Going Inside- The Hero Within

"One thing that comes out in myths is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light." Joseph Campbell, Power of Myth


How does mythology relate to the individual. The individual has a inner life and internal dynamic that must be aligned if they are to feel peaceful and powerful in their life. The power is not over someone else, but it pertains to being empowered as an individual existing in a social context. In our modern society shifting your attention to the inner life and what is happening within you seems to be for the eccentric and not the masses. The inner life sometimes scares people or they do not want to listen to their neurosis and or conflicting wants and desires. But as we ignore what appears to be negative parts of ourselves we also ignore our immense mystery and light. What mythology does is give you a road map to your inner energies because we have the positive and negative forces within us engaged in a battle. If we don't have symbols or mythology that act as our map then we are lost and thus we are always at the mercy of energies that do not have a name or value.
According to Joseph Campbell from his book Power of Myth, in India around the ninth century B.C the Upanishads explain that all gods are within you. Heaven and Hell are all manifestations that come from our inner battles. They are only metaphors for the opposite energies that are within every single human being on Earth from past to present. Gods represent energies from the ground of being. We have a source of life and it manifests as opposites in the world of time. This seems to devalue the god in religion but all it does is say that it is not literal devil or father god. This does not mean you can not raise your consciousness either. The experience of the mystery is still valuable and real. To transcend the world of opposites and find the eternal is possible and real. As you go deeper into some religions and analysis, many people have said that god cannot be described. To describe or name is to miss the point. Concepts and thought of humans cannot explain what is beyond thought, therefore the source or eternal cannot be named or explained. "The best things can't be told because they go beyond thought. Then the second mistake we make is to try to explain it and then it is all misunderstood. That is when we try to describe god we mess it up. The third thing we do is put it into story and use symbols which is also mythological images." Joseph Campbell.

The initiation into the mystery, your own inner mystery is you going deeper into the dynamic of your source. When you enter the forest-the dark parts of yourself- you meet your fears and face them. You find that you have qualities both male and female. You begin to understand that you are both, you have what it takes to empower and overcome the difficult things in your life. You understand that you are all things, you have everything to fight the battle of life. And you begin to feel fulfilled, whole because you start to identify with the world beyond opposites, you understand that beyond time there is eternity and you were born from this. The poet Blake says this "Eternity is in love with the productions of time!" Eternity poured into the field of time, of limitation, of opposites. Why? Our creation myths show us some possibilities. Here is one short one.

"Before all time, there was a deity who said, "I am." As soon as it said "I am," it was afraid. It was an entity now, in time. Then it thought, "What should I be afraid of, I'm the only thing that is." And soon as it said that, if felt lonesome, and wished that there were another, and so felt desire. It swelled, split in two, became male and female, and begot the world."

These elements are the elementary energies we must deal with in our everyday life. We must struggle with our fears, loneliness, desires and move in the field of time. All of our gods and devils are manifestations and symbols for these elements. To say one god is better than the other, or that one people are chosen over another is to miss the point of religion and its message. If we focused on our inner lives and understood the desires and fears then we would become more aware and learn how to be at peace. To understand what we are is to move past or transcend the world of opposites into the eternal. The world of radiance waits for all to see it. When you can look past the things in front of you, start to see the road map, the symbols that speak to you and transform your fear and desires, then you will have transformed your inner self into something more complete. Yes you will still be in Time but you will know and experience the eternal within Time.

The Shadow and the Purpose of Initiation

Even if we think we are not on the Road of Trials- the Initiation stage is Joseph Campbell's second stage of the hero's journey, we are. In our modern technological society it seems as we are floating along with our three-bedroom house, our two car garage, and 9 to 5 job, but our inner life needs to be addressed also. Our lives seems civilized and without serious issues. The thing we don't see is our shadow, our night slumbering that reveals our unconscious desires and problems. We cannot hide from these unconscious tendecies. The shadow unattended becomes manifestated as addictions, abuse to others, constant failure of some part of our lives. It seems as if the masses are semi-lost all of the time. This is why it is important to explore our mythology or religion and figure out if the stories and lessons are fitting our everyday experiences. If they are not it means our conscious self and unconscious self are separated.

