Ripped in half and laying lifeless, the form can be likened to the site of a beached whale, awesome in size and sadly grotesque as it decays. This may represent our fears of mortality and our feelings of helplessness to do what, deep down, we all know, is our true responsibility. When the leader of a pod of whales leads the pod onto the beach, the others generally follow. It can be difficult to break with the behavior we have been taught by our families and continue to see in our peers and our leaders. This ravished form is not intended to glorify violence or destruction of any kind, but should serve as a stark glimpse into the oncoming turbulence in our world if we continue to shirk our responsibility as stewards of this planet and one another.
The belly of the whale is a dark womb like place that can be associated with the blackness of the un-manifested realm. To enter it is a kind of death. To escape from the belly of the whale is likewise a Re-birth. This process can be seen as a transcendental journey from our lower nature ruled by selfishness and desire, to our higher nature guided by kindness and respect.
Into the belly of the beast we must seek truth and diminish self. Here we must die not a physical death but die to our past and to the future. We die before we die, and realize there is no death. We must wake up to the present moment as the eternal connecting principle that joins all life and all things. We must make the transcendental leap into a higher consciousness where all is one.