Dragons - name them before you slay them

Published: Mon, 10/01/12

October 1, 2012

"If I am not for myself, then who will be for me?
And if I am only for myself, then what am I?
And if not now, when?"

Rabbi Hillel
born 110 BC

Rabbi Hillel imparted these words two thousand years ago. They speak archetypal and universal self-inquiry. Part of being human and becoming I, of imagining self, is about asking these questions over and over again and living your answers in the moment.

Since Autumn is the time for seeking out and slaying our moral dragons (September 29 is Michaelmas, the day of Archangel Michael) I thought I might share with you my thoughts on Rabbi Hillel's three questions and the dragons I meet when I ask them.

If I am not for myself, then who will be for me?

Today, this is a big challenge for me as I am confronting the dragon in my sense of self that breathes a fire of self-hatred. I have moments of deep difficulty feeling my own value and worthiness. Yes, there is the part of me that knows, celebrates and develops my worth. But another part of me lives in anxious judgment that I am an imagination that is not worth manifesting. That is the part of me that let's the the dragon flames singe, blister, even burn up my sense of myself.

Who will be for me? The primal "who" for each of us is mommy and daddy. Well, my mommy and daddy loved me but abused me, neglected me, and abandonned me. I have a core feeling that if I had any true value, they wouldn't have left me. They loved "their child" but didn't see me and my needs. I hated them and hated myself. Hate is a acrid word. Who will love me, see me through the dark, dense smoke of the dragon's presence?

I must love me, teaches Rabbi Hillel. Do you love yourself in these moments of the the dragon? That love is the sword of Michael that slays the dragon of self-hatred.

for |fôr, fər|
preposition
1 in support of or in favor of a person
2 affecting, with regard to, or in respect of someone.
3 on behalf of or to the benefit of someone.

This dragon only comes around me when I am out of balance and lose my heart-centeredness. Strangely, these are my lonely times when I cannot sense the other. All I feel is my own pain.

Rabbi Hillel ask "what am I?" If I am not in relationship, I am not even a what. To be an I, I must be aware of you, I must seek and revere what is not myself, so a "we" can form.

What dragons must be slain to form a meaningful we? The dragons that bind us to our cold loneliness.

So often when I do couples support, I confront this dragon. It is the dragon of defenses, identities and expectations. This dragon will not allow us to discern separation and welcome differentiation.

Michael's sword separates, so love can come between.

If not now, when?

Rabbi Hillel asks us to move, evolve, change, surprise, become NOW.

Michael's sword of courage slays the whimpering dragon that puts us to sleep or entertains us with distractions, and swallows our thoughts before they can manifest in actions.

Now is the time of the sword. We cannot sleep over the right time. When is never now.

To feel this sword of action living in your will is so very different from the feel of the dragon of doubt, of seeking a better moment then now.

Now! vs. Now? What a difference.

Yet, I often use the question mark. Then up comes the dragon of self-hatred and self-sabotage.

We find the sword of Michael in our thinking of self, feeling for and with the other, and acting now through building pictures of our dragons and giving them names. In writing this post, I found strength in naming self-hatred, imbalance, doubt. And the images of singeing, blistering, freezing, whimpering, entertaining, distracting dragons brought a little freedom to my soul.

Spend sometime with Rabbi Hillel and imagine naming and slaying your dragons.

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