Laura Zittrain

Joseph Campbell says the demon you swallow gives you its power, and the greater the pain, the greater life will follow. I believe in the same vein that the trauma you can overcome gives you its power too. Many don’t realize the spiritual power you need to generate to get out of a very dark place as you battle evil, within and without. But the more darkness you can face within yourself and the world, the more light you anchor after that journey. The more you can “descend into the wound” and rest in the mud of your deepest pain, you’ll eventually see that that mud turns into a lotus and reaches toward the light. The more darkness you can face within, the more light will follow. This is the process of alchemical transformation. This turns lead into gold. Suffering into strength. Facing trauma can turn into a deeper connection to life and the divine intelligence encoded within it. The demon you swallow can then turn into an angel. The things you are most afraid of facing often contain the exact medicine your soul needed. The more you can face suffering with strength, the greater the light that will follow. “The demon that you can swallow gives you its power, and the greater life’s pain, the greater life’s reply.” ― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth