Heroes and Myths
Imagine travelling the world, and studying all major religions, theologies, the art and literature of various cultures, then coming to a realization that there is a pattern among all stories, and all cultural myths are variations of one single great story. Talk about fucking around and then finding out.
Mythology can be thought of as the metaphorical language of the Universe and it was Joseph Campbell’s work that brought forth a blueprint of awareness on our relationship to myths. From The Hero with a Thousand Faces to The Power of Myth, and coining the phrase “Follow your bliss”, I believe its safe to say that Joseph Campbell was spiritual before it was cool. His discoveries helped uncover the layers of hidden wisdom in myths and establish a relationship to how myths serve and connect us to a greater aspect of ourselves.
Everything begins with a story and these stories carry symbology that serve as messages and aid us in our lifes inevitable challenges. Myths are necessary for providing guidance during matters of psychological crisis. If suffering is a part of life then myths serve as a gateway or a bridge to a place where we can come to our own salvation.
Embedded in the structure of these stories are characters that we often relate to. These figures communicate to the contemporary minds of the time and in doing so serve as role models. Most if not all of us have some form of a mythological character that we learned or heard stories of. It is in these stories that these characters teach us how to confront, bear and interpret fear and suffering, the characters in their story animate our life and its that same power that collectively animate the world.
Myths can be traced all the way back to primitive initiation ceremonies, grounded in the idea of relinquishing the stage of psychological immaturity and birthing a responsible, assured and developed individual. Dealing with the transformation of consciousness in one form or another, they all have the dominant theme of leaving one condition(one that may not be fulfilling or serving) and finding the source of life that brings you to experience a much more meaningful, mature and richer state of being.
There is always a hero factor in stories and myths. These role models, whether we know it or not, play a part in the shaping of our lives and in our perception of life. A hero can be defined as someone who has found or achieved something beyond the normal range of achievement and experience. Someone who has given their life to something bigger than themselves.
The hero acts on their calling, and by doing so they face constant trials and tribulations on their journey. They are often called to a place that is far away from what they are familiar with, metaphorically causing a death to what they know in order to resurrect to that aspect of themselves that may have been missing before. This makes sense as its through trials and conflicts that lead our consciousness to transform.
The journey is not an actual one, though it can be, but more so a metaphorical journey to save yourself. It is very common for one to not think of or view themselves as a hero in their life, though should still consider taking an inward spiritual and psychological journey, for by doing so it evokes a higher nature in oneself and new qualities of character, ones that have always been there but were waiting for you to find them. It is up to the individual to open themselves up to the possibility of a dramatic change, such as the characters in these stories do, and in doing so fully realizing their grandest potential and the power of the mysterious dimensions that are offered through myths.