"So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire [ is ] for you, but you should rule over it.”
- Genesis 4:6 & 7 (NKJV )
I had a conversation with a friend the other day about the Ego. My interpretation of the latter half of the quote above runs like this: "you have a choice; you can let your Ego determine your course of action ( "rule over you" ), or you can rule over it!" In other words, Cain could go with his natural inclinations, which was to allow his jealousy to become murderous hatred, or he could let Love rule & overrule the judgement his emotions had made. We know, from reading the rest of the account, what Cain decided to do with his god-like power!
The Ego, as we've discussed previously, is neither 'good' nor 'bad'; "it is what it is', to use a fairly modern & well-worn phrase! It IS, in fact, I explained, one of those 'constituent elements' necessary to our normal everyday operation as human beings. One might note that the Ego, as in Cain's case above, is our ability to make choices, to decide whether to do this or that, one thing or the other. "As above, so below"; It is what makes us the 'gods' that we are!
More on that outrageous ( some might say 'blasphemous' ) statement later; for now, let's discuss the title of this blogpost, 'Dancing With the Devil'. Before we begin though, let me first of all, assure my readers that I'm NOT, in any way, making reference to the biblical 'Satan'! I MUST say, however, that the subject I'm broaching here IS related to the notion of 'the Adversary' or devil ( serpent ) that we encounter in the Hebrew & Greek Scriptures! While the 'serpent', in the Garden ( Genesis 3 ) & elsewhere, may have had a primarily Jewish referent, ideologically speaking, the notion that we are our own worst enemies makes this biblical figure very relatable.
It, speaking of the Ego, though neither good nor bad, DOES have a tendency toward the instinctual, or the Animal! Our human nature, as opposed to our Divine Nature, is the Seat of the Ego. As far as choice goes, it could be said; "it is only in our humanity that we have a choice"! This may open another can of worms, but as Divine Beings, do we really have a choice to do right or wrong, to be good or evil? Some might ask, though, "What about evil spirits? Surely they exist!" That is surely worth pondering, right?! "Is it though?" The Nature of this Beast is that, no matter what one calls them, there are definitely malevolent 'spirits' out there! Then again, are 'they' actually 'spirits', or are we simply witnessing the manifestation of an Ego gone wrong. Aside from Relativity, there IS what's right & what's wrong; a Universal Principle, you might say!
The "Ego gone wrong" refers to the biblical example given earlier, of Cain & Abel. Cain murdered his brother because he allowed his Ego to get the better of him! As the Ego is a manifestation of the Mind, or brain, it is ultimately controlled ( "ruled" ) either by our Higher or lower Self. Obviously, Cain chose the easy way out & so allowed his jealousy to become hatred. However, had he trusted his Higher Self, Abel might still be with us today! No, not really...................but then..............
Being "a constituent element of our humanity", the Ego serves the purpose of giving us our individual personality: it serves us well in this respect, fitting us with the necessary accouterments of things such as likes & dislikes, even, to some extent, connecting with our Higher Selves, though we may not be aware, discerning between right & wrong, good & evil. Without the Ego, it would be difficult, if not impossible to, as they say, 'make it' in the business world, especially today's! This is not to say that, in order to operate in today's world, business or otherwise, one must allow their Ego to 'take the reins', so to speak, just that one MUST employ their Persona in this Illusion we call Life!
As discussed in a previous post, one MUST face their Darkness in order to heal; in much the same way, the Ego has a dark side, as we saw with the example of Cain & Abel. This is not to say that just because Cain elected to let his Ego push him to murder, we should embrace that natural desire & follow through on our feelings of hatred. Rather, through the Lens of Love ( our Higher Self ) we can instead, embrace those feelings & transmute them into actions of love rather than the destructive force of hate, or fear. Just because our Ego engenders a feeling of jealousy within us, our response doesn't need to be instinctual, as Cain's, but rather, if we rely on our Higher Self, or Divine Nature, then Love will rule the day & our actions will be nothing but good, just & right!
In 'Dancing With the Devil' then, we must exercise great care that, in embracing our Darkness,we do not become so attached to It that we allow It to control us! 'As Above, so Below'; when we look to the Divinity Within to color our actions, we can be assured that we are acting from a place of Love. However, we must remember, in the midst of all this pondering, that the Ego is not Itself an Evil! It is an Emotion ( for lack of a more concise term ) & as such is subject to our feelings, which again, are linked directly ( irreconcilably? ) to our humanity.
What IS a god/God?! Many people flinch at the notion that we are gods, though they might grudgingly acknowledge that we are, in a very limited sense, 'small 'g' gods', but definitely NOT capital, or 'big 'G' Gods ( "there is ONLY ONE true God!" )! A God/god, in my limited understanding, is simply 'a mighty one'. Another well-accepted definition of a god/God is that it is a Divine Being. Again, while most would admit the fact that we all have that 'Spark of Divinity', the overwhelming majority of religious people seem to be of the opinion that we are primarily, if not wholly, human beings. ( Therein lies the problem! ) Since, then, we are 'spiritual (Divine? ) Beings having a human ( physical? ) experience', it should not be hard to accept the fact that we are gods, whether one uses the lower or uppercase 'G'!
Given, then, that we ARE Gods with the power, not only to choose, but through those choices to create the life we want, we really have no one but ourselves to blame if we're not living the life we want! Most would immediately object to this line of reasoning, bringing up such factors as things that just seem to happen to us, or that it's genetic ( we're predisposed to it ); some even blame their environment! No wonder most religious people want to let 'God' or 'the Devil' shoulder the blame for everything that happens to them, whether good or bad! However, "the Winds of Change, they are a'blowin"; those who know call it 'The Shift' ( I call It 'The Fuckening' ) & indeed a Shift It is, a shift in consciousness. More & more people are realizing the Truth about Who & What We really are, whether they are awaking from a religious stupor, or whether they were fortunate to be brought up in a non-religious household! As it is, this Shift has many painful, though glorious aspects. Some will doubtless, at first anyway, decide that it's TOO painful, so, for those of us with the courage to persevere, we must remember in treating with them, that we too were once in their shoes. By transmuting our own Darkness & BEING the Light-Bearers we are, we may be assured that we are planting the Seeds that will lead to THE Great Awakening!
Namaste' & Blessed Be!
Sage Charles
