Desert Stag?
The desert has always been a place of profound experiences for me, but nothing quite like the synchronicity that unfolded recently. I'm navigating an uncomfortable transition, and during such times, the Web of Wyrd seems to get, well, stranger. Animal totems awaken, and unexpected messages emerge, offering their unique guidance.
I've embraced the van life in this desert for several years. One morning, waking in my campsite, I pulled onto the main dirt road only to find a Stag standing there, blocking my path. As I nudged forward, it walked slowly ahead of my van, as if deliberately trying to get my attention. After a few seconds, it turned north, dipped its head with a thrust of its horns, and galloped off into the vastness.
Now, I'm no desert wildlife expert, but I’ve lived here for 26 years and never once seen a deer, let alone a Stag, in this harsh landscape. They typically inhabit the high desert, about ten miles north, where lush forests and greenery thrive. This was the bleak, middle-of-nowhere desert.
Anyone who knows me can tell you the Druid Stag is a deity I often speak of – the horned animal the Christian church corrupted into the devil. It's a hugely important totem for me. So, with all the synchronicity I'm accustomed to in my life, seeing a stag in the desert, slowly walking in front of my van, was nothing short of astonishing.
The Message Unveiled
Naturally, I quickly delved into the esoteric meaning of the Stag. While many interpretations exist, one aspect immediately leaped out: the shedding of its horns. A stag must wait until its horns are ripe, ready to fall, or it risks severe injury by prematurely trying to knock them off. It's a delicate, natural timing, much like "the fruit falling off the branch."
This message hit home with stunning accuracy. It's precisely what various sources have been telling me, as I've been incredibly eager to rush into the next chapter of my life. This transition has been stressful, to say the least, complicated by my living situation and other "complications" that need to fall away before I can truly move forward.
Experiences like this challenge the conventional way of thinking. Was the stag simply lost, and did I invent a narrative to convince myself of divine guidance? Was the Web of Wyrd truly speaking to me, knowing my transition was at hand? Or am I just a creative mind, weaving stories for myself?
Entertaining divine guidance might sound a bit wild, but if you've lived a life like mine, there’s no mistaking that something profound is at play. There’s a distinct psycho-spiritual flow that occurs when a person truly sets out on their "true north." It’s an undeniable aligning of the inner and outer realms, reflecting each other in fascinating ways. This, to me, is the true domain of the mystic and shaman.
The Two Realms
Spiritual seekers journey through two distinct domains: the Inner Realm and the Mortal Realm. Most people reside firmly in the Mortal Realm, guided by what can be called ‘normalcy awareness.’ This awareness is shaped by everyday experiences and societal norms—think of it as being rooted in the tangible world of daily life, work, and entertainment. In essence, a mortal lives from the outside in.
In contrast, a mystic (aka/Wizzan)—a soul-traveler, shadow walker, or spiritual seeker—lives from the inside out. They inhabit the archetypal domain of the shaman, acting as subjective explorers who have crossed the threshold into the esoteric. These individuals actively engage with and awaken deeper aspects of themselves. This awakening can manifest through various initiatory experiences, such as inner child recovery, soul retrieval, Kundalini awakening, or profound synchronicity.
The key distinction lies in introspection. The mortal has not deeply engaged in self-reflection; their focus remains outward. While they may achieve external recognition, they lack internal self-realization, often being driven by their unconscious. They are not flowing from the depths of their inner being upward into the light of awareness.
The Descent of Inner Work
Let's face it: it's far easier to live on the surface than to delve into our "dark waters" where the leviathan of our power exists. Yet, as any esoteric adventurer will tell you, this is descent we must take. The true seeker is smitten with a sacred sickness—a profound urge for inner healing and a desire to grow into their blooming soul. For these sincere hearts, pearls of great value reveal themselves to those who commit to the inner work and cultivate them from the depths.
However, this journey comes at a significant cost; it will undoubtedly test one's sanity. The unconscious willingly yields its treasures, both dark and light, to awareness. This process releases psycho-spiritual energy and unravels the imagery that encases our trauma. These visual narratives often appear as distorted versions of our childhood experiences—booby-trapped conclusions wrapped in stories highly resistant to exposure. Self-analysis is truly hard work but worth every bit. In the Wizzan Way, I call it WizzanWork (to be released).
Trapped in the Mirror
The deeper one journeys into their inner realm, the more susceptible they become to delusions, especially if they uncritically accept New Age or religious beliefs. Critical thinking skills—what I aptly call the "serpent mind" (which evolves through psycho-emotional releases)—are not just necessary, but absolutely essential in the alchemical process of individuation.
For instance, if someone believes that St. Germain is speaking to them as an autonomous spirit, or that demons are hunting them from the dark corners of their room, they risk projecting emotionally charged beliefs about their childhood trauma onto external causes. These external causes then become literal manifestations of what those beliefs made them feel.
The key to understanding such illusions lies in reinterpreting them for what they actually are: dream reflections of the inner ecosystem—archetypal manifestations of the unconscious's hidden language. Symbolism in the form of astral communication.
In simpler terms, the terror of being abandoned by one's mother at the age of five can manifest as a demon haunting them at 4 AM. Similarly, credit for profound insights revealed by one's inner realm might be projected onto Jesus or an Ascended Master. In such cases, the seeker becomes trapped in the mirror of their own psyche, never truly owning their essence and its manifestations. Consider also the projection of Kundalini energy onto the universe, rather than recognizing it as a biological release of ancestral power within the human organism.
On the Razor's Edge
A Wizzan (our term for a person on the inner journey) must become skilled at understanding how the dream world manifests itself around them. This is the true realm of the shaman and the mystic. As the inner realm reflects its contents, the mortal realm becomes vibrantly alive with meaning. The entire environment transforms into a living oracle; every person, place, and thing becomes meaningful. And the more psycho-spiritual energy released, the more convincing the misinterpretation becomes.
These psycho-dramatic ordeals occur because the soul is emerging from the roots of childhood, and in that profound process, life and all its contents are being sifted through one's earliest memories. This psycho-spiritual cleansing must loosen, break apart, and eventually shed the subjective self (or selves) that have kept the seeker bound.
The key to navigating this often-delusional process is to consciously engage quickened subjective activity, deploy occult techniques, and deprogram one's belief matrix through a radical examination of their psychological shadow. This can be accomplished through the Wizzan Temple teachings (to be released) or any other body-based, Jungian-informed methods. Wizzan methods are simply my version of the individuation process. Ultimately, you have to find what works for you.
The Crucible of Synchronocity
Synchronicity is a natural byproduct of soul growth, with varying degrees measured by the depth of inner movement. The deeper you go, the more you shake the very ground of your being. This increased inner activity causes the mortal realm to reflect your subjective experiences, whether they are a personal cataclysm or a state of psycho-intoxication (like God-Intoxication, Kundalini release, or Samadhi).
When the dream realm awakens within, the borders of reality blur. This blurring is the crucible of the initiate, where one is tested through the fires of delusion. Passing this test depends on your skill in deciphering delusion from the reality of the natural world. Wisdom is born in these turbulent waters. This is the very process that forges a Zen master, allows a soul to bloom, and grounds dragon energy within the heart.
Bringing it Home
The core purpose of this article, written by a “human” (yours truly), is to illuminate the significant challenge of opening to the archetypal realm while simultaneously keeping your feet firmly on the ground. It is of utmost importance for the subjective explorer to deepen their grounding the further down the rabbit hole they go. This ability to stay rooted is the essential skill for individuation and Kundalini metamorphosis.
In other words, don't quit your day job.
However, if you choose to ride the razer’s edge, (and a valid path it is), find a place to stick your feet into the mud as often as you can.
That’s real advice.
—Zzenn
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I love the grounded and self reflective approach. I love to see others who also don't just swallow other people's teachings whole.
I always like to think, other people's lessons are invariably wrong for me, and yet they may light the fire which brings me to my own lessons. The real shaman is someone who gives while letting the other make the offering their own.
Totally loving the ethos here
I don't see archetypes, I expressed it to you it's more like constraints shifting amalgams they don't have any defined shapes and yet they form, they shift and twist as if alive but when I focus in they no longer exist. They blur the field of vision but they are transparent. The matter of dreams too is different as well and I awake a lot of the times I can hear the inner mechanisms of my mind taking off like a clock planning the Awakening process, that's a subtle lucidity and when I'm awake it feels like I've already been awake for a while I'm able to shoot right up. But if I sleep during the day, I'll have dreams, I'll be lucid throughout them. Never been able to explain it. Maybe it's a survival tactic, I'll figure it out one day.