The Sacred Space of Relationship

Linda said...
You say, "in the sacred space, anyone who understands can become your twin..." Please explain what is meant by "sacred space."

Hi Linda: When I refer to “sacred space” I am referring to the conditions that people allow for relationships to flourish. To achieve this, the people involved need to create the space for themselves that includes complete honesty, appreciation and (psychological) safety for one another. This space allows for self exploration and connection with spirit. It can only occur when each person is first able to witness themselves and maintain an internal balance that allows them to experience without “charge” or judgment of positive or negative.

This means that before we are ready for a sacred relationship, we each have to have done the internal work necessary to allow the sacred space. A good understanding of anger and how to effectively process it is essential. An understanding of our shadow aspect is necessary, that part of us that holds the unrecognized fear, and projects a victim – villain - hero triad or good and evil dynamic into relationship. It is also important to have an understanding of golden shadow, and how an over involvement with the beautiful parts of ourselves can interfere with the appreciation or psychological safety of another. It is widely thought that once we have “readied” ourselves, we have cleared the way for twin flame and soul mate relationships to enter our lives.

Having sacred relationships does not mean that problems or crisis will not enter our lives. As long as we are alive we are drawn to all levels of the mirror experience, even what we judge in the moment and the dark night of the soul. But the sacred space in relationship provides the foundation for our experience to be clearly realized. We must make sure that our partners are provided honesty, appreciation and safety at all times and that includes not assigning blame for deconstructing circumstances or emerging shadow. If we can provide our loved ones with the room to explore all aspects of themselves and appreciate who they are and who they are becoming, they can do the same for us.

Once we have learned to create a sacred space for relationship, it becomes easier to walk away from relationships incapable of providing it. It becomes the kindest thing to do because it establishes the model for all relationships to follow. You will be surprised at how many people can rise to the understanding, if given the time and sacred space.

The characters in my book, Chasing Twilight, are discovering how to create this sacred space. Thanks for asking. Molly Brogan

Symbols as the Language of the Soul

Dorothea said...
Without a Word is quite a play. It isn't easy to imagine the audience reception to it in the 70's. How did you work the dream chorus? I can think of many ways that it can be done because the book form leaves it open to interpretation.

This is a great question, Dorothea. Thanks for posting it. When writing the Dream chorus (a cluster of voices in echo) for Without a Word, I used the motif symbols from the play such as: night, day, sunset, window… The character Dream uses these as symbols and recreates interpretations that are not limited to linear or rational structures, just as our own dreams do for us during sleep. Ernest Hemmingway is the master of using motif symbols. He gradually defines character development throughout a story with motif, and then constructs sentences at the end of the story using these motifs that will decode for the reader, the characters’ triumph or tragedy. Motifs carry the reader along on the subconscious level and complete the story’s imagery.

I originally wrote the Dream character for Without a Word, as a chorus, with each voice expressing a different motif. This concept is obviously very complicated and while I could hear it in my head very clearly, I was never able to direct well enough to pull it off. Both of my productions of Without a Word had one person as Dream. In the Chicago production we combined the Dream and Light characters to accentuate the integration of the Word character.

I hope that the play is flexible enough to be staged any variety of ways, just as each one of us has individual characteristics of word, dream, shadow, mirror and light that make up our characters. I hope that any director could adapt the play to express their own voice, or the voice of their theatrical group. Molly Brogan

The Realm of Possibility and a Blaze of Light

Anonymous said...
I've read your book of poems several times. You talk about "possibility" as if it was a place to go. Can you please talk about what this means to you? I'm not getting it.

Thank you for posting this intriguing question. Most of us have some idea of the meaning of the word “possibility,” Merriam Webster defines it as: 1 : the character, condition, or fact of being possible whether theoretically, in general, or under a specified set of conditions 2 : something that is possible : CONTINGENCY : a particular thing that may take place, eventuate, or be manipulated to some end 3 archaic : one's utmost power, capacity, or ability especially as determined by circumstances

Wikipedia defines it as: Possibility comprises that which can happen, such as what one can achieve. The Latin origins of the word hint at ability. Possibility is also referring to something that "could happen", that is not precluded by the facts, but usually not probable.

