Listening for and Embodying the Dream of the Earth
Michael Ebbinghaus • March 21, 2023
Awakening to Our Real Face
The depth psychology book club I have hosted over the last year will soon finish its reading of Journey to Soul Initiation
by Dr. Bill Plotkin. The values and practices described in the text are reflected in the process we have undertaken, how we came to this text in the first place, and how we are enacting its principles together as a group. Only a few weeks remain before we venture out West into the Texas deserts to cry out with great devotion and longing for vision and anchoring within the Great Spirit of the World.
And this is principally what the journey to soul initiation is. It is not an initiatory rite of passage, nor a set of practices, nor a welcoming into a human community (but a more-than-human community). It is the alignment of our ego with our ecological niche. So often at odds with it, supported by the dynamics of our culture, soul initiation is a process by which the personality transforms so as to be capable of occupying its ecological niche and becoming a true Adult and later a true Elder
who can weave together vision ecologies or soulcentric communities. The more and more of us take this journey, the more and more the collective will be in symbiotic union with what Thomas Berry calls the “Dream of the Earth.” Far from being some romanticized image of primordial dependency, awakening to the dream of the Earth means to become an active and collaborative member of the greater Earth community, a powerful agent of evolution.
Soul initiation, however, can occur spontaneously, often through sacred wounding. One does not need a manual to initiate it or facilitate it, but such guides can be invaluable on the path. I took my first vision quest a year before I had ever heard of Bill Plotkin, acting on nothing but my own intuition. I did not try to undertake anything, it happened merely as a consequence of living, just like breathing. It was during that quest that, despite my lack of intention towards receiving a vision, I was granted my first intimate encounter with an embodiment of the wild feminine, a strong, deep, and nourishing voice which took me to the shores of my pain and held me as I wept into the lake.
The final chapter of Journey to Soul Initiation
is a heavy hitter. It provides a clear vision of what is possible both individually and collectively when we allow our course to be charted by a far wider wisdom within. I want to include some excerpts from that chapter and share them with you:
“What would it look like if we really loved this world, our more-than-human world – as fully as we’re able, both individually and collectively?
If enough of us got good at living this question, we’d be well on our way to building a healthier society that is not only sustainable but life-enhancing. By getting better at loving this world, we’d also be doing all we can to foster species and human diversity, ecological health, climate stabilization, and life-enhancing governance.”
“What does it mean to love the world?
For everyone, it means to intimately know, deeply care about, and actively care for a particular place on Earth – its creatures (including its humans of all races, ages, classes, creeds, and genders), landforms, waters, soils, and air; its health, integrity, and stories. For those who have been through the journey of soul initiation, however, the single most effective way to love this world is to embody what was discovered on the journey.”
What, exactly, do we discover on the journey?
We discover our ecological niche, the place that Soul carefully designed for us. We discover that which wants to live through us. The Soul is blessed with the omniscience of interconnectedness but lacks the particular incarnation in order to carry it out. That must be carried out by all life, by the nitty-gritty particulars of sculpting, practice, work, minutiae, microbial and smooth muscle action, all the way up to the workings of the human mind and personality.
The ego is not an aberration, just a risky experiment with the potential for the highest rewards. As Plotkin reveals “Our human liability to assign and believe unhitched meanings is the origin of our ability to destroy the world.”
The severity of our situation is evident in the number of people awakening earlier and earlier from the collective dream. The dream has become so destructive that individuals can no longer participate in it meaningfully and have a felt-sense of satisfaction and security. It is clear on a primordial level that to uncritically perpetuate and prop up our culture as is means widespread ecological and democratic disaster. It is also clear that if we believe it is us (meaning the ego) that has the answer, we are just as doomed. The solution, then, is individuation and awakening into our archetypal identities based upon our strengths, skills, and soul callings, rather than our trauma, and to do this on a collective level.
I’ll continue to weave these threads through writing and narrative over the next few weeks. As of right now I envision two more articles, one centering on my own soul encounter experiences and ways of cultivating confrontations with Spirit (which many of my articles such as Soulcentric Dreamwork, Somatic Dreamwork, and Parts Work
contribute to), and another that focuses upon the delivery systems I am currently exercising and crafting to bring my Soul gifts to the world.
At this juncture, I am filled with more hope and vigor than I have ever been filled with in my life, and I only see the process amplifying in the long term, particularly as more and more of my vision ecology (or soulcentric community) begins to weave itself together.
Stay tuned!
Add your custom HTML here
The Sentient Soul
Explore how propaganda, consumerism, and lost perennial wisdom shape our world—and why awakening collective consciousness is urgent today.
