One aspect of the hero’s journey—from an inner perspective—is a coming to terms with his/her reactive approach to life as evidenced by traditional stances such as fear, anger, impatience and selfishness. From Yehuda Berg’s (1) perspective, having a reactive nature is tantamount to living in a jail:
“All of these emotions, born of ego, constantly control and imprison us. They are like a ball and chain that slow us down and prevent us from moving forward. They are like handcuffs that constrain us; iron bars that trap us; whips that torment us. This is the oldest master-slave relationship in Creation.”
The mythic hero is an individual in the process of breaking free from this relationship. In The Sun Singer, Robert Adams saw that he had to set ego aside if he was going to heal Cinnabar after the battle described in Chapter 9. He discovered that “he needed to be nothing, hollow, what was it Grandfather’s old friend said, yes, a hollow bone, free of logic and self.”
In relation to healing, the Sioux Holy Man Fools Crow used the term hollow bone in the same sense that others use the terms channel or tube to indicate that while healing, a higher power flows through them to the person being healed. In his book Fools Crow Wisdom and Power, (2) author Thomas E. Mails writes that prior to healing, Fools Crow first went through a ritual to remove all the stumbling blocks within himself that might impede the flow of energy.
“I saw myself as a hollow bone that is all shiny on the inside and empty,” said Fools Crow. “I looked around inside me to see if any obstacles or junk were left, and there were none. I knew then that I was ready to serve Wakan-Tanka well, and I held up my hands to offer my thanksgiving and to tell him how happy I was. Immediately, I could feel the power come into me.”
This necessary stepping back to allow the flow of energy was what Robert had to do to successfully call the Sun on Cinnabar’s behalf. Getting rid of the “junk” is a major task of the hero on the path.
DISCUSSION:
(1) What other opportunities did Robert Adams have during the course of his journey to set the ego aside and trust a higher power?
(2) Which characters in the book show or teach Robert the need to get rid of the junk?
NOTES:
(1) Berg, Yehuda, The Power of Kabbalah, San Diego, California, Jodere Group, 2001.
(2) Mails, Thomas E., Fools Crow Wisdom and Power, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Council Oaks Books, 1991.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Friday, December 24, 2004
December 24, 2004
Seasons greetings to all who walk this way...randomly...on a synchronistic dance...on seeker's path or hero's path.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Blackfoot Language
When David Ward talks to Raven just after meeting Robert at the hotel, he is speaking in Blackfoot.
While my use of the language here is clumsy and bookish, The Piegan Institute in Browning, Montana is teaching English-speaking young people their own true language using a total immersion approach. I remain hopeful that the language will not follow countless other native languages into extinction due to the growing lack of native speakers.
The following will help you know more exactly what David Ward said: Puhsapot means “come here.” Za kaniszíhpa? means “How are you?” The words áhsaz and ahsáhta mean “What is it?” and “Why?” Maistó means “Raven” and A Maistó means “Yes, Raven.” Nómohtahsítaki means “Thank you.” Nítúpiazaw means “Sit.” Nitáisxinemazaw in context here means “I will teach him (Robert).” (Elsewhere, the word Sikimí is the Blackfoot word for “black horse” and pita is the basic word for “eagle.”) Grandfather Elliott’s name, Apinákui-Pita, derives from the Blackfoot name for Glacier National Park’s Morning Eagle Falls near Lake Josephine. In the book, I call the falls “Lightning Falls.”
While my use of the language here is clumsy and bookish, The Piegan Institute in Browning, Montana is teaching English-speaking young people their own true language using a total immersion approach. I remain hopeful that the language will not follow countless other native languages into extinction due to the growing lack of native speakers.
The following will help you know more exactly what David Ward said: Puhsapot means “come here.” Za kaniszíhpa? means “How are you?” The words áhsaz and ahsáhta mean “What is it?” and “Why?” Maistó means “Raven” and A Maistó means “Yes, Raven.” Nómohtahsítaki means “Thank you.” Nítúpiazaw means “Sit.” Nitáisxinemazaw in context here means “I will teach him (Robert).” (Elsewhere, the word Sikimí is the Blackfoot word for “black horse” and pita is the basic word for “eagle.”) Grandfather Elliott’s name, Apinákui-Pita, derives from the Blackfoot name for Glacier National Park’s Morning Eagle Falls near Lake Josephine. In the book, I call the falls “Lightning Falls.”
