World Mythology, Mysticism and Meditation – Part 3
World Mythology, Mysticism and Meditation – Part 3
Neo in the Matrix plays the role of the Christ who sacrifices himself to save the world and to give others life.
So we therefore see a pattern behind all these different Hero Quest Myths both ancient and modern. They allude to themes normally associated with Religion and their respective mystical traditions.
Hero Quest Myths and the Myth Cycle also reflect the ordinary lives of ordinary people.
We may ask and try to answer the question of why it is that these hero quest myths are such powerfully captivating and inspiring tales. One answer is that even though these myths are highly fantastical and far removed from our day to day existence, they serve as a mirror which reflects the concerns and problems of real life. That is in a sense we are all on our personal quests to realize some dream or to fulfil some aspiration, no matter how mundane. In this way we are all able to identify with the Mythological Hero and relate to his or her difficult journey. For the simple reason that we see in his or her problems our own.
In fact we can go much further and draw direct parallels between the stages of the Myth Cycle, described by the Mono-Myth, and the life cycle of a normal human being. We’ll now explore this idea a little further and discuss the relationships between the Myth Cycle and the normal Human Life Cycle, to show the parallels between the mythic hero quest and the lives of ordinary people.
There is a pattern of existence that has been found throughout the world and all through human history. The important thing about the Human Life Cycle, in regard to present discussion, is that a meaningful correspondence can be made between each of its stages and each of the stages of the Myth Cycle diagram. Once this connection is made then we start to see that everybody is like the Mythological Hero and that in a sense we’re all on our own intrepid adventures. We’ll go through the various stages of a typical person’s life to elaborate upon this idea.
We find the beginning of the cycle which is the idyllic and uncomplicated happiness of childhood and the family home. We start in state, in the idealized view, where everything is alright, all is good and as it should be. This corresponds to the peaceful homestead or palace in Myth. But then we enter into puberty and adolescence. The harmony we had in our infancy vanishes and our sexual awakening is often accompanied with a sense of incompleteness and insecurity. We are perturbed by this and so go on to endeavour to become adequate in our own eyes and in relation to others, in particular to members of the opposite sex or the gender we’re sexually attracted to. Thus we set out on the long journey towards maturity, sexual fullfilment and the quest for love. This stage of life is correspondent with the call to adventure in the Mythological Hero Quest whereas in this context the precipitating factor is sexual awakening.
So we venture out into the world, typically leaving home or leaving behind childish modes of being, and setting out to make something of ourselves. We try to become the perfect image that we have of our future selves, that we think will enable us to achieve our goals, gain status and win love. We pursue our ambitions, work, study, explore and compete. We are engaged in the adventure that is life and this is correspondent with the Dark Forest, Labyrinth or Perilous Sea Journey of Mythology. Within this stage we face the trials and tribulations of life, the pleasure, the pain, the successes, the setbacks, the rewards and the disappointments. And on we go until the primary goal for most people is finally achieved, we meet our chosen partner, fall in love, and raise children (perhaps not always in this order). This for a lot of people is like finding the Holy Grail and of course like finding the Mythic Princess or Prince.
The rest of the Human Life Cycle involves setting up the conditions that we started out with in the first place, i.e. setting up a home, having children and creating a situation of domestic bliss. And so like the Return Journey in Mythology we have a reinstatement of the original state of equilibrium and tranquility. Also in the same way that the Myth Cycle repeats itself, so it is in our Human Life Cycle. That is once we have completed our life’s adventure, found a partner, set up a home and produced offspring, then so in turn our children grow into adolescence, sexually awaken and likewise set off on their own life quests. And so the Human Life Cycle repeats itself again, generation after generation, further mirroring the Myth Cycle with its own recurrent cyclical nature.
In this way, what we have is an interpretation of the Mythic Hero Quest, which sees them also as symbolic descriptions of the normal life journeys of everywoman and everyman. They can been seen as stories which encapsulate within themselves the most significant and overriding concerns of living, to do with growth, sexual awakening, reaching maturity, the conflicts of life, finding love and having children. It is perhaps another reason why these sorts of Myths have such a deep resonance with so many people.
So there exists another aspect behind the Hero Quest Myths and therefore also behind the Mono-Myth concept. That is apart from alluding towards spiritual and transcendent realities, the ideas and themes behind the Mono-Myth and Hero Quest Myths in general, also can be interpreted as being about the human condition and the lives of normal everyday human beings. But which by doing so is also highly suggestive, that the seemingly ordinary and perhaps mundane lives of ordinary people are at the same time reflections of the sacred, heroic and transcendent.
