The Masks We Wear & the Personas We Create: Shadows of the Self

We all have a part of the marvelous humanity we wear on a daily basis that we don't want others to perceive, integral parts of us that even WE fear to look into! If they found out what we're really into, we fear, they would 'drop us like a hot potato'. Speaking in a relative sense, though, we must understand that these 'parts' of our persona we hide from the general population are not necessarily 'bad', simply unacceptable to certain groups of people or individuals. On the other hand, these 'parts' of who we are may be perfectly presentable to 'others', who are thus not 'others' at all, but our 'Tribe'.

These 'Masks' we wear are mostly metaphorical for the way we present ourselves to a watching world & depending on who is watching, that 'Mask' may look entirely different! However, even though It is mostly metaphorical, It manifests in a very physical way. The way we purport ourselves, the clothes we wear, even the way we beautify ourselves. This, of course, is not to say that just because we wear certain clothes in certain situations, or make ourselves up for certain people ( even if it's just US ), we're being fake, just that, even though we wear these 'Masks', they're more or less true to who we really are, personally speaking. On the other hand, of course, it is important to remember that these 'Masks', though they are a necessary & integral part of our Persona, they do not define us; WE are not our Persona!

Speaking of our Persona, much as with our Mask, we allow others to see only that part of ourselves we wish them to see. Of course, there are times when we slip up & give them a glimpse, or a taste of the 'real' us! When this happens, our Persona remains ( untouched ), but their perception of us has changed, sometimes drastically. So, in a manner of speaking, one might note, the main difference between the Persona & the Mask is that the latter is an illusion ( metaphor? ) we have created to disguise our true feelings, our emotions, if you will, while the former, though our creation as well, has more of a physical manifestation ( if THAT makes any sense ) in that the Persona ( Person ) is that which wears the metaphorical 'Mask'.

Our Persona, or Person, is quite a bit more substantial than our Mask; it is, in fact, very real! Although our Personality, much like our Mask, is largely formed by our personal choices, our Persona is simply a part of who we are as human beings. Thus, It is much more concrete than our Mask, which is simply an Illusion we create, again, by choice. For instance, 'as above, so below', referring to the latter condition, we often choose to allow only certain people to see certain parts of our Personality; to all the 'others', we strive to keep them hidden. This comprises our Mask; the Persona is what remains, even if we are unMasked!

This all has to do with the Ego! It is through the Ego that we choose, for whatever reason, to reveal our true Self to certain people & to hide It from 'others'. As we have noted previously, the Ego is neither good nor bad; it just IS. Being an essential part of our humanity, it allows us to operate in the Mundane; in fact, one could almost say it's the link between our Divinity & our Humanity!

Through our choices, our actions or reactions, we either operate on this earthly plane by putting our Ego to good use, or we allow our Ego to define who we are as a Person. For example, one might accuse another of being a 'narcissist' because that 'other' has allowed their Ego to define them, thus acting as if it's all about them. On the other hand, though, we can put our Ego to good use, by employing good business sense, even though it might go against our 'druthers'.

On a happy note; our Egos, along with the accompanying Masks & Personas, do not define Us, nor need they! We, even personally speaking, are not our Ego. In fact, we are not even really the Person ( persona ) that most people see. either the ones that we allow to see our true Self or the ones who glimpse our true human nature by accident, so to speak, through the inevitability of Time. As More than Human; we have an Ego, but we are not that Ego!

Our true Self is, in Essence, More than Human! You may have heard the term 'astral body' & such; such terms refer to the onion-like layers that make up our unique Self. Underneath it all, at the very Core of our Being, one might say, is the Individual Soul, our True Nature. It is this Individual Soul, together with countless other Individual Souls, that make up the Collective, which could be called Divine Energy. Religion has called this Divine Energy 'God', 'Yahweh', 'Allah', 'Rah', 'Shiva', Krishna' & the list goes on.................... All this is to say that humanity, just as it has created the Persona for its own individual Self, has created, largely based on its environment ( culture, etc. ) a Persona for their Perception of this Divine Energy. While some religions realize we are One in Essence with this Divine Energy, 'others' perceive It as a Power outside of & thus apart from themselves. But this is changing......................

Previously, in the annals of this blog; I have entertained the proposition that we, in Essence, are Gods, or Goddesses, as the case may be. Even in our Humanity this might be said, because of our ability to choose, to shape, or form our own Destiny. Rather than sitting on our 'blessed conceptions', waiting for the 'God' or 'Goddess' of our own choosing to change our Season, we have the ability to make our own changes. Now, saying all this is not to say that we control the Universe around us. We cannot decide to sprout wings & fly, though the Wright brothers sure gave it 'the old college try' & look where we are today, vaulting through the 'heavens' like great silvery birds. It is not within our Power, though many men & women have tried, to control the actions of other people.It should be noted that this sort of 'enterprise' has seen some success & so continues to this day, but people are unpredictable.............

The unpredictability of people, speaking of the Individual Ego, is what makes the World go round! If everyone was the same & could be counted upon to always make the same choices, acting or reacting in the same way to any given situation, our World would be a very dull place indeed. If the Individual could indeed be controlled by an outside force ( ? ), all Hope for this World would be lost! But thanks be to all the Gods & Goddesses, this is not the case. Things may be looking pretty grim for our World, but as 'they' say,'it's always darkest before the dawn'. So it is dawning on an ever-widening array of people that it is within Us, within our Power to change the shape, not only of our World, but of the World to come. Now again, 'as above, so below', we cannot control the actions of those around us, but through the exercise of our Divinity, through our choices, how we act or else react, we can influence them & thus hopefully plant the Seeds of Life that will lead us to a better Future!

Dropping our Masks, showing 'others' who we really are will go a long way toward reaching this goal! If we would only be Who We are, not allowing their perception of us to influence our actions in this World, we might begin to see, not only great ( albeit, 'painful' ) change in our World, but in the World at large. As Individuals, Divine in our own right, we are the Spice of Life; in fact, we are Life itself. Realizing Who we truly are helps us to understand ( perceive ) that we are the Power that shapes our Future. Must we fear the choices that 'others' around us might make, to either purposely or accidentally upset our plans? That, of course, is your choice. So make the wise choice; BE Who you are, not just as an Individual Soul, but as the Goddess or God you REALLY are & sooner or later, everything will fall into place!

Namaste' & Blessed Be!

Sage Charles