Damselfly, Cuttlefish and Hobgoblin

I journeyed for P with the following question: “Why does happiness continue to elude me and what do I need to do to create, savour and share it though my life?”

I went to the side of the lake where I usually start my journeys. I could hear “On your mark, get set, GO!” I looked at “myself” in the journey (kind of an idealized version of how I look in “real” life) and I was decked out like the god Mercury. I had the silver helmet, silver winged shoes. On “Go!” I shot out of the starting gate and ran up into the sky. I ran and ran on smoke all the way up. (This haste symbolized to me that perhaps P really want to get the answer to his question.)

I reached the Upperworld, and was met by a blinding white light. In fact, the whole time I was in the Upperworld I couldn’t see anything – I was blinded by the white light which was bathing everything in light so brilliant I could make out anything. Out of the white light, white oblong shapes started flinging themselves at me, shooting out in rapid succession. I couldn’t really see what they were but when I asked the word “cuttlefish” was given to me. I could then tell that they were the cuttlefish husks used in bird cages for birds to sharpen their beaks on.

I asked for messages, but no one identified themselves to talk to me. I asked again if there were any messages for P, and a voice said “Not here, but try next door.” I went down a set of stairs all the way to the Lower World and entered the Lower World through a wooden door.

I immediately saw a little hobgoblin. I asked if he had any messages for P, but he said “No” then urged me to sit down. I was provided with a rocking chair, and I sat down next to some type of opening. As I sat there rocking, the ground was moving and it opened up into what looked like a woman symbol, then gradually made itself into a keyhole shape. I could see the Void (black space with stars).

I went through the giant keyhole and was hanging weightless in the black space Void. I asked if there were any messages for P. After I waited a bit, a creature which I first thought was a butterfly came over. It had butterfly-like wings, so I asked “Dragonfly?” Wordlessly it answered, “No, damselfly.” It confirmed that it was P’s power animal.



I asked the Damselfly if it had any messages for P. It said “She has to follow her spirit.” I asked “How does she do that?” The Damselfly said “She’ll know. She has to release her fears.” The Damselfly started flying, and I followed. It progressed from the black and starry void into a lighter, whiter area. Soon it was blinding white light again, like the light in the Upperworld. I asked her “What is this place?” She said “Happiness.”



I saw a large black millipede curled up into a spiral, but I didn’t get any immediate responses about what the millipede meant.



I asked if there was anybody else that had any messages for P. A white traditional looking angel came gliding out. He was very shy and very mysterious. He didn’t speak and just held his hands in a prayer position. He smiled and said “Surrender.”



I thanked the angel, and the Damselfly and I went back the way we came. When I asked the Damselfly what the white place we were in was called she said “Happiness”. (So I’m assuming that the white Upperworld was Happiness too.) As we went back into the black void, I asked the Damselfly what this black void represented. “Possibility”, she said.



When we entered the Lowerworld again, the hobgoblin was jumping up and down. “Do you have something to say to P?” I asked. “No,” he said, “I’m just so excited for her!” He was smiling from ear to ear. I retraced my steps and thanked the guides and power animals and came back to ordinary reality.



Analysis
In speaking to P, she couldn’t think of any immediate connection to the god Mercury. I asked her to think about her associations with language, magic, communications and/or intellect. She did say she always enjoyed using words and language.



We talked about the cuttlefish. Cuttlefish, after they die, continue to provide by having their bodies used as sharpening devices. Because of this some of the traditional suggested meanings of cuttlefish are: a legacy to future generations, or something that is being held back for you or alternatively some type of family legacy (history, heredity). There were no connections to cuttlefish in her life, that P could think of.

P had no reference for hobgoblins, or the reason there was a giant woman’s symbol opening up into the keyhole to the void. I asked if she could think of any issues specifically pertaining to being a woman. She replied that she didn’t.

Damselflies are similar to dragonflies (I couldn’t find any meanings specific to damselflies). Some of dragonflies usual meanings are: transcendence, wisdom and enlightenment. The dragonfly inhabits two realms, air and water. As dragonflies they age they go through metamorphosis and take to the air. As a power animal, a Damselfly therefore can give a person balance between emotion and thought, as water represents the emotional body, and air represents the mental. As P didn’t have any conscious connection to Damselfly, I urged her to try to connect by having a photo or artwork of a Damselfly to help connect with its qualities.

A spiral, or as represented in this journey, a millipede, often personifies a labyrinth, which invites us to look inside ourselves for our inner wisdom. It speaks to the link between the outside material world and the inside spiritual world. I suggested to P that it was likely asking P to focus inside, on her inner, spiritual life.



I told P I believed the latter part of the journey, was quite literal so P could understand the message clearly. Her angel told her to “Surrender.” I suggested that it appears that she has to get to happiness by releasing her fears, going through “possibility”, and surrendering. This ties into the meaning of the millipede, which was also inviting her to go inside herself and pay attention.



Since Mercury rules communications and language and the arts, I suggested that perhaps P needed to discover her inner world through writing or the arts. “Coincidentally” P had just bought a set of watercolor paints, even though she had never painted. I was excited for her, because this sounded like exactly what she needed to do to connect with her inner world. I urged her to suspend any judgment of her creations, to turn off her brain, and just create and see what came out.



Bringing the cuttlefish in as well, it may be that P’s legacy to future generations may lie in her finding her own happiness.



Later I thought about the hobgoblin. Hobgoblins are traditionally associated with working mischief on humans. Since the hobgoblin seemed to be a guardian of the entrance to her “unconscious” – the void – and was a cheerleader for her, perhaps her mischievious unconscious side really wants her to succeed in finding her happiness.



I thank P very much for sharing her journey which contained some very unique creatures I have never seen in a previous journey!

I have one opening for journey prior to Christmas, however if you purchase a journey now (for yourself or someone else) you receive the 25% December Discount, and the journey can be done in January!

Kara

Thanks to David for use of the photo which was posted on his site: http://theatavism.blogspot.com/2009/11/sunday-spinelessness-damselflies.html

Also, his website explained the difference between a dragonfly and a damselfly:
"You can probably tell just by looking at Xanthocnemis that damselflies are related to dragonflies, in fact the damsels and the dragons are two infra-orders in the medievaly themed order Odonata . You can tell a damselfly from a dragonfly thanks to the way they hold their wings - damselflies fold them up over their body when they land while dragonflies hold them open ..."