In ancient myths and storytelling, every character is an aspect of consciousness itself. At this point in our story...Psyche is in a state of separation, confusion specifically - in the sense she is not fully aware of her inner or outer beauty. Yet, she senses (as we all do) there is something more. The sanskrit word Tantra means to expand, to make more of oneself. Not in the way of removing or denying the shadow or confusion in this case, but for actually seeing it, for what it is.
Side note here: There is often a huge misconception in spiritual teachings and practices - the purpose of the teachings/practices are not to improve outer conditions. Even though those outer conditions may also improve. This may sound contradictory, but the point is: you cannot judge the teachings/practices according to the criterion of whether your life has improved. You can only judge the teachings/practices against your own evolution of awareness and kindness. The idea of spiritual practice being successful because it leads to things working out to your advantage is highly tied to "wealth consciousness" and by-passing what 'is' - misguiding people to remain and be hooked by that "improvement' mindset. Whereas in reality, a sign of the efficacy of practice and integrating teachings is that your life can start to get pretty rough. At that level, one has to move beyond the idea that reality is there to be manipulated - it's the self-arising of one's own awareness alone that has any significance. At that level, any external problems are seen as being signs of purification.
So, in Psyche's case or our own souls journey for that matter - once we know our confusion to be confusion (fully) we also have the sense of there being some other possibility of how we can perceive the situation. That is the initial sense of there being some open dimension, in which our usual frames of reference may not apply. To work creatively with that, involves making a practice of not seeing our confusion as quite such a dense situation. One can approach the texture of one's confusion by allowing space in which it can exist, as something that you don't have to act upon. Then: we can make choices without the tension of having to make the "right" ones. If we know that we are operating at the level of confusion, we may become a little less claustrophobic in how we view the possibilities that exist in our personal field of reference.
Venus, the Goddess of Love, the Mother archetype plays a big role here...she encapsulates the initory spark which rearranges us. She is the part of us that is both compassionate and terrifying. Like Kali is wild in her nature in the East, so too is Venus in the West. She sends her son, the God of Love - Eros (cupid) to wound Psyche - out of jealousy of the mortal's beauty - but underneath this jealousy is more about guarding Psyche, for she is not yet "ripe" - so, ultimately Venus is protective in nature. When Eros sees Psyche for the first time, he unexpectedly is struck by his own arrow and falls in love. Paradoxically, the intention to bring harm, ignites the opposite. We cannot know what our heart loves...this is the beauty of the mystery.
Today, we practice allowing our desires to be what they are...wild and free. To want is to live, so to speak and we move towards Wild-Thing - Camatkarasana in Sanskrit which means wonderment, astonishment, the gasp of amazement, a sudden opening into delight!
