Polarities
“Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, differing only in degree; extremes meet; all truths are half-truths; all paradoxes can be reconciled.“
– The Kybalion
After reading this text, you might need some time to process it. So, please be warned: It might feel a bit uncomfortable.
However, you may already be familiar with the concept I describe here. Perhaps you’ve encountered it in school, in physics, biology, or even geography. In that case, you might think, “Oh yes, I already know this.”
But things start to get interesting when you apply these ideas to your life and use them to look at everyday experiences through this lens.
The design above summarizes the following:
UP & DOWN
FRONT & BACK
INSIDE & OUTSIDE
LIGHT & DARKNESS
FULL & EMPTY
It’s hard to accept that all of these coexist at the same time, isn’t it?
As I write these lines, it’s summer. It’s very hot, and the sun is blazing. That is MY reality, and it feels like this truth encompasses everything.
But have you ever stopped to think that, on the other side of the Earth, it’s winter? It’s freezing cold, and the sun barely shines for a few hours a day. I’m writing this during the daytime, but on the other side of the planet, it’s nighttime. All of this is happening simultaneously, and it is the unity and intelligence of the Earth that makes it possible.
Of course, we already know this, right? But do we truly experience it?
Let’s consider something else we do every day: breathing. Breathing itself is unity, made up of two opposing actions: INHALING and EXHALING. This rhythmic flow is nothing more than the dance of two poles.
As Thorwald Dethlefsen and Rüdiger Dahlke say in their book The Healing Power of Illness:
“Destroy rhythm, and we destroy life, for life is rhythm. Anyone who refuses to breathe out can no longer breathe in.
From this it is clear that the inbreath depends on the outbreath: it cannot exist without its polar opposite. The one pole depends for its life on the other. If we take one pole away, the other disappears also.
In the same way, electricity arises from the tension between two poles – but if we take one pole away the electricity simply vanishes.”
The integration of our dark and light sides, our feminine and masculine energy, our strengths and weaknesses – all of this forms a unity: our very being.
This being is reflected in the body, in its anatomy, and in the polarity between its parts. This is how we were conceived – through the union of two opposites.
The same principle applies to relationships, beliefs, processes, and creativity.
I know this because my body remembers it. Sometimes, this certainty comes to me effortlessly, making everything clear and simple. Because I’ve walked through the dark night, I’ve been beneath the Earth, and I’ve risen to the Sun to harvest its fruits and enjoy life, knowing that it was all part of the same unity.
Magic knows this too. When two opposites meet and unite – tadaa! – the impossible suddenly becomes possible.
That’s why I keep repeating: Become aware of your processes, take the moon and the Earth’s cycles as your guides, and move to your own rhythm to discover the dance of light and darkness.