The Myth Cycle and Human Life Cycle both as reflections of the Image of God
There is one other interpretation of the Myth Cycle which also casts a higher and deeper meaning behind the Human Life Cycle. It relates to the idea that there exists an Image of God, a sort of Cosmic Template or Blue Print from which all the patterns and processes of the Universe are themselves derived and which therefore reflect this in their make up and dynamic. Therefore it is really this Image of God, manifested as an evolving process, which is behind both the Myth Cycle and Human Life Cycle.
The idea that somehow in our lives we reflect something of the divine, is already familiar with a lot of people. It is an often quoted para-phrase from the Bible that we’re all made in the image of God. It is the idea that somehow we in our daily lives and in our ordinary existence, reflect the nature of God. This same notion is expressed in many other ways, for instance the mystical text the Corpus Hermeticum we find the often quoted passage ‘As above so below’. In Taoism there is the Triad symbol which reflects the essential unity between man, Heaven and earth. In the Western occult and Kabbalistic traditions this concept is called ‘correspondence’, which states that for every essential element of the person, there is a correspondent aspect of the divine. Finally in the Upanishads, a revered set of Hindu texts, it states that, ‘As is the human body so is the Cosmic body. As is the human mind so is the Cosmic mind’. So this idea of the human being reflecting the divine is quite universal. What we’re doing is extending the idea somewhat and picturing the transcendent Image of God, as manifested in the human being, not as some static form but rather as a dynamic process evolving in time, which makes up the Human Life Cycle and which in turn is a reflection of the Myth Cycle.
The key difference between the Human Life Cycle and the Hero Quest Myth Cycle
We’ve just discussed that both the mythic hero and the everyday human being are reflections of the Image of God and are partaking of the divine process but does this mean that the Mythic Hero is an everyday human being or that all normal people are Mythic Heroes? We established that many of the aspects of the Mythological Hero Quest seem to have their parallels in lives of ordinary people, when we explored why these myths resonated with some many of us.
However, the difference between the mythic hero and lives of most people is that the goal of the mythic quester is to find the secret of eternal life and become united with God; whereas the goal of most people is to find a partner and have children.
So the difference is between a spiritual prize versus a set of more earthly rewards. So this is the distinction between the journey of the Mythic Hero and that of everyday people. However this separation becomes blurred when we realize that everyday people sometimes take it upon themselves, when the circumstances are in place, to pursue for themselves the Mythic Hero Quest. Even though Hero Quest Myths are invented stories communicating hidden metaphysical truths, they also inspire actual people to undertake the spiritual hero quest in their real lives.
So then the Mythological Hero emerges out of the realm of fantasy into the real world. The Hero Quest Myth has then become not merely a inspiring tale but also a call to action for us to realize our greatest potential as human beings, that is the ultimate goal of spiritual awakening and becoming God. This is perhaps the most important purpose of the Hero Quest Myth and Mythology in general, to orient our minds and lives towards the Transcendent and Divine. They tell us of life’s spiritual dimension and remind us that the ultimate purpose and destination of life is to realize our true nature as God.
However, in modern times there exists a state of affairs which prevents people from seeing the transcendent and hidden meaning behind the Hero Quest Myth. If these Myths a suggestive of the path to the Divine and Union with God, then the problem in the current age is not that people don’t know the way to God but they don’t know that the journey even exists.
In an age dominated by on the one hand Secularism and on the other, Religious Fundamentalism with its literal interpretation of scripture, including Mythology and aversion to mysticism and higher meanings; then the idea of the Hero Quest Myth as allegory for the spiritual journey towards union with God and mystical awakening is lost on most people.
Yet if the mystical idea that Everyone is God can be introduced into mainstream society in a convincing and compelling way, then surely this could revive in people the original purpose of the Hero Quest Myth and unlock its power.
It is as if through the absorbtion of Myth and particularly Modern Myth, by a lot of people of today, a seed has been sown in their minds, lying dormant and awaiting some stimulus that will set into motion the unravelling and fruition of the true meaning of Mythology in the Consciousness of modern minds.
