From the Secret Lives of Yoga Poses Archive  2008 – 2009

Sept 9, 2008 – Shiva the Destroyer

Purification, Destruction, and Tapas – Reporting From the Center of the Compost Pile

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I dreamed last night that we lived in a big house. It was on fire, and though I did put it out, we lost one of the chickens.

This morning, I googled the “meaning of fire in dreams” and found a whole host of possible interpretations, including purification and destruction, of course, and also activation (of plans or goals) and anchoring (security). That I put out the fire would suggest, according to mythsdreamssymbols.com, that I “will overcome (my) obstacles in (my) life through much work and effort. ” That we lost the bird represents, well, loss.

It reminds me of the yoga principle of tapas. Tapas means heat, and is sometimes interpreted as physical heat, like in hot yoga, but more often as the heat generated by one’s commitment, passion, and self effort toward a goal, specifically spiritual goals. This is the transformational fire of the yoga practice, the fire that the yogi is said to be forged in, as steel is forged.

Not surprising that my subconscious would be processing these archetypes now, considering the triadic feats of opening a yoga studio, going back to my home town to get married, and organizing and hosting this grand event with Darren that have consumed me this summer. I imagine that my bout with the flu has been a part of all this transformation too. The letting go part.

Siva, who you might know in the form of Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, is sometimes referred to as the great Destroyer, but I’ve the term modernized into “the Great Composter,” evoking the irrevocable partnership of change and growth with death and loss. Incidentally, if you ever put your hand in the center of your compost pile, you will find it to be hot.

And at the center of the compost pile, it can be hard to distinguish the fresh clean scraps of produce and yard waste, from the rotting wormy garbage, from the moist, rich, sweet smelling earth that is the ground for new life.

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