Today, I have committed to blogging with over 1,000 other writers on the topic of love and compassion for the #1000Speaks for Compassion project.

As it happens, I write about love each and every day!

So today, I have decided to put a perhaps strange twist on the topic of love, and to assert that even rage—that most shunned and feared of emotions—is, when aligned and organically flowing, in fact a form of love.

As it happens, rage is one of the most powerful and intelligent forces of which I am aware, and a dear friend of mine. This post is intended as a quick tutorial on how to access and productively allow rage to flow, so that it may perform its sacred healing function. Please note this is not a license to go flinging rage around just anywhere at anyone; like fire itself, rage must be handled with extreme mindfulness and care.

In general, the energy of rage gets a really bad wrap. In a society in which we are taught to be happy and perky from the word “goo” and emotions on the darker side of the spectrum are decidedly un-PC, most of us have no idea what to do with the very natural and organic emotion of rage, which is actually a force of nature bearing its own very specific intelligence.

Rage, as a force, appears at a very precise moment: namely, when we feel that we have somehow been violated and/or that our energy has been inappropriately accessed or used. It shows up as a clarifier, to expel unaligned energy from our field, and reclaim that which is ours. In the parlance of the sacred feminine, the energy of rage is associated with the “Dark Goddess” (Kali, Pele, and others) who are known as the “annihilators of evil”—the ultimate, fierce double-negative that comes to set energy to rights. I know of no more potent force to do precisely that.

Embodiment of the Dark Goddess’ fierce power, along with her femininity, has been forcibly disallowed for millennia in the West, and I personally believe this is the biggest reason that we as a society have become deeply out of touch with rage and the powerful medicine it provides. And yet the time has come to remember the sacredness of this power and its rightful aligned place upon the Earth. This, I feel, is one of my deepest purposes for incarnating in this era, to help restore this vital thread.

Because, the consequences of being out of touch with rage are grave, indeed. It is not as though the emotion simply vanishes for our failure to express it. In losing the knowledge of how to safely and appropriately allow this force to do its work, many of us wind up 1) ashamed of its presence in our lives, 2) harboring an epic ton of it in our systems, unreleased and often unconscious, and 3) absolutely clueless as to how to properly route it, in any case.

We see the results of this in the spike of psychoactive medications used simply to maintain “normal” function, and the slate of violent rage incidents that are chalked up to “mental illness.” We become ill, precisely, when we repress or otherwise allow stagnation of the dark side of our emotional being. We become free and healthy when we recognize the intelligence and sacredness of all our feelings, and learn to finally let them flow. Humans, like rivers, are meant to run to the sea.

And now we remember, together. Here is but a mere, practical start:

First of all, in order to let our rage do its work, it helps to literally acknowledge it is there. When it arises in regards to a particular circumstance, or for whatever reason, take note: “I am angry.”

Second, and this point is absolutely essential, we must take complete responsibility for the circumstances that gave rise to it. For example, if the rage has arisen because we feel someone has violated us, it helps to acknowledge that there is likely a vulnerability or feature of our own energy system that has allowed this violation to take place, and to commit fully to exploring and healing ourselves, and releasing outcome with regards to the other party.

Third, allow yourself to feel the burn, and thank it for doing its work.

Fourth, start to consider how you can responsibility route and express this energy in your life. Sacred rage likes to radiate outward much like a wildfire or a bomb. It requires a safe space/container and a non-violent means of expression. This may look at a little different for everyone. For me it looks like vigorous dancing and art-making in which I allow the rage to transmute into beauty. It looks like dunks in the cold salty ocean in which I give myself fully to Her ferocity and fury, and recognize it as my own. It looks like letters penned that give voice to my every scream, and are then sometimes burned, released and transmuted, by a sacred flame.

As you work with and through this potent energy, I do not advise directing your rage at anyone in particular; rather consider the ways in which your rage is pointing to the wisdom of healthy boundaries, and allow it to clarify how you may have compromised those boundaries in the past.

Think of the rage as a “resetting” energy that allows you to claim sovereignty over yourself as it burns through all unaligned energy. Recognize that the rage is there for you, not to affect an outcome or “punishment” on anyone else. From this place of sovereignty, you will be more powerful, more whole, and better able to love fully. Sometimes, this will mean that people once close to you—who perhaps had a certain access to you and your power—will be naturally either be called to a higher standard of alignment or stand at a more respectful distance from your center. Give yourself full permission to allow that, and trust that it is Love.

What is really magical is that once you have fully felt and processed the rage, it tends to automatically subside and integrate into a form of strength that will serve you for the rest of your days. You needn’t go around being angry forever; the energy of rage has come to perform a particular sacred duty and once it has done so, it will transform without effort into an elegant, regal, aligned form. It will also permanently transform your energy, such that people show up for you in a more aligned way. Do not hold on; release all; burn clean; and be free.

There is so much more I could say on the sacred nature of rage, and many many examples I could cite of how this energy has functioned beautifully in my own life (I’m thinking it’s a whole book here!). For the moment I am simply celebrating the return of this sacred force, its connection with the feminine in Her full power, and its rightful expression, and how all of this holds tremendous potential to transform our collective health and redeem our world.

If you would like support in setting up a practice that will further allow you to explore, acknowledge, release and transform the incredible force of rage in your own life, this is something that I do. By providing a safe space and using a combination of extremely potent energy work and consulting, I can help you can begin to reclaim your full power and enact transformation in a way that will benefit and heal not only yourself, but perform a sacred act of redemption for the entire world.

Relephant:

3 Steps to Learning to Experience Life Fully.

Author: Sara Sophia Eisenman

Editor: Travis May

Photo: Provided by Author