PANTHEON INTRODUCTION




The Concept of Archetypes
Perceiving Archetypes in Daily Living
Archetypes as a Method of Self-Analysis
The Value of the Greek Pantheon
Relationships of Archetypes to Tarot and Astrology
The Four Levels of Experience
Archetypes as a Means of Self-Realization
Practical Techniques for Finding & Realizing the Gods Within
Pathworking  with Godforms
Mythical Living: Metaphorical Perception of Experience

THE CONCEPT OF ARCHETYPES
The work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961) has become of greater and greater interest to the general public.  His works or their summaries are part of almost every seeker's list of books to read.  The growing interest in Jungian Psychology (or Depth Psychology) stems from the fact that it answers the needs of many people as a means for relating to "internal" as well as "external" reality.  These people are seeking a fuller understanding of the meaning of life in such areas as dreams, fantasy, compulsive behaviors, and self-exploration or spiritual enrichment.
The main focus of Jung's work stressed the search for meaning and the development of  individuation, psychological wholeness, or integrity of the personality.  Jungian therapy opened the door to the collective unconscious for many, not only to their subconscious desires and motivations but also to their higher spiritual aspirations and potentials.
Jungian psychology describes the meaning of symbols and events on the spiritual quest for self-actualization in non-religious terms.  It is extremely useful for self-analysis.  By gaining a working knowledge of the temperaments of our various facets and how they interrelate, an integration or synthesis of personality becomes possible.  This results in high well-being and increased creativity.
In practical terms, Jungian therapy includes developing awareness of internal guiding principles, or archetypes.  You don't need a personal therapist to discover these archetypes within.  We can discover them ourselves if we know what to look for during periods of reflection or introspection.  Knowing the patterns, they can strike us directly when we catch ourselves in the act of watching them act through us.
An archetype is an innate, or in-born pattern, part of our hardwiring, which functions as the underlying matrix behind any event.  They are not necessarily transmitted through our genes, but they are fundamental to our method of perceiving nature, God, and man.  They are the very substance of our experience of life.  They act like filters or lenses for our perception.
Archetypes may be seen as embodiments of specific functions, and their characteristic patterns may be personified by giving each a name.  In this way, we can learn to recognize archetypes when they appear in our lives affecting styles of behavior, thought, emotions, attitudes, and dress.  By personification, identifying and naming them, we can take up a meaningful relationship with these characters of our internal world.  We gain the option of holding imaginal discussions with them about their attitudes, desires, and opinions.
The Jungian perspective sees the human perception of "reality" as originating in a projection from an internal motivating factor (or archetype) onto our environment.  Since we do not perceive the universe of experience directly, but through the filters of our senses, we experience archetypes through sight, touch, taste, smell, and sounds, and the metaphorical equivalent of these senses in our imaginal life.
They also appear in human typology, and the various functions of feeling, sensation, intuition, and thinking.  Because of their nature's we are introverted or extroverted, thinkers or feelers, knowers or doers.  They are constantly maneuvering our human lives as if we were puppets.  In the ancient past, when these powers of the archetypes over the human will were intensely dramatic, or negative, this phenomenon was termed "possession," and it could be demonic or spiritual in nature.
On a more common level, archetypes are constantly affecting our value judgments, priorities, emotional relationships, work situations, and daily life responses in the physical world in an unconscious way.  Sometimes these appearances of archetypal patterns are appropriate, in tune with conscious goals; but sometimes the archetypes seem to have a goal of their own, independent of (and perhaps self-destructive to) our personalistic ego desires.  "They" don't seem to know or care what we want.  How can we be self-directing when their influence is capricious and subconscious?
Civilization is largely the result of mankind's conscious understanding and taming of  primitive instinctual forces of the archetypes.  With fewer and fewer "taboos" to control our society, we need to understand our own emotional upheavals so that we aren't overwhelmed by them.  We can evolve to an understanding of our subtle and not-so-subtle inner urges, in which case they cease to compel us and begin to work on our behalf.  Thus, we can grow out of counterproductive behaviors into the ability to actualize our higher goals.
It is these underlying matrix patterns within the psyche which produce the outer behavior.  When we can see that archetypes are motivating factors, it is also possible to intuit how a knowledge of their particular characteristics cold be useful in understanding the complexities of life.
But, are these gods and goddesses real in the objective sense?  Can they really manipulate our behavior so subtly without us noticing them?  According to Jung this is true, and we all share this condition.  Even those trained in these areas maintain psychological "blind spots" where we fail to see the archetypes moving us.
Jung saw man, not as an isolated individual, but as being linked with the whole of mankind (and mankind's abilities) through the collective unconscious.  This unconscious manifests in the multiple forms of gods and goddesses.  These figures take different, though analogous forms in the various mythologies of the world's cultures.
Thus the goddesses Isis (Egyptian), Artemis (Greek), and Diana (Roman) all share a common essence and use the same lunar symbolism.  The same generic form is also behind the Catholic's Blessed Virgin Mary, and all are derived from the theme of Celestial Queen.
These forms, or archetypes, should not be thought of as nouns (things), but rather as semantic metaphors.  They represent powers or qualities, but when we personify them it is "as if" we take up a relationship with another entity.  They assume an anthropomorphic form in imagination in order to make a dialogue easier.  This dialogical exchange is just a variation of the I-Thou communications of mysticism.
Archetypes represent an "as if" reality.  Therefore, it is "as if" archetypes compel our behavior until we develop this conscious relationship with them.  They are constantly calling to us in psychosomatic disorders, through our emotions, in the bedroom or in the boardroom.  They fill us with aspirations, drives, and repulsion, influencing -- even dictating -- what we think, feel, and do.
We like to believe that we have free will -- that we are independent mature adults, but in effect it "as if" we repeatedly act our these eternal patterns or stories, over and over.  They create our attachments, or destroy our relationships on a whim, taking over the human aspects our existence, our personality.  We may each have our personal histories, but we draw from the common repertoire of archetypal dramas.  These themes are chronically repeated every day, oftentimes though we wish we have no part in them.
Each archetype has a group of correspondences (symbols or imagery, moods, etc.) or characteristics which define its appearance and are recurrent.  The relationships of eternal archetypes with one another and to individual mortals are related in various myths, and appear in all the cultures of the world with certain consistent elements.
In the past, these archetypes were recognized as coming from a divine origin so they were worshipped as gods or goddesses.  We "worship" them today when we turn or fixate our attention on aspects of their archetypal embodiment and their effects on us and our behavior.  These eternal, recurring patterns -- forces of nature -- exemplify primordial, or fundamental patterns of existence.  They appear nightly in our dreams, often disguised in modern dress.
The personal experience of archetypal energies or dynamics is radically different from mere intellectual conceptions of them.  This requires a conscious interaction with the subconscious which may be done through active imagination.  Remember, we each contain all of the gods and goddesses, in potential at least.  As we come to understand ourselves, the entire "cast of characters" will appear before our conscious perspective.  If we bother to try observing, we will see them playing out their cyclic dramas in ourselves, our friends and family.
When we realized how they are coming into our daily lives, we realize them within ourselves, and this personal discovery adds another dimension to the experience of life.  It also helps us realize when a former guiding myth is no longer an ally and a new emergent story wants to coming into realization.  The result is that we find meaning when we are living the myth of the "wounded healer," "jilted lover," or "captain of industry."
These typical social roles all have an archetypal core at the heart of their complex of symbols, forms and behaviors. When possessed by the divine forces of life we are more than mere stereotypes.  We consciously enter the sacred dimension of daily life, and become permeated with spiritual energy.  This consciousness leads toward greater psychological sophistication and self-awareness, and greater liberty from otherwise subconscious and automatic themes.  We can now choose to play an active role in the drama that is our life, creating a new self image.
Archetypes underlie our occupations and preoccupation's in life.  This does not only mean those tasks for which we are paid, but the latent and actualized tendencies that lie within us all.  We can go through major life changes when a different archetypes seizes us within.  We might change lovers, jobs, or locales, not to mention attitudes and goals.
Sometimes these changes are 180 degree turn-arounds.  A vocation differs from a job in that there is an "inner calling" to a particular type of work.  Archetypes are the motivation behind our feelings of belonging or "a sense of destiny."  This "calling" comes from the god which is the core underlying the expression.  In this regard, form follows function.  The archetype enters the material world through its characteristics patterns, symbols, and behaviors -- it's correspondences.
For example, a blue-collar worker who wins a million dollars in a lottery may remain in his same social and employment position.  But the money may allow him to pursue a "road not taken."  He might, for example, return to college for further training and become a managerial-type.  he might even change political parties, and social circles.  Given the resources to actualize a different potential, he switched archetypal dominants in the meantime.  He changed from the blue-collar theme of Hephaistos to the white-collared Zeus, with the fateful appearance of Hermes, luck of the gambler and lord of boundaries who led him from one state to another.
Archetypes are the emotional and aesthetic vocabulary of the subconscious.  They affect our personal style, the way we dress, the image we project, the colors we like, our mannerisms and lifestyles.  And we are not limited to one.  For example, a person who seems introverted or reflective, dresses mostly in blues and beiges, and lives alone would be strongly lunar in character, whether male of female.  The dominant archetype here is likely the virginal aspect of Artemis (or perhaps homebody Hestia), especially if the individual is spiritual or deeply religious.  On the other hand, an aggressive, bellicose individual who enjoys the military life or style could be seen as living under the dominion of Ares or Mars.  Their color would be red; their style "spit shined" or detailed..
Do we present ourselves to the world as a radical punk, a conservative three-piece suit type, a redneck, scholar, an erotic fantasy, California 'laid back,' a go-getter entrepreneur, corporate clone, geek, salt of the earth, new age 'bliss bunny'?  Each is its own archetype motivated by a certain godform.  But, we are many of those archetypes at different times or different phases of life.  We are versatile as individuals and may display many facets.
We can learn how to perceive archetypes in daily living, use the model of archetypes as a method of self-analysis and understanding, learn the relative values of the various pantheons, the relationship of archetypes to the tarot and astrology, the four levels of experience (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual).  Archetypes can be a means of Self-Realization, revealing what was previously hidden or unknown.  There are practical techniques for finding and realizing the gods within.  Mythical living helps reveal our personal mythology and helps us discover our inner story.  It combines creative imagination with a mythical perspective on life.
 
Next: Perceiving Archetypes in Daily Living

Excerpt from PANTHEON: ARCHETYPAL GODS IN DAILY LIVING, Iona Miller and Richard Miller, OAK, 1988.

