Opening to Inner Light

Introduction: From Caterpillar to Butterfly Symbols and Metaphors of Transformation Theories of Human Transformation Variations on the Theme of Self-Transformation 1 - Awakening from the Dream of "Reality Our Ordinary Awareness Is Dreamlike Dreaming, Sleeping, and Waking in Everyday Life The Transformation as an Awakening 2 - Uncovering the Veils of Illusion The World Perceived as Maya The Transformation of Vision Unmasking the Self 3 - From Captivity to Liberation Body and Form as Prison Knots, Ties, Nets, and Bonds in Relationships Strategies of Escape and Liberation 4 - Purification By Inner Fire Fire Deities and Spirit Fire Purgatory and the Alchemical Fire of Purification Kundalini and the Yoga of Fire The Mystical Fire of Union 5 - From Darkness to Light The Enlightenment of the Body The Illumination of the Mind The Self as Light 6 - From Fragmentation to Wholeness Fragmentation in Everyday Consciousness Dissociation and Splintering in Madness and Illness Dismemberment and Fragmentation in Shamanism and Yoga Fragmentation in the Myths of Osiris and Dionysos Alchemical Separatio in Meditation and Psychotherapy Approaches to Wholeness 7 - Journey to the Place of Vision and Power The Myth of the Wanderer Departure and Threshold Crossing Descent into the Depths "Flying" and the Upper Realms Journeys into Nonordinary Reality 8 - Returning to the Source Man as Stranger, Life as Exile The Outgoing Path and the Return Path The Homeward Journey 9 - On Dying and Being Reborn The Value of Death and Intentional "Dying" Nearness to Death as Transformative Experience Emotional "Deadening" Alchemical Mortificatio The New Birth and the Eternal Child 10 - Unfolding the Tree of Our Life The Tree as a Symbol of Self-Unfoldment Climbing the Tree Straightening the Pillar The World Tree and the Inverted Tree The Tree of Life and the Tree of Truth