Eights and Vulnerability

At their best, Eights are open-hearted and magnanimous, protecting and empowering others with their big energy (think about Martin Luther King, Jr.). Under stress, however, they can struggle with power and dominance and at their worst can become ruthless and vengeful (think about the current resident of the White House). We all have a bit of Eight in us, sometimes acting out to hide our tender interiors. Do we have the courage to be vulnerable enough to transcend our own self-interests? Only then can we truly be there for others.

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I want to become a great night bird

Called The Zimmer, grow intricate gears

And tendons, brace my wings on updrafts,

Roll them down with a motion

That lifts me slowly into the stars

To fly above the troubles of the land.

When I soar the moon will shine past

My shoulder and slide through

Streams like a luminous fish.

I want my cry to be huge and melancholy,

The undefiled movement of my wings

To fold and unfold on rising gloom.

People will see my silhouette from

Their windows and be comforted,

Knowing that, though oppressed,

They are cherished and watched over,

Can turn to kiss their children,

Tuck them into their beds and say:

Sleep tight.

No harm tonight,

In starry skies

The Zimmer flies.

- The Great Bird of Love, by Paul Zimmer

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