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Intro 2: Archetypes in Daily Living
PERCEIVING ARCHETYPES IN DAILY LIVING
Knowledge of the various archetypal forms helps the ego determine what in life is personal and human, and what is compulsive acting-out of ancient divine patterns, which are instinctual in nature.  The more we approach our individual wholeness, the more likely we are to encounter these divine principles from the field of archetypal experiences.  They are unavoidable, whether we are totally unconscious of them, or not.
We begin to see archetypal forces operating under their own laws in various phases of human life and endeavors.  They influence us on personal, social, and national levels.  They come in the ever-changing guises of phobias Irrational fears), prejudices, complexes (interference by an archetype or group of archetypes with the conscious personality), and our runaway ego-trips.  They play through our culture in art, literature, and the movies we so frequently view and in the stories we love.
When seen objectively in stories, we can identify with or despise them, but when their effects are subjective, we are entirely "carried away," "beside ourselves".  Sometimes, we choose them to feel special and create drama in our otherwise listless lives  - we mistake them for love, for destiny, for the voice of God, for supernatural "signs" in an unenlightened, even superstitious manner.  They lie behind religiosity, pathology, and romantic vs. mature love.
Archetypes also lie behind fascinations, crusades, and enchantments of individuals and nations.  They produce the phenomena of "love at first sight" and create fads and set trends or styles in the recreation and fashion worlds.  They can be contagious as in the case of cults, or political and religious movements.  The great attraction of sports is also archetypal in nature.
People will go to war and fight to the death an fanatical "true believers" to defend some political or religious principle.  The belief system is influenced by the myth behind it.  Charismatic leaders capture the projections of leadership through expressing the subconscious desires of the crown, or herd consciousness (like Adolph Hitler or Jim Jones).  Activation of these archetypal powers opens the door for both good and evil, and creates an arena for the emergence of ethics and morals.
Ultimately, though self-awareness is a personal matter we should all tackle individually.  Self-knowledge benefits society as a by-product of creating transformed individuals who can "make a difference."
Archetypes also account for the "mysteries" of life.  They are behind the fascination with the great unknown.  Expressions of this sense of awe, wonder, or mystery pervade such phenomena as ESP, psychic healing, Bigfoot, the Occult, the UFO controversy, etc.
Culturally modified archetypes are behind the modern drive to discover your "roots."  These roots are probably physical in that they reflect your genetic heritage.  But for some, they are psychological roots, drawn from patterns with which one feels kinship or relatedness.  Whatever our belief system, from scientific to religious, rest assured there are a group of archetypal forces behind them.
When we consciously relate to archetypes, they begin to have a personal context, or meaningful place in our lives.  This enlarges our ability to experience the transpersonal dimension of the psyche, or soul.  By personification, we come to know the qualities and manifestations of the ods in "digestible chunks."  We learn more deeply about them on ever-increasing octaves of experience.  psychic energy (libido) may, therefore, be thought of as quantized (discreet packages).
We can begin to see Hermes, Athena, Zeus and Themis operating in our lives, even if we can't fully understand the reality they represent in its totality.  We can be aware of its effect in our personal domain.  In this perspective, the essential focus on "reality" occurs where inner material is being projected from the unconscious into your environment.  This affects your work, relationships, as well as your spiritual transformation or process of changing to become what you aspire toward.
The deep mind manifests through these archetypal patterns, personified as gods and goddesses, communicating messages to the conscious ind.  with an awareness of how these patterns recur, it is possible to influence your destiny.  Many of us are somewhat self-defeating or even self-destructive.  We could all benefit by understand these driving archetypal processes, which takes us beyond the normal boundaries of self and society.  We suffer from our attenuated version of the archetype.
When you are out of proper relationship to the archetypes you can become "dominated" by them, to the detriment of your life goals and personality choices.  They take over and live life through us, in a parasitic fashion when we are not aware of the growth of their agendas within us.  When identified, we think these stereotypical thoughts are our thoughts, these feelings our own, this behavior our choice.
It is possible to learn to actively balance exaggerated dominance by any form through applied Creative Imagination.  The basic myth themes represent all kinds of life situations, including realities of outer and inner experiences.  If the personality is too one-sided, it is possible to revise it by consciously developing the qualities represented  by complementary god-forms.  This balances the personality and enriches life.
 
Next: Archetypes as a Method of Self-Analysis and Self-Help

Excerpt from PANTHEON: ARCHETYPAL GODS IN DAILY LIVING, Iona Miller and Richard Miller, OAK, 1988.

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Intro 3:
 
