The Cave: A Guided Meditation (audio)

Hey, don't go in there! It could be dangerous!

This is a special meditation. Linda Pappa has intuitively been drawing caves and Earth vortices for the past few years, feeling very grounded and connected to them.

We can work with [the archetype of] The Cave in a subtle way. Fall approaches, and darkness starts to creep in. The Cave can be a symbol of winter shelter and journeying within.

My relationship with pure Earth (artist Linda Pappa)

Chiang Mai, Thailand (Linda Pappa)

Will we listen and go inward, or will we stay superficial? During a Winter Solstice ceremony, I led a meditation guided by The Cave. It felt like nothing else.

Caves, where does one begin? Caves are places of profundity, density, and form.

Caves bring us into the present, representing a sacred space of retreat. It has always been so. This is womb-consciousness, Bhumi/Gaia/Tierra's own. They are temples, holy places of offering, where introspection and deep inner transformation can take place.

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This is Mother Nature's womb, our birth canal? - Well, yeah, I mean, in a way, metaphorically.

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Returning to Earth’s womb means returning to our own center, returning to our Source and Ground, to the dark inner point of a sacred labyrinth.

I forgot I buried all that to not have to feel it.

The Cave resides inside, the deepest, most intimate spot. It holds our secrets, our traumas, our pains, and our potential for magic.

Our modern way of living does not encourage us to go into a place like this at all. It’s dark and scary. But if we dare to visit often enough, we will not only transform ourselves, but also our ties to others, our ancestors, and the greater whole.

The Great Weave, Lamu, Kenya (Linda Pappa)

The Cave can be a place of HEALING, begging us to FEEL so that we can finally process our emotions, take their lessons, and pass them through us as we notice, acknowledge, and claim them.

Inner fire digests food, warms and builds us.

The way to make ourselves feel comfortable going into darkness (and wanting to stay there long enough for transformation) is to work with the elemental energy of fire, or temperature (tejo-dhatu).

Not only is fire in the womb needed for alchemical transformation, it is also a comforting presence. The Cave can otherwise feel cold and uninviting.

• [Caves are warm and inviting, quiet and stable, which is why humans have retreated into them for ages. They provide safety, security, and refuge from outer chaos.]

What crystallized treasures are hidden here?

In the stillness, fire brings us into the present moment, now, directly reminding us of how our ancestors lit fires inside. The Cave connects us, and fire warms us to the bone.

Cave and fire take us on a trip to the center, into the primordial beginning.

Fire + Earth (Linda Pappa)

Linda Pappa and her partner David recorded the following with love, using grounding frequencies and a shamanic drum. They invite listening to this meditation by first preparing a space and holding self as safely as possible. It runs deep.

May you be guided by the inner body of Earth and yours. 

May you be warmed by your own Holy Fire. 

May you be led to dance to the rhythm of your inner drum.

• AUDIO: The Cave Guided Meditation

• Linda Pappa (lindapappa.com) edited by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly