This is a metaphor for describing the mind in a practical way to engage with reality. This may help for those that want to venture into shadow work or for people looking to have a basic simplification of consciousness.
If you already have a conception of the mind and consciousness, then consider this an analogy to harvest ideas from. If you don’t have any idea, then consider this a foundation that you can personally adapt and build off of, evolve from.
Your Conscious mind can be defined similarly to a wooden flagship;
The Ocean is reality, it is the external world that you engage with and it has other ships and obstacles representing the other people or things that you might meet. Meetings and forums or groups could be akin to a harbor or a meeting of the mind-ships at sea.
The Mind is the entire ship, to include the conscious and subconscious, thoughts, knowledge and embodied wisdom. It includes the subconscious and aware part of the ship as well as the controlling parts of the conscious.
The Captain as the observer and ego, and the rest of the crew as the subconscious, with messengers running up to the captain as the preconscious trains-or-lines of thought.
The Captain and Bridge of Consciousness
The actual part that is conscious itself is the people at the helm, the captain, the driver (or helmsman) on the wheel, the one with the scope on the crows nest lookout. The ones that are actively assessing information in the external world of shared reality and making decisions to navigate it. Often referred to as the ‘bridge’, ‘command deck’, or ‘control’ in modern nautical terms.
In a similar sense, the captain’s personality and style would mirror that of the identity and personality that you exhibit in your choices and decision making.
The driver and the lookout are the thoughts and ideas that you most identify with. Your favorite crew mates that you make into a conscious thought or lens to view the world. These people and the first mate are the ones you trust and engage with often, and are not limited to a few roles.
The Bridge is the control center where decisions are made, awareness resides, and the “captain” observes and acts. The observer is the one who sees, observes, and filters what the lookout is seeing. The Captain is such an observer. You observing your thoughts, your captain, is the You. The ultimate observer. The one that can observe yourself observing yourself -in meditation terms.
The Consciousness Engine
The consciousness engine, is the unique driving force of the ship, this is the main core that keeps the ship running and is something that can grow and adapt and spit out information as well. It is the driving force.
It could be akin to a Guided position system or central Artificial intelligence that helps provide guidance to the crew members. It is based on internal and external inputs, resulting in self-growth and knowledge and wisdom as outputs.
In old nautical terms, it can be viewed as the external stars and constellations used to guide the ship, as our interpretation of the stars change with experience, then our accuracy and guidance also changes.
Instruments like maps, compasses, sextants, or radar can represent how we navigate our ship and is analogous to our memory, intuition, rationalization, cognition, lines-of-thinking, and reasoning.
Consider this engine like the heart of the ship, much like the keel, but more dynamic and reactive. Like a fire for a steam boat or boiler, it’s where the idea of passion or soul can reside.
The Crew of subconscious
The subconsciousness is the crew and everyone onboard as a whole. To include passengers that are just visiting and thinking up thoughts, like a temporary train of thought of action or habit. They might impart some wisdom or leave and disembark.
The crew represents the subconscious. They handle the operations necessary for the ship to function like running the engines, repairing damage, adjusting sails, inventorying cargo, all without the bridge’s direct input. It’s a dynamic and moving force without the requirement of having to be observed.
This function can be seen when you naturally heal, or grow hair and nails, or sleep and process much more information. Like when you’re breathing and not consciously focused on it. The crew members tend to these tasks and loops to keep your blood flowing and you living. As it turns out, the crew doesn’t want the ship to fail or sink or aimlessly drift.
The subconscious is essential, often unseen, and tirelessly working behind the scenes.
Precognition – Messengers
The messengers that run between the crew of subconscious and the bridge, are preconscious thoughts. They include desires or actions or thoughts that are messages sent from the subconscious. The body or ship can also send signals like pain or emotions to then be formulated as thoughts that can then be observed and viewed. The messengers carry a signal that has to be read and interpreted by the Captain.
These are like thoughts that are on the ‘tip of your tongue’ and if you lose them, then you lost your train of thinking or thoughts. Typically it’s your subconscious trying to inform you or tell you of something that may help better take care of yourself or deal with the obstacle in the way.
Captain’s Orders
You as the observer, can override and veto all decisions and guide the ship. But if you do it too much without taking care of your mind or body, then the mind or body might mutiny. It is best to find a balanced harmony with the mind and body, to be able to do what you want without either the mind or body rejecting you.
This ability to override or veto all decisions is not known to all observers. It’s not known to all captains, but has to be self-realized. When you do, you practice a degree of agency and an idea of free will. “mind over matter” and Decisions come into play. You no longer become a bystander in your life when you unlock the ability to play an active role in reality.
Checking on the Crew
To help live in harmony, you might explore the depths of your subconscious to check on the health and status and condition of your ship and crewmates. To see what needs are not being met, and to address any grievances. This helps repair and strengthen the ship, allowing it to weather future storms and maintain course.
This is a form of self-reflection that can be achieved through thought, contemplation, repentance (in the thinking form), action, meditation, etc. This is a form of shadow work, working with your shadow or your subconscious.
It requires effort to understand the hidden workings and unmet needs within oneself. Questions like “What are you doing that you know you should be doing that you could be doing that would make a change for the better in your life?” Are a form of self reflection or shadow work questions of you, as the captain observer, diving into your own ship and seeing what can be done.
Maybe that leak on the side of the hull needs something better than a Band-Aid fix of loose wet-rot planks of wood, and could be fully repaired when you dock in a safe space called a harbor.
An Unchecked Crew
A mutiny symbolize inner conflict or unresolved trauma to the extent that the existence (of you) no longer can continue as is. Resulting in a fracture or fragmentation of the crew and the mind.
Your ship splits into factions. Some siding with the captain, others siding with another idea. All of this to better guide the ship with their own opinions and thoughts.
It is to note that the term schizophrenia or split personality, revolves around a ‘split’ or ‘schism’. A divide in ourselves. One party wanting one thing. Another part wanting another. And there are many factions of thought and wishes within the ship. Your job, in shadow work, is to integrate all the parts into the greater whole. This divide can create multiple personalities as well.
If a mutiny occurs, then an identity crisis is ongoing. To determine and better refine who you are, while reconciling the crewmates that align with the vote of who you become. While ostracizing, and jailing or imprisoning the crewmembers that don’t align with your world view or ‘identity’.
Trauma and repressed memories are the jailed crewmembers behind the bars of limiting beliefs for safety of the ego. But you may jail too many of the crewmembers and feel that you can’t navigate the ship, resulting in narrowing your options with walls of limiting belief, resulting to extremist actions that are normally not conventional.
Essentially, you become a mad tyrannical captain with a ship full of prisoners, and you might run your ship aground through extreme navigation of reality.
The goal is not to have more prisoners, but to convert them. And you do so by understanding their point of view and integrating them. The mutiny isn’t one of betrayal, because all parties wanted what’s best for you. For the entire ship, the crew.
External reality
The ocean is vast, and reality is much so. There are many things that we have to navigate, rough seas and other ships.
Any externality form in reality can be a mirror to cause introspection.
Some ships specifically primed for introspection could be counselors or logo-therapists/cognitive-behavioral-therapists, or motivational speakers. All of which are trying to influence your mind by giving you blueprints or maps to help you either navigate your ship or rearrange the ship itself.
Arguably everything in reality tries to influence you in some way, to make you use it, use you, or desire it, to work with it, or against. These are obstacles or markers or formation-forma in the reality.
The observer’s role is not just to command but to listen, mediate, and guide, ensuring that the crew works together toward a shared purpose of keeping the ship afloat. The role is also to alchemically distill ‘truth’ from partial information and partial truths to have a better understanding and grasp of the world to the degree that you can safely guide the ship to the next areas.
Side note;
The idea for the metaphor came from a dream. One of the cool things you can do, is think of a question you have a problem with, and ask it to yourself and contemplate on it while you go to sleep. When you wake up, you might have an answer. – This is a type of dreamwork, which can or may help with shadow work, as dreams are thought to be of the subconscious as well.
Hence the old adage “sleep on it” when referring to problems or business deals.
My question was something to the effect of “What is the relationship between the mind and consciousness?” and I got this analogy waking up. I had to refine it and add more words to cover some nuance as I wrestled with the idea, but it turned out just fine like so.
Epilogue
This is my analogy in terms of a ship at sea for how consciousness works.
And I want to pay attention to the key use of the subconscious and shadow work for how we can better live our lives. If we become over confident, certain, too prideful, and arrogant, we may be headed down a path of destruction with the voices of reason jailed in our repressed jail cells behind the bars of limiting beliefs.
Hopefully this helps as a metaphor for living a better life. -And hopefully it helps for performing more shadow work and self reflection, a healthy level of self-doubt, to allow you to integrate the voices within you that want what’s best for the ship, while using discernment to not free those that are too dangerous or misunderstood for the rest of the crew.
And all of this is penned to paint a picture with words, a concrete mythos for operating with,
Words Mean Things
Words Mean Things 
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