrain of walking between two worlds.

Who I am and what I do as a practitioner of Chinese Medicine with the added perspective of the evolving field of energy medicine, has led me to seek out Persephone as a private muse. A teacher of mine calls the wounded healers, "Persephone's daughters (and sons)." Persephone's daughters are the children that have been ejected from our bodies, and delivered soul level wounds at a young age resulting in an unexpected and terrifying dive into the underworld. If we are lucky enough to return, we find ourselves fundamentally changed and destined to live out the cycle of journeying to the underworld many rounds through. These early wounds might look like the death of a parent, the betrayal of a parent, loss of love through neglect or abandonment, sexual abuse, accompanied by a fierce loneliness, or very broken boundaries that cause the child to forge a connection with the unseen world. Many of us spend the rest of our lives traversing two worlds and seeking to repair these soul level wounds. And many of us become healers, seers, shadow whisperers, mediums, shamans, witches and the like.

Persephone spends half the year above and half the year below. It is a common experience for survivors of abuse to be able to function fully in the material world, while having one foot in the shadow world.

The gift of the wounded healer is not that we are perfect (far from it!) but that we've been broken and repaired, broken and healed, over and over again such that those who find themselves in a dark place can trust that they too, can heal and find their way through.

For many of us this underworld journey is a rite of passage and initiation, and if met with a compassionate guide can make all the difference in how we alchemize our experience. At the archetypal level, it is the decent into the shadows that opens a person to the wealth of the inner world. It's a pleasure to be offering these gifts, in this way, at this time when our planet so greatly supports our individual and collective transformations.