The strong and sensitive season

At this time of the year, at the beginning of March, we witness a mixture of power and delicacy that pushes us to bow to life.

It is all the symbolism of the knight servant, all refinement and precision. A sharp force, aware that its raison d’être and its real nobility are defined not in what it is in itself, but in the service of what it is dedicated to : the knight servant is powerful but knows how to step aside to support his king and queen, to allow them to shine and fulfil their true function. The servant knight stands out for the cause he serves.

In nature, the root growth is there, and the first flowers come out, the first buds are already perceptible, there is a quality of quivering in the air that is so special at the beginning of spring. There is both momentum and abandonment. The rhythm of life is on the way, delicate drumming… a direction is taken.

The delicacy of the foot

In our body the foot and the ankle are this servant knight. Knight because they are part of the legs which are what sets us in motion, what relies on the forces of the earth to erect us… what is the most muscular and strongest in us!

And Servant for many reasons!…

The first reason is this incredible delicacy of the foot. All the little bones that make it up are a real lace ! We could have had clogs, but no! While all our weight rests on these two feet (and not 4 for most mammals), our body has chosen to give itself a flexible, adaptable, versatile, light seat. The anatomy of the foot shows how much we are made for bouncing, for delicate contact. And with sensitive skin!

I like to say that the foot does not carry the weight, but that the foot feels the ground. We are dancers, our feet play with the earth. Our feet are this budding spring… and it has been shown how walking and running barefoot, forcing us to be delicate, is good for our whole body! The freedom of the foot is at the service of our health.

From there we can already interpret different symptoms!

A flat foot is, in spite of a good grip on the ground, a form of weariness, a loss of rhythm or rebound… perhaps a state of mind waiting for things to happen by themselves, a deep need to feel carried.

On the other hand, a plantar arch that is too shaped can be a sign of a lack of confidence, a tendency to overdo things, to rely only on oneself.

Any stiffness in the feet may reflect an ingrained belief that life is hard, and that you have to be hard to move forward… as of course any injury, shock or fracture.

In the same way, too much horn in the foot is a decrease in sensitivity, a reinforced protection against what comes from the ground, a lack of confidence in the supports that life brings… perhaps nourished by the experience of having been shocked by a lack of delicacy!

… and of course we could say a lot about observing a person’s gait just by the way they put their feet down!

Straightening up without effort

The second reason why feet and ankles are “Servants” is straightening. It is the link between horizontal and vertical.

The foot, like the knight servant, lies on the ground in all its horizontality. It embraces its vital force, becomes impregnated with it and will be able to transfer it to the vertical like a breath. This prodigy of raising the whole body towards the sky, a unique posture in the animal kingdom, takes place at a precise point on the ankle, the “astragalus” bone. It is wonderful that this bone bears this name: it evokes the gateway to the stars, which indeed it symbolically is. It is also remarkable that it is one of the only bones in the body without muscular attachments… which seems to indicate a great deal of delicacy in this operation of straightening: the human body is made to show off its height… without effort! We would rather talk about elevation!

This knight-servant that are the feet and ankles seems to have a sword, which as in the tales is above all a magic wand!

He offers our body the grace of being upright!… and as our erected column represents our sovereignty in the world, we are fully in the imaginary of the archetype of the servant knight. Discreet because of the volume it occupies in the body, indispensable because of its function.

These notions allow us to give meaning to ankle pathologies. Sprains, fractures, general stiffness are signs of difficulty to show oneself without effort… perhaps because we believe, once again, that we have to fight “alone against others” to have the right to exist, or that we simply doubt our right to receive soft support…

Ankle sagging may also reflect a form of “what’s the point”, where the motivation to show up is unclear.

Taking directions

Feet are often said to indicate our ability to take directions. This is also partly true in this symbolism, but in an indirect way: the impulse for movement comes from the pelvis whose function is to put us on our path, and the legs are simply at the service of this direction… and it is in this that the feet are dancers who feel the path to receive its vitality… and that finally our weight does not weigh on them, but floats from the pelvis.

On the other hand, in this palpation, which is at the service of that which straightens, there is indeed a notion of direction. It’s like a constant attention that this archetype has in us at all times: what do I put my strength at the service of? Are my efforts, my energy at the service of what makes me more dignified, noble, sovereign?

The message of the Servant

These are the questions that arise particularly in the first half of March. They are decisive for the rest of the year. Too often we make too much effort, too often we diminish ourselves instead of dignifying ourselves by our actions. Before spring is in full swing, it’s time to settle down, breathe in the freshness, relax what is hard in our lives and choose to prioritise what will open the “door to the stars”… and the universe will rejoice with us!

Whatever the season, this question can be asked again and again, especially when one is working hard, when one feels like a slave to life… to connect again to the delicacy of the servant, to easy recovery, to dancing with life… and to act from there!

Nicolas BERNARD

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)