Thursday, December 16, 2004
A Little Geography
“Iceberg and Ptarmigan Lakes, Baring Falls and Sunrift Gorge, Two Medicine Pass, Rising Wolf Mountain. Walk gently here, brother to the grizzly bear and eagle, for the trails through this fragile ecosystem are trails through consciousness—the gem that catches the cascading light in the center of this crown of shining mountains.” --Malcolm Campbell, “Crown of the Continent,” The Rosicrucian Digest, October, 1986.
The mountain settings in The Sun Singer were modeled after Glacier National Park, Montana even though most of the place names were changed for the novel. The hotel referenced in the book is Many Glacier Hotel on the east side of the park.
When Robert Adams is en route to “Lighting Falls” (the real name in Glacier National Park is Morning Eagle Falls), the wind tells him he is in the “Garden of Heaven.” This is the real (but obscure) name of a flowery vale along Cataract Creek below Morning Eagle Falls.
If you visit Many Glacier Hotel, you can take a motor launch across “Dancing Bear Lake” (the real name is Swiftcurrent Lake), hike over a forested hill (where Robert encountered the grizzly bear) to “Milk Lake” (the real name is Lake Josephine) and take another motor launch up to the far end of the lake.
During the boat ride on Lake Josephine, look at the forest on your left (south)—along the slopes of Mt. Allen—and you will see where Robert first met Gem and Cinnabar. In both real life and in the book, a trail there does lead back to the hotel. The launch stops at the head of the lake at the spot where David Ward’s cabin is located in the book.
Here, you’ll see the graceful rocky spur of Mt. Gould that is named the Angel Wing in both the park and the book, and if you walk back into the great forest near the Mt. Allen avalanche chute (mentioned in the book), you’ll find the trail through the Garden of Heaven to the falls where Robert battles the forces of the moon to open the tunnel in time.
The Blackfoot name for Morning Eagle falls is Apinákui-Pita; that is the origin of Grandfather Elliott’s Native American name in the novel.
The mountain settings in The Sun Singer were modeled after Glacier National Park, Montana even though most of the place names were changed for the novel. The hotel referenced in the book is Many Glacier Hotel on the east side of the park.
When Robert Adams is en route to “Lighting Falls” (the real name in Glacier National Park is Morning Eagle Falls), the wind tells him he is in the “Garden of Heaven.” This is the real (but obscure) name of a flowery vale along Cataract Creek below Morning Eagle Falls.
If you visit Many Glacier Hotel, you can take a motor launch across “Dancing Bear Lake” (the real name is Swiftcurrent Lake), hike over a forested hill (where Robert encountered the grizzly bear) to “Milk Lake” (the real name is Lake Josephine) and take another motor launch up to the far end of the lake.
During the boat ride on Lake Josephine, look at the forest on your left (south)—along the slopes of Mt. Allen—and you will see where Robert first met Gem and Cinnabar. In both real life and in the book, a trail there does lead back to the hotel. The launch stops at the head of the lake at the spot where David Ward’s cabin is located in the book.
Here, you’ll see the graceful rocky spur of Mt. Gould that is named the Angel Wing in both the park and the book, and if you walk back into the great forest near the Mt. Allen avalanche chute (mentioned in the book), you’ll find the trail through the Garden of Heaven to the falls where Robert battles the forces of the moon to open the tunnel in time.
The Blackfoot name for Morning Eagle falls is Apinákui-Pita; that is the origin of Grandfather Elliott’s Native American name in the novel.
Monday, December 13, 2004
Female Characters in The Sun Singer
In The Sun Singer, Robert Adams moves forward on his quest with the assistance of four primary male helpers: Thomas Elliott, his grandfather; David Ward, a long-time friend of his grandfather; Garth, an Elf of the Huldre People; and Aton, the leader of the Society of the Rose in Pyrrha. In various ways, each of these men is a teacher or mentor.
Robert’s strongest relationships are, however with women: Gem, Sarabande, Cinnabar, Dryad, and Dahlia. Like the men, these women are obviously characters in their own rights and have roles to play in the unfolding story.
