Faeries Oracle

55 - The Soul Shrinker

Cruelty. Malice. Gossip. Curses. Destruction. Blessing.

The distasteful task of the Soul Shrinker is to observe what we say to and about others, especially the mean, nasty, and unnecessarily critical things. By observing our behavior this way, he reflects it back to us, making us more aware of it. This is a boddhisattva (a spiritual being devoted to helping to bring about the enlightenment of all) type of job, and it requires great compassion, understanding, and forgiveness if the Soul Shrinker himself is not to be dragged down to our level. If we are just inwardly spluttering, looking for words, he may even suggest to us the words that express our feelings and energy. Then it is our choice - our test - whether or not we say them.

There are two important things about malicious gossip, unnecessary criticism, verbal cruelty, sarcasm, and "scoring off" of others. One is that it demeans the speaker, makes him less, makes his aura darker, and encourages the behavior as a habit, continually eroding the brightness and potential goodness of the speaker. The other important thing is that this is a way that we actually curse others.

Even if the recipient doesn't hear the actual words of the blessing or curse, even if the words are not spoken aloud, they are carried as discordant notes through Ekstasis's (Card 2) song of the universe to the recipient. Fortunately, that is not all there is to it or such behavior would be unforgivably wicked - not that it isn't pretty nearly that anyway. We all have a choice about whether we accept curses or blessings.

If we choose not to accept it, then all of the energy boomerangs back to the sender, who then gets a well-deserved double dose of it.

Once, long ago, the Soul Shrinker was very beautiful, but listening to and witnessing all of this human ugliness has rubbed off on his appearance, like that of a lovely frog in a polluted pool with his skin raw and forming hideous growths. His heart is compassionate and anguished; his heartfelt wish is that we learn "right speech" and "right thought." Every wicked thing a human says makes the Soul Shrinker more ugly. Every time a human learns this lesson, the Soul Shrinker becomes a bit less ugly. As you can see, humanity as a whole has a lot of work to do on this.

Starter Reading

Critical and malicious thoughts and words are having a detrimental effect on the situation and the people involved in it. Steps need to be taken to banish this curse energy through love and compassion - or at the very least, through forgiveness and a refusal to accept the curse into oneself. Understanding the implications of this and transforming the behavior and feelings involved is a major and often very difficult step in human spiritual development.

One of the things usually involved here is taking responsibility for ourselves and our own feelings rather than blaming others for the way we are. Another part of this process is to learn to be compassionate toward our selves. If we can do that, it is much easier not to be horrible to and about others.

This doesn't mean that we are supposed to be all sweetness and light all the time. Constructive criticism, given compassionately, is a part of being real - and reality is a good thing to be in touch with.

Reverse

Malice, vicious gossip, and cruelty are occurring somewhere in this situation, cursing the people involved. The best way to change this is to begin scattering blessings, thank-yous, positive feedback, and kind words in all directions. It helps a lot if they are actually meant.

The Faery Challengers