SOCRATES' DAIMON

In ancient Athens, Socrates was charged with corrupting the youth - ie telling them the truth - but the authorities were in no hurry to try him. They gave him plenty of time to get away. And Socrates, as was his custom, went off and consulted his daemon - or Spirit. His daemon would never tell him what to do, but what not to do. And on this occasion his daemon told him not to leave Athens. Now this would mean he would be tried and sentenced to death. Nevertheless, he stayed in Athens and suffered the consequences. 

Socrates with Cup of Hemlock

When people reach the end of their lives, it is not the things they have done that they tend to regret, but the things they haven't done. The self they have not been fully true to, the daemon they have not lived. And Socrates had lived his daemon, to such an extent that he felt he could let go and die. And significantly, Spirit had a bigger perspective than Socrates' individual destiny. His death has echoed down the ages. 

So I think if we are true to ourselves, true to Spirit, we won't feel we haven't lived. And we may be drawn into a larger picture, beyond our ken, that may not always be comfortable, but which has its own purposes.

ON LISTENING

How many people listen to themselves, let alone to others? Listening to oneself means having the courage to take seriously what the spirit is telling us. This is not the same as that clamour of voices, many internalised, that tell us how we 'ought' to live. That is what is called 'normal, it is highly judgemental and seems, by and large, to be the modus operandum of any society which wishes to remain stable - and confer a kind of psychological stability on its members. 

Of course, everyone thinks they listen, just as they think they are masters of their own lives. But it's often only when the Spirits intervene, forcefully if necessary - illness being a classic - that we realise that there is a whole other level of ourselves, and of others, that we hadn't been listening to. And that what came before was superficial and programmed. 

But I think the voice of Spirit is always there, it is that we get trained to ignore it. Deep down we often know that we are not being true to ourselves, and that can go on for years. Until it all starts to fall apart.