“Laughing Fairy” by elais at stock.XCHANG
The Angel of Transformation
by Anselm Grün
Angels appear in various guises. They have the ability of transformation. They transform themselves into a person who accompanies us on our way of life. They transform themselves into a physician who treats our wounds, into a therapist who frees us from the entanglement in neurotic patterns of behaviour, into a priest who frees us from our guilt. “Angels appear unlooked-for†are the words of a modern song. Sometimes it is your boyfriend or your girlfriend who tell you something that allows you to see yourself with new eyes. Sometimes it is a child who looks at you and shows you how unimportant the problems are that you are battling with.
Angels are artists of transformation. The Angel of Transformation however wants to introduce you to the secret of your transformation. If you want to stay alive, you have to change again and again. Someone who does not change, grows stiff. C.G. Jung once said that the worst enemy of transformation is a successful life. Because then you think that everything is just fine. You don’t need to change. And then such people get stuck, inside and outside. They keep repeating the same phrases they have already used twenty years ago. They depend on the same solutions that have always worked so far. They become boring. You’re not really keen on talking to such persons. Their talking and thinking is stale, like cold coffee that does not taste good.
The Angel of Transformation want to prevent you from being to hard on yourself. Many people believe they have to change. But this change contains a lot of severity and hostility towards yourself. I have to change. Because the way I am, I am no good. I have to get rid of my faults, my sensitivity, my fears, my anger. An attitude like that implies that all of my faults and weaknesses are evil. The Angel of Transformation wants to impart to you the understanding that everything that is in you may exist. Everything that is in you has a reason. But there also needs to be transformation. Your fears are good. They show you that you have a wrong attitude towards life. Maybe you are thinking that you need to be perfect in everything you do, that you may make no mistakes. Then your fears show you how you harm yourself with this attitude. And it is an invitation to choose a more humane way of living. Your anger is good. If you allow your anger to be and you look at it, if you discover its roots, then your anger may turn into new vitality. Then your anger may show you that you have always focused on others. Now you finally want to live for yourself. That way your anger can turn into new energy of life.
Fairy tales know about the secret of transformation. People are turned into animals and animals into people. Everything can be transformed there. This shows that you don’t have to be scared by anything that is within you. Every within you can be transformed, too. A beautiful tale illustrates the secret of transformation. It is the fairy tale of the three languages. A young man does not learn what his father wants him to. Instead he learns the language of the dogs, the language of the frogs and the language of the birds. When he comes to a castle during his wanderings, the lord of the castle offers him a tower to stay in that is the home of wild dogs which have already killed many people. But he is not afraid, because he knows their language after all. And they tell him that they are only wild and rabid because they are guarding a treasure. They show him the treasure and help him to dig it out of the earth. Then they disappear and peace returns to the country. I think that is a beautiful vision: where your biggest problem is, where you suffer the most, where you are sick of yourself, there is also your treasure. There you can get in touch with your true inner self. The tales wants to show you that everything that is inside you is there for a reason. If you are discontent and angry all the time, you don’t have to reject yourself because of your feelings. Instead you ought to ask yourself to which treasure these feelings may lead you. If you have discovered the treasure, if you have found your true inner self, these feelings will be transformed. Then you are suddenly at peace with yourself. And you are grateful that the noisy dog has made you notice this hidden treasure. The Angel of Transformation wants to give you courage to look at everything inside you with mild eyes, because everything inside you is something that wants to be transformed so that your own true light may shine brighter and brighter.
© by Anselm Grün, 50 Engel für das Jahr, 1997;
translation by JunoMagic.
Song for December 22:
(Click pic!)
Windgesang aus dem Süden (“Windsong of the South”)
by Hans-Jürgen Hufeisen,
album “Pegasus – Melodien der vier Winde”
(“Pegasus – Melodies of the Four Winds”)