These definitions are commonly known and we refer to them. But when I think of the realm of possibility, I think of something more. I am thinking of becoming conscious of the eternal spiritual life that encompasses all time and no time and allows us, always, to become more than we are. I am thinking of transcendental possibility.

Today’s scientists are entertaining the notion of an electric universe, where plasma (earlier known as ether) permeates space and holds life. It is there that the idea of a holographic universe comes into play. It is through our etheric bodies that we bring spirit to life.

To answer your question, in these terms, possibility is not a place “to go” but more like an energy to recognize and allow. I have included a pretty good u-tube video about the idea of a holographic universe at the end of this post. Please feel free to continue the dialogue if this does not directly answer your question.

Many thanks. Molly Brogan

http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=fg5us8isW7M&rel=1&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//i.ytimg.com/vi/fg5us8isW7M/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskLvVM11TCPfpb92yic2xw0I

Dreams as expressions of soul and spirit

Kim said...
I very much enjoyed the dream journal entries in Remember Me. It seemed to me that Mary's dreams changed as she aged, the way an adult dreams differently than a child. How did you develop the dream journal for this character?

Thanks for your post, Kim. I liked it so much I thought it would make a great stand alone discussion. I did indeed develop the dream journal entries like a story of their own, that might reveal the maturation process and character of Mary. There are many theories about what our dreams might mean. I do think that we have many different kinds of dreams and that dreaming serves a function in our expression and development.

Like Jung, I think that sometimes our dreams can form around symbols that mean more to our soul or spirit than they do to our conscious mind. I tried to develop these symbols in the dreams throughout Mary's life to tell us the story of how her soul cried out for recognition and freedom. Mary's inability to recognize this contributed to her confusion and demise. She was not self aware enough to see the patterns in these symbols or look within herself for the direction they might give her. Her dream journal habit was, to her, like an exercise for the physical body that does not include the Zen for the rest of her. All parts of ourselves need to be communicating and integrated, and here she fell short.

Thanks again for this insightful question. Molly Brogan

Archetype as a guiding template for humanity

Aiko said...
I have been looking at your google book preview. What do you mean by "the original man?"
October 16, 2007 1:03 PM

Aiko, your question is a very good one so I thought I would include it in a new post and new discussion of the role of archetypes in the development of our personal and collective consciousness.

In my play, Without a Word, the main character, Word, is described as the original man. Many writers have used the concept of "everyman" for their characters, but the original man is a little different. Word is the original man in the biblical sense, meaning he has functions and attributes that, together with the play's other characters, create the original man or the collective man or humanity as one. For instance, some bible scholars have theorized that the 12 apostles are each an attribute or archetype that together, create the Christ, or collective man. Here is an example: http://mollybroganenterprises.com/business%20form%20model.pdf

Throughout the play, Word articulates his process of integration as he becomes aware of his personal and collective archetypes, i.e., the other characters in the play. This is a process that we engage in throughout our lives, consciously or subconsciously. In microcosm, it is the fruition of an idea. In macrocosm, if we reach a point in our lives where we consciously understand self as other, and can feel the thread of connection in all of us, and hold that connection as sacred, we no longer need to hold the archetype in separation and can fully integrate.

By the end of the play, Word has integrated the other characters and owns his role as the original man. Every day I feel myself closer to this integration and every day marvel and how it effects the quality of my life. I can only imagine how wonderful the world can be when we are all consciously aware of the sacred nature of our relationships, including the relationship with self. I can feel it coming. I believe it will be brilliant.

Thanks for asking. If you have more questions, please feel free to post. We can recreate this play together. Molly Brogan

Discussion of Gregg Braden's Seven Mirrors and divine will

Ken said...
I like Gregg Braden's formula that thought and feeling creates prayer (not reality.) Your idea doesn't seem to leave room for God's will.

