Heroes, Villains and Rudolph Steiner

Linda said...
Can you tell me about "the Opposing Spiritual Powers," and how they are like anti-heros?

Thanks for the question, Linda. I should preface the answer by saying that I have read the Rudolph Steiner teachings for several years now and find them to be mythical and complicated. I feel that whatever organization there is to life is much, much simpler, but I do admire some of his concepts. One of my favorite is his idea that humanity has a soul that influences and evolves along with our individual souls, much like CG Jung’s collective unconsciousness. Another is that our awareness unfolds, and humanity evolves due largely to the interplay of opposing forces (the tree of knowledge or good and evil.) The Steiner teachings tell us that in the course of human history, three specific opposing forces have provided our common soul and individual souls with opposition to our perfect nature (the Christ impulse) or the God within us. The dynamic of these forces are such that either we transcend the opposition and realize freedom by reconciling the forces (transcending duality) or we continue to battle.

Lucifer was the first, providing our natural, darker side. He is closely linked to nature and the mechanics of human nature so that the opposition he presents are storms or plagues or the fall of an civilization or the domination of our ego nature. His gift to humanity was free will, obtained in the choice to realize the Christ impulse and to transcend.

Ahriman was the second. His influence was first felt about 4M years ago and is still present today. He is associated with technology and materialism and prevents us from not seeing through the material to the spirit. He is also closely linked to the laws of karma, and keeps us from understanding the process of our freedom from karmic debt. But once the Ahrimanic forces have been reconciled, and we are free from karmic debt, we enter the age of Azuras. The Steiner teachings tell us that humanity is just beginning to enter this age but is still primarily ruled by Ahriman.

Not much is written on the Azuras and to research, I joined the Steiner library in New York, and read several of his books and lectures that hadn’t been taken out of the library in decades. I also joined Steiner discussion groups all over the world, talking to folks who had their own ideas about where Steiner was going with this. The forces of Azuras distract us into looking away from spirituality and convince us that our material experience is reality, not a reflection of our conscious awareness. It tricks us out of taking our objective into the subjective and becoming the creator with it, and believing the reverse is true. The Azuras has both the natural quality of Lucifer and the Ahrimanic qualities of technology and materialism. There is a bit written and much discussed about Steiner’s notion that once we give any part of ourselves to the Azuras, it can never be recovered. My (controversial) belief was that Steiner understood that once we transcend duality, mind and soul (karma), our lives and the formation of our experience is more immediately effected by universal laws. Once we consciously understand how to reconcile the opposition and realize our connection with all of life, we are distracted less easily even though the distractions become more dramatic. Ken Wilber would say it hurts more but we suffer less after the One Taste.

It’s easy to see how these opposing forces can be used as the hero/anti hero of a novel. I develop the characters of the three anti heros in my trilogy to reflect the nature of Steiner’s opposing forces. This allows me to develop the character of the heroine along a natural line of spiritual development, learning to release her karmic debt and move into a more harmonious storyline. And who doesn’t love a happy ending?

The Process of Writing a Novel

Pat said...
What is your process for writing a novel?

Thanks for your question, Pat. I thought it would make a good post. I've been asked this many times and must say that the process evolves. I begin with a journal of the book where I write notes and ideas. I've begun tabulating the journals into categories: characters, storyline, symbols etc. I begin the journal for a book as I am writing the pages for the one before it. Luckily, by the time I have completed a novel, I am ready to begin writing the pages for the next. It has been a good flow for me.

While I am writing the pages, I have diagrams and notes taped all around the work space so as I work on the computer, I look around to make sure I am where I need to be with character development, storyline, symbolism etc. It can be messy in my office at times, but the system works for me! When I feel I am ready to "let it go," I give it to at least three editors for feedback. I have found that the opinions of multiple editors give me a broad range of suggestions. I choose the editors knowing that each will probably get something different out of the experience, and have suggestions based on their expertise or perspectives.

I say "let it go," because finishing a book can be an extremely emotional experience for many reasons. I always need to be sure I have done justice to the characters and to the ideas of the story. I also need to be ready to receive the feedback, which can be an emotional process. But also, I need to be ready to come out of the womb of creation that I have been gestating in for so many months (years.) Emerging from the creation of a novel is like giving birth to yourself. You go through the process as the parent and the child. What a miracle and a blessing. Molly Brogan

General Comments

Welcome to the blog created for readers of Molly Brogan books. All are welcome to post comments and all insights are appreciated. If you have a general comment or a question about a Molly Brogan book that does not relate to any of the posts below, post your comment here. Thanks for stopping by, your time and consideration are most appreciated. Feel free to contact me if you would like me to participate in your book club discussion of a Molly Brogan book.

Journey of Spirit

Michelle said...
I have a question about your book of poems but did not know where to post it until I found the archives. You might want to have another general post on the mainpage. Where do the poems in "A Blaze of Light" appear in your books? Have the poems in Shadow Dancing been published elsewhere? Why were they included if that book is not published?

Many thanks for the good suggestion, Michelle. I will follow this up with a new welcome post.

