Reflections from Bone:Dying into Life by Marion Woodman
“… matter opens to receive spirit (earth energy opens to receive light vibration).” (Woodman, 2000, p. 218)
“God and goddess manifesting in matter – that is incarnation. That baby is the new consciousness: God/goddess in every living thing – the totality of the universe.” (Woodman, 2000, p. 218)
“No wonder I am so enraged by sentimentality that chooses to place Barbie dolls in the manger.” (Woodman, 2000, p. 218)
“… if consciousness flies too far ahead of matter, spirit is usually patient, slows down, allows matter to come into balance. But if matter drags his feet, symptom manifests as body turning against itself.” (Woodman, 2000, p. 218–219)
My Reflections:
These pages of Marion’s journal cover the Christmas holidays and we can see how she is reflecting on the birth of Jesus as the incarnation of God on earth, the marriage of spirit and matter and it is with this marriage that the Divine child brings forth a new consciousness. I particularly love her referencing the Barbie doll in the manger!
I looked up the definition of sentimental – “dealing with feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia, typically in an exaggerated and self-indulgent way.“ That last bit seems to point to the problem with the understanding of the the incarnation of God .. Emmanuel – God is with us. In sentimentality, in putting a Barbie doll in the manger, the focus is on nurturing these feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia as they are present in the individual; it is ego centered. The earth energy, in seeking spirit, remains earthbound.
But if we who are conscious of our being embodied spirit can understand the profound gravity of what it means for God to be incarnated we can be the ones whose ego’s are not working in service to the ego but in service to the Self. This has the possibility of bringing into balance matter and spirit. Marion explains that spirit can be patient in waiting for the balancing of this earth energy, but if goes on too long, the matter aspect of who we are as manifested in the body will become symptomatic and turn on itself. When I was a novice in a convent a few lifetimes ago, I remember hearing about the concept of co-creation of God. I remember that at the time my mind just could not fathom what that meant or how it would look. But now I think it may mean just this: that our participation in the body/spirit coniunctio and the consciousness evolution that results from this is indeed just that: we are co-creating with God.
Woodman, M. (2000). Bone: Dying into Life. Penguin Books.
*This reflection was first published in a Facebook Group entitled BodySoul Rhythms – Continuing the Legacy of Marion Woodman
Soul Tending 