By Berenice Andrews
If you are a modern soul searcher—someone who has chosen to embark on a personal journey of spiritual evolution—(and I suspect that you are!), I offer you this Q&A conversation to help you increase your awareness of the splendor of your path and the ages-old symbolism that nourishes it (and you).
So…How do I resemble a mythic hero?
For thousands of years, mythic heroes have set out on “quests” to find a great “treasure.” As a result, those heroes, and the people who emulated them, have become both the metaphors and the archetypes of soul searchers. Thus, you who are a 21st century soul searcher on a quest to find the great treasure of wisdom, are the living expression of a mythic hero.
Intriguing! … And what does expressing as a mythic hero mean in my journey?
What makes those thousands of years of myth-making happen now is that both you and the Myth Makers—those who created the myths—have sought to “know” the fundamental truths about human “beingness” (i.e., who you are and why you’re here). Because people have always loved stories, the best vehicles for imparting those truths have always been myths. The truths were the teachings hidden inside them.
Yet more intriguing! …But how does that relate to me?
Throughout the centuries those stories evolved, as people learned from them and new Myth Makers—most of whom were probably soul searchers, like you—created new myths. In turn, the existential search involving both the mythic heroes and the soul searchers gradually became embodied in a wisdom tradition. That tradition has been fostering human spiritual evolution right up to this moment. And you are connected to that immense legacy by being a link in a continuous chain of people seeking to “know” those truths.
Hmmm! Truths about humanness…a wisdom tradition…I’m a link in a continuous chain of seekers…I’m still somewhat puzzled. How do those myths involving heroes create that chain?
The Myth Makers of humanity have (somehow) always “known” that they were immersed in and permeated by the transcendent energies of the Soul Field—the life, light, love, and law—in which all of existence (including you) exists. In this experience of oneness, the Myth Makers and their stories were (and still are) “transparent to the transcendence.” (Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss). By being that transparency, inspired by that transcendence, they could (and still can) perceive and promote the next level of human evolutionary spirituality—the existential purpose of the myths—and, thereby, generate yet more of the seeking and the “knowing”…the continuous chain.
All right, I think I’m getting it! There are truths about my humanness buried in the world’s myths about heroes who set forth to find great treasures. Over the centuries, both the mythical and “real” searching evolved into a wisdom tradition that’s here now. Well, wisdom is what I’m after. So, as a modern soul searcher, I’m on a continuum with the mythic heroes and the soul searchers of the past. Right? Then how do I find the truths about my 21st century humanness buried in what are probably incomprehensible myths?
To find your truths in the myths you must, like the Myth Makers and their stories, become transparent to the transcendence.
OK—getting to be transparent seems to be the key idea. So, how do I manage to accomplish that?
You do that, first and foremost, by obeying the inner “summons” to set forth on your personal journey of spiritual evolution—your quest for the treasure of wisdom. Thereafter, while you’re walking your spiritual “paths,” you’ll be healing and balancing your centers of consciousness. Thus, you’ll be raising the vibratory frequencies of the soul structures that make up your “bodies.” (Form follows consciousness!) While doing this, you’ll gradually be expanding your capacity for “knowing” (gnosis) and, thereby, becoming “transparent.”
All right, I understand that…I think. This has been my journey, so far. I already know that I’ve come through a few energy “shifts.” Now, what’s the transparency that I must have?
It’s heart awareness. It’s both a “knowing” and a love connection so ancient that it’s to be found in the first known myth; the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. (It is the 4,000-year-old story of an unwise king who set out to obtain the secret of eternal life, lost it through his own negligence, found a beloved friend and lost him the same way, then finally learned, during a pilgrimage of heartbreak, what it was to be heart aware.) Yet at the same time, heart awareness is a “knowing” and a love connection that’s completely modern, because it involves the heart center of consciousness—a generative power that human energy beings have always possessed. The transparency of heart awareness is what you can share with the Myth Makers of any epoch and with their myths.
Yes, I can feel that. So, where is the heart awareness in the myths?
After the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, teachings about heart awareness can be found buried in the ancient Egyptian myths that told how the heart blood of the mother would make the new human being and how a person’s heart, when weighed after death in the Scales of Truth, would reveal how that person had related to others.
In the later Hebrew (“Old Testament”) teachings, an evolved heart awareness can be found buried in the stories about loving relationships between people and about the “covenant” between God and His Chosen People.
So, my mythic legacy and the wisdom tradition go back to the beginnings of recorded history?
Yes, they do…likely back before that. And what’s really interesting is to follow what happened with the myths. In those of the early Americas, of the ancient Celts and the other European tribal cultures, in the myths of Greece, and of the ancient trade-routes civilizations the heroes were eventually informed by a heart awareness. Through many millennia, this was the evolutionary path taken by the Myth Makers and their myths. Thus, the great love connection taught by Jesus, the Christ, and by Prince Gautama (the Buddha), was the culmination of centuries of “heart awareness” myths.
Yes, they show us that everything is linked together in the wonderful web of life, don’t they?
Yes, they do. And, after Jesus, in our mythic legacy, the heroic quest for holiness and wholeness became a dominant theme. Those stories often depicted a search for the Holy Grail—a Christian symbol of surpassing importance in the context of a heart awareness.
In my childhood, the Gail stories were my favorites…I really loved them…Hmmm…So, they became part of my heart awareness?
Probably…The quests by heroic knights have inspired many soul searchers. And in all those myths, the hero would feel compelled—obey the inner “summons”—to set forth on the journey. Then, in the ensuing quest, there would be frightening/blissful episodes, usually followed by challenging/restful interludes. But, even within this often-confusing paradox, the hero would push on, always with the unfailing sense of seeking to “find/know.”
Yes, that really resonates with me…But, how is my 21st century spiritual journey expressed by those old stories in my mythic legacy?
When the heroic myths are probed with a modern, shamanic understanding, a gnosis, they always imply a deep dedication to the inner tasks of purifying, simplifying and unifying one’s beingness. So, those stories can be perceived as teachings about healing the centers of consciousness of a human energy system. The great outcome, now as in the past, involves emerging out of the ignorance and confusion of an animal soul’s primitive “i-am” awareness into a heart awareness. In the shamanic understanding, that awareness is both the “knowing” and the precursor of wisdom.
So, developing my heart awareness and finding the treasure of wisdom go together?
Yes, they do…Your journey that involves so much consciousness raising is slowly fostering within you the qualities of discernment, detachment, and clarity. They are the indicators of an ascension into a vast heart awareness. And they are identified in the wisdom tradition as the hallmarks of wisdom.
That gives me such encouragement!…So, if I’m like a mythic hero and I’m expressing that archetype, what can I do?
Like a mythic hero, you stay with the journey, until you find the wisdom treasure that you have been seeking. As part of your quest, perhaps you could explore your mythological heritage and make it part of your “knowing.” You already know that your heroic quest can bring you into knowing the truths about your humanness. You already know that you are becoming heart aware—transparent to the transcendence—that the love connection is carrying you forward. And, you already know that you are deeply involved in a tradition of (and yearning for) wisdom. By exploring your mythic legacy, you can add even greater depth to all that you are becoming.
Yes! This soul searcher (also known as a mythic hero) is moving onward and upward! Thank you…until we meet again?
You are welcome!…Until then…Enjoy! Peace and blessings.
Berenice Andrews is a shamanic teacher/healer and a regular contributor to Transformation Magazine. To learn more about mythic teachings as they relate to you as an energy being, a soul, on your journey of spiritual evolution, consult her book Rebirthing Into Androgyny: Your Quest for Wholeness, And Afterword. To become her student, click on her web site, thestonecircleclassroom.com.