The Myth Cycle and Human Life Cycle both as reflections of the Cosmic Life Cycle of the entire Universe
We can also draw direct parallels between the Myth Cycle and the Cosmic Cycle describing the evolution of the entire Universe. This rests on the assertion that the evolution of the entire Universe in time reflects our notion of an Image of God or Cosmic Template introduced earlier. And also on the assumption that the evolution of the Universe is Cyclical. So as a result both the Myth Cycle and Human Life Cycle will both be reflections of the Cosmic Cycle of the Universe. Indeed the microcosmic would reflect the macrocosmic.
Put another way, what we’re suggesting is that all three cycles the Cosmic Cycle, Myth Cycle and Human Life Cycle are totally correspondent with each other. This is because the Image of God and Cosmic Template is manifested at the scale of the entire Universe as the Cosmic Cycle, and at the same time manifested throughout the Universe in all places, all processes and at all scales of consideration, from the atomic, human, planetary scales to the interstellar, galactic and back to the Cosmic. In this way the Myth Cycles and Human Life Cycles are really instances of the Cosmic Cycle and Divine Image manifested in the lives of human beings, heroic and ordinary.
These are powerful ideas – ‘The Nature of God and Sacred Cosmology’, and ‘The Spiritual Journey’. In elucidating the Nature of God and the notion of the Divine Image is the essential unity and correspondences between the Divine Image, Cosmic Cycle, Myth Cycle and the Human Life Cycle. Also ‘The Nature of God and Sacred Cosmology’, explains the important mystical and mythic idea of the Cosmic Battle.
By showing how this Cosmic Battle is fought out in the minds of individuals, including Mythic Hero Questers, within Society and between Societies and also on inter-planetary, galactic and ultimate Cosmic scale, then this is one of the main underlying processes and recurring themes behind the Worlds Myths.
This is the struggle between Light and Dark or Good and Evil, happening on a personal, societal and also Cosmic level. The Cosmic perspective is described by some of the ancient Cosmogonic or Creation Myths which describe how the World and Universe first come into being through a process of conflict or dialectic. And a recurring theme of these Cosmogonic Myths is the recurring idea of the Universe or World being created from the dismembered body of a sacrificed god.
In the Mythology and Religion of Hinduism in India this idea is well elaborated, where the body of God becomes the Universe followed by a complementary process by which the Universe becomes the Body of God again in an eternally repeating cycle. The ‘Nature of God’ explains the meaning behind this common Mythic theme.
We now move the current discussion to the Modern Myths and explore their relevance, meaning and impact.
Modern Mythology: From Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix and The Dune Trilogy
As already mentioned Joseph Campbell’s ideas about Mythology were quite widely read and significantly one of the people who was heavily influenced by his idea of the Mono-Myth, happened to be the creator of the ground breaking film Star wars. It was George Lucas who conceived, wrote the story for and directed Star wars, “May the Force be with you”. He is fond of mentioning that while he was writing the storyline for the film, he would often refer to the work of Joseph Campbell to make sure he was on track and that there would be close correspondence between the outline of the Mono-Myth and the story behind Star Wars.
So In a definite sense, it can be said that Star Wars is a Modern Myth and faithful rendition of the Mono-Myth. Though set in a technological science fiction context and communicated using the modern medium of film. It is natural therefore that there should be correspondence between the story in the film Star wars and the ancient myth of Odysseus and also the Grail Legends.
Also indeed by the same token, that there should be meaningful correspondence between Star Wars and many of the ancient Hero Quest Myths of the World. What we see therefore is a continuity and equivalence between on the one hand the traditional or classical Myths of old and on the other hand, modern Myths like Star Wars. We can trace a sort of lineage and chain of derivation, whereby scholars like Joseph Campbell distill some of the ideas behind the pre-existent Myths of the World, followed by popularizers such as George Lucas who then bring these ideas in a more accessible form.
This process of borrowing and re-telling was also the way another well known myth, namely The Lord of the Rings Trilogy came into being. Essentially J.R.R Tolkien the originator and writer behind it, set out to create a body of Mythology for a people who didn’t already have one, i.e. The english speaking peoples of the World. He made this clear in an interview. And he did this by extensively borrowing themes and motifs from the Norse Myths and Sagas.
So the Lord of the Rings is really a reworking of existing Mythic ideas in much the same way that the storyline behind the Star Wars movie is.
There are two other influential examples of Modern Mythology i.e. the Matrix movies and also the Dune Trilogy then again we see this same borrowing and re-telling process at work. In these cases we also see some borrowing directly from some of the Worlds major religions. In both cases there is the notion of Prophecies for the coming of an expected one or Messiah. In the Matrix, the main character Neo is the chosen one and prophesized saviour. In the Dune Trilogy, the writer Frank Herbert borrows straight from Islam the term, ‘Mahdi’ or Muslim Messiah.
