What is Beneath the Blue NIle?
A symbol of the literal
The Blue Nile, located in Ethiopia, is a branch of the Nile river, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile has served as a critical lifeline for its people, providing food, resources, and way of travel. Within the ancient cultures of Egypt (and beyond), this sacred river also meant so much more.
It was the source of a dependable, natural phenomenon, which brought an annual flood, and was celebrated by the people as the gift of new life. Not only did the flood ‘refill the cup’ of the land, metaphorically speaking, it also brought forth layers of fresh silt that richly fertilized the soil, ultimately leading to an abundance of crops.
Water’s ability to sustain and purify is key for the survival of all living things. Water is also a literal flow between two bodies of land, whereas love, the unseen giver of life, is the energetic flow between two bodies of people. Love is the powerful, fluid energy exchanged between two separate parts after seamlessly coming together as one.
“The energy of the sun will pull the growth of a seed out of the ground, but not until water has softened it.” (Rachel Pollack)
Water also symbolizes the flow of our lived experiences. If you were to think back on the last 10 years of your life, how would you describe the waters that carried you from one experience to the next? Rocky and treacherous, where it felt as though you were being tossed around at sea? Smooth and calm, like a lazy river? Stagnant and empty like a dried up lake? Maybe a combination of all of them? Of course, it’s only natural.
By understanding our past experiences, as well as our emotional responses to them, we allow ourselves to acknowledge the deeper parts within, which happen to know the way to our truest self.
water’s natural state
When our inner self feels at peace with what we think, what we do, and with the overall experience (or outcome), our emotions flow beautifully. We become engulfed with the beauty and joy of being alive, and by knowing something good has been accomplished.
However, when we are faced with the inverse, where our thoughts and behaviors leave us overcome by anxiety, depression, and living with an overall dread for life; our waters have become shallow and polluted. Something isn’t working. The only way to purify and renew the system, is to bring on the flood.
testing the Water
If you were a scientist who needed to test the purity of a water source, you would also need to understand how to do that in order to get the truest results. Anyone can look at a body of water and call it clean, but it’s not until you take a deeper look at a sample of drops under the microscope that you are able to see the water’s real contents.
Furthermore, a scientist wouldn’t look at a sample of water and say it’s wrong/bad/selfish of the water to have been contaminated; rather they would try to understand which surrounding elements might have led to its contamination, so they could begin the process of purification. Exploring our emotions is much the same way.
When we take a look at an environment, and explore the surrounding elements influencing our emotional experiences, we can gather how our emotional responses, no matter the rationality of them, are a natural response to our what is happening around us. Once we can understand the type of currents that flow between our self and another person/groups of people, while also understanding how and why it developed that way, then we, can begin our own process of transformation.
Beneath the Blue Nile aims to offer guidance for exploring the deeper parts of ourselves. It’s a place where darkness is celebrated; hope is found; and fear of the unknown becomes a laughing matter.
