Seeds of Wisdom
13-Week Email Course

Welcome to our ninth week in the Seeds of Wisdom email course. Before we explore this week’s theme of Paradox, take a moment to mark your completion with last week’s theme of Gaia. Journal about your experience and/or take a photo of your altar, if you like. Then clear your altar in preparation for what is to come.

Paradox is one of 12 essential themes for guidance and growth in my book and deck, Seeds of Wisdom. Let’s use our established rhythm for exploring each week’s theme: read… reflect… respond… Four possible practices are included for balancing the wisdom of Paradox in your life.

Record your encounters with Paradox in your journal or in this printable companion workbook: https://www.eastlycreative.com/s/ParadoxWorkbook.pdf

Paradox includes seeming opposites.

Take a moment to simply gaze at the image of Paradox below and see what impressions arise. Then read through a brief description of the theme.

Read…

a brief excerpt on the theme

In a paradox, we experience seeming contradiction. Our predisposition to see the world in relational opposition embeds us in paradox so deeply we call it the human condition. But there is no paradox in a conceptual context wide enough to hold all parts as part of one inseparable whole.

As the poet Walt Whitman said:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

The theme of Paradox challenges you to stretch your awareness. If polarities are mentally held in competition, this creates stress in the psyche. If polarities are allowed to be in companionship — as in the T’ai chi (yin/yang) symbol and as in the natural formation of the brain with its right and left hemispheres — then the paradox results in an expansion of consciousness.

Stop thinking in terms of “this or that.” Start thinking “both.” Reconcile your inner conflicts by accepting what is. Become one unified whole.

Reflect…

in meditation and in writing

Digest what you’ve taken in — the image and the words. What connections pop up in your mind? Are there certain lines of text or keywords that stand out to you?

Reflect — in meditation and in writing — on your personal understanding of Paradox. What does Paradox mean to you?

Use time as an ally to your process and set a timer! Try 5 minutes for sitting with the theme and 5 minutes writing about it.

Respond…

by placing symbols on your altar

What objects do you have or can you create that symbolize your understanding of Paradox?

Perhaps there’s an image that evokes a sense of “opposites in harmony.” Or perhaps you can create a symbol of something in your life you have a “love/hate” relationship with.

If you have the Seeds of Wisdom cards, you may want to place the Paradox card on your altar. If you don’t have the cards, you are welcome to print the image above and use that.

Over the next week, let yourself pause at your altar frequently and discover how the theme of Paradox offers its wisdom for you.

Possible Practices

for exploring the theme

Here are some possible practices for exploring the theme of Paradox. Keep in mind, these are optional! It’s entirely up to you how much time and space you want to dedicate to this process:

• Practice 1 — Claim Your Contradictions
  Write down a list of all the ways in which you are seemingly self-contradictory. For example, you may crave intimacy, but run from relationships.

• Practice 2 — Explore Integration
  Choose one set of contradictions from the list above and try this: Imagine placing one aspect of the contradiction in your left hand and the other in your right. Weigh them in your hands. What do they feel like? Now bring your hands together in prayer position at your heart. What happens when you bring the two aspects together here?

• Practice 3 — Bring Your Life into Balance
  Identify one way your life feels out of balance. Take one simple action every day to restore balance. For example, if you spend too much sitting and not enough time moving, commit to taking a walk around the block on your lunch break.

• Practice 4 — Practice a Simple Mantra
  Choose a piece of poetry or sacred text that makes you feel a sense of self-acceptance or wholeness. Recite this text as a daily mantra.

Completion

toward the end of next week

Let your process with Paradox come to a close as you approach the end of next week.

Use your journal to take notes on your experience with the theme. Take a photo of your altar if you like.

Next Sunday you will receive an email introducing the next theme. Be sure to clear your altar to mark your completion with the theme of Paradox.

May your process with Paradox help you experience wholeness and self-acceptance.

Remember: If you happen to miss any emails during the course, you can always find them here:
https://www.eastlycreative.com/email-course-content

Blessings,
Elka

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May your inner wisdom guide you always!

Seeds of Wisdom Family of Tools:

~ Guidebook + Oracle Cards ~
~ Online Oracle ~
~ Flower Essence Companion ~
~ Email Course ~
~ Wisdom Program ~

Please note: This course is a self-directed process intended to support your spiritual growth. It is not therapy or medical care and is not a replacement for either. I am not a medical practitioner of any kind, and do not diagnose, prescribe, or treat medical or mental health conditions.