Hi Ken,

I liked your post so much. I thought it could stand alone as a new discussion. You're right, of course. Divine Will is the integral aspect to our human experience. Most religions recognize a power greater than us. Consider, for a moment, the God in us as the source of all creation. Then we would create our reality not by what we DO, but by what we recognize, respect or allow as divine will moves through us. Divine will is the God in us in motion.

If we can position ourselves to live life like this, another of Gregg Braden's presentations comes into play: The Seven Mirrors in the Essene Mystery of Relationship. These mirrors are:

1)who we are in the moment;

2)What we judge in the moment;

3)what has been lost, given away or taken away;

4)our most forgotten love;

5)our relationship with God;

6)our dark night of the soul;

7)our perfection.

According to this belief, our experience becomes a vibrational mirror that reflects one or some combination of mirrored patterns in others. Recognizing the wisdom of the mirror accelerates our evolution of emotion and understanding. God speaks to us and guides us through the universal law of vibration and our experience unfolds according to divine will.

Many thanks for your post. Molly Brogan

Discussion of Chasing Twilight and the nuances of relationship

Eileen said...
I bought your book because I heard that it was written as an exchange of emails between two people . . . Last year I rekindled a childhood romance this way. It occurred to me that the Internet lets us relate to each other new ways. It is very different than meeting and getting to know someone. I liked the way that your characters in Chasing Twilight were able to get to know each other in so many ways. Thank you for showing me that the rest of the world does this too.

Eileen,
Thanks so much for your comments on Chasing Twilight. Indeed, the book was written to highlight the notion that the web allows us immediate access to information and relationship like never before. When two people can't be together physically, it heightens their awareness of relationship on other levels. This is like what happens when one of our senses is taken away, say sight, and the senses of smell, sound and touch become more keen. Because the Internet allows us to develop relationships with people we seldom physically encounter, many of us better understand how we relate to each other on the most subtle levels, beyond the senses. The understanding of our intellectual and emotional exchange through words over the web is most obvious. Great debates over the quality of these relationships continue. Through the ages, philosophers have given us many models for the structure of human exchange and many are more dimensional than just physical, emotional and intellectual. I am particularly interested in the exchange of soul and spirit that occurs between people in relationship, and how it effects experience. I hope Chasing Twilight was able to convey some of that to you.

Very truly yours, Molly Brogan

Discussion of Without a Word

Hi Molly,I am a theater buff and found your play, Without a Word, while surfing the web. I've read it over several times and each time understand it more. I see by the book description that it was staged in the 70s but published recently. Has it been staged since then? Is it available in any other format? Would you give permission for it to be staged again? Patrick.

Hi Patrick,
I'm very glad you enjoyed the play in book form. I wrote it in the 70s and staged it twice. At the time, I received wonderful feedback and was asked to continue staging it. Then, motherhood changed my life for awhile, as happens to many women writers. While in the process of self publishing my novels, I thought it a good time to resurrect this play that received such a wide range of response, so many years ago. It will be interesting to see how it is received 30 years later. To your questions, it has not been staged since. I did tape two productions in the seventies, but have not made them available publicly. That is a future project. And certainly, I would consider allowing another stage adaptation. Feel free to email me with your proposal.

I look forward to hearing from you, Molly Brogan

Discussion on words creating emotion in terms of Neville Goddard's "awakened imagination"

Shirley said...
Hi Molly, I have read A Blaze of Light and must say I could not read more then 4 or 5 poems at a time. They are so thought provoking for me and also bring up HUGE emotions. I need time to think about what you are really saying and must tell you I admire your honesty and your ability to put those thoughts into words. I will come back to your book many times I am sure--You make it OK to feel all of those different levels of life and have a great talent in putting the words to convey the story together .Shirley

Hi Shirley,
I'm VERY happy you like the poems. Thanks so much for your comments. I thought that your insights would be a good way to begin a new discussion, so I posted them here with my response. The notion that poetry invokes emotional response is an important one. If indeed, we create reality with thought delivered through spirit by feeling, emotion plays an important role. As a writer, it is a challenge to convey my experience of the most subtle levels of life. Some would say those levels are beyond words. I don't agree with that idea.

