We, as humans, are gateways to a parallel reality that exists just below the surface of this one. 

What Jung called the Ego-Self Axis: the living relationship between the conscious self and the deeper terrain of the psyche. I experience this as a conversational current between potentiality and identity, between the infinite and the incarnate. It is between these two poles that our tangible existence is born.

One of my greatest curiosities is how these two realms interact. Synchronicity. Inexplicable events and mystical experiences seem to be a symptom of the convergence of these two realms. I have lived enough examples in my own life that the existence of a “hidden layer” of the world seems self-evident. 

In our human forms, one world is obvious. Quantifiable, verifiable.

But is that which is immeasurable any less real? less important?

As “citizens of two realms”, what does it mean to sustain “dual allegiance”?

The simple yet powerful image of ‘The Story-Teller’ demonstrates one eye open to the outer world — our shared material landscape — and one eye open inward, to the inner landscape: the evanescent, psychic terrain.

We are the convergence, the meeting point, the conversation between two worlds.

In today’s world, the outer-facing eye is given more legitimacy. Societally, we are neither trained nor praised for having a well-cultivated inner-facing eye.

As a child, I had many instances of seeing “beyond the veil.” I was terrified, concerned for my sanity. But as Joseph Campbell puts it, “The psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight.”

We need not fear this world. It is equally part of us.

I really feel that much of my life has been a kind of modern initiation. I’ve been training. Cultivating my ability to see in the dark. Developing agility and dexterity in my ability to traverse this inner landscape. Establishing fluency in the “universal language of the soul” — one of my favorite terms from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist.

Over the last years, I have been consciously honing the vision of my inner and outer-facing eyes, and learning to braid these two realities.

As I sit patiently and listen for where my soul wants to travel next, I keep hearing the whisper… 

Walk beside others through the psychic terrain. Steward a pilgrimage into the imaginal world.

So, this is an invitation.

Let’s walk. 

I don’t know what we will find, but let’s go together.

We will traverse many textures of terrain. We will meet wild characters, walk through storms and through sunshine, and explore the endless moonlit corridors of imagination. 

And perhaps over time, we will begin to notice the braid between inner and outer worlds. 

As lucid dreamers, we can weave within the braid, becoming more conscious creators and better story-tellers.