THE JOURNEY

Joseph Campbell, in his book “The Hero With a Thousand Faces” describes the “Adventure of the Hero”.  There is the “departure”, the “initiation” and the “return”.    The “hero” heeds the “call to adventure”, leaves all that is familiar behind and crosses the threshold into the unknown where she encounters trials, tests, ordeals, obstructions, demons, as well as helpers, teachers and protectors.  Through this journey he is purified, he discovers his true essence, what he came into the world to do.  When her purification is complete she returns to the “world” to share with the people what she has learned, in order to help others.

This whole process is also reflected in the coming of age rituals of many cultures around the world.  It is the basis of the the Vision Quest in many Native American cultures.  I was taught this in my vision quest guide training at the School of Lost Borders in CA.  We prepare the participants to go out into the wilderness for 3-4 days and nights to confront their fears, learn who they are and come back to share what they have learned with the group and process how they will bring those learnings to the greater society.  We send them out at dawn to cross the threshold into the world of initiation.  For those 3-4 days they are invisible to us as they are no longer in this dimension, they have gone into the underworld to confront the unknown.  When they return we welcome them back over the threshold once again.

Life itself is a vision quest, an initiation.  We leave our spiritual home to incarnate in a place where we forget that we are divine beings of light.  We cross the threshold of birth/death to die to our old world and are born in one with the veil of forgetfulness.  We have to journey through this life of trials, tribulations, joy and sorrow meeting teachers, guides, demons and obstacles along the way.  It is hoped we have the courage and the support to complete the journey of remembering,  the journey to enlightenment of reconnecting with our true selves.  We then cross the death/birth threshold once again to review what we have learned.  The learnings we bring back grow our soul which was the whole purpose of the journey and by growing our soul we grow others souls as well, since we are all one.

I have definitely felt that I have been on this journey the past couple of years with the breakup of my marriage of 28 years.  I was forced over that threshold and down the rabbit hole I went. I encountered extreme pain, my demons, my shadow, obstacles, depression, but with the help of my guides, angels and a stubborn spirit I survived the journey and the bad guys didn’t get me. I have returned to the light and have discovered my path and who I am and what I am here to do.  The journey has been difficult and I’m sure there will be more learnings, but that is what this journey is about.  Growth, be it through despair or joy, it is all growth.  We need to look into those dark nooks and crannies of the soul, ferret out the gunk, feel it, experience it and turn it into light as we are both the dark and the light, you can’t have one without the other.  So don’t despair when you are in the dark, the light isn’t far away, there are always guides to help, it is all part of the journey of the soul to come back home.

Until next time:  Be Wild, and have the courage to examine your shadow, and bring it into the light!

Blessed be!