The Hero/Heroine's Journey: Threshold Crossing
There's hardly a circumstance in life where the Hero's Journey does offer a larger perspective. It is a device which reflects our inner and outer aspects of our life and a powerful way of becoming aware of the meta levels of our experience. The last post discussed the first stages of the journey, the call, gathering allies and magical helpers.
Having heeded the call, gathered allies together and with magical help at the ready, the hero / heroine sets out on their adventure. At the threshold of adventure they meet a guardian. In myths it is often fearsome or monstrous creature, symbolic of the fears that would have us avoid the unknown. Cerberus the three headed dog, springs to mind, but it comes in many forms, for example in the Matrix, it is symbolised in choosing between the red pill and the blue pill. Getting past the threshold guardian in a matter of wit and cunning more than outright strength.
The threshold tests the hero / heroine's desire and preparedness for the adventure. Without the right attitude and determination they are unlikely to reach their destination safely. Preparation is everything and meeting the threshold guardian in a fit state is like the flight check before taking off. If something is detected amiss, the flight is delayed for having set out there is no turning back.
There may come a time when the energy for change becomes so great that adventure becomes imperative. Nothing less will be sufficient. In the movies, a threshold guardian is often external but it can be internal also. In adventure sports, for instance, the threshold refers to the commitment, courage and confidence required to be able to take action. Stepping of the end of the high diving board, out of the plane to parachute, illustrate the point from which there is no turning back. It also has its internal equivalent.
This idea of threshold guardian is well known to folk practice. It is demonstrated beautifully in Chinatowns all over the world where the entrance is watched over by statutes of mythic creatures. Malign spirits that would create havoc are denied entry by the threshold guardians, not to test readiness to embark on a dangerous journey but to protect a sanctuary as it were. Same function, different purpose. Guardians on the threshold to adventure can see in to the heart of each individual that passes and assesses them on their own merits. It is irrelevant who your allies are and what magical helpers you ay have. It is you and you alone that is tested at the threshold because you are venturing on a journey that no one can do for you. It is an expression of your own creativity and the outcome will be to make you more authentically yourself. Usually the threshold is an entrance to alone waypath of crossing. Once experienced your world will never be the same again.
In crossing the threshold the hero / heroine cresses into what Campbell calls 'The World of Amplified Being'. Here everything is fresh and alive, like a holiday in a part of the world never experienced before. It can be a state of heightened creativity, an awakened state, falling in love, being in the flow, experiencing oneself as part of everything. What often follows can come as a shock. Campbell calls it, 'The Belly of the Whale', the subject of the next post.
The image is from the Labyrinth at Urrbrae House in Adelaide, South Australia. The threshold crossing can be seen as the stairs leading down to the entrance.
Misplaced Concern About Ageing
I'm turning 63, It's time for something new, and I'm looking to the future.
There has been a lot of discussion about the burden retirees place on society as the baby boom bulge moves towards ageing. To my mind it is applying a stereotype from a time gone by to today. It simply doesn't apply. Describing "Youth" as a discrete category was only invented in the 1960s. Before that, when children grew up they became adults, now they grew up and become youth.
There is increasingly a new demographic appearing, one that Mary Gathering Bateson calls "active wisdom". Yes, there will be some who devote a couple of decades to golf and cruises but I believe that they will become a smaller and smaller proportion of the population over time. Older people simply want to be creative and use the skills, insight and wisdom they have acquired during their working life and to make valued contributions to society.
The Hero's journey is a powerful tool in making an inventory of such qualities to move into a time of renewed creativity, service and satisfaction. In one study of tertiary graduates 20 years on 80% were unhappy with their lives. With hindsight they reflected on could haves and should haves. With a slight altering of perspective that can be turned around.
Review your skills, insights and wisdom at Soul Talks
Interestingly using the Hero's/Heroine's Journey paradigm is useful at any age or stage of life. It is the subject of my presentation this Thursday, 10th August at Soul Talks Click for more info.
I'd like to leave you with this TED Talk from Mary Gathering Bateson. It's particularly for my age group and anyone who is thinking ahead.
Illuminating Our Personal Story - Soul Talk 10 Aug 2017
Only the past is written, the future is an exercise in our creative imagination.
Knowing Joseph Campbell's hero/heroine's journey can help us return to and maintaining the creative flow. It is especially useful when we want to create something new, express ourselves in a new way or develop a new project. Our destiny is how we make it.
I don't subscribe to the view that you can be or do anything you want, but I wholeheartedly believe that the possibilities in becoming fully yourself are inexhaustible. I am convinced that consciousness is a quantum orchestra not simply brain chemistry operating on a biological hard drive. I expect that future research will shed new light on its mechanisms. I hold as equally true that First Nations Peoples have known about these phenomena for millennia, not through science but through story, song and ceremony.
The thing is that we don't have to be neuroscientists, quantum physicists or sharmans. It is not rocket surgery. Being able to orchestrate our story with mindfulness, imagination, commitment and resolve is sufficient. There are as many tools as there are cultures to help us on that journey, each with it's own nuance, tone and perspective.
August Soul Talk
On the 10th of August I will be giving a talk in which I invite you to choose something that you would like to have happen, something that you believe is possible but not highly probable at this time, something that you are passionate about, something that would require more of yourself to come about.
It is not necessary to know how to bring it about but it may be an advantage to be open to having fortuitous things happen to assist you on your creative journey in unexpected ways.
The presentation will provide a practical introduction in realising the fruits of your creative imagination through applying the hero/heroines journey to your life.
Sometimes, it is not so much a question of how to make things happen, as knowing what you really want. I will have something to say about that too.
It's a free event, organised by the wonderful Joy Nugent and sponsored by Bird In Hand. There will be and additional two sessions in the afternoon:
- Carrie Faggotter presents Your Spirit Calling - Aligning to the signs and synchronicities of your life, and
- Anne Rogers presenting Demystifying Mindfulness
Download a copy of the Soul Talks program here.