"It is a frightening thought that man also has a shadow side to him, consisting not just of little weaknesses- and foibles, but of a positively demonic dynamism. The individual seldom knows anything of this; to him, as an individual, it is incredible that he should ever in any circumstances go beyond himself. But let these harmless creatures form a mass, and there emerges a raging monster; and each individual is only one tiny cell in the monster's body, so that for better or worse he must accompany it on its bloody rampages and even assist it to the utmost. Having a dark suspicion of these grim possibilities, man turns a blind eye to the shadow-side of human nature. Blindly he strives against the salutary dogma of original sin, which is yet so prodigiously true. Yes, he even hesitates to admit the conflict of which he is so painfully aware." Carl Jung
On the Psychology of the Unconscious" (1912). In CW 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology. P.35

It means our shadow is dangerous, unknown and causes us to hurt ourselves or others. The Road of Trials and or Inititation stage is to go into the dark-the-belly-of-the-whale- and bring forth the dark part into the light. It takes work, discipline and committment. It is like Frodo who has such a strong heart and intergrity that he can carry such a wicked ring. The ring almost kills him in the end. Carrying the wicked dark things around will eventually destroy the light inside you. So we must work with the little devil sitting on our shoulder- we should not opress him because then he comes forth as unknown tendencies. For example, if you are a priest and you deny your sexuality because you like men so you join the church to escape then your tendencies will take control of you and you will engage in unethical actions to release this sexual energy that has been supressed and the victims are usually those with less authority than you.


"If you imagine someone who is brave enough to withdraw all his projections, then you get an individual who is conscious of a pretty thick shadow. Such a man has saddled himself with new problems and conflicts. He has become a serious problem to himself, as he is now unable to say that they do this or that, they are wrong, and they must be fought against. He lives in the "House of the Gathering." Such a man knows that whatever is wrong in the world is in himself, and if he only learns to deal with his own shadow he has done something real for the world. He has succeeded in shouldering at least an infinitesimal part of the gigantic, unsolved social problems of our day." Carl Jung
"Psychology and Religion" (1938). In CW 11: Psychology and Religion: West and East. P.140

Mythology seems a primitive story telling episode but what everyone does realize is that stories are symbols and metaphors for our way of being. We have a psyche and it is a dynamic part of our lives. Stories are told to show and guide us as what to do with our being here on this Earth. In history the dragons and monsters represent the shadow and or negative energy of the the universe. The humans back in the day did not say "oh you have issues with your shadow you better go to your therapist." The humans had a medicine man or shaman who knew on some level that there was some sort of pscyhological issue with one of the tribe members. He did a dance and smoked a pipe and maybe the problem was fixed. The stories would accompany the problem of the tribesman. Some occasions called for serious calling on the spirits. The shamans knew how to have an "experience" that involved some sort of connection to a spirit world that gave guidance as how to treat their person with the illness.

In our modern day society we have measured away all mystery or magic for the facts. The problem arises that our spirit and or unconcious communicates in symbols. The proof of this is humanities dreams. The dreams of the patients match exactly the Greek myths with one eye cyclops down to being chased across some sybmolic bridge. These dreams are telling a story and are obscured from our conscious view because the scienctific community does not find them valueable. The bottom line is that we must bridge the gap between the conscious and unconscious selves. This requires a new mythology or a mixture of old and new.

"And so it happens that if anyone- in whatever society- undertakes for himself the perilous journey into the darkness by descending, either intentionally or unintentionally, into the crooken lanes of his own spiritual labyrinth, he soon finds himself in a landscape of symbolical figures(any of one of which may swallow him)....In the vocabulary of the mystics, this the second stage of the Way, that of the "purification of the self, " when the senses are "concentrated upon transcendental things"; or in a vocabulary of more modern turn this the process of dissolving, transcending, or transmuting the infantile images of our personal past. in our dreams the ageless perils, gargoyles, trials, secret helpers, and instructive figues are nightly still encountered; and in their forms we may see reflected not only the whole picture of our present case, but also the clue to what we must do to be saved." Joseph Campbell, (Hero with a Thousand Faces)