I think that if the words (through logos) can deliver an image and emotion to the reader, imagination can transport them to the realm of spirit. Once comfortable here, the imagination of the reader can awaken. This is the ultimate allure of art, to lead us to what Neville would call, our "awakened imagination," where we become the creators. We are inspired, after allowing ourselves to fully experience the beauty of a poem or story or work of art, to become more than who we are in the moment. We are inspired to create in our own lives. We are moved to create emotions and ideas and relationships and objects of beauty.

The poems in A Blaze of Light all speak to the nuances of relationship. Robert A. Johnson wrote a series of books in the 1980s to "provide an understanding of romantic love" called We, He and She. In his book We, he says, "we see with greater clarity how we have mixed our spiritual aspiration - our urge toward the divine - with our human relationships. This is the secret knowledge that is hidden behind the mystery of romantic love: how to live with and honor both of these powerful energies, which we have mixed together so deliciously and yet so dangerously in the wine of love."

Words of love are the quickest way to sweep us away in spirit and allow us to commune with creation. We all have experience in love, we can all relate on many levels of our being.

Thanks again for sharing, Molly Brogan.

Discussion of Remember Me in response to Fred

Hi Molly,I read your first novel, Remember Me. Having been through a divorce, I was struck by the realism of the story. Was it taken from your own life?

Hi Fred,
Thanks so much for your comments. I think all writers pull at least some of their work from their experience. I am no exception. However, I researched extensively for this book while sitting in divorce and family courts, talking to people with cases being heard. I was there so often listening to peoples' stories that many of the attorneys and police officers that worked in the courthouse thought that I was an attorney!

One of the things that struck me in my discussions, and prompted the idea for this book, was the hopelessness sometimes felt when families going through divorce cannot get resolution from the court process. If these folks could agree, most of them wouldn't need to be in court. And yet so often, the court is reluctant to rule and instead insists on numerous court appearances, hoping that the divorcing parties will come to agreement in the mean time. It was this stasis that seemed to create some of the stories of suicide and domestic violence that this book was based upon. I'm not an attorney and not sure what the answers are. But I thought that presenting the problems in this form was very important. Thanks for asking.

Very truly yours,
Molly Brogan

Discussion of PD's comment on Rudolph Steiner

PD said...
Hi Molly. I see by your company webpage that you, like me, are a student of Rudolph Steiner. Do you use the ideas of Anthroposophy in your books?

Dear pd,
It is always great to meet someone who has an understanding of the Steiner teachings. They certainly can take a lifetime to study. As a matter of fact, I incorporate these ideas into my writing in a number of ways. The most obvious, is my creation of each anti-hero in my novels. Each is based on the characteristics of what Steiner would call the "opposing forces."

In Remember Me, the anti-hero, Bob, is motivated by his own primevil nature. His tempestuous personality driven by his darkest emotions create the opposing force most like Steiner's Luciferian forces. If the Mary Margaret character was better able to look inward for the answers to her problems, she would be better able to reconcile the conflict in her experience.

In Chasing Twilight, the anti-hero, Jake, is motivated by finances and technology. Even his Scientology beliefs are based in self will and control. In this, he represents Steiner's Ahrimanic forces. By embracing and releasing this relationship in grace, Molly can fully own her soul, release her karmic debt, and move into a direct relationship with spirit.

This is not easy to understand unless one has studied Steiner. I would love to discuss this with you further and invite you to email me directly. I know some other Steiner students in LA, Las Vegas and Switzerland who dialogue with me on Steiner. We would all enjoy your input.

Best Regards,
Molly Brogan

Welcome

Welcome to the blog created for readers of Molly Brogan books. All are welcome to post comments and all insights are appreciated. Feel free to contact me if you would like me to participate in your book club discussion of a Molly Brogan book.