The Alchemy of Our Dark Emotions

We all know what the so-called negative emotions are, and how we try to avoid or suppress them, both in ourselves and in others. But what if we dug into a true healing of self, and allowed our friends and loved ones to do so as well, from these emotions?

Miriam Greenspan, in her evocative, inspirational book Healing Through the Dark Emotions: the wisdom of grief, fear, and despair, writes:

"When I call them dark, I don't mean that they are bad, unwholesome, or pathological. I mean that as a culture we have kept these emotions in the dark--shameful, secret, and unseen. As a result, we tend, for the most part, to shun them. But the emotions that we reject and suppress can become dark in an altogether different sense: like a rich, fertile soil from which unexpected flowers can bloom."

Matt Licata, in a recent post on his blog A Loving Healing Space, writes of these dark emotions that:

"While it may appear otherwise, this very disturbing material is not a mistake, but is sacred. It is not pathology, but path."

While the effort may seem daunting, I can confirm that it is worth the space and time we allow for the process to unfold. And, unlike conventional drugs (anti-depressants, etc.) that promulgate avoidance of these dark emotions, flower essences instead provide subtle, gentle support as we move through the emotions. For an intense "dark night of the soul," Waratah (image to the left) is a powerful partner; for the variety of other ways in which despair (or grief or fear) may appear in one's life, there are myriad other flower essence choices. We are not alone on the path of healing.