Here in this Lord of the Rings clip Frodo finds out that he is a ring bearer- that he must be the one that carries the dark powerful ring to ultimately destroy it. This is a perfect example of all of us that must carry darkness within us. Do we have what it takes? Yes we do, but it is not easy. As we know Frodo almost dies at the end. So we must seek out the dark parts of our lives. The parts that are unclear must be examined to move the dark into the light and transform ourselves.
http://psikoloji.fisek.com.tr/jung/shadow.htm

The Video "The King of Love is a Deadman"

This collage of movies and ideas points to some obscure path of our modern adventure. Our media selves is evolving fast. This video is saying that the King of Love- Jesus had to die. Death is at the forefront of our culture and minds. Vampires, zombies and violence all seem to be the themes of today. Most of the films in this video have some very deep points. Winnie the Pooh seems to be refering to The Tao of Pooh. East meets west meets transformation. Are we going to the end of an Age? Yes we are. No matter if you are religious are not we are moving at a rapid speed toward something different or big. Aren't we always doing this? I think this time it is different. We seem to be moving more into a feminine and masculine balance.

It is awkward but we are forging ahead nevertheless. Our technology is pushing us to the next level. The internet provides a wealth of information, now it is time for us to be vigorous in our initiation of using information to make our lives valuable. Our Road of Trials is still difficult but it seems as if we are doing something different this time around. We are are an expanding consciousness for sure. Do not forgot that thought has not been here before and this is something to be proud of. Keep your sword of truth close and your heart pure and we will attain the boon together. The hard part is that we must die to the old self. The ego must go and this video is saying death is an essential part of our transformation. Our ego must be destroyed if we are going to the next level of human and spiritual existence. It is not easy and demands discipline. Death is what the saints, saviors, and shamans all had to face to have a real spiritual experience. So let Death sit on your shoulder and consult it daily this is the start of your initiation.

The Initiation of Warriors- The American Veterans of WWII

Saving Private Ryan with Enya singing May It Be

This video is a tribute to all those who have given their lives for the American Way of Life. This is a strange combination of beauty with Enya's voice and the violence of war. I'd like to think the Beauty reflects the grace and love that is beyond our understanding and that one day humanity shall realize it without having to wage war.

"Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have one before us, the labyrinth is fully known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence; where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world." — Joseph Campbell (The Hero with a Thousand Faces)



The ultimate initiate is a warrior. We know the great ones by heart, Odysseus, Luke Skywalker, or Jonah. All of them left the familar scene and went out into danger. They left what is known to explore the unknown. Most of the warriors of the military have entered their courageous path out of a sense of duty. An obligation that they feel is required of them to uphold, so as to fight for the values of their community. There is a generation of American men who seem to have such rare gifts that they are able to sit with the legends that proceed them. They are the generation of men who fought in World War II.
There is one man in particular who comes to my mind. My grandfather is a WWII Veteran and he was only a baker but was blown off a ship in the South Pacific just the same. This is his story.

"The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and also one of the largest naval battles in history.[1](Wikipedia)

In the Navy, Napoleon became Joe Falany and he was on the USS Suwannee CVE 27. On the morning of October 25th, 1944 the battle stations bell rang. They were right in the middle of the Leyte Gulf ready to do their duty.
Joe Falany was just a baker. He kept all the officers and everyone else fed sweets. So this is not a big glorious heroic stereotype. Most underestimate the little jobs of the military during the war. It is more exciting to hear about the great battles and warriors who stood up to fear and won. My grandfather’s position was that of quiet offering of his service in the best way he knew how. A good medicine man provides some spiritual counsel in the form of food. The Navy was a harsh reality. The USS Suwannee was a floating city of men. Who feeds the men? Who supplies men with something resembling home when they have been away from their mother’s or wife’s kitchen for three years. Who will remind them that they are humans gathering together to a feast to celebrate life? It is the cook and baker that use their medicine when they make food for the soldiers everyday. It is the little things that matter when you are traveling around the world on a boat. Our navy didn’t even have the luxury of Italian or Greek food made by beautiful European women like the army did in Europe. Joe Falany was who put a little of his special medicine into the things that he made, and thus the ship and most of the crew survived including himself after two kamikaze aircraft dove into the ship.

