In meditation recently I’ve been visited by the image of a woman looking off to the side, with her long hair blowing across her eyes so that she almost appears blindfolded by it. I had the definite sense of her being an Oracle or Wise One, and that there was meaningful symbolism in her physical eyes being covered. She set me off on an exploration of the link between spiritual or otherworldly knowledge and blindness or lack of physical sight.

There are many references in world mythology to those who have no physical sight but who are blessed with the ability to “see” into the cosmic multidimensional realms; as if the loss of the former enhances the latter. If you cannot see, a sense on which we have come to rely strongly more and more and which we know can be deceptive, then all your other senses have to kick into overdrive to compensate and so you become highly sensitive. One of the most famous blind prophets, lauded for his accurate clairvoyance in Greek mythology, was Tiresias. I also find it fascinating that as part of his story he spends 7 years as a woman, supposedly as a punishment but it seems to me that his sojourn in a finely tuned female body (during which he married and had children) can only have enhanced his capacity to feel and to know intuitively! It can’t be a coincidence that the blindfold for my visionary lady was her own hair, often referred to throughout time as a woman’s crowning glory. It’s as if her own body was instinctively showing her the way to access true wisdom, and also echoing the tradition of representing the divine feminine as veiled, suggesting mystery and the unseen. I’m thinking now of the eloquent “Mother of the world” painting by artist Nicholas Roerich.

In more modern mythology, Neo is blinded at the end of the Matrix so that he’s able to “see” the truth of the machine world and its energy and so follow the path to his destiny.

Then there are the Graeae, the three grey sisters who possess the wisdom of years beyond counting but who only possess one eye between them. This brings me to the other aspect of this subject which has caught my attention. Recently I was having a conversation with one of my clients who is also incredibly intuitive. We were discussing the image of the single eye, a symbol which also appears throughout world cultures (for example the eye of Horus, the eye of Providence, the protective eye of Medusa, the Hamsa). The eye was one of the first images that ever appeared to me in meditation, as it has to many who’ve shared their early meditation experiences with me.

As my client and I were chatting, we agreed on a personal belief that this single eye represents The One – the Source or God/Goddess who sees and knows all. In my experience Spirit has a lively sense of humour, and I’ve always felt in this case that the “eye” is also a play on “I”. In other words, when we enter the meditative space, we’re shifting from working with the limited human sight offered by our two physical eyes (the ego or small “i”) into the limitless perspective we have as part of All That Is (the “I” of our true divine selves).

Similarly, we’re taught that the third eye or brow chakra in the centre of the forehead is the portal through which we can survey all from a multidimensional viewpoint. One of the most powerful experiences I’ve ever known was in that dreamy twilight zone between sleep and wakefulness. I could see a massive, whirling galaxy-like vortex directly in front of my dream eyes and at the same time I heard a sonorous voice declaring with great solemnity and emphasis three times, “This is your third eye.” From that moment on, I was convinced that only the limits of my own mind or self-belief was preventing me from exploring anything I wanted, anywhere in the cosmos.

Shamanic and mystery school rituals and journeying often involve blindfolding or even immersion for lengthy periods in total darkness. In this way, you’re forced to use every other sense to “feel” your way and to rely only on inner sight which affords far easier access to the otherworlds. It’s no mistake that Justice is depicted as blindfolded. She does not judge with the eyes of the ego, but rather discerns truth with the impartial inner eye (the I of the Higher Self) that is far more accurate because unswayed by external influences. Is Justice a woman because it’s widely accepted that females are more naturally intuitive, more attuned to the mysterious non-physical realities and the wisdom of the heart?

What I’m left with after following the fascinating trail laid by my hair-blinded lady is the reminder to return to myself and to favour always my own deep knowing in preference to the wisdom offered by any guru, author or teacher. As part of All That Is, I have nothing less than the entire cosmos as my personal library and “I” have no need to go looking elsewhere!