The Cord that Binds Us is one of 12 artifacts from season 2 of Labyrinth Library. This is an excerpted sample of the full artifact, which is 18 minutes long.
Trailmarker Word — Devotion
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Purpose:
to bring attention to the cords that bind you in relationship — to your creative practices, visions, dreams, desires, or to the people and places in your life.
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Guiding Question:
what are the cords that bind you — and what is the quality of the bond?
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Excerpt of The Cord That Binds Us (5 min)
the cord that binds us_excerpted.mp3
Visualization (5 min)
*included in the full artifact
Practice Guidelines*
included in the full artifact
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Hi friends, today we'll talk about the cord that binds us — the fourth and last artifact of Pisces season.
To begin, I want to look at the constellation of Pisces as two clusters of stars in the north and in the west, with two lines of stars connecting them.
***Star Lore Of All Ages** (1911) by William Tyler Olcott*
In Mesopotamian mythology, this was said to be a swallow and a fish bound by a cord. In Greek mythology, there's a story of Aphrodite and Eros escaping a monster, Typhon, tying a cord between them, transforming into fish, and swimming away into a river.
The cord that binds us is the essential symbol of Pisces — not just two fish, but two fish swimming in opposite directions, representing the tension that is connection and devotion to that which we love. Moving through life connected to something outside of ourselves, whether that is a creative practice, a passion, a person, or a place.
The tarot card I'd like to draw our attention to is the Ten of Cups, which depicts a family looking at a rainbow over a pastoral landscape. Here we will investigate the nature of happily ever after. The Ten of Cups is not a destination but a moment in the cycle — how we move through the world connected and bound to each other, to our work, and to ourselves.
The purpose of this artifact is to bring attention to the cords that bind you in relationship — to your creative practices, your visions, your dreams, desires, your impulses, to the people and places in your life, or to parts of yourself. How do we pay attention to those bonds, and tend to them?
The guiding question is: what are the cords that bind you, and what is the quality of the bond?
In this artifact, we'll focus not just on the object on the other end of the bond — the person, practice, or pursuit — but on the cord itself. The thread of connection.
The quality of that bond. In the process, we'll explore the themes of enchantment, longing, and devotion, as well as the shadow side: how the cord breaks, illusion, disenchantment, the severing of the cord, and the self-betrayal that initiates that severing.
Let's begin by exploring the different phases: enchantment, longing, and devotion.
If we think about enchantment as being under a magic spell — there's the bliss of falling in love with something, like entering a vortex where the nature of gravity seems to change. Enchantment is about the forming of the initial bond. It is the entry into a world, or a different part of yourself. Enchantment represents a sense of what is possible here — the bliss, the magic, the joy.
To be enchanted by something or someone, there's an element of willingness to surrender to the experience. A consent. You allow yourself to be enchanted. Or you enchant yourself. Without enchantment, there is no devotion.
This is the part where we embark on a journey, take a leap of faith, and allow ourselves to overlook the voices of self-doubt. I find that the world simultaneously feeds us false enchantments — of romantic love, of capitalist fulfillment, myths of culturally programmed satisfaction in so many dimensions of our lives. At the same time, there are voices that warn us against the dangers of enchantment. Our logical, rational mind equates enchantment with naivete, with danger.
I personally think that only enchantment that is untested, unweathered, is fragile. Whereas true devotion transcends the initial enchantment and matures into something else.
With enchantment comes a deliberate choice to sacrifice something — to take a risk, to embark on a journey without knowing where it will go, to swim in the river tied to that which we love, which in some cases can feel like a burden. We are willing to carry this burden because of the memory of our enchantment. No matter what stage of devotion we're in, what season of our lives we're in, the memory of enchantment — like an eternal spring — lives within us as a tiny, glimmering thread connecting us to that which we love.
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This is an excerpt of this artifact.