So on Oct 25th, 1944 the battle bell rang and all men had to report to their battle stations. The kamikaze hit the USS Suwannee and my grandfather was blown off, and was floating semi-conscious in the SouthSea. His flesh was on fire. Since he was in the salt water it must have helped with his burnt skin. He unconsciously put his arm around a medical can that was sealed and thus stayed afloat. He floated out there for who knows how long. A CVE boat came looking for him eventually. They found him and wrapped him up like a mummy. They hung all the burned survivors on a medical ship, upside down because their flesh smelled so bad. If the burned victims didn't twitch their heads or move their bodies they would throw them over the side. The Japanese hit the medical ship too. So my grandfather was burned and hanging upside down and the ship were on fire too. They finally transferred him to another ship that was going to the burn unit on New Guinea.

In New Guinea my grandfather was treated for his physical problems but that did not help his memory. He could not remember anything of the explosion or who he was. He was officially missing in action. My great grandmother was notified. My soon to be grandmother was writing my grandfather faithfully and he returned her letters before the explosion. They were courting each other through letters. So my grandmother also knew he was MIA. The priest would come daily and ask my grandfather if he remembered anything and he didn't for two weeks or so. Then one day the priest came and did not ask my grandfather directly if he remembered anything. Then everything came flooding back. He wrote my grandmother first and when they received the letter in Boston, my great-grandmother called my other great-grandmother about his location and condition.

The Boon was his story, his survival, and is amazine attitude and grace about the whole ordeal. Did a mysterious tranformation happen as this great man was blown from the ship and was barely alive waiting for rescue. My belief was that some people are meant for heroic destinies- they are simply made for the job. The can handle the trauma and are able to return and bring with them the grace that got them through such horror.

Not one bitter word was uttered by Napoleon “Sudy” Falany about the war. He always told the story with grace and ease. Sometimes when speaking of the kamikaze, he would say “those damn Japanese” and that was it. He moved to California as many of his generation did after the war. He moved to central California and started his own small fence business. He raised four children and his only daughter is my mother.

I was a small little child when my grandfather, Papa Joe, became like a second father to me. He waited for me at airports to take me fishing. We rode horses, went on secret trails to hidden lakes. He waited for me on boats in Central America so that we could live on a Caye near a barrier reef. At eight years old I was snorkeling in the Blue Hole in Central America. He stole me away like Peter Pan stole Wendy, sprinkled me with Tinker-Bell dust and we went flying to Never Never Land every summer of my childhood. I did not know on a conscious level what this did to me. Just like when you take medication that fights an infection, you don’t see it work, but you feel the difference as you heal. Spending so much time near my grandfather as a young child, was like being in a sweat lodge singing the ancient songs of my ancestors. It helped me know what to be aware of in this life. He reminded me what had value without telling me directly, but showing me what life could be. This was medicine so unknown by most. It was the medicine of high adventure.

There was no righteousness behind my grandfather; he had no wisdom in the form of words, except for simple words that all people could understand. “You only pass this way once” He was all about action, and the most adventurous, hard-working-smiling-constantly-building-things-kind of man. He built fishing camps out in the Gulf of Mexico that still stand. He built a log cabin in Stanley, Idaho. He built a long dock out from a Half Moon Key in Belize. Sudy Falany was not a sit- on- the- sidelines kind of man. His sense of adventure never paled, it held such a wide amount of love that it transformed my idea of what life is and or should be. A true hero never stops exploring and or following his bliss- it is a risk, but if you find the confidence the energy that resides in going out into the unknown and saying yes to all you can then the doors will open. I have been the presence of such grace and walked through a door two with a hero in front of me. He is my grandfather and is a man who walked with a light heart through this life. The boon of this man spins out so wide it is like a net of gems- so that one gem reflects the other out into the eternal.

