Dear Reader,
The Latin term per aspera ad astra translates to “through hardship to the stars,” which beautifully defines my poetic journey. Throughout the ages, this phrase has inspired countless souls to persevere through their struggles and reach for the celestial heights. I’m excited to share my epic Odyssean-themed poem with you.
Per Aspera Ad Astra
The dark and bright journey of this poet has been an Odyssean adventure, wrestling with the upward call of spirit and downward pull of her soul, while pursuing alphabetical alchemy in both monstrous and divine worlds. Where, upon the high seas of the soul, a necessary home-leaving took place, years before she encountered the sparkling, living waters below, lifting her up from the mud of creation to the luminous stars above. To walk this lone path of individuation became the mission of her life, as she sought courage to become herself, a spiritual task in which she would learn how to kindle light in darkness, become a holy fool on life’s open road. A crazy yet transcendent journey, where the smell of death and wild sea took her miles and miles along shorelines of broken mirrors, where she met many distorted versions of herself along the way. At each mirror she faced a different self and wrote poems to each reflection, rewriting any part of herself that stood in the way of happiness, as tides rushed in she died and decomposed a thousand times. This poet’s Calypsonian lover brought great suffering to her life, casting shadow over her bright heart, she forgot her quest and lost her way as ego pride and lust for glory delayed her journey by several years. Yet the pain broke her heart open in ways she could not have otherwise known, for she knew the gods came disguised and without aegis-bearing Athena, divine goddess of embodied wisdom, this poet would have died long ago. Epic knowledge that shielded her beneath the goddess’ protective light, one that kept her safe during her journey in both simple and sublime words, defying all the odds, helping this poet to find her way home. Thus, following endless years of difficulty and battles that brought many scars, she wrote of the darkness of Hades, but chose not to live in shadow, instead, she let the shining matter within lift her pen and rise to the stars. In doing so she learnt how to stoop low, kneeling in supplication for fear of becoming trapped on earth, she explored the inner workings of her psyche at the headland where ego and archetype come together. Until a wheel within a wheel, sacred geometry of unity and wholeness, moved in two directions at once turning her conscious world inside out, while this poet remembered how to surrender to the greater light. On her knees, humbled by such vision, having no monsters left to fight, she removed Athena’s breastplate to bathe in the high seas of the soul, where, with foam tipped fingers, she wrote poems between land and sea. Come, let us dive into this poet’s soul while her ego is submerged in sleep, where inside a dream she pushes through this world and out into the next, a poetic landscape inhabited by others who sing of bringing down the light. Let us watch her float upwards with the Great Mother herself, although she cannot see Her or herself, she knows they are one body that speaks to the other without speech, a symphony of the soul of love. As Heaven’s bodies whirl around her, we witness Athena’s sacred owl on her blindside seeking out Truth, silent on the wing, afraid of nothing as the dreaming poet awakens in this new world she has entered. A place where heaven and earth touch, where the known and the unknown are separated yet together, where poets are granted mystic visions, where we all belong to something greater than ourselves. Mirroring the flight of the soul, the poet moves into the unus mundus, transcending the illusion of separateness with the song of eternity in her heart, knowing what is good for spirit above will be good for her soul below. Nothing will hold her back now, she has found the courage and wisdom to rise above her Odyssean trials and, while the great stars glisten, this poet’s life, per aspera ad astra, makes bright her dark journey home.
For those enchanted by the stars, “Per Aspera Ad Astra” sleeps and dreams in my second poetry collection, The Shepherd’s Daughter, starting on page 171. The (coloured) image of the ‘Flammarion Engraving,’ shared above, vividly reflects my life as a poet and dreamer, forever exploring archetypal and rich symbolic worlds.
Yours in words, Deborah
If my words strike a chord and you feel inspired to dive deeper into my poetry or explore my essays on Jungian thought, I invite you to visit: The Liberated Sheep
Exquisite word-smithery! I was immediately taken by the poem's Odyssean bend. Currently, I'm reading "The Odyssey" along with a current companion piece by Dennis Patrick Slattery, "From War to Wonder, Recovering Your Personal Myth Through Homer's Odyssey."
I love how the Divine Feminine is such a foundation for your poem; not unlike Homer's epic, which reveals again and again that the North Star guidance and influence in the epic is feminine.
Thank you so much for this. Sending you all good wishes and goodwill, ~Stephanie
"...a symphony to the soul of Love."
I hope I'll have more to say in time, but I tend my fragile health now (warmer weather and sunshine will do wonders) and deal with the constant uproar of political chaos and destruction in this country which I have been unable to completely ignore. Be well, dear poet. Keep writing so I can keep reading.