The Toltecs of ancient Mexico taught
that each of us is "dreaming" a reality that
was taught to us by our parents, teachers, church, and
peers. We agreed to agree with their version of reality
because of our fear of being judged and rejected for not
doing what is "right." We learned to judge ourselves,
as a way of protecting ourselves from the judgment of
others.
This then is the story of the birth
of the inner Judge (the little boy in this tale), protecting
the hurt inner Victim (the little girl). We call the Judge
and Victim together "The Parasite," because
it both creates and feeds on our fear and thus controls
our emotional body and our lives. It is The Snake on The
Road. Much more about the Judge, Victim, and Parasite
can be found in TACO,
my Toltec Apprentice Community OnLine.
One day, a long time ago, in the Time of Innocence, a
man and woman were walking in the beautiful forest near
their village when they met a strange snake on the road.
"If you eat my fruit, you will always know exactly
what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what
is bad," the snake told them. Of course they were
intrigued. "What wonderful power," the man said
to his wife, "to know such wonderful things."
And so together they accepted the snake's offer, and ate
the exotic fruit he offered them. Immediately, they fell
asleep, and they dreamed an odd dream. They dreamed that
they awoke, and continued walking in the forest, now knowing
the truth about what is right and what is wrong, and what
is good and what is bad. Now they knew how everything
should be.
They discovered that they liked the way
some things were, and for the first time saw that there
were many things they did not like.
In their dream they were soon blessed
with the birth of a little girl child and a little boy
child. The children were wonderful, and a blessing to
their lives. Their hearts were open, and they all played
and laughed together. They had forgotten all about the
snake and his exotic fruit.
Then one day a stranger came to town,
and seeing the little children and their parents playing
so happily, he questioned the parents: "This world
is a harsh and difficult place. Shouldn't you be teaching
your children about what is right and what is wrong, and
what is good and what is bad? What kind of parents are
you?"
As soon as they heard his words, they
remembered the snake and his exotic fruit, and they remembered
everything they knew about what is right and what is wrong,
and what is good and what is bad. And so they begin to
teach their little children everything they knew about
how things should be, including little children.
The little girl child and the little
boy child were very loving and gentle. But when their
parents begin to teach them what is right and what is
wrong, and what is good and what is bad, the children
tried to rebel. "I don't like that" they said,
"that is not how I feel. That is not what I want."
"How you feel is bad, and what you want is wrong,"
replied the man and woman. "You must do it our way.
If you do not, we will call the snake who knows everything
about what is right and what is wrong, and what is good
and what is bad. The snake knows we are right, and it
will help us punish you. You cannot be in our family unless
you do what you are told."
The little girl was hurt and scared,
and began to cry. "No!" said the little boy
to the mother and father, wanting to protect the little
girl. "You are hurting her. Leave her alone!"
He reached out, and struck the man with his fist. With
that, the man called the snake, who came immediately and
helped the man and woman force the little boy and the
little girl to eat the exotic fruit. Instantly, the children
fell asleep and began to dream the same dream that the
man and woman were dreaming. In that dream, the little
boy knew that he had to keep the little girl quiet, so
the snake would not come and hurt them again.
So the little boy told the little girl
"Stop crying and stop being hurt. Do what they say.
Don't make them mad. Otherwise they will hurt us more,
and maybe they will send us away and we will be alone.
If they do that, we will surely die." The little
boy child knew that he had no power to protect her from
the man and the woman and the snake. He knew that the
only way that he could keep them both safe was to always
remind the little girl child to be afraid of the man and
the woman and the snake, and to agree to be like them.
And so the little girl child learned to be quiet, to not
cry, and to not be angry and even to not be too happy.
By the time the children grew up and
left their mother and father, they had forgotten all about
their magical childhoods, but they remembered the snake
and his exotic fruit. And when it came their time to have
little girl children and little boy children of there
own, they knew to invite the snake by the side of the
road to come to teach their children what is right and
what is wrong, and what is good and what is bad.
