Responsive
Self-Mastery, Strength, Engaged
This force is frightening for many because we have all been preyed upon, and we are uncomfortable with assertions of strength, reflectively disowning our potency or letting it flash abusively.
There is enormous power in the rise of leopard energy. Though languid when at rest, harmless when not yet in motion, the bulky paws are heavy and willful, unexpectedly resistant, and the body is all muscle, a massive hyperalert predator, capable of alarming speed.
When spots are rising into Fox, it reminds us of the deep mammalian circuits that are designed to protect us and those we love. It can also tear apart prey with a burst of effort.
Why this painting?
Being alive and in synch is necessary if our Rituals are to arise from the Pain and not just from our mind attempting to think through the absurdity. All trauma looks nonsensical and preposterous to the Abnormal which recoils while providing some “explanation.” What is needed is a right-brain embodied understanding of what has occurred and recognition of the wound. Only in this awareness, in response to the full X-posing, can a response be developed that is Powerful and rigorous enough.
When you are Responsive, which is an Inspired state of your authentic self, you are merging with the leopard. He is such an effective animal in the wild because he is always alert, relaxed, until the moment he needs to act. Let that be your mirror. Look until you can see your inner fierceness staring back at you, and honor it. This is a strategic resource which you squander at your peril.
Without focused intention, as leopards know, you will just lose your power, get outmaneuvered by panicked creatures who do not deserve to get away, and you will feel humiliated standing in the dust.
Leopard merged with Fox can be a confusing portrait for those who do not understand the Power required for Unconditional love and Discernment. To provide empathy and support to all our parts and to the fragments of others without self-centered judgment or criticism or denial is extraordinarily difficult for mammals. Imagine the Artist and Lover, two together, exploring what has inflicted misery and Pain, working together to co-create a healthy response to our traumas
Inside Out:
What do you call your strength? Give it a name, so that you can call it to you when you need it. It is a living energy. It wants to be named because there is magic in such familiarity. Here naming helps you direct your ferocity with Responsive intention. But that will require effort to balance. So, if you allow yourself to be depleted by the societal or interpersonal spectacles, you will simply be too depleted. You will not have the resources to engage or even to see beneath the veil, and you will just mirror the conclusions of unenlightened monkeys. You will drop out of Love and into Fear. Your response will be ineffective or destructive.
Upside Down:
No matter what lies you have been told, you have the capacity to stand against injustice and express yourself with conviction. When potency is required, gather your strength for what is to come. Though there are many times when the best response is to take no action; when spots are rising, you are being tested and challenged in a way that will require speaking up and putting ample weight behind your assertions. Step out of the forest into the light. Recognize your great Heart which resists hiding in the bushes.
If you have had an ambivalent relationship to your own anger, then consider loving anger, which is simply protecting what needs your protection, as a grown leopard will stand between danger and vulnerable cubs. Loving anger holds both boldness and self-mastery; strength and wisdom; care and assertion. You are a complex creature, capable of keeping your Fox wits about you, while growling out a clear no or an unequivocal yes.
But staying in this energy is not sustainable. It takes effort to modulate such animal energy according to the needs of the moment. Tangling with Narcissistic personalities (Working for Power energy) is especially draining. If you have a prolonged need to assert yourself, you will need equal time to chill out in a safe refuge. Give yourself permission to rest and to be nurtured when you can.