At the same time this process of borrowing and re-telling is not something peculiar to modern myths but is also part of the process by which many of the ancient Myths were synthesized. For instance we have already mentioned how Homer the writer of the Illiad and Odyssey was influenced by some of the Myths which were known to him such as Gilgamesh.
And the Grail Legends were constantly re-worked and re-retold such that there exist many versions of it to be found all over Europe, with some quite different storylines and inclusion of a variety of different Mythic motifs and themes. In this way Modern Myths shouldn’t be seen as being somehow less because they have borrowed ideas from the ancient Myths, because this has always been part of the process by which Myths have come into being. So in a very real sense people like George Lucas, J.R.R. Tolkien and Frank Herbert are like the modern day Homers of this world and present age.
Indeed, it can be argued that the Modern Myths are far more important than classical Myths such as Odysseus and the Grail Legends because their impact on modern people and the familiarity that most people have with them is far greater than with the Myths of old. In the minds and imagination of a lot of everyday folk today, and especially in the younger generations, Modern Myths like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix and Dune; have a level of influence, relevance and meaning that perhaps in previous ages Myths like Odysseus and the Grail Legends would have had for their respective cultures. So generally speaking, the power of Myth in modern times really derives from the Modern Myths such as those mentioned. But what is the power of Myth? What is their influence on modern society and might be their effect on the greater scheme of things?
As within, so without.
The search for enlightenment is the removal of the shadow subpersonalities, the purification and integration of the mind so that it becomes One Soul infused personality.
The paths towards this are many and there are many stones on the paths, so how to find the paths which work? How to discard the false paths strewn by the dark side? How to find the speediest paths which come to fruition in the shortest possible time? How to choose a path with the greatest possible success rate?
Gurdjieff summed it up in his advice to Ouspensky in, “The Fourth Way”, To move elements from one state of being into a higher state of being you need energy from an external source, Me!!
Always, in every Myth you need a source of ultimate evil, necessary as the perfect enemy to draw out the Enlightenment from the Hero, necessary to destroy that Evil and to make the World a better place.
Why do they tell us stories Daddy?, “I guess they just don’t want to scare you!”
Take the brothers Grimm Myths for example “You have these children, there is a famine, Mother in law says “Go!” they leave, get captured by a witch. She puts them in the oven to cook them!!
How could anyone believe this?
Yet two weeks after food is taken away, most people turn into cannibals..
The Evil Sith Emperor in Star Wars with his mind-controlled Clone Army wants to destroy all the Jedi Knights and rule the Empire forever.
Sauron, servant of Morgoth, who lives outside the body and searches for a way to re-incarnate so as to destroy all races and rule a Planet of tortured and degenerated Elves called Orcs, forever.
Tolkien when asked if his Lord of the Rings was allegory said, “I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history – true or feigned– with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author.”
Not allegory.. Applicable..
On this Planet Homosexual Black Magician Hitler wanted to destroy the Jewish Race and everyone who opposed him, Unpersoned Priests, Rabbis, Communists, Homosexuals, Intellectuals, and rule a Fascist Arian Race Thousand Year, SS Surveillance State, Book Burning Censorship, Reich. Millions of people burned alive in concentration camps like Auschwitz, each of the five camps being at the tip of a Satanic Pentagram!
Who could believe it?
Applicable..
THE FIGHT AGAINST ABSOLUTE EVIL
GANDALF THE WHITE VS THE WITCH KING OF ANGMAR
The Power of Modern Mythology
The power of Myth is multi-faceted and exists in various aspects some subtle and some quite direct. On a simple and direct level Myths entertain and excite, i.e. they serve as stimulating stories and gripping yarns. On a slightly higher level Myths can inspire. They can instill in people a sense of idealism, selflessness and even heroism. Especially in children and young people, Mythic Heroes can serve as role models or exemplars. It is probably not an uncommon phenomenon whereby impressionable young people have imagined themselves as Mythic Heroes after exposure to Myths and in particular Modern Myths.
It has probably been fairly common for certain people to have identified with some of the characters of Modern Myth, perhaps Luke Skywalker of Star Wars, one of the Heroes from the Lord of the Rings or perhaps Neo from the Matrix. But then this has always been the effect of Mythology. People have always been inspired powerfully by Mythology for better or worse. To give two examples of famous historical figures who were driven by the Mythic imagination, for instance we know that Alexander the Great was heavily influenced by the Illiad/Odysseus myth. The infamous and perhaps not so great Adolf Hitler was much inspired by the Grail Legends and the story of Parsifal.