The poems in my book, A Blaze of Light, are all from my trilogy of novels. It is true, the third novel, Shadow Dancing, is a work in progress and not yet published. At the time that I considered publishing a book of poems, I was far enough along in the writing of Shadow Dancing to have several wonderful poems ready. I thought that the series of poems was enough to adequetly portray the journey of spirit of the main character of the trilogy. When Shadow Dancing is finally published, it may have more poems than those included in A Blaze of Light, but the poems already included will not be changed or left out. My hope was that the book of poems might pique interest in the third novel, and I will have anticipation for its release. Thanks for asking. Molly Brogan

Transforming Shadow Into Possibility

Linda said...
What happens when shadow emerges? Why does it happen in our closest relationships?

Good questions, Linda. I think the answer can stand as a new thread on the nature and importance of our shadow. Here is a short poem that sums it up well:

As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d stay away
- Hughes Merns

That man is our shadow, and our ego instinctively looks away because shadow holds our limited portions of personality and habits developed in the past that no longer serve and are not part of conscious awareness. Our dark shadow holds repressed negativity while our golden shadow holds our repressed potentiality.

The shadow can also be comprised of portions of our collective psyche. This comes up as circumstances or emotions that separate us as a group. It can also present as external fascination or spectacle that holds our attention, and thus keeps us from accessing internal resources and connecting with the group in spirit.

We usually project our shadow into places where it is “safe” to show this side of us, like our closest relationships. We instinctively know that the people we love the most give us the best chance to transform our shadow aspect by recognizing it, and then initiating and sustaining expanded awareness. This transformation process removes limitation and allows us to release what no longer serves, having recognized that it does not fit the “big picture” of integration and unity.

Molly Brogan

Fulfilling the prayer for love

Catherine said...
I will read that part of the book over again, but it sounds like you are talking about getting in touch with an archtype of love, by creating a prayer for love. I wonder if connecting like this with ourselves doesn't "attract" others with those qualities into our lives. Just thinking out loud...

Catherine,

Your comment encompasses so much more than a section of my book, I thought I would begin another post. By thinking out loud, you bring up the concept of how we create our lives. I have more of a “feeling” for this than a theory that I can articulate. So much has been written about this, including portions of the bible. I am currently reading Thomas Troward, 19th Century mystic, who does a pretty good job of giving us an outline of the process as he sees it, without becoming terribly “religious.”

He begins with the concept of Alpha and Omega – the entire series of causation from the first originating movement to the final and completed result. Everything has its origin in an idea, a thought, and it has its completion in the manifestation of that thought in form. Many intermediate stages are necessary, but the Alpha and Omega of the series are the thought and the thing. This shows us that in essence the thing already existed in the thought. Omega is already potential in Alpha.

Like Greg Braden, Troward thinks that it takes thought and feeling to create prayer. He says thought creates form but it is feeling that gives vitality to thought. “It is this indissoluble union of Thought and Feeling that distinguishes creative thought from merely analytical thought and places it in a different category… it is that entering into the Mind of the Spirit.”

This leads us to the idea of the prayer including archetypes: “Now the images in the Mind of the Spirit must necessarily be GENERIC. The reason for this is that by its very nature the Principle of Life must be prolific, that is, tending to Multiplicity, and therefore the original Thought-image must be fundamental to whole races, just what Plato meant by archetypal ideas. This is the perfect subsistence of the thing in the thought.”

Troward on the relation of the prayer to the manifestation: “This specialization can only take place through the individual himself, it logically follows that the Life, which he thus specializes, become his own life. This self recognition through the individual cannot in any way change the inherent nature of the Creative Sprit, and therefore to the extent to which the individual perceives its identification with himself, he places himself under its guidance, and so he becomes one of those who are 'led by Spirit'. Thus he begins to find the alpha and omega of the Divine ideal reproduced in himself, in a very small degree at present, but containing the principle of perpetual growth into an infinite expansion of which we can as yet form no conception.”

There is so much trendy information today about the Law of Attraction and how it can get us what we want in life. I think much of this info misses the point that Troward hits right here, and that is, that the will that makes manifest is Divine Will. Our self will must be in agreement. Unless our prayers connect with the archetypical ideas, and our egos detach from the “things” coming into manifestation, how can our prayers be fulfilled? This is the crux of “Thy will be done.” We direct our thoughts and feelings to the universal, or archetypical, place ourselves in the flow of infinite expansion, and have faith that what will come from it, will be just what we need, to allow us to be led by spirit on our beautiful journey.

Thanks for the conversation. Molly Brogan

Wishing a joyful 2008 to my readers and supporters

Dear Readers,

As we begin the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who purchased my books, followed my blogs and joined in discussions. The conversations have been rich, and I have been greatly illuminated by them. I feel as if 2007 launched a new beginning for me, as I published four books and moved across the country to start again, with a sharper focus on my writing and relationship with my readers. I would like to especially thank my beloved husband Jerry, whose continued support inspires me to take flight with my own company, and discover new ways to express the vision we share.

As I wrote a book about a relationship that develops through the written word and across a distance, it never occurred to me that I would eventually get to know hundreds of people from all over the world in just this way, by sharing ideas on my blogs and web pages. I have been blessed to have the ability to connect with humanity this way.

I am elated daily, as I read your comments and participate in conversations about life and living. Please feel free to continue to post or email me with your questions and ideas as they arise. The computer translation tools aren’t perfect, but they do allow us to understand and encourage each other. With one click, my blog is translated and readers all over the world are included in the dialogues. What a miraculous world we live in, and I am infinitely grateful to share it with all of you.

Best wishes for everyone in 2008. I look forward to your words.

Much love,

Molly Brogan

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