ARCHETYPES AS A METHOD OF SELF-ANALYSIS & SELF-HELP
Self actualization has to do with high functioning in both the outer and inner worlds of our lives.  We can be successful in social and professional life and still be psychologically naive, without a conscious connection to our inner life.  Having integrated ourselves into the outer world we can enter our inner world by examining our relationships with the archetypes.  Archetypes can't always be subjected to intellectual analysis since they can be elusive.
Direct experiential contact is much more important than analysis. This comes by noticing the archetypal patterns in dynamic motion, or deliberately setting aside time for Active Imagination or perhaps journal work.  A conceptual understanding of the range of archetypal manifestations is a useful tool, which we acquire through study, reflection, and application of knowledge. When we notice a pattern in motion in our lives, we can amplify our awareness, tune in on the issue the archetype is highlighting, and discover our feelings consciously related to that dynamic.
Archetypes represent a paradoxical synthesis of opposites and are therefore neither "good" nor "bad" as a prognosis on one's psychological condition.  What is desirable is the experience of archetypes consciously, not any certain archetypes over others.  Each archetype has its values and drawbacks, strengths and weaknesses, conflicts and harmonies.  We seek to know the range of archetypes which are within us when we enter the inner adventure -- the hero's or heroine's journey of self-discovery in "foreign countries" -- the unconscious.  In this manner we gain in humanity, versatility, wholeness.
Ultimately, the archetypes appear to synthesize together in the grand reconciling figures of the higher Self, which represents our wholeness or illumination.  The inner guiding principle of the Self manifests to the conscious mind as the various archetypal forces with their eternal myth-themes or life-patterns.
We know directly when we have been touched by an archetype whenever we experience an exaggerated, irrational, over-emotional reaction.  When we seem "out of control" it is because we are taken over by the dominating power of the archetype and are temporarily its slave.  This affords us the opportunity to discover a layer of ourselves--that which watches this process impassively and objectively -- The Witness.
Self-analysis gentles some of the fury of the unbound self of the subconscious by developing understanding between conscious and subconscious drives, between the archetypal agenda and the simple human needs of the human personality.  Our behavior can only become purposeful and coherent when inner and other goals harmonize.  If we turn our attention inward to the archetypes and consider them valuable, they become our allies or guides.
If we watch ourselves continually for those moments when conscious control breaks down, we get insight into the realm of the gods, as well as our shadow, anima/animus, and Self.  Watch what creates enthusiasm, anger or depression in yourself and others.  Try to peer through to the god-form at the core of symptoms and situations.  In this manner we can learn to relate to the play of events from a dispassionate perspective, mellowing over-reactive instinctual tendencies.
We can either be ruled by the archetypes, ridden roughshod, or learn to govern along with them by cooperating with the trends revealed by the psyche, and willingly exploring those spaces.  Eventually, the archetypal figures which began as an arcane concept and seemed like strangers will become your constant companions and valued friends and advisors.  Some may remain closer to you than others, but all will lie within your spectrum of acquaintance.  A sense of inner self-assurance develops and an inner world every bit as enticing as the physical becomes yours.
 
 
Next: The Value of the Greek Pantheon

Excerpt from PANTHEON: ARCHETYPAL GODS IN DAILY LIVING, Iona Miller and Richard Miller, OAK, 1988.

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Intro. 4 THE VALUE OF THE GREEK PANTHEON

Western cultural patterns and scientific thinking have their roots in early Greek philosophy.  Even today, a knowledge of Greek myth is included in all basic educations.  The value of Greek myth is that it is well-suited for modern people, interested in increasing self-awareness since these gods and goddesses are familiar from schooldays.  Here, the Greek pantheon functions less as a religion and more like a psychological framework, accommodating a wide range of psychic fragments and dynamic patterns.

To access this range of attitudes, viewpoints, and corresponding symbols, one cultural pantheon (or family of gods) is actually as useful as another.  The key to its utility for personal transformation is a feeling of "resonance" with the archetypes and developing inability to determine a consistent set of characteristics within it.

One value of the Greek pantheon lies in its almost universal familiarity.  The rich store of Greek mythologies contain numerous entertaining tales of behavior, to which almost anyone can relate.  In viewing these heroes, bunglers, healers, tragedies, and exaltations we see little parts of ourselves in their non-personalized forms.  The criterion for self realization includes conscious experiences with the realm of the divine, an ongoing I-Thou dialogue with the gods and goddesses.  The elegance, accessibility, and comprehensive nature of the Greek pantheon helps us to rediscover the archetypes of our mindscape and culture.

But perhaps you dance to the tune of a different drummer, or come from an Asian or native culture.  Even so, you be able to use these principles to discover keywords to translate the Greek forms into the pantheon of your choice.  Tables are provided for this purpose, but you might augment with your own research.

The polytheistic orientation of current psychological practice offers a useful counterpoint to monotheistic religions, which can polarize dimensions such as good and evil.  A pantheon represents all points of the spectrum, overlapping and interacting, including essentially human foibles and pathologies.  They are all there.  Both monotheistic and polytheistic realities constitute psychic reality.  They are equally valid approaches, as human history has shown, seeing the one in the many or the many in the one.

Despite individual ethnic backgrounds, our Western cultural heritage traces back to the modes of thought developed by early Greek philosophers.  This polytheistic complexity reflects the many complications of our modern lives.  The pagan background of religion is shown in examples like the Catholic calendar where days of saints have taken the place of ancient pagan holy days.

The main reason and another major advantage of the Greek pantheon is that a large body of contemporary literature already exists concerning these forms, particularly in Jungian archives.  Many common problems have been examined at length by Jungian psychologists, and we can take advantage of this research by applying it in our own quest.  These Greek figures may then provide us with forms and categories to aid our understanding of the archetypal dimension.
 

Next: Relationship of Archetypes to Tarot and Astrology

Excerpt from PANTHEON: ARCHETYPAL GODS IN DAILY LIVING, Iona Miller and Richard Miller, OAK, 1988.

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Intro5

RELATIONSHIP OF ARCHETYPES TO THE TAROT AND ASTROLOGY

Those familiar with astrology or the Tarot Trumps have entree to the archetypal world of PANTHEON already.  They will be meeting their old friend: Venus, mars, Jupiter, or "the magician," "the wise old man," "virgin," "savior," and "devil."