Another aspect of the power of Myth is that they can give people an attention grabbing and immediately accessible introduction to transcendent and mystical ideas. And as such they can serve as doorways into spiritual realms.
This was a side of Myth discussed when we proposed that the Hero Quest Myth can be seen as an allegory for the spiritual journey. And that the goal of the Quest Myth, for instance the Holy Grail or Princess can be seen as symbolizing the ultimate spiritual goal of unification with God or mystical awakening and realizing God Consciousness. In this way Myths can serve as pointers to the inner mysteries and esoteric truths behind the Worlds Religions and their respective mystical traditions such as Kabbalah in Judaism, Sufism in Islam and Christian Gnosticism.
There is another way that Myths and in particular Modern Myths are very relevant and powerful with respect to what happening in the World today. And this derives from their relationship to the Prophecies contained in the just about all of the World’s major religions and great spiritual traditions. The idea that the Prophecies are Now, that is the events and circumstances described in the Prophecies found in the World’s Religion correspond to and are describing the issues of the age and aspects of the World today, entitled, ‘The Prophecies are Now’.
What we could like to do now is to make a powerful and highly consequential assertion; This is the idea that there is a very deep connection between on the one hand, the ideas and themes behind Mythology; and on the other hand, the ideas and themes behind the Prophecies contained in the World’s religions.
If there is a Mythic Archetype which is a distillation of the basic themes and storylines common to all or most Myths then the same idea holds true for the Prophecies contained in the different religions of the World. That is we can describe a Prophetic Archetype which likewise distills the common storyline and themes behind all the different Prophetic sources. What we propose is that the Mythic Archetype and the Prophetic Archetype are really two views on the same underlying truth and that they are essentially equivalent. The Prophetic archetype can also be called the Apocalyptic archetype.
Apocalypse is a word that is often associated with prophecies of the end times or the end of the age and one which has strong associations with disaster and calamity. However the word Apocalypse, as literally translated from Greek, means something along the lines of, ‘The unveiling of the hidden thing’.
Apocalypse was also the word used by those involved in the Mystery Religions of Ancient Greece to describe the state of Union of Mystical Union with God. So Apocalypse really describes a revelation, which can be personal or one given to an entire society. So the word Apocalypse doesn’t necessary imply a lot of negative happenings though disaster and malaise is a part of the generic prophetic storyline. With this more positive meaning of the word Apocalypse in mind, we’ll be later on using the expression Apocalyptic archetype. This is in place of the equivalent expression Prophetic archetype, they mean exactly the same thing.
What we’ll do next is to explore some of the parallels between the Mythic archetype and the Apocalyptic archetype and further support the notion that there is a common truth underlying both. i.e. that the Apocalyptic archetype and therefore the Prophecies of World Religion are really also expressions of the Mythic archetype and the predicted or prophesized manifestion of the central themes of Mythology in the real life and the real World.
Mythology is like Prophecy. The Prophecies are Now and so Mythology is also like Reality
The important thing for us to consider is the relationship between Modern Mythology, which is most relevant to the modern mind, and the Prophecies of World Religion, which have a strong correspondence with the circumstances of modern times. What we are saying is that the essential storyline of all the major Modern Myths and the generic description for the unfolding of events during the end times prophesized, which are common to all the various Religions and which make up the Apocalypse archetype; are really directly correspondent with each other.
In other words both the Modern Myths and the Prophecies of the World’s Religions are really telling the same underlying story. And because the Prophecies are really talking about present times and World in which we live today, then we can find very meaningful correspondences between on the one hand, Modern Mythology and the Prophecies, and on the other hand, the events and circumstances of the real World. If Myths exist as transcendent archetypes, or as the famous quote mentioned earlier states that, ‘Myths are things which never happened but always are’. Then what this means is that even though the fantastical and phantasmagoric details of Mythology will never manifest in reality and neither should they be expected to. Yet nonetheless the less superficial aspects of Mythology, that is the key themes and essential story behind them, do happen and become manifested in the actuality of the real World.
This is a world on the brink of calamity and disaster. Truly like no time before in human history, the planet as a whole is in a state of peril. The Ecological, Environmental, Google Social Score Unpersoning where Worldwide the faces, their voices, their videos, their very names are erased from the internet, they are not allowed to buy travel tickets, their bank accounts are cancelled, they are not allowed to buy or sell, mark of the beast, Smartphone Surveillance and Censorship systems are in a state of such stress and perturbation that the very future of civilization as we know it is being threatened.
