Emerging Archetypal Themes: Avatar
Taurus: Spiritual Matter, Mother Earth & Our Bodies
The Lakota was a true Naturist - a Lover of Nature. He loved the earth and all things of the earth, the attachment growing with age. . . . That is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from its life-giving forces. For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly; he can see more clearly into the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him. . . . . Luther Standing Bear
It's time to find your copy of Avatar and watch it again.
Our souls need archetypal stories to structure our psychic energy, and Avatar speaks to the part of us that knows we need to take care of Nature, both Earth's nature and our own.
With the Sun in Taurus, people naturally want to attune themselves to Nature. Taurus builds the life that brings us beauty, peace and happiness, because it knows what's of value. Taurus values the body, the senses, eternal truths. Taurus tells us that the issues that speak to the heart of our global problems are environmental as well as moral. Taurus asks us what we value. Conscious Taurus values Life, unconscious Taurus values possessions. It seems we've made a choice to value things over life.
But we can change direction with our next steps. Our Mother, the Earth, is sick and we need to take care of her. Her ecosystems are breaking down, her children are dying and her resources are being depleted. We have to work with the Earth to help restore balance, or it will become a replica of Mordor -- the land dead, the people horrifically mutated, the one ring of power to rule them all and in the darkness bind them!
"As Above, So Below. As Within, So Without ."
Just as our water is fouled, our air is poisoned and our soil is depleted, our bodies and our psyches are suffering from these same environmental damages. If we want to change how we live in this world, we need to start believing that we really are connected with the Earth and each other. So belief comes first. That's how Jake Sully learned on Pandora. First he had to feel and believe in Pandora before he would fight for Pandora.
We live in a society that prizes its
economic success over people's health and well-being, creativity and inner
essence. We need to change our
priorities and focus on healing our bodies and our Earth. There are other ways to live that are more
healthy and creative than our present way of life. We have the intellect, the imagination and
heart to do it. But we need our wounded warrior king to heal first.
Life on Pandora shows us another way to live. Like Taurus' vision of life, it is a way that puts us in harmony with our Earth and each other. We are seduced by beautiful, magical Pandora into imagining ourselves that free, that connected to Eywa, to the animals and plants, waters and air. That connected to the Tree of Life. Yes, Pandora is an image of Paradise, but Jake brings consciousness into the picture. Paradise becomes a choice.
Avatar's theme is obvious: our mechanistic, violent, money-oriented way of life is destroying our own Pandora here on Earth. The question is what will we do about it? The story shows us how we can do it if we chose to side with the Earth.
Avatar shows us that our wounded bodies and the wounded Earth come from a common source. We are faced with the truth of a despoiled environment; now we have to face the truth of how we've ignored the deeper needs of the body, settling for outer comfort rather than inner peace and health, beauty and connectedness.
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