The Masks We Wear

The Masks We Wear

by Janet Golden

One day, long before many gods were born, I woke from a deep sleep and all my masks were stolen, the seven masks I have fashioned and worn in seven lives, I ran maskless through the crowded streets shouting, “Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves.”


And when I reached the marketplace...I looked up...the sun kissed my own naked face for the first time. For the first time my own naked face and my soul were inflamed with love for the sun, and I wanted my masks no more.”
The Madman, Kahlil Gibran


Throughout the history of humanity, bridging geographical and cultural differences, we find masks. In ancient Greece, one actor often portrayed many roles or personas in one play by simply changing masks. A powerful mystical symbol, shamans and healers on every continent have worn masks to access non-ordinary states of consciousness and invoke power.


On Halloween, children and adults alike seize the opportunity to mask their identity and become someone or something else. Wearing elaborate costumes and masks, people all over the world drop inhibitions during Mardi Gras, allowing unexpressed aspects of the psyche to be revealed. Ted Andrews, in Animal-Speak, states, “When we wear a mask we are no longer who we thought. We make ourselves one with some other force. We create a doorway in the mind and in the physical a threshold that we can cross to new dimensions and new beingness.”


So, as we see, masks both conceal and reveal.


We all wear masks . . . masks fashioned of the fibers of our experiences and our perceptions of those events. Many of the masks we wear are appropriate for the task at hand, while others are false faces, donned unconsciously, presenting a false identity to the world.


I first became conscious of my masks when a wise man, to demonstrate an emotional healing process, asked me to share something about myself I really liked. I promptly replied, “My smile.” and smiled broadly. I have always been complimented on my smile. Now this wise man knew that often those things we best like about ourselves are protective masks or patterns which conceal our true identity. Employing a technique termed “exaggerating the pattern”, he asked me to smile. When smiling became uncomfortable, I would stop. He would smile and prompt me to smile again.


As we continued, I became increasingly uncomfortable, then sad, and finally began to cry. Thus I discovered my Mask of the Smiling Face, a mask I had fashioned as a very young child to conceal my real feelings. As the adult, I was still wearing this mask to conceal anger, grief, and disappointment, and often found myself smiling inappropriately.


Many years later while wearing my Healer mask, I continue to be amazed at how many (women particularly) unconsciously wear the Mask of the Smiling Face. A woman once shared the tragic story of witnessing her father’s suicide . . . the smile never left her face.


To identify some of your masks, look through the family picture album. What masks did you wear as a child? The mask of trust and innocence? The playful child? The mask of the wounded child? Did your adolescent self face the world wearing a mask of anger or rebellion? How many masks of the adult can you identify? Parent? Worker? Lover? Critic? Has your adult matured into a Wise One? What does the mask of your Wise One reveal? Fulfillment? Humor? Peace?


The ancient art of mask making, used the world over in ceremony, celebration and magic, can help you access and identify the masks you wear. You are not who you think you are...you are far greater, more powerful than you imagine; and this ritual evokes hidden parts of yourself . . . revealing the sacred self . . . the mystery of your creation . . . the face you shall become.


To make a self mask, sit in front of a mirror. Allow the false personas to fall away. Really look at yourself. What do you see? Do you want to close your eyes? Open your mouth. Close your mouth. Which feels most comfortable? Use moist plaster strips to create a cast of your face. Once dry, decorate the self-mask using paints, beads, fabrics, ribbons, feathers, jewelry, stones, and crystals. Or you might choose to cover your mask with a collage of pictures of yourself, representing the totality of your life. Maybe the mask remains undecorated, the blank canvas of the future. As you decorate, trust that you are accessing hidden aspects of yourself. The one emerging will lead you to healing . . . to transformation. To make a self-mask is to perform a conscious act of healing.


Once your mask is complete, you might place it on your altar as a symbol of spiritual power or healing. Does the mask represent some aspect of yourself that has been asleep? You could create a ritual to release that self so the new self can be awakened. I destroyed the first mask I made. She didn’t turn out as I wanted. Now I have made many masks, each healing in a unique way. My “Wise Woman Mask” hangs above my bed, journeying with me each night into dreamtime, helping me remember the wisdom of my dreams.


Now, I awaken in the morning . . . I am alone . . . maskless. As I slowly return from my dreamtime travels, I reflect upon the painting I will create on the blank canvas of this day. What masks will I wear? I first select the Mask of the Mystic as I seek my prayer altar. Meditation complete, the energy shifts, the pace quickens, and I don the Mask of Discipline as I leave to exercise. Returning, as I review my appointment book I wear my Responsibility Mask. As my day unfolds, I choose mask after mask . . . Healer, Wise Woman, Friend, Mother, Business Manager. Evening comes . . . I am alone . . . I put away all my masks and look at the woman in the mirror. I am maskless. I am at peace.


Have the courage to look at the masks you wear. As you unmask, a face fashioned of your dreams and truth . . . the sacred self . . . is called forth into expression. This wise one has the knowledge of your past, present, and future, and can reveal the masks you wear . . . allowing false personas to fall away. You become a false face healer.

Prayer for the False Face

I am a wise one.

I come from the faraway and I can lead you there.

I walk with the winds.

I am an important one.

I cling to the life of the spirit.

I am a false face healer.

I walk with the power of the sun around the mysteries of life.

I heal the mind and the heart.

I am an important one.

I am a being of sacred words.

I unravel the mysteries of your pain so that you may find courage.

I heal the mind and the heart.

May you learn to follow the sacred ways.

I am of the light and the holy ones.

I walk in the land of spirit,

And I walk on the earth.

I honor all that is sacred. Aho.

The Mask of Power,

Lynn V. Andrews

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I found this on one of my searches for something else. I didn't read it then I just saved it and figured I would need it later. Last week I found it again as I was re-organizing my folders. I read something that a friend of mine had written, so I guess you can say this topic has been on my mind since reading her post on her blog.

I realized that until recently I always wore a mask. I couldn't function without one for years. You can even say that when I look at pictures, sometimes I don't recognize myself. At least not who I was then. It is hard learning to function without masks. Especially when you used it as the only coping mechanism that you could use to stay sane. How do you measure saneness? What is saneness...it is defined as being normal or sound powers of mind; so what is normal...free from mental illness; sane; something normal; average.

I am anything but normal. Sometimes exposing myself like this scares me. I feel like crying when I read things that my friend has gone through. I hope that what I write helps her even a little bit, like her blog has helped me understand her a bit more and see into myself. She has helped me figure out things about myself. I can only hope that things I post and write help her to the degree that she has helped me.

Up until I met her, I had no one that understood what it was like to be me. She does. We have a strong bond and I hope that we can keep it that way. *huggles* Thank you for helping me through some of the rough spots.

We have several similarities but we also have things that make us unique. I love what makes us unique and similar. We are like a matched pair of jewels, sparkling and burning with the inner fire that is us. I pray that that fire never dies.