“Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.”
David Foster Wallace
Every month we have a New Moon. This is the time of darkness. This state of darkness is familiar to us and something we shouldn’t fear. We came from darkness in the ****. We have day and night, a time of rest and revival. Depending on what you believe, there is also the darkness before your soul enters your body and your current incarnation. These are all cycles the clearing before the start of something new.
We are familiar with a period of Wintering, of dissolution and this is a natural cycle. It’s not sustainable to be in the full action of summer all the time. Just imagine, if we did do this, there wouldn’t be time for change. Although we would be perpetually busy, we’d become stagnant, doing the same things over and over. Repeating the same mistakes. There would be no time for review, learning and letting go. Does this sound familiar? Is a pattern in your life?
Knowing when to let go
The Gift of the Destroyer Archetype is to know when it is time to let go and to do so with grace. Letting go is a crucial part of life. Learning to let go and trust that something better will take its place is a life-lesson. This is a natural death and rebirth cycle. When we embody this energy in ourselves, we can move on from situations that we’ve outgrown, being present to harvest the lessons and turn it into wisdom.
How are you at endings?
Do you fear them?
You can be present at endings when you embody the Destroyer Archetype energy. You don’t avoid difficult emotions. You have the capacity to be present, to grieve the loss or perceived loss and that allows you to move on.
Why do I need healthy Destroyer energy?
Why is this important? If you can’t allow the emotions to move through you, you’ll find yourself stuck, unable to move on in your life. This may mean:
- You don’t start a new relationship as you fear a possible end and heartache. The result is you stay alone and feel lonely.
- You can’t let go of belongings as you have not processed the emotions and moved on from that part of your life. You’re hording/chained to the past as you haven’t dealt with it.
- In business you may be unable to complete projects and move on to something new and better. Incapable of ending a product that isn’t performing well and make space for something new.
- You are stuck repeating life-limiting beliefs. To allow yourself to become someone new, you need to crack open your protective shell and dissolve who you are. The old you must die before the new you can become.
The Destroyer Archetype bears gifts for you. We need a time of darkness and reflection to be able to formulate the wisdom. This gives us clarity in what is a weed and what is something we should keep and nurture in our life. The Destroyer energy supports us to move beyond fear and weed out limiting beliefs. When you master Wintering, you learn to collaborate with the dying of the old, the outworn, the tattered disguises and know this is process of liberation.
In our outer focused Western culture, we are not taught to recognise and honour these organic cycles and override them -often at a huge personal cost in terms of stress and burnout. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but it’s preparing the ground for the fertile new growth.
What does this mean in my life?
Your life is continuously moving through this birth, growth, death and rebirth cycle. If you are in business you may want to take a moment to recognise where your projects are. Are you holding on to things that need to be released? Are you fearful of letting go? Recognise that there is always a threshold, ending one cycle while anticipating a new one around the corner.
Take some quiet time to reflect your relationship to endings.
- How were you taught to deal with uncomfortable feelings?
- Are you fully present at endings?
- Do you choose to remain in a relationship long after it is has ceased to be beneficial to you?
Do you want to be able to create a new and better life for yourself? If so, you need to release that which limits you. You need to be brave, progressive and take risks. These are leadership qualities. You need to lead yourself into your improved life and that means destroying the old, so your energy is thereafter able to be focused on creating the new.
Is it time to end the claw marks and fearful grasping?
Let go gracefully.
The Destroyer Archetype workshops allow you to let go and liberate yourself. The 3 x 1hours workshops Explore the Destroyer Archetype and activate the gifts: capacity to let go, bravery, risk-taking, progressive, leadership and enable metamorphosis in your life.