Though Pantheon is not a tarot book, per se, it may be used to augment your divinations or readings.  Each god is corresponded with its corresponding trump number.  Chapter number = trump number.  Use it to see what god is at the core of the tarot trump, and how it may affect your life and feelings.  Those well versed on the nature of the planers and signs in astrology will definitely learn some new facets of the archetypes to add to their tools of the trade...to flesh out their ideas of the planetary forces and their interaction.

Archetypes express themselves through their fundamentals patterns of symbol formation.  Certain symbols tend to cluster around the nexus point of the archetype.  It acts like a "strange attractor" to order those correspondences in a non-linear, chaotic way that is unique in each unfolding.  Out collective inheritance is not one of ideas, but of pathways or modes, or states of consciousness, with their classical thoughts, feelings and behaviors.  Each godform or archetype has characteristic states of consciousness.  Like the tarot trumps these archetypal pathways provide an underlying unity for diverse forms of symbolism.  The Tree of Life, tarot, and astrology are metanarratives or systems that hold all of them together in a subtle network.

The powers represented by the tarot trumps and astrological planets are with us in every facet of life, from the most  mundane to the most exalted.   These powers reside in the earlier and deeper levels of the psyche, but reveal themselves through dreams, myths, and great ideas.

By working with astrology, tarot, or godforms in imagination we open the lines of communication to the subconscious and learn to decipher the messages.  These sacred aspects of the archetypes are not separated from their profane images.  They manifest directly in a very substantive form.  This form is eternally unique.  Archetypes gain life and meaning when their motif is embodied or filled out through our personal experience.

Although the origins of the tarot are not clearly defined, these strange and beautiful cards form a system of communications through multi-leveled symbols.  They very accurately predicted the archetypes of the collective unconscious as "discovered" and described by Jung and his followers.

Whoever their ancient creators were, they had psychological insight into the workings of the soul of man, and on the nature of the universe.  That awareness is inherent; it emerges when the visionary looks within.  The tarot is not only a system of divination, but also constitutes a sort of Book of Life.  The trumps represent pictorial depictions of pure archetypal forms, as revealed to the various mystics who created each pack.

Since each Tarot trump has an astrological attribution and a god-form, it is a pictorial representation of the Forces of Nature (instinctual forces).  Through symbolism, it provides a pictographic presentation of the major aspects of existence.

The position of the card shows the relationship of these different aspects among one another.  It may be described as the divine forces of individual creation or emanation, including its purpose and direction.  By meditating on the tarot trumps, we activate certain archetypal forces within ourselves, bringing them into consciousness.

The basis of the tarot lies in the Hermetic mystical system known as the Qabalah.  The Qabalah also describes mankind's basic inherited pathways.  The tarot cards correspond with the 22 letters of the sacred Hebrew alphabet, and the 22 paths of the Tree of Life (the basic Qabalistic consciousness map).  By this system of interrelated archetypes, ideas could be exchanged without the necessity of either spoken or written word.  Pictures rather than words express ideas, making communication about eternal verities easier between those who speak different languages.

Tarot in its Qabalistic form sets out to show the relation between God, Nature, Mankind, and the Universe.  The practical value is that it reveals the harmonies preexisting between signs, symbols, and archetypes, letters, and numbers.  It is a bit more abstract than interacting gods and goddesses who behave much like humans with one another.  However, it brings all the corresponding symbolism into play and allows us to categorize  most objects and behaviors.

Both tarot and the Tree of Life function like a generic filing-system of symbolism and human behavior.  A symbol emerges precisely to awaken in our consciousness the memory of that which we inherently know, but don't know we know.  If it was conscious, it would be a thought, not a symbol.  We can use the tarot imagery in this way as a tool for developing self-realization.

The use of the tarot evokes the associations which we have already formed in the past.  Symbols are intended to arouse a thought by means of suggestion, thus causing the truth which lies hidden to be revealed.  This book corresponds tarot paths with members of the Greek pantheon.  This ensures an orderly unfolding and helps organize the diverse symbolism presented.

Ouspensky once said that only a symbol can deliver us from the slavery of words and formulas, and allowus  to attain the possibilities of thinking freely.  Jung implied much the same with his free association experiments and technique.  Imagination is the "royal road" to our experience of archetypal adventure.  The collective aspect of the archetype stimulates the imagination, leading each of us to our unique personal experience of the divine.  Our insight helps us see them at work in our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual lives.
 

Next: The Four Levels of Experience

Excerpt from PANTHEON: ARCHETYPAL GODS IN DAILY LIVING, Iona Miller and Richard Miller, OAK, 1988.

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Intro 6

THE FOUR LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE:

The Tree of life represents the emanations from the Divine Being which created (and IS) the Universe.  The Paths leading down from the top (Kether) are stages in the process through which the Universe came into being.  If these paths are symbolically and mystically traversed in reverse order, starting at the bottom (Malkuth) and climbed upward, they are the way of the soul's experiential ascent to the divine -- THE PATH OF RETURN (self-realization or enlightenment).

The paths represent access to subjective or personal experience of the unchanging objective energies of the 10 Spheres of the Tree of Life.  Each Path belongs to one of the Tarot trumps, whose symbolism contains the key to the Path's nature.  No two persons are likely to interpret the symbolism of the card in exactly the same way.