But they also represent age-old mythic symbols that help the hero on the path connect with and comprehend the inner part of his journey. In myths, women are damsels in distress, witches, priestesses, warriors, goddesses, mother figures, and temptresses. In various ways, they serve as a man’s guides and mediators (also called psychopomps) as he confronts magical, mythological realms.
This magical realm is, of course, the unconscious mind. Carl Jung (1) called the female personification within a man’s unconscious mind the anima. While one of the Latin meanings of anima is “soul,” the anima should not be construed as the soul. (2) It is better described as the female element within a man—as the animus is the male element within a woman—that is based on ancient archetypes embodying traditional female characteristics.
“The anima,” writes Marie-Louise von Franz, (3) “is the personification of all the feminine psychological tendencies in a man’s psyche, such as vague feelings and moods, prophetic hunches, receptiveness to the irrational, capacity for personal love, feeling for nature, and—last but not least—his relation to the unconscious. It is no mere chance that in olden times priestesses (like the Greek Sibyl) were used to fathom the divine will and make connection with the gods.”
Beatrice fulfilled this role in Dante’s Divine Comedy, Ariadne in the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, and Athena in the myth of Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa. The anima—as symbolized by the women of myth—appears in variations of four general forms: (a) Primitive, instinctual woman (such as Eve), (b) Romanticized beauty (such as Helen of Troy), (c) Spiritual Love (best characterized by the Virgin Mary), (d) Wisdom (as in Sophia or Athena).
In psychology, the anima is not generally believed to evolve through stages one to four so much as the man himself evolves as he comes to understand the material in his unconscious mind for what it is. Among other things, he learns to distinguish between the real flesh and blood women he meets and the positive/negative ideals of women stored deep within his unconscious mind that he may be projecting onto women.
The hero’s journey into the mythological realm is a journey populated by female characters who assist, fight against, and guide his transformation from a primitive man to a man of wisdom who truly knows himself.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(1) How to Gem, Cinnabar, Dryad, Sarabande, and Dahlia facilitate or impede Robert’s mission and journey through Pyrrha?
(2) In a symbolic sense, to what extent do these characters fit into one or more of the four general forms: primitive/instinctual, romanticized beauty, spiritual love, wisdom?
(3) Are Robert’s reactions to and relationships with the women real and appropriate?
NOTES:
(1) See, for example: Jung, Carl, “Aion: Phenomenology of the Self,” in Campbell, Joseph (ed), The Portable Jung, New York, The Viking Press, 1971.
(2) Some Jungian analysts prefer to equate the anima with the soul (making the terms synonymous) or suggest that the anima is the face of a man's unconscious mind. The former opinion, in my view, is rather like saying that one star in a galaxy is the entire galaxy. The latter opinion tends to ignore the non-female archetypes (sage, emperor, fool, warrior, etc.) that also play a deep--though perhaps not consciously known--role in the unfolding of the psyche.
(3) von Franz, Marie-Louise, “The Process of Individuation,” in Jung, Carl, Man and His Symbols, Aldus Books, London, 1964
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Water Baptism
[NOTE: This post contains a “plot spoiler,” information you may not wish to read prior to completing The Sun Singer.]
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” –John 3: 3-5.
The path of the hero on a quest, as illustrated in mythic stories, symbolizes an individual’s stages of spiritual development from ignorance through a series of transformations into an enlightened man or woman. The western wisdom traditions—often referred to as mystery schools—symbolize these stages of development via a series of initiations. The rituals used by a school as an individual learns and progresses in the work correspond to the natural steps of an individual’s development.
Peter Dawkins’ (1) “ladder of initiation” includes birth, baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, unification, and enthronement. The stages in this ladder should not be viewed as limited to Christianity. They reflect the stages of spiritual development as interpreted by many philosophies and traditions.
While baptism is often viewed as symbolic of purification, of the washing away of sin, it is also symbolic of rebirth. Through the water baptism, an individual dedicates himself to search for the light. Writing of the Catholic ritual, Joseph Campbell (2) says that “the female water spiritually fructified with the male fire of the Holy Ghost is the Christian counterpart of the water of transformation known to all systems of mythological imagery.”