What is Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy? Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) is a modality that uses low dose ketamine alongside talk therapy to access non-ordinary states of consciousness, helping clients process trauma, depression, and anxiety in a new and deeper way. One of the most common complaints about traditional psychotherapy is that it can take a very long time for unconscious material to surface, even after a solid relationship has formed with your therapist. While there are techniques we utilize in our practice that do not require substances (e.g. dreamwork, sentence completion, automatic writing/drawing, etc.), the introduction of intentional medicine work can reliably shift one into an altered state of consciousness, catalyzing access to unconscious material. After a brief introductory period, you will take ketamine under supervision from your therapist either in-office or virtually in the comfort of your own home. The therapist will guide you to take your own journey as well as direct you towards areas that might benefit from exploration in an alternate perspective. Learn more What is Ketamine? Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic acting primarily on the glutamate neurotransmitter system. This differentiates it from the traditional psychedelics like LSD and psychedelic mushrooms which are much more prominent in the serotonin system. Ketamine increases neural plasticity, meaning that the brain becomes more flexible to change, open to new insights and behaviors. Ketamine has been used for over 50 years as a surgical anesthetic. It has no impact on the respiratory system, making it one of the most safe and effective medicines available. It is classified as a WHO top 10 essential medicine, and it is so safe that it is still the anesthetic of choice for children. It is a schedule III medication approved for off-label use in assisted psychotherapy, meaning a healthcare professional must be supervising in some capacity. Screening is essential, see below for more information. How KAP Works One of the things we like to stress is that the medicine is taking you to a place within yourself. It is not the ketamine "doing" anything other than relaxing your emotional defenses and allowing for exploration of consciousness. That said, you will feel a degree of relaxation in your body as well as your mind, which allows things which we keep buried to come up to the surface. By shifting into an alternate state of consciousness, we are able to sublimate many of the barriers we have in place that remain opaque to us. Oftentimes simply allowing this material to surface creates greater harmony, and you ma find yourself saying "Oh - this is what I've been afraid of for so long? It's not so big and scary after all." This is not always the case, of course. The nature of what is hidden can also be very painful, which is why the presence of the therapist as well as the therapeutic relationship is imperative when first working with alternate states of consciousness and healing trauma. What Does KAP Treat? Ketamine's claim to fame comes from its potent and immediate anti-depressive effect . While this requires lifestyle change and further exploration - greatly benefitted by depth psychotherapy - this can be incredibly helpful to those experiencing treatment resistant depression. It does this primarily through breaking up rigid neural networks (enhanced neuroplasticity), limiting one's ability to ruminate. Ketamine for depression can be powerful, indeed. In a meta-analysis of over 2,500 patients, it was found that 45% of people had significant drops in clinical depressions inventories, with 30% in remission. The benefits were often sustained at 6-month follow up. Ketamine-assisted therapy can be helpful for those who experience post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD . The clinical evidence here is quite strong, with multiple meta-analyses and an open label study showing durable and significant reductions in PTSD symptoms in as many as 69% of respondents and up to six-months' follow up. Ketamine for trauma is widely studied and efficacious. Anxiety is also significantly reduced after brief KAP treatments. In a glimpse, ketamine can treat: Treatment-resistant depression PTSD and trauma-related symptoms Anxiety and existential distress Addiction and maladaptive coping Spiritual exploration or life transitions What Does Treatment Look Like At Ebb & Flow Depth Psychotherapy, we believe in the importance of a strong therapeutic relationship to help sustain the positive effects from ketamine treatment. To this end, prior to any medicine session, there are 6-8 preparation sessions (this can be reduced to 2-4 if you are already working with another therapist). From there, we will conduct two initial dosing sessions with an integration session in between each. We would then conduct another 6-8 dosing sessions, also with an integration session in between each. Our Approach During each session, you will be gently guided into your body utilizing a simple meditation or, if preferred, ambient music. We utilize sublingual lozenges, tablets which will be dissolved and swished in the mouth for 10-12 minutes, then spit out. This offers a psycholytic approach rather than a psychedelic approach. We prefer the psycholytic approach for two main reasons: 1) This helps to make ketamine-assisted psychotherapy more affordable, as the presence of a medical professional such as an RN is not needed as they are in IM (intramuscular) or IV (intravenous) injections. 2) Psychedelic ketamine therapy can be effective, but in our hustle and bustle world, the subtle work often gets overlooked, and it is the subtle work that carries us the farthest. If you’re seeking a full psychedelic experience, I often recommend doing so on your own time and terms, ideally in nature or a supportive setting. There are few practitioners I would trust to guide me through such an experience, and they come at an extraordinary financial cost more often than not. With psycholytic ketamine therapy, we are nudging gently and entering into an altered state but not breaking open the doors of reality. Through the experience and through the journey you've taken thus far, which includes your triumphs and your traumas, we will expand not only on who you are but who you are meant to be. Your exuberant and mature presence is sorely needed in this world, and it requires reconciliation of our darker nature and highest aspirations. Who is KAP for? Ask yourself now: "Am I in a place where I am ready for deep self-exploration?" "Am I open to the idea of letting go of things which both pain and comfort me?" "Can I remain off of substances and away from process addictions (such as pornography, over-eating/bingeing and purging, sex, etc.) for at least three days?" You may not be ready for KAP if: Are experiencing active psychosis or mania Have untreated Bipolar I or II disorder Have a personal or family history of schizophrenia Are currently struggling with active substance dependence If you are in a grounded place and ready to make shifts in your life, KAP may offer the support you've been looking for. Ketamine Therapy In Austin, TX - How to Get Started Contact me today for your free consultation to see if ketamine assisted depth psychotherapy might be right for you. Myself and the fine clinicians over at Journey Clinical are ready to help you find deeper meaning in life and be the change in the world you wish to see. We conduct ketamine-assisted therapy in Austin, Texas as well as virtually all over the state. Reach out to us today!