So for instance the idea of a struggle between opposing forces of Good and Evil and the determination of the future of a World or Civilization, which is behind the story lines of Star Wars, Dune, The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix; has a lot of resonance with actual situation of the World today and the problems we face, i.e. The Ecological, Environmental, Social Score, Surveillance and Censorship systems are in a state of such stress and perturbation that the very future of civilization as we know it is being threatened, together with all the Political problems of encroaching Tyranny, Oppression and Injustice, coupled with the Spiritual and Religious problems of the age.
But then this is also exactly what the Prophecies from the Religions of the World are generally talking about, i.e. a time of spiritual darkness, calamity and great peril culminating in a great struggle between dark and light, where the forces of evil are destroyed, the planet is saved and where a better World emerges from the old. Which is also what’s behind the Modern Myths we have already mentioned.
Therefore the Modern Myths have served as introductions to the Prophecies of World Religion. A lot of modern people will have had no interest in any of the World’s Religions and would be completely unfamiliar with the Prophecies contained within them and described in their respective scriptures.
However many of these same people, particularly the younger ones, will be quite familiar with the storylines of the Modern Myths and so in this indirect but accessible way the key ideas of the Prophecies will have already been introduced to them. This is true even though they most people probably would never have made a connection between Modern Mythology on the one hand and on the other, either the Prophecies or the circumstances and events of modern day reality.
This is another way that Modern Mythology is powerful, in that it is preparing people for what is about to happen and has seeded in people’s minds possible roles that they might be playing in the drama of the unfolding of the Prophecies that is about to occur and whereby the boundaries between Mythic imagination and Reality will become increasingly unapparent.
So if the common themes behind Mythology can be distilled into a Mythological archetype, and if the same can be done for the common themes described in the Prophecies of Worlds major Religions to extract an Apocalyptic archetype; then to reiterate what we are essentially saying is that the Mythological archetype and Apocalyptic archetype are really different views on the same thing. Therefore it is not surprising that we should detect strong parallels between the various Mythic and Prophetic storylines.
In ‘The Nature of God and Sacred Cosmology’, we explain why this should be the case. Next, we’ll explore another important parallel that exists between Mythology and Prophecy and which concerns the idea of a central protagonist behind both the Mythic storyline and also the process of the unfolding of the Prophecies or Apocalypse.
The Mythic Hero as Messiah and Expected One
Earlier we mentioned than the creator of Dune, Frank Herbert, borrowed directly from the Prophecies of Islam and also that the idea of an expected prophesized Chosen One, Christ or World Saviour is central to the Matrix movies. In these instances we are seeing a more direct transfer of ideas found in the Prophecies to modern people through the medium of Modern Myth.
Here what we are seeing is the direct communication of the Messiah or World Saviour theme which is common to all the Prophecies contained in the Worlds Religions. In both the Dune and Matrix Myths we have situations where the central character and Mythic Hero of these respective Modern Myths, is also a prophesised chosen one, whose emergence in the mythic storyline had already been expected based on prophetic predictions. This would be exactly correspondent with the actual prophecies of this world and its major religions.
And also just as in the Prophecies of the real world, the respective Messianic characters in the Modern Myths of the Matrix and Dune are also the critical agents involved in the realization a benign outcome or happy ending to these tales.
That is the defeat of dark and oppressive tyrannical powers, the saving and/or renewal of a World and the creation of a better, happier, more just society. In the Matrix myth at the end, the hero Neo representing the Christ, saves two worlds, the virtual world of the Matrix and the human community of Zion by defeating a character called Agent Smith representing Satan.
And from this a new and ideal circumstance comes into being. In the Dune story, the main character Paul Atreides becomes the Mahdi and prophesized one, “He is the Quisatz Haderach!” defeating an evil and exploitative incumbent power structure and turns an arid hostile desert planet into one that is lush, fertile and fully hospitable to comfortable habitation. Also an oppressed people are made free and a more just new order comes into being.
At the same time, what have just described for the Matrix and Dune myths can also equally apply to the other two best known modern myths, i.e. Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings. Though they don’t explicitly mention Prophecies or the concept of an Expected or Chosen One, nonetheless the storylines are very correspondent with our other two Modern Myths which do. The Jedi Knights have psychic powers they gain from the Force, “May the Force be with you!” an allegory to the energy of God which is an applicable reality for those who practise meditation.
