By Rachel Perry

In a murder investigation, the forensics of the body are like a road map to the story of the crime. It’s like starting at the end and working backwards to the beginning. A good detective can see the end in the beginning, see through their own eyes, and see the mystery through until its solved. When it’s solved, it means a person or persons have been identified who have 1) Motive 2) Means 3) Opportunity to commit the crime. With or without a confession of guilt, the offender can be identified. Once identified, the work of the detective is over but often times that’s when the work of the police, journalists, therapists, social workers, prison guards, lawyers & judges begins. Sometimes the detective will have to take the stand to report what she witnessed. Not everyone can articulate their experiences. And sometimes someone can articulate their experiences but the ears of the listeners are not open so what is being expressed can’t be understood. But in the best case scenario, the detective would be able to answer the questions clearly, the jury would understand the events leading up to the murder, and the killer would receive their punishment. The Baha’i Writings state that when someone receives their punishment in this world they are not re-punished in the next. But if they do not receive their punishment in this world, they receive it in the next.

This is how real life detective work goes when solving a murder.

In the Dreamworld and in Changework there are many parallels to this pattern.

When a murder occurs in a dream, it is a metaphor for the death of someone’s Self. It is helpful to think of the Self as our Unique Being. We come into this world with the capacities & potential to develop our Selves. We learn from our families, from our communities and from our culture consciously & unconsciously as we grow through the stages of development from infancy to adulthood. Our Unique and Authentic Self, is like an inner Gem, which gets polished and refined through the challenges & victories in life. With a positive focus and good intentions, with a willingness to change & grow, this Authentic Self can continue to progress towards Excellence. Some believe the progress continues on even into the next world.

The feelings, characteristics or energies which kill the Self are those qualities we would think of as “negative” such as Jealousy, Anger, Frustration, Disappointment, Embarrassment, Fear, Sadness, etc.

What relationship does this have to being detective-like?

Sometimes there are people who, for whatever reason, usually because of early trauma in childhood, decide to live in those negative states – they cling to their strong feelings of jealousy, anger, fear, etc. And they express these strong negative feelings in ways which serve to metaphorically “kill” the Self of others around them.

Usually, just like a real killer, the negative-behaving person tries to conceal their actions, they hide their true intentions, they lie and deceive, in order to get to their true goal which is to hurt others so they can have more power or authority. When living in this negative state, a killer craves conflict and power just like it’s a drug. There is more to say here but not in this article.

So what to do when you see someone in your workplace or family or community who is metaphorically “killing” the Selves of the people around you? Become like a detective and start following the map which will lead you to the person who has the 1) Motive 2) Means and 3) Opportunity to wreak such havoc in the environment.

Once you find out who is behind the conflict there may come a time when you need to name them & call them out on their negative behaviours. There is more to this too but not today.

For today, it is good to remember that when you are supporting someone through a challenge you can be like a detective and ask questions which will help the person explain where an event occurred which caused brought on the negative feelings. Help them understand the origin of the negative emotion. Ask questions which will help to pin point when and were they first started feeling this way, who was involved? What was the environment like? Often times this goes back to elementary school.

Once you get to the origin of the negative experience with the person you are supporting then you can help them move through the emotions until the positive energy starts to come out. Every negative emotion has a positive opposite.

When someone hurts another, even if it is an emotional wound, and not a physical injury, it is like a murder of sorts has occurred. When we act like detectives to support and encourage those around us, we can get a deep understanding of the situation and can use our own eyes to see Truth for ourselves and move forward with Justice.