Water—often referred to as deep standing water—symbolizes “the Prima Materia or First Matter made by the Power of God in the womb of Space, out of which all form is created,” writes Dawkins. (3) The term Prima Materia, then, also signifies the neophyte who, via the ritual of the water baptism, is reborn and is ready to become aware. The fish symbolizes the neophyte in this period of this readiness and dedication.
The spiritual work to be undertaken beginning with the water baptism comprises the Lesser (Eleusinian) Mysteries (baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion) and focuses on learning how to control one’s emotions, developing an illuminated mind through harmony of thought, and the surrender of one’s personal self (or ego).
In The Sun Singer, Robert Adams’ name after he steps through the portal into Pyrrha is Sonny Trout. Soon thereafter, he must swim across a lake to escape from enemy soldiers (the forces of darkness). In the cold water, he quickly becomes tired and learns that the staff will support him and allow him to safely reach the far shore. Symbolically, these events indicate that Robert is at the baptism stage of his development when viewed on the wisdom traditions’ ladder of initiation.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(1) After the death of his grandfather, Robert might be characterized as an angry young man. How successful is he at taming his reactive emotions after he swims across the lake?
(2) Discuss the use of the fish in Robert’s osprey visualization in the rain-drenched forest en route to the portal in David Ward’s cabin. What does it signify?
NOTES:
(1) The Pattern of Initiation in the Evolution of Human Consciousness.
(2) The Hero With a Thousand Faces.
(2) Dawkins, Peter, Dedication to the Light, Northampton, U. K., 1984. See also: Genesis 1: 1-2.
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” –John 3: 3-5.
The path of the hero on a quest, as illustrated in mythic stories, symbolizes an individual’s stages of spiritual development from ignorance through a series of transformations into an enlightened man or woman. The western wisdom traditions—often referred to as mystery schools—symbolize these stages of development via a series of initiations. The rituals used by a school as an individual learns and progresses in the work correspond to the natural steps of an individual’s development.
Peter Dawkins’ (1) “ladder of initiation” includes birth, baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, unification, and enthronement. The stages in this ladder should not be viewed as limited to Christianity. They reflect the stages of spiritual development as interpreted by many philosophies and traditions.
While baptism is often viewed as symbolic of purification, of the washing away of sin, it is also symbolic of rebirth. Through the water baptism, an individual dedicates himself to search for the light. Writing of the Catholic ritual, Joseph Campbell (2) says that “the female water spiritually fructified with the male fire of the Holy Ghost is the Christian counterpart of the water of transformation known to all systems of mythological imagery.”
Water—often referred to as deep standing water—symbolizes “the Prima Materia or First Matter made by the Power of God in the womb of Space, out of which all form is created,” writes Dawkins. (3) The term Prima Materia, then, also signifies the neophyte who, via the ritual of the water baptism, is reborn and is ready to become aware. The fish symbolizes the neophyte in this period of this readiness and dedication.
The spiritual work to be undertaken beginning with the water baptism comprises the Lesser (Eleusinian) Mysteries (baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion) and focuses on learning how to control one’s emotions, developing an illuminated mind through harmony of thought, and the surrender of one’s personal self (or ego).
In The Sun Singer, Robert Adams’ name after he steps through the portal into Pyrrha is Sonny Trout. Soon thereafter, he must swim across a lake to escape from enemy soldiers (the forces of darkness). In the cold water, he quickly becomes tired and learns that the staff will support him and allow him to safely reach the far shore. Symbolically, these events indicate that Robert is at the baptism stage of his development when viewed on the wisdom traditions’ ladder of initiation.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
(1) After the death of his grandfather, Robert might be characterized as an angry young man. How successful is he at taming his reactive emotions after he swims across the lake?
(2) Discuss the use of the fish in Robert’s osprey visualization in the rain-drenched forest en route to the portal in David Ward’s cabin. What does it signify?
NOTES:
(1) The Pattern of Initiation in the Evolution of Human Consciousness.
(2) The Hero With a Thousand Faces.