Intitation of Jesus

http://www.freewebs.com/utah_knight/jesus-mary-magdalene.jpg- Stained Glass in the Rennes Le Chateau in France.

"Jesus was an initiate and adept of the ancient Judaic mysteries who strove to reinstate the tradition of the bridechamber sacrament in his time.
The work shows that Jesus sought to establish equity of masculine and feminine in both spiritual practice and social traditions, particularly in the sacrament of marriage.
It reinterprets Jesus’ key teachings in light of the ancient tradition of sacred consortship and reveals what happened to the gnostic heart of Christianity that Jesus embodied.
Jesus was a high-initiate and master adept of the ancient Judaic mysteries who strove to free people from the dead hand of the ritualists. He was trained in a dissident Jewish brotherhood that arose in Egypt before he was born, which sought to bring back the ancient Judaic mysteries outlawed by the Jerusalem temple." Victoria LePage

(http://www.innertraditions.com/Contributor.jmdx;jsessionid=18CBF7F6645F121C617ABAA229EE4F6F?action=displayDetail&id=1575
)

This artilce explores tha idea that maybe Jesus went through an initiation process and Mary Magdalena was essential to Jesus' attainment of Christhood and or moving his consciousness up to the highest possible level here on Earth. Initiation is totally different concept than sacrifice. Initiation is a radical shift from the fate-imposed to the free will human. If the Western world unconsciously views and measures their lives by a man who was initiated rather than sacrifice our whole psychology and experience may change. Initiations assumes that the man has control of his life, he is purposefully moving into a specific discipline to attain experience or knowledge. Since Jesus was alive during the last light of Egypt's power and the Greek civilization the old priest of each of these cultures held a secret initation process that was only for a special few. The masses were not aware of the secret teachings of the priests and philosophers. So for us as Western modern people do we believe the status quo or do we use our new found reason to explore what really happened 2000 years ago. The mystery continues and do not expect the priest to tell you any sort of real truth. The Roman Empire were skilled at manipulating information like no other civilization on Earth even to this day. To manipulate the mind is the ultimate feat- and the book known as the Bible has been used as weapon more than tool to bring grace to others.

First I am assuming that our mythology or great religions influence our attitudes and ultimately later our experience. We have to admit that we are waking up from 2000 years of faith based world view and now we want science and research to be at the forefront of our thinking and perceiving reality. Yet their are undercurrents that still prevail as far as attitudes and unconscious manifestations of an old paradigm. The old paradigm is the wester Judeo Christian worldview. We assume that we had one savior and he was the son of god and he was not married or involved with a female. The Far WEst takes this to be a fundamental fact. Therefore the female position in the whole worldview is less and or nonexistence compared to the male.

This article is not about if Jesus existed or if Mary Magdalena existed, but what mythology manifested and how we view each sex because of the "story" that came down from this religion. We need to investigate all texts, viewpoints so that our mythology or attitudes toward the value of female and male qualities can be better understood.

If you do research on the Gospels that were recently found in the desert near the Nile River then you would know that their is evidence of Mary Magdelene being the "Beloved"disciple of Jesus. The city is near this area is Nag Hammadi and an Egyptian peasant found buried jars that contained ancient manuscripts. This all happened in 1945. These documents contained The Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Philip, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

So what does this have to do with Mary and Jesus. The most controversial piece out of all these ancient gnosis (secret teachings) is that both Mary and Philip say things like why does Jesus kiss Mary on the mouth. Peter gets really mad and asks why Jesus speaks with Mary more than the others. When you begin to read the Gospel of Mary it is a lot more complex than the Gospels of John, Mark, Luke, Thomas, and Philip. The questions begin. Why did Mary anoint Jesus. How could a woman have the authority to anoint the possible son of god. Who was the one person that witnessed the resurrection? Mary. Now that bible researches now have these New-Ancient documents- it becomes clear that Mary was the only one evolved enough to see Jesus in his resurrected form.

