Tao of Twins

This is an epic story of love and loss framed within deep archetypes represented by ancient Greek tragic figures who had to come to terms with fate and destiny. It is aptly subtitled ‘a heroine’s journey’ and contains profound observations not only on the differences between single and twin identity, but on dualities more generally. In order to become more, we need to die to our limited self, a painful process involving fall, descent, confronting death, trials, further quest and finally ascent and a return with the fruit of hard-earned wisdom. Margery’s is a symbolic life steeped in Jung and significant dreams that advance her alchemical individuation process towards wholeness. Her twin Malinda represents the first half of life, and she was killed in an accident at the age of 39. This catapults Margery into a crucible of suffering where the way of the Tao offers guidance and consolation on the way to a progressive realisation of Self.

As she states, ‘the paradox of two being one is our life journey.’ And we are also ego and immortal soul, secular and sacred. The Tao takes us home beyond this polarity, and Margery also trains in many other modalities such as Yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Kabbala, Theosophy, the Landmark Forum and medical Qigong with its understanding of Wu Ji as divine presence and space between heaven and earth. Her suffering is intense, even crushing, and she finds herself lost in the labyrinth of life, existentially disoriented, assailed by nightmares and overcome by alcoholism, from which she courageously emerges. She recounts the happy times of childhood and a period spent with Malinda in Paris where they were influenced by French thinkers. In the second half of life, we circumambulate the soul and undertake a journey towards the centre and a more integrated worldview. Even though Malinda is no longer physically present, she exists within, and deconstruction is followed by reconstruction, also represented by a move to the area of France in which I also live – a move of freedom and renewal with the possibility of a further unfolding. This is a remarkable and instructive life journey.