Lucas understands how real this is by naming the Evil Satanic opposition, the Sith. Turn Sith around and you have, “This” – The Lords of “This” reality.
So that the main characters of Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings play the same roles as that of the main protagonists in Matrix and Dune. And likewise they involve the defeat of evil tyrannical powers and the creation of a better world, or in the case of Star Wars a better Galaxy.
As already stated, this is also what is described by the actual prophecies of the Worlds Religions where the Expected One, i.e. whether the Messiah of Judaism, the Second Coming of Christ, the Mahdi of Islam, the Maitreya of Buddhism and Saoshyant of Zoroastrianism etc. plays respective roles which are very correspondent to that played by the main characters of the best known Modern Myths. But instead of bringing about the happy ending of the Modern Myths, the Expected One of World Religion is predicted or prophesized to be critical in bringing about a happy conclusion to the Problems of this World and in addressing the major concerns of the human condition.
So therefore if we can draw parallels between Modern Mythology and the Prophecies of Religion, we can furthermore also draw parallels between the Mythic Hero and the Expected One of the World’s great spiritual traditions. In effect, another purpose which Modern Myth has served, as well as introducing people to the general circumstances and events of the Prophecies, is that they have introduced to modern people what is behind the idea of the Expected One associated with the prophecies and who like the Mythic Hero is the critical agent of spiritual and/or cultural renewal and of societal and/or World transformation.
So we’ve established and highlighted the deep connections that exist between Mythology and especially the Modern Myths on the one hand, and on the other hand the Prophecies of the Worlds Religions together with the Apocalypse archetype that is common to them. Due to the close correspondence between the Apocalypse Archetype and the Mythic Archetype, Apocalyptic Mass Movements could easily be interpreted as also being a discussion about Mythic Mass Movements.
Summary and Conclusion
In our examination of Mythology we have explored a variety of facets of Myth and considered some related topics which help us understand what is their higher meaning and true purpose. The main overall idea of what is Mythology, is that they are stories which in symbolic form have encoded in them some of the answers to the great philosophical and religious questions that people have come up with through the ages.
Myths point people in the direction that ancient organisations which have been in existence for thousands of years are continuously fighting to enslave humanity and that this is not just a story told to children, This is real!!
Myths say, more is possible from each individual – enlightenment, and that more is possible from the world – the destruction of tyranny, and that each generation, each age, is an internal and external fight for freedom and liberty.
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Thomas Jefferson
Myths are applicable allegories which deal with a variety of the most important questions in life and therefore often touch heavily upon spiritual and mystical topics. In fact they really talk about the same sort of things that we are concerned with. So by discussing some of the major aspects of the meaning of Myth, we also in effect provide an opening discussion to a lot of the themes. The two main themes are reflected in, ‘Everyone is God and the Prophecies are Now’; are strongly related to core Mythic themes that occur repeatedly in World Mythology both ancient and modern.
That is the idea of the Hero Quest for some transcendent higher goal and the recurring storyline of a struggle to save and spiritual renew some society that is in a state of malaise or facing some impending major calamity.
What we have proposed is that this Hero Quest will generally be allegory for the spiritual journey leading towards the goal of Union with God and Mystical Awakening to our true nature.
Also by showing the correspondences and parallels between the predictions of the Prophecies of the Worlds Religions and some typical Mythic storylines; then we showed how the absorbtion of these Mythic storylines will also have the effect of communicating to people what is the basic storyline behind the Prophecies and their unfolding.
We showed how this is especially true for the Modern Myths such as Star Wars, Dune, The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings, which not only faithfully communicate the Mythic archetype and Mono-Myth but also the main ideas behind the Prophetic or Apocalypse archetype. Therefore there is a deep and tight relationship between what is behind Mythology and the idea that Everyone is God and the notion that the Prophecies are now.
In an accessible way, Mythology really prepares people for these sorts of Mystical and Religious ideas and which has always been one of their purposes. In that they serve as Outer Mysteries serving as applicable, allegorical and symbolic pointers towards the Inner or Esoteric Mysteries of Religion.
Something we also discussed is the direct relevance of Mythology to modern times and also the connection between Mythology and Prophecy. We suggested that if there exists a Mythic archetype and a corresponding Prophetic archetype, then these two notions are essentially equivalent and different perspectives on the same underlying truth. Also we presented the idea that in the same way that the Prophecies are Now and that the general circumstances of the World and issues of the age correspond to the descriptions given by the Prophecies; so it is that the same is true for Mythology and in particular the Modern Myths.
