#DRAGON DEFRAG - 6
CHARACTER ARC-HETYPES...THE MARTYR...ACT II
Hey everyone
So we pick up where we left off last week, exploring Shadow aspects of the key protagonist in the #Dragon Defrag story.
Here’s Act I… if you’d like to catch up on the story - The Self-Doubter.
Dawn has seen her antithesis in the Shield of Love Mirror-Raven Explorer… a Native American Cosmic Warrior!
Let’s explore how Raven Explorer takes the story forward, from here on in…
She is enjoying floating in the spaciousness of Mind Space. After a short while of ‘nothingness’ her self-doubts begin to kick in… wondering if anything is going to happen. Has she done the right thing? Is she up for the task in hand? What even is the task in hand?! Why isn’t anything happening?
(I know many of us have experienced that ‘liminal space’ and got a bit ‘fidgety’. I notice this a lot in myself - feeling like I should be ‘doing’ something. I know this is deep rooted social programming. So many of us grew up, being taught to be productive and that doing nothing is ‘lazy’. We wear ourselves out with it don’t we. I see that shifting in many of us as we attune to natural cycles. Sometimes, when we fully surrender into nothingness, its lovely to simply float around in Mind Space😉 isnt it).
Then Raven Explorer remembers the Child told her she would be guided. She reassures herself that in shamanic journeying…someone, or something always shows up to guide her forward. So she relaxes.
She hears a strange grunting and rustling sound, and we see her getting jittery again… THE UNKNOWN!
Suddenly, out of nowhere (well, actually a wormhole in the space fabric) - a strange creature appears and introduces himself as Mighty Maggot-The Marvellous Mind Traveller. For some strange reason, he is wearing Boxing Gloves!
His strange, amusing appearance belies his wisdom and forthrightness.
True to form, Raven Explorer reels off a stream of questions, and promptly receives a gentle tap on the head… Ah, now we know what the Boxing Gloves are for… and Mighty Maggot explains…
“If you must know, these gloves are for headboxing all the Junk Thoughts in Mind Space.”
Not waiting for a response, he urges Raven Explorer to go through the wormhole. She must use the Shield of Love Mirror to disintegrate the Mind Junk.
She enters the wormhole and appears in, what looks like, a giant rubbish tip! This is Raven Explorer’s Mind Junk.
(Since this part of the story came to me, I’ve often caught myself having Junk Thoughts and visualised how they might clog up my Mind Space, it really stops me in my tracks. How about You? What Junk Thoughts do you catch yourself having?).
Raven Explorer disintegrates loads of junk with the Shield of Love, and clears her pathway forward - eventually reaching another wormhole.
We now see Raven Explorer taking responsibility for her Junk Thoughts. She faces them; disintegrates them, and clears a path so she can keep moving forward.
She confidently enters the wormhole and emerges in a Dark Forest. She hears more grunting and sees a faint blue glow, dancing in the distance.
This time, whilst still a little cautious, she is curious enough to move towards the sounds and blue glow - she is growing in confidence.
As she gets close, the blue light comes flying towards her, together with a loud male Warrior cry. Raven Explorer cringes, yet holds her ground.
It’s William! Or should we say, Wind Fire - Dawn’s antithesis - holding a shining blue crystal sword.
Wind Fire seems equally as arrogant and full of his own hubris, as William.
Raven Explorer stands her ground - speaks her Truth about how disgruntled she is that all the time William was teasing her… he too is clairvoyant and can astral travel.
We see a little humility in him, and he admits he knew about his own Gift, and was looking for Dawn to be honest about her clairvoyance, because then HE could open up.
(Have you ever been open and honest about experiences that aren’t ‘normal’… even if you were a little afraid of the potential reaction? Then you see the other person open up and share their experiences. I love it when this happens… as if in us being honest, it gives the other ‘permission’ to be honest too. It feels that the ‘Truth’ expands, when we are brave enough to share our ‘Truth’… Beautiful!).
Mighty Maggot appears, and tells the pair that they must journey through the Forest Of Feelings. There are ‘trapped feelings’ there, and they must confront them, to clear the path forward.
Raven Explorer hears moaning and wailing noises and comes face to face with ‘Tormented Tree’ - the epitome of Poor Me; Aloof; Victim… THE MARTYR!
She tries to ask Tormented Tree if she is OK, and is summarily ignored.
Raven Explorer reacts by going into a sulk!
Meet Tormented Tree…
(Being honest, this has perhaps being my biggest archetype to work through, in this Life. One that I know is a deeply embedded ancestral programme, predominantly in the female line.
This was how I learned to get energy and attention as a young child, replicating my mother… the stoic, who kept quiet and got on with everything; never asking for help; refusing help; running herself into the ground, as she took on more and more responsibilities. With the shadow side of that being Tormented Tree!
Oh! How I have Tormented myself inside, whilst outwardly appearing to be the smiling; reliable; helpful people pleaser. The inner voice mumbling all sorts of ‘poor me’ and ‘victim’ statements, and the outer me resorting to aloofness; silence when I didn’t feel appreciated. How about you?)
Tormented Tree is feeling very sorry for herself; no one seems to notice her; no one seems to appreciate her and they ignore (or ridicule) her Creative Gifts.
And to make matters worse… her nemesis… Tyrannical Tree… is right next to her, and she is terrified of his aggression; anger and… tyranny…
Wind Fire is facing Tyrannical Tree… (that’s a story for another #Dragon Defrag post😉).
Mighty Maggot appears, and asks Raven Explorer if Tormented Tree reminds her of anyone.
(I’ve had to eat quite a lot of humble pie on this one! Seeing the Martyr in others, and being a bit critical of them - then realising they were a massive Mirror to me…
“What we see in others exists in ourselves”).
Mighty Maggot asks if there is a better way Raven Explorer can respond and interact with Tormented Tree… as opposed to sulking!
At this point… please indulge me! Mighty Maggot is a much beloved character to me. His guidance has helped me a lot as I wrote stories about him. The vision I see of him is marvellous and always makes me smile… and I’d love to share that with you…to brighten your day…
So here he is… Mighty Maggot!
Anyway… back to the story…
Raven Explorer begins to take an interest in Tormented Tree's Creative Gifts, and gets her to open up and share.
Tormented Tree admits she hides her Creative Gifts, because she is scared Tyrannical Tree will be scathing of them, or try to destroy them… so she keeps them locked in a cage to protect herself.
(“A World Where the Soul Freely Expresses; Shares and Celebrates its Creative Gifts…”
These words from the Soul vision, given to me, just popped into my head.
I see that vision coming into reality here on Substack and that makes my heart sing💗💓).
Raven Explorer eventually persuades Tormented Tree to release her Creations from the Protective cage.
She lights up and becomes Transformed Tree, as she sees Tyrannical Tree watching her Creations in awe and wonderment.
Why was he Tyrannical? Because he thought she was ignoring him and hiding something from him, and his reaction was to lash out.
The scene ends with the trees giving each other… wait for it… A True TREE HUG!🌳💗🌳…
In next week’s episode, Raven Explorer encounters more reflections of her Thoughts and Feelings, and is taken to her Dark Night Of The Soul
Thank you for reading and sharing my journey into the shadow world, through storytelling. I will love to hear your comments on what this highlighted or how it affected you.
Much love
Vivienne 💜💜💜