(2) Dawkins, Peter, Dedication to the Light, Northampton, U. K., 1984. See also: Genesis 1: 1-2.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Book Note: Winter Park, Florida
I'm pleased to announce that "The Sun Singer" is now available in Winter Park, Florida thanks to the fine folks at:
Chapters on Park
358 N. Park Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
www.chaptersonpark.com
THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
"What I think is a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of a fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss." --Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss
Chapters on Park
358 N. Park Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
www.chaptersonpark.com
THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
"What I think is a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of a fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss." --Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss
Friday, December 03, 2004
The Labyrinth
“As many stories are told as mythologies exist, but in all the labyrinth seems to symbolise the path to be followed, in daily and seasonal cycles, in life and in death and in rebirth. Beyond all these may exist a cosmology, an ancient understanding of the cycles of time, all safely concealed within the labyrinth, locked up in numbers and movements.” --Jeff Saward, Editor, Caerdroia
“A labyrinth, of course, is a scrambled mandala, in which you don’t know where you are. That’s the way the world is for people who don’t have a mythology. It’s a labyrinth. They are battling their way through as if no one had ever been there before.” – Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss
The labyrinth, as an age-old symbol across multiple times and cultures, variously symbolizes an individual’s stages of development, the pathway through the unconscious mind, the trail through dreams, and the routes of both the seeker and the hero. The death of the old followed by the birth of the new is implicit in each of these scenarios.
The most widely known mythic labyrinth is the one at Crete that concealed the dreaded Minotaur, the symbolic king of the underworld. It is said that the craftsman Daedalus built the labyrinth so well, that even he had trouble finding his way back out. So it was that when Theseus entered the labyrinth to destroy the Minotaur, Ariadne handed him a ball of linen thread—obtained from Daedalus—with which to mark his trail so he could find his way back outside.
In The Sun Singer, Robert Adams’ quest—as an inner journey—is hinted at by the use of the term “labyrinth” to describe the tunnels beneath the city. Later, when he steps through the arch on Spirit Mountain Ridge to travel to Lightning Falls, he marks his path with a long rope, reminiscent of Theseus’ ball of thread.
PRAISE FOR THE SUN SINGER:
“As any good reluctant hero, Robert does not believe in himself or what is happening. When he first crosses over into the alternate world, he doesn't even remember his name, first calling himself Sonny Trout, then Osprey. Robert’s learning about himself can bring to mind the adventures of Wart in T.H. White's The Once & Future King. Even as his powers are revealed, he tests them in ways he doesn't believe will come true himself. He is the epitome of a young man who is leaving childhood behind, albeit a very well-spoken young man.” --Lynne Perednia, Readers & Writers Ink Reviews
“A labyrinth, of course, is a scrambled mandala, in which you don’t know where you are. That’s the way the world is for people who don’t have a mythology. It’s a labyrinth. They are battling their way through as if no one had ever been there before.” – Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss
The labyrinth, as an age-old symbol across multiple times and cultures, variously symbolizes an individual’s stages of development, the pathway through the unconscious mind, the trail through dreams, and the routes of both the seeker and the hero. The death of the old followed by the birth of the new is implicit in each of these scenarios.
The most widely known mythic labyrinth is the one at Crete that concealed the dreaded Minotaur, the symbolic king of the underworld. It is said that the craftsman Daedalus built the labyrinth so well, that even he had trouble finding his way back out. So it was that when Theseus entered the labyrinth to destroy the Minotaur, Ariadne handed him a ball of linen thread—obtained from Daedalus—with which to mark his trail so he could find his way back outside.
In The Sun Singer, Robert Adams’ quest—as an inner journey—is hinted at by the use of the term “labyrinth” to describe the tunnels beneath the city. Later, when he steps through the arch on Spirit Mountain Ridge to travel to Lightning Falls, he marks his path with a long rope, reminiscent of Theseus’ ball of thread.
PRAISE FOR THE SUN SINGER:
“As any good reluctant hero, Robert does not believe in himself or what is happening. When he first crosses over into the alternate world, he doesn't even remember his name, first calling himself Sonny Trout, then Osprey. Robert’s learning about himself can bring to mind the adventures of Wart in T.H. White's The Once & Future King. Even as his powers are revealed, he tests them in ways he doesn't believe will come true himself. He is the epitome of a young man who is leaving childhood behind, albeit a very well-spoken young man.” --Lynne Perednia, Readers & Writers Ink Reviews
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)