As in life, we may travel the same roads, but we focus on different landmarks along the way.  There is a great diversity of opinion, even among "initiates," as to the meaning of these symbols.  However, the patterns are quite distinctive and easily associated with the archetypes of the Greek pantheon.  The gods and goddesses personify the quality of each path.

The members of the Greek pantheon are introduced by their corresponding Tarot trump.  This association allows access to those symbols for a more personal meditation.  It is by this multi-sensual (visual, visceral, etc.) image that the goddesses and gods enter our consciousness.  This visual image assists personification and identification.  Use the Tarot card as a take-off point for our visualization of the godform when trying to dialogue with it, such as imagining Hestia as The Hermit, Aphrodite as The Empress, or Hermes as The Magician.

The format of Pantheon is modularized into four planes of awareness, or "worlds" of experience, to use the Qabalistic term.  Each plane resonates with the other planes, giving a depth to the symbolism.  Rather than considering these worlds as "real or unreal," we can imagine them as virtual realities.  They are simulations symbolic of higher truths, but filtered through our own perception and information-gathering system.  Our input system is conditioned by our early experience and other factors, such as belief systems.

Each world is a form or view of the same phenomenon.  This depth of symbolism yields a broader perspective from a specific level of awareness.  By imaginally "becoming" these symbols you open up whole new states of consciousness for yourself, far wider than your typical human responses.

We live in a universal web of consciousness.  But our culture has programmed us to limit our awareness drastically.  Some of this programming cuts us off from our bodies and sensuality, other injunctions limit our ability to feel, while others suggest we don't think for ourselves.

The visual image of the god-form assists personification and the process of identification with the god-form.  You can experiment with using the Tarot card as a take-off point for your visualization of the god-form when trying to dialogue with it.  The card may function as a doorway down the path which leads to the archetype.  Just follow the symbols back down deeper and deeper into the more fundamental and primal levels of the psyche.

The "worlds" are categorized in each chapter as follows:

PHYSICAL FORM represents the actual manifestations which affect our five senses.  This physical plane is the most accessible region of the subconscious mind.  To a great degree our minds do manifest our reality.  Just because events are experienced as "real" does not mean they are a content of consciousness.  This awareness does not occur until one "plumbs" the psychic depths and can see through to the archetypal core of the situation.  This level includes the solidity and tangibility of physical objects.  This is where the archetype affects the body through perception or disease.

EMOTIONAL IMAGE represents the world of forces behind the veil of physical things, the Astral Plane.  This is where archetypes are perceived in images or mind-pictures.  These images on the astral are eternal shape-shifters and change rapidly from one moment to the next.  This is the realm of reams and divination, the lunar planes of psychics and mediums.  This is the level of intense feelings or affects and creative patterns.  It is a formative world where archetypes effect the emotions.

INTELLECTUAL IDEA stands for the region of psychological conceptions concerning archetypes.  Known as the (non-Euclidean) geometrical realm of the Causal Body, it is a crystallization of the archetype of the Self.  It represents the re-integration of the multiple forms in the figure of the higher Self.  It is the level of rational mental thought where psychological understanding occurs.  Here a love of images is nurtured and archetypes affect styles of thinking and spontaneous ideas.

SPIRITUAL MYTH represents matrix patterns before they descend into material manifestation, the realm of pre-geometry and information theory.  It is from these primordial spiritual myths, this mythic level of the psyche, that form manifests.  On this level archetypes communicate through intuition and affect one's spiritual life through belief systems.  It is an experience of the Divine.  All myths are sacred eternal patterns.
 

Next: Archetypes as a Means of Self-Realization


Excerpt from PANTHEON: ARCHETYPAL GODS IN DAILY LIVING, Iona Miller and Richard Miller, OAK, 1988.

File Created: 8/7/03
Last Updated: 8/8/03

Intro 7 ARCHETYPES AS A MEANS OF SELF-REALIZATION

Once you perceive archetypal material manifesting in your life, and can distinguish one archetype from another, your mental imagery comes more sharply into focus.  Now the phase of re-integration begins.  Archetypes on the inner planes produce a quasi-consciousness of their own typical essence.  They behave as independent partial personalities.  If they are dysfunctional, they come out in our complexes; if they are integrated they appear as transpersonal resources.  The model of a pantheon ives you a tool for examining the dynamics among different facets of your personality, providing various archetypal perspectives on daily living.  This is why we can often feel different ways about an issue simultaneously.

The archetypal dominant in a given person's life determines the life-theme most frequently repeated.  Archetypes produce behavior patterns.  They entrain their corresponding symbols which appear in dream life, fantasy, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.  To attempt to consciously control them with the ego and will is merely a fantasy and may provoke a negative reaction from the subconscious mind.  Archetypes act like instincts when they shape the conscious content through motivation and modification.

The images become more subtle as we penetrate the depths of the psyche.  They become more subtle as we penetrate the depths of the psyche.  They become more fundamental, more prima, more abstract and institive reflecting very early sensory-based experience of self.  A firm foundation is built through dealing fully with t he more easily-grasped images.  When one image has been digested sufficiently, its energy or libido flows into activating another archetype.  While this sequence is not fixed, an ordering model is a useful tool for studying archetypes.  Do not attempt to dash through a meditation on every archetype.  Take your time and sacor the flavor of each, returning to favorites when they "call" to you.