The anointing of Jesus is not a Hebrew tradition- it is more Egyptian. Many believe that Jesus was part of a Jewish Mystic tradition that allowed women to study. The general Hebrew mainstream would not allow a woman to be any authority in the temple. We know Jesus advocated for the poor, the outcasts and probably allowed women to follow him. So if he found a woman who was well read, gifted in the art of dreaming and healing then why would he not teach her more. Since the beginning of time the Status Quo wants to keep the mainstream in their grasp. If they down play women, even give them a negative spin-like Mary is a prostitute- which never has been proven in the bible- then you are in the grasp of the powers that be. If you want to empower yourself and realize that women have always been near the fight, great leaders and powerful healers and mystics then do your research.

Mary was an advance soul who was a major part of Jesus' initiation into the mystical arts of the day- which still puts him at the top. That is to say he was the most evolved being to ever walk this earth- along with a couple others Buddha and Mary? Some say that Mary helped Jesus attain the ultimate act- to go beyond death. How did she help him- well that might be another story. People want to say that to be a Buddha and a Christ is not possible if a woman is involved. Christ did not arrive on Earth as the son of God- the whole missing years of Jesus- going to India, Tibet and the east to learn, meditate, fast, study, face his demons, and confront a feminine being to acknowledge that to be human is to embrace both masculine and feminine energy. To deny one or the other will weaken you as a human. The intitiation of Jesus required a female consort to introduce him to the female energy and go beyond this world or raise his consciousness level to realize the full potential of being human. It is not about denying our physcial attributes it is about embracing all parts of the human and going to the next level.

Sex is such a western Taboo- which is a small tragedy- or big one considering how we berate ourselves for enjoying it too much or whatever other hang ups we have about it.
Both Buddha and Jesus had to engage in spiritual sexual practices as part of their spiritual development. It is not about animal desire- but attaining female energy by being with a female. It is not about animalistic sexual relationships, but being a master of your entire breath, mind, body, and Kundalini. (In its hidden state, the kundalini is said to be sheer potentiality. This is only relatively correct, for the Goddess energy is always active on our behalf, maintaining all the subtle energetic processes that underlie our physical and mental structures and functions.)(Kundalini: Awakening the Serpent Powerby Georg Feuerstein)

http://bluenaturenetwork.com/DharmaMasterNanHuaichin/Samantabhadra4.jpg

It is so far beyond the western -"give me pleasure now" mode of existing that people get confused and fearful. They want sex to be a dirty thing and whatever else. It is part of procreation and if you are committed-even in your relationships and opening to higher states of consciousness. Even if you are married, with your partner-males, females- whatever combination twist you engage in- to commit yourself- to vow that you will love someone is a step in the right direction. Now using your body as a vehicle of the divine- yoga- sexual relations with RIGHT mind then there is another step to a higher level of being. Anyway you must do your own research on what this all leads to.

The Gospel of Mary shows that Mary Magdalena was not just the consort or lover to Jesus but a Disciple herself. She was not just one of the 12 Disciples but the "First Apostle." Her presence in Jesus' life was essential to his attainment of knowledge. It was a sexual love relationship. It was not like our marriages of today or any other time period to have exist so far. It was the ultimate human potential realized and embraced. Imagine two intitiates, well disciplined humans devoted to god, health, love and light, and then they consumated their love and devotion as humans. Is is so simple and powerful the result of two opposites making a whole. We live in the world of opposites and to brige this limited space and time, we must embrace our humanity and seek the other, but with discipline and knowledge. Because Jesus was marriage and had sexual relations with a female does not make him any less powerful, but shows us our highest human potential. This potential involves all aspects of being human, mostly the qualities we have not explored yet. Psychologist have already determined we have masculine qualities and feminine qualities and to deny one over the other is where we are now. To become whole we must not deny any of ourselves, and seek the hidden and dark areas to that we may move on in our evolution.

Annihilation of Self

Appear, Appear, whatso thy shape or name,
O mountain Bull, Snake of the Hundred Heads,
Lion of the Burning Flame!

O God, Beast, Mystery Come!

- Bacchae, Euripides
A Greek

“Amor fati” love of fate- love that fate is inevitably death, constitutes the experience of the tragic art: therein the joy of it, the redeeming ecstasy….
Joseph Campbell


Please annihilate my ever unsatisfied self
External obsessions live and breathe falsely in me
I want to surrender to the Other:
the god, the lover, the art
Let mystery consume me
So that all that is left is a silent flame
That once was my soul.

Time and space has yielded woe equally
My reckless pursuit of bliss
Never returned me to a mysterious rapture

Please erase me with Union
So I no longer feel the false betrayal of illusion

Flesh and bone are heavy with the material
My soul waits for a fire
A phoenix

I am a hunter of the Other
The one who will annihilate
And burn me pure.
Kori 2010


The Greeks with their tragic plays approached life and death with an artistic attitude. Their plays were not merely entertainment but were meant to address the deep seeded anxiety of death and how do we deal with this. They instinctively knew there would never be a happy ending. How do you live a life where death, decay and disinteregration will be the only truth you can measure. Their answer was the ritual katharsis(a purification of the community from the taints and poisons of the past year, the old contagion of sin and death”) and they created the festival or the mystery play where man sees everything broken and dismembered. This tragic play will help align himself with the mystery, the great phenomenon of our existence. The suffering human and the mystery unite when you go through a ritual, a festival of dance and your God becoming dismembered- Dionysos death, and their reborn nature returns the human to life in time with some sense of purpose or understanding. ( Hero with A Thousand Faces, Pg 26, 27, Joseph Campbell) How do we attain this alignment. Joseph Campbell and Aristotle purposes that when the ancient Greeks watched the tragic play they experienced pity and terror for the main character and thereby their own life was cleansed and verified because they too were in the middle of the tragic tale- they too would have a terrible end. By making plays that showed the people their fate somehow made it art- made it pure and thus they experienced a catharsis and cleansing. Essentially in the end we want to go down the road of the unknown. We want to be pushed into the mystery to see and feel the absolute contradiction and annihilation of our false selves. We are hunting underneath secretly for the rapture, the experience of being reborn. We want our ego to erase so that the divine can pour in. The artist, professional athlete and some spiritual leaders do experience the ego being extinguished and their souls speak out. There is no easy way to get there. In the Western material world we do not leave room or even advocate for true spiritual discipline or understanding. So many of us are half-hearted empty vessels wandering to and fro without catharsis or mystery, thus we also have many mentally sick and or confused people. It is time for a second Renaissance that will bring forth the light of our ancestors that had some understanding of the deep beautiful human soul and honor it with a sacred journey. And on this journey we need rituals that point our body to the spiritual experience. We are a three dimensional being and we must not deny any of it. The body, soul, mind are in this time and space together- let us address it all to move on.

Why Initiation

Initiation
[edit] The Road of Trials
The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.
Campbell: "Once having traversed the threshold, the hero moves in a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he must survive a succession of trials. This is a favorite phase of the myth-adventure. It has produced a world literature of miraculous tests and ordeals. The hero is covertly aided by the advice, amulets, and secret agents of the supernatural helper whom he met before his entrance into this region. Or it may be that he here discovers for the first time that there is a benign power everywhere supporting him in his superhuman passage. The original departure into the land of trials represented only the beginning of the long and really perilous path of initiatory conquests and moments of illumination. Dragons have now to be slain and surprising barriers passed – again, again, and again. Meanwhile there will be a multitude of preliminary victories, unretainable ecstasies and momentary glimpses of the wonderful land." [6] Joseph Campbell- Hero with A Thousand Faces

The simple idea is that we must be challenged out of our comfort zone. We must pass over the threshold- that which is known- into the unknown. If we don't we become stuck or stagnant. The adventure is a challenge and we must seek it out. Learning something new- a new sport, instrument, program anything that makes you challenge yourself makes you leave the old for the new. It is essential for our human existence to move forward. We may know very little about the unviverse and why we are here. One thing is for certain we are evolving- somehow and in someway. You can wait for it or you can go out and seek it. Just do it.