26. Entering The Inner Cave This Winter - a podcast by Matthew Foley

In this solo episode released in honor of the Winter Solstice, host Matthew Foley shares ideas & inner resources for making this winter an intentional & soulful experience.

"In symbolic terms, I see this winter as an opportunity to enter into our Inner Cave.

Looking towards the wisdom of the natural world, we might think of bears & other creatures who seek out caves to spend their winters in hibernation.

In many spiritual traditions, caves are often symbols of contemplative retreat from the world. Spiritual hermits of all kinds - Buddhist monks, Indian sadhus, and early Christian monastics - were known for seeking out caves for periods of silence, solitude, and deep meditation.

Caves are also a mythological symbol for dark places where we fear to look. Heroes in myths & fantasy novels are likely to find dragons and other monsters waiting in the depths of deep, dark caves. But in these stories, it is precisely those dragons & fearsome monsters who are guarding the treasure the hero seeks.

These stories point towards a deep psychological truth: when we peer into the depths of ourselves during times of deep solitude and introspection, we do run the risk of discovering dragons - our fears, our doubts, our unhealed wounds. But it is precisely beneath those fears, doubts, and wounds that we also discover gold - specifically, the gold of a deeper self-knowing.

Joseph Campbell was absolutely right: 'The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.'

So, let me offer some tools for entering into this season of the Inner Cave - resources for uncovering the inner treasure that awaits you. May these be like torches that help light your way through the dark."

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