When archetypes appear, look for their characteristic sense of fatedness or destiny.  If you meditate on a certain archetype, you may activate certain synchronistic phenomena, or meaningful coincidences.  Through the vocabulary of corresponding symbols and keyword associations, you may notice that particular archetypal patterns are at work in your life.  Keep a journal of these observation.  In this way a bridge is slowly built, conneccting the conscious and unconscious mind.

Once a particular way of looking at reality is established, it automatically sets up limitations, or boundary conditions.  However, there is great latitude if one has the ability to subjectively choose among many such realities without falling prey to identification with the subconscious powers.  Remember, you are all of them together, and more, not only or or another of them, or those of your gender.  You can participate as a whole personal in your choices, rather than being merely compelled by unconscious motivations.

There is more than one way to look at the reality of archetypes operating in our lives.  This description of archetypes has been conditioned by the asusmption of a hierarchal model.  This variation on "Pilgrim's Progress" may just be a developmental fantasy.  Qabala is another such model which itself is one example of the archetype of "The Way."  We can alternately examine archetypes from a non-hierarchal, pagan perspective in which they intermingle.  Really archetypal perspectives are manifold and open-ended.  Make of them what you will; call them what you like.  These eternal dynamics will play out, bidden or hidden, no matter what.

We can also see archetypes existing as inter-related, separate-but-equal powers (as in Tarot).  Then the "stages of development fantasy" (dealing with one archetype at a time, in an ascending order) fades into the background.  Actually, their interaction in our lives is co-temporaneous and symphonic.  Just noticing their presence in our lives adds a depth dimension and creates a relationship with them--a connection to inner resources and potential.

Both viewpooints illustrate a way of approaching the exploration of the psyche.  Once we can embrace divergent points-of-view without conflict, we can use them both as tools.  Tolerance for ambiguity prevents a one-sided dogmatism.  We can learn to appreciate the various styles of awareness.  The key concept is the sovereignity of each god within its domain.  In this manner, by choosing to experience a  broad range of consciousness states through identification, we gain tolerance for other viewpoints.

The developmental model is monotheistic -- it emphasizes the ONE God seen through many forms.  The polytheistic model recognizes the unique qualities of the various gods and goddesses.  It is based on relatedness, not goal-oriented ego development.  As a model of being, not doing, it provides another perspective from the over-achieving heroic ego with its manic quest for "more and better."

Remember, the world appears to you are you are conditioned to experience it.  We all have a subjective worldview.  Archetypal influence acts like a lens which filters your direct sensory experience and your inner interpretations about the nature of reality.  Different archetypes can cause you to alter viewpoints dramatically.  Gods (as personified archetypes) affect our styles of consciousness, as well as our moods or states of consciousness.  It is essential if we desire individuation to maintain awareness of the union of opposites within each person.

Each individual life has a dominant theme which emerges from the various potentials.  Our shadow side is the opposite of that for yet makes us whole.  Discovering our basic pattern, we may live it consciously and intelligently, cooperating with the trend of this life pattern, rather than beging dragged along unwilling.  Your outer fate is then transmuted into a meaningful inner experience. You can cope better, and your true individuality begins to emerge from the montage of universal patterns.

This is an important step in the quest for the Self, individual wholeness or well-being.  It doesn't mean finding your personal mythology, as much as plumbing the entire mythological level of your psyche.  You discover what is "you", and what are the habitual channels of dynamic forces with their own agenda.  Another reality of our human lives is immersion in their world.  Psyche is the primary reality, and it extends beyond the human psyche to the entire world of nature and spirit.  We are an inseparable part of that webwork of relationships, whether we are consciously aware of it or not.
 

Next: Practical Techniques for Finding and Realizing the Gods Within


Excerpt from PANTHEON: ARCHETYPAL GODS IN DAILY LIVING, Iona Miller and Richard Miller, OAK, 1988.

For more on archetypes and self-realization, see PERSONAL MYTHOLOGY: Using Ritual, Dreams, and Imagination to Discover your Inner Story, by David Feinstein, Ph.D. and Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.  Foreword by June Singer. Tarcher, 1988.


File Created: 8/7/03
Last Updated: 8/8/03

Intro8

PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR FINDING AND REALIZING THE GODS WITHIN:

Even with all this discussion on archetypes and imagination, you may still find yourself at a loss how you can recognize and contact these internal forces.  The answer is practice, and taking the time to notice what forces are at play, interweaving with your life and your goals.  What is fostering you, nourishing you, your ally?  What opposes you, thwarts your will, sabotages your dreams for the future?

Two techniques are immediately accessible.  One, from Jungian Psychology is known as ACTIVE IMAGINATION.  The second, from the Hermetic Qabalah, is known as PATHWORKING.  Both require a thorough understanding of the nature of imagination.  They are experiential journeys, waking dreams with symbolic interaction with the subconscious that has consequences in real time.  Both methods culminate in a spontaneous internal dialogue with personified archetypes, who become guides of the soul.

Soulful exploration of this undiscovered country is possible through imagination -- through consciousness journeys.  In fact, soul or PSYCHE IS IMAGINATION.  It is both a realm of experience and a human faculty.  The mythic layers of the psyche are welded to our thoughts, emotions and behaviors, even our spiritual ideals.

The realm of soul lies between, and joins together those of matter and spirit.  In other words, the realm of imagination lies between the physical world and perceptions and the spiritual level of conceptualization and direct epiphany.

