Behind the Veil

I was looking at the lamp behind me at Crescent Moon Gifts. It’s draped in a shawl or altar cloth, and I go, hmmmm, what is it like to be looking out from behind the veil? Had to try it. I stuck my head up underneath the makeshift lampshade. It made me feel mysterious, but also slightly mischievous. Got me thinking.

What IS it about the veil that intrigues us? It conceals and yet reveals. It is a barrier, but you can see through to the other side. It’s like being at a masquerade. It reminds us that how the world sees us depends entirely on what mask we are wearing at the time. And admit it, we all are masked or veiled to some degree or at some point, maybe even most of our lives.

This is not to say authenticity doesn’t have it’s place. There’s a cleanness and irresistible attractiveness in the energy of a person radiating their own authenticity. It is an essential marker of mental health and emotional balance to know who you are and to be free to live your identity openly. 

Dipping behind the veil can be a sobering experience, though. If you are not confusing the outward presentation of self with who you really are, you will realize how alone you are behind the veil. You are not fully reachable or knowable and you cannot be touched tenderly or deeply. The veil protects, but the veil isolates.

Those moments behind the veil, if taken as an opportunity for self reflection, can generate the self-knowing it takes to be braver about flaunting one’s authenticity when the mask is down. Who am I when I am not seen by others? How do I love myself when I am not loved by others? These are the questions of a lifetime, and also the questions that when answered give you back your life, to be lived authentically and honestly. 

And when you can clearly differentiate yourself from the masks that you wear, or the veil that you don, there is something freeing and even exhilarating about trying on different personas. It becomes play, and experimentation, and a gateway to further self-knowledge. 

You contain the entirety of the human experience and potential within you: light and shadow, the functional and the dysfunctional. To find your unique expression and combination in all of those magical and mystical possibilities is to become fully human. 

​And whoever you are, wherever you are, you are a beloved child of the Universe and treasured for your own unique expression - and yes! - loved for it.