As tensions and conflicts in the outer world continue to escalate, fears and anxieties intensify inside each of us. Increasing polarization leaves us deeply uncertain about the future as well as increasingly disoriented and further divided against each other.

While the poles of a polarity appear to be irreconcilable opposites, they can also be seen as parts of a hidden unity waiting to be found. The true aim of oppositions is the revelation of a “hidden third” that not only relieves tension, but also renews the spirit of life. Thus, the unity missing in the outer world must be sought within ourselves.

Michael Meade tells an ancient myth from Iran which depicts how the medicine we are looking for is to be found inside us. In this old understanding, the secret aim of the tension of opposites is not simply to divide and destroy, but to awaken a deeper sense of wisdom and imagination that can reconnect us to the process of ongoing creation. Creativity is the only outcome of conflict that can satisfy the soul.