So as a result we are able to find meaning correspondences with some of the things which define the present age, i.e. a planet in peril, corrupt satanic power structures, a state of transition and feelings of uncertainty and impending calamity, with aspects of the Mythic storyline.
So it is as if the Mythic archetype is manifesting itself in reality and the events of the real World. We also discussed the parallels between the Mythic Hero of Mythology and the Expected One or Messiah of the Prophecies and proposed that the two concepts are very correspondent with each other.
Everyone is a Hero. The Expected One or Messiah of the Prophecies is You!
But you need to get trained up!
So in conclusion Myths though far removed from everyday life are really about real lives and their settings though fantastical are a mirror of the real world. And vice versa the real world can seem Myth-like. Indeed the boundaries between Myth and real life are indefinite and in the lives of certain people, these two realms merge together. Furthermore at certain times during human history and in certain places in this world, events and circumstances come into being that are very much like the storylines from Mythology.
These are times of transition, conflict and upheaval which necessitate the quest for some spiritual revelation or change of political organization that will allow the societies caught up in these periods to adapt, survive and grow. I believe that everytime in which we live today and the world we find ourselves in are exactly equivalent to those conditions found in some of the epic Hero Quest Myths and also particularly in the storylines of the best known Modern Myths. These are exactly the circumstances that precipitate the beginning of the Myth Cycle and the undertaking of the Mythic Hero Quest in the first place.
This is a world on the brink of calamity and disaster. Truly like no time before in human history, the planet as a whole is in a state of peril. The Ecological, Environmental, Social Score, Surveillance and Censorship systems are in a state of such stress and perturbation that the very future of civilization as we know it is being threatened.
All the while the myriad and seemly intractable conflicts of this world are diverting our focus away from these global problems, making any attempts at their solution much harder and next to impossible. On a worldwide scale, in mythic terms Camelot is in disarray. The equilibrium of the mythic palace or village has been upset and the Myth Cycle has come into play.
“Whenever dharma declines and the purpose of life is forgotten, I manifest myself on earth. I am born in every age to protect the good, to destroy evil, and to reestablish Dharma.” – Krishna, The Bhagavad Gita
DHARMA IS THE PATH OF THE SOUL.
KRISHNA IS YOUR SOUL
So in the real world there is a feeling of unease that things are not right. There exists today that unless there is some drastic intervention or some new, significant and benign agency, then humanity will inevitably continue to get closer to the abyss and eventually fall in.
It is in these times of crisis that Mythology and the Hero Quest Myths plays another role. That is they serve the purpose of acting as a call to action and for people to take on the role of the mythic hero. I believe that modern myths such as the original Star Wars – “may the Force be with you”, Lord of the Rings, The Dune Trilogy and the Matrix films can act as a powerful catalyst and have prepared a lot of modern people to take on the role of the mythological hero in real life.
For these tales can help to inspire people toward the selfless and heroic. There is an unconscious suggestion in these epic stories for people to take it upon themselves to save the World. By including pointers to the transcendent, they allude to the spiritual and point people towards the mystery that is God. Thereby mythology precipitates and makes sense of our quest for mystical awakening, helps in the process of spiritual renewal and inspires the struggle to save the Planet.
The key to self development is preparation. As we take up the burden we know that intellectual knowledge is no help in the fight against Evil. The Academic, Military, Industrial Complex is stuffed with Evil geniuses.
What is needed is talents who through trial and tribulation have removed their subpersonalities and become more One, more Soul infused. Giants of mythical proportion who in every age seize leadership in times of trouble, defeat Evil, and make this world a better place.
Energy Enhancement amongst All the traditional and newer Spiritual Technologies is the only one which talks about the major problems of Spiritual Development and yet provides the Techniques to overcome them. More it provides student reports from it’s courses which detail the incredibly successful strides taken by the students in their Spiritual Development.
The problems of evil subpersonalities, energy blockages, Trauma and Past Life Trauma, the aim of becoming One Soul Infused Personality in complete alignment with the, “Force”.
A Jedi Knight, an Enlightened person directed by the Soul.
“The ignorant work for their own profit, Arjuna; the wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought for themselves.” – Krishna, the Soul, Bhagavad Gita
Only such people can have the Goodness and Single Minded Willpower to “Make a Difference” to overcome inner and outer Evil.