GOLD

“In the West, gold is the symbol of the Self, while in the East, the symbol of our inner divinity is the diamond. 

In their interior meanings, they are the same, but the images are different. Diamonds are the hardest matter on earth—unearthly, celestial, and impersonal. 

Gold is much softer, a matter of relationship, the Self as related. I think we’re lucky to have gold to cope with.

Our culture understands little about these matters, so when we ask the other person for our gold back, she probably won’t know what we’re talking about. 

She might say, “Last week you were opening doors for me and treating me like a princess, and this week you’re ignoring me.” People don’t understand the dynamics. 

It is only AFTER you get your gold back that you can see the gold of the other person. 

When the time is right, when you are ready to bear the weight, you must get your gold back. 

If you can do it with dignity and tact, that’s best. But you MUST get it back, one way or another.

The Glow in Your Eyes 

When we see that we have given our spiritual gold to someone to hold for us, there are several ways we might respond. We could go to him or her and say, “The meaning of my life has suddenly appeared in the glow in your eyes. May I tell you about it?” 

This is another way of saying, “I have given you my inner gold. Will you carry it for me for a while?” 

But we rarely say and do things that directly. Instead, we stand across the room, turn our back on him, and feel totally frightened, stumbling and carrying on in odd ways. We meet at the coffee pot during the morning break at work and banter with each other, speaking all kinds of nonsense. We joke and laugh, and an animated play goes on. Then, when we head back to work, we feel energized and brightened for the day. It was not the coffee. It was the exchange of inner, alchemical gold. 

Excerpt from: "Inner Gold: Understanding Psychological Projection" by Arnie Kotler.