Stuck in the Labyrinth with the Minotaur

Animal Medicine

Do you believe in Dragons?  In Fairies?  How about Angels or Extra Terrestrials?

These are all, in many respects, Beings of Power; Mythological Beings wrapped up in stories that can be beneficial or incredibly destructive.

I was certainly surprised when this next creature appeared to me with a message for the Humans of Earth, but as I started to unravel the message, it became obvious that it is not only very appropriate but also rather timely.

There would be very few people who could think of this Being as something beautiful – with the head and tail of a bull, and the body of a man, the Minotaur is a creature that is almost guaranteed to bring nightmares.

And that is not in the least bit surprising as the Minotaur represents our greatest fears.  Mainly, an aspect of a Primal Fear that all humans hold, one that philosophers have frequently discussed, and that is, the Fear of the Unknown.

Fear of the unknown, is considered to be an irrational fear, a fear of something that our imagination dreams up and it feels as if it’s a very real possibility that whatever it is could happen,  yet, the reality is that it may never actually come about.

I have to say though, that whilst this particular fear, the fear of the unknown, is epitomised by the Minotaur, I rather think that if you met him in the supermarket, it would definitely not be considered an irrational fear!!!

The scientific name for this fear of the unknown is xenophobia.   Yes, nowadays, xenophobia is more commonly used to explain a dislike, a fear or prejudice or hatred of other people who are different to us.  The term has a broader scope, it’s not limited to just ‘other people’ and it was more originally used to include a more general fear of the unknown.  It’s easy to see how the two thoughts interact.   If there is someone who is different to you, and you can’t be sure how they will act or what they will do in a situation – it can be scary.

And if you put the Minotaur into that mix – where just looking at it sends that fear sky-rocketing through the roof, there is never any doubt that whatever your fears or imagination has brought to the surface, the fear of what could happen has suddenly jumped from a possibility to a great big whopping probability.

And that is where we, the CCoH, are standing right now.  In the labyrinth with the Minotaur.

There is a good probability that the mythological stories of beasts such as the Minotaur were written as a way to explain things that seemed strange and mystical and frightening.  And in this case, there is an argument that says it’s possible that the story was to explain earthquakes! 

You see, the Minotaur was supposedly trapped in a labyrinth that was built under the island of Crete – where there is a fair amount of destructive seismic activity.  He was supposed to stamp through the labyrinth roaring his anger, shaking the earth and causing buildings to fall.

The message of the Minotaur is to remind us to keep our eyes and ears, mind, heart and intuition open to all possibilities.  The story told isn’t always the reality. Time, and the growth of knowledge are sometimes the only way that rational thought can explain what is, or has, happened.

Right now a large percentage of the people of earth are living in a fear that is a form of xenophobia.  It is a fear that is so widespread and insidious, that most no longer recognise the fear, it’s just a part of what IS right now. 

We have become comfortable being stuck in the labyrinth.  It’s the new normal

It’s well known that negative political movements and mass hysteria can be driven by xenophobia.  Fear is our strongest survival trait and it is a critical driver of our evolution.  When we are in fear we Fight, or we Freeze or we get the heck outta there!

As I look around me, in my local community as well as the wider world as portrayed by media, both mainstream and independent, it is easy to see those who fight and those who fall into the freeze category. There isn’t anywhere for those who want to get out of there. There is no escaping what is going on in the world right now.  Flight isn’t a possibility.  Me? I am a freezer.  My normal reaction to fear is to stick my head in the sand, do what I am told to do, and hope it will all go away.

 But I can also recognise myself under the banner of a different name for a fear of what may happen in the future.  Something called “Anticipatory Anxiety”   This is where your world is filled with “What if’s”

• What if I get Covid?
• What if I pass it to someone else?
• What if I die?
• What if my family dies?
• What if I get a reaction to the vaccine?
• What if I lose my job?
• What if my mask doesn’t protect me?
• What if I want to go visit my family overseas?
• What if I want to go to the gym, or a party, the pub or my niece’s wedding?

The what if’s can be never ending, and they are something I am so very familiar with from my past as I struggled through depression and breakdown and PTSD.

Even now, when I am on top of those things, I will find myself excusing myself as just rehearsing in case the what if’s do happen – even though I know that my imagination is far more active than what is likely to happen in reality.

You can’t separate the physical from the spiritual – and the physical also includes the emotional and mental bodies.  There is a Minotaur in our midst and our fears are so embedded in us that we no longer recognise them.  They are part of who we now are and they drive us to make decisions when our emotions are trapped. When we are in the labyrynth.

This is cognitive dissonance. 

This is anticipatory anxiety. 

This is xenophobia – it is causing the distancing between humans, and possibly could even lead to the eventual destruction of the Collective Consciousness of Humanity.