We needn't go to sleep to experience this rich inner world.  In fact, we frequently get glimpses of it in our daydreams.  But daydreams are something our ego makes up to serve its own desires.  We make things up in daydreams to be the way  we want them.  Deeper levels of the imagination simply "happen to us."  The scenario doesn't serve the ego, but the higher Self, our wholeness.  So compensating factors may be at work and reveal their dynamics.  At this level, imagination is autonomous, and we simply immerse ourselves in that stream of consciousness.

Therapeutic process work provides a way and place for applying watchful or sustained attention to our inner imagery.  A process helps us penetrate even deeper into the levels of the imagination, or universal consciousness field.  The imagination forms a middle ground where life and meaning merge, producing images.

Imagination is the realm of sacred psychology which approaches the gods through imagining and personifying, rather than through ritual, prayer, and sacrifice with a religious orientation.  Imagination is a primary reality with a non-verbal, non-linear logic of its own.  Archetypes function like the "strange attractors" of deterministic chaos, ordering the jumbled contents of the psyche.  We can learn to orient ourselves to internal and external reality by noticing and responding to the images, sensations and emotions we experience in imaginal encounters.  We can make friends with these inner figures, or at least form relationships.

Comprehensive theories of the imagination distinguish three types of imaginative experience: 1) everyday conscious imagining; 2) Jung's active imagination and other process work; 3) archetypal or visionary imagination that is spontaneous.  Therefore, active imagination gives anyone entree to the world of imagination.  One you learn this technique, you might try the "visionary" mode, simply by emptying and opening yourself.  You can do it either with extreme arousal, such as dancing to exhaustion, or with relaxation techniques.  Both will produce vivid experiences.  They can be entered as dialogues of ego and Self, I and Not-I, or through direct identification.

The imaginal world is the result of an overlapping of our emotional and higher mental faculties.  In metaphysical terms, it consists partly of the Astral and Causal levels of experience.  These terms are antiquated, implying a causal relationship.  Archetypes are deterministic.  Unpredictable at any given moment, they operate in distinguishable parameters and patterns.  This is the characteristic of a "chaotic system," one that is complex, dynamics, and subject to turbulence.  The imaginal world reflects this chaotic, bizarre pattern.  It is paradoxical, neither perceptual nor conceptual, but intermediate -- and visceral, as well.

The three modes of interaction of the conscious and subconscious forces in imaginal encounters may be summarized as follows:

1).  EVERYDAY CONSCIOUS IMAGINING is where the ego is under the illusion that it is controlling the content of the vision.  The ego feels proud of its "fantasy of control" over the fabric of the imagination.  But the subconscious has its own surprise in store for the ego, and may respond sooner or later with a wake-up call that shatters the illusion.  A powerful eruption of images and emotions can arise that is totally beyond the ego's control or ability to contain them.  The ego is swept helplessly into the stream of consciousness.

At this point the ego's image of itself dissolves, fragments or is torn apart.  The personality is profoundly disrupted.  There may be images of dismemberment, apocalypse, ego death, etc.  The opposing power of the subconscious drives are now brought to the surface in daily life, demanding some form of reconciliation.  This occurs in all of our crises when we can no longer cope through our ordinary means of "keeping it together."

2).  ACTIVE IMAGINATION is a means of addressing this problem.  We gain self-knowledge rather than being merely overwhelmed and impotent to face the challenges life is offering us.  Our stunned ego can eventually develop a means of coping with these inner forces, in fact, it is an imperative.  When we actively engage the imagination, symbols of the Self appear spontaneously to reintegrate the fragmented personality.  This is the cyclic process of rebirth or resurrection.  Jung noticed the Self appeared often in mandala forms.  We see them in dreams, art, visions, and religious iconography.

Active imagination also involves controlling the direction the imaginal journey takes, but not for the benefit of the ego.  It means deepening the process.  It ensures the progressive unfolding of an imaginative sequence.  Ego works with the tendencies of the psyche, seeking guidance from inner figures to achieve movement into a new situation or level of being.  This results n an increased awareness of your internal processes.  Active imagination works through visualization and multi-sensory images (kinesthetic, visceral, audial, olfactory).  Sometimes the senses meld and appear in non-ordinary ways, such as tasting music.

The practice of active imagination requires six steps:

STEP 1:  The preliminary phase requires focusing on your immediate life problems or aspirations.  You establish the intent or goal of the operation.  If there is a problem or issue, it should be identified.  The excursion into imagination should have a well-defined purpose.

STEP 2:  Next, empty your mind, dropping into a reverie, or natural trance.  Become physically and mentally relaxed.  Assume a position where you are comfortable but will not fall asleep.  Empty the mind of ego's train of thought.  If thoughts crop up, just watch them come and go, dismissing them if they deal with your outer life.

STEP 3:  This is the phase of letting go to your unconscious stream of images and letting that absorb your attention.  If you are pathworking, visualize the corresponding Tarot Trump at this point, and enter into its virtual scenery.  Focus on this image, but not enough to arrest the activity taking place spontaneously.  Don't make a frozen picture of it, but don't let it change too rapidly, either, or you will become overwhelmed.  If that happens flow with the dizzying whirlpool and let it take you deeper and deeper, and find what is there.  The point is to participate fully in the drama, rather than watching yourself like a movie.  You must be there with your own values, intentions, wounds, and will.

STEP 4:  Active imagination requires an ethical confrontation with the archetypal forces to be truly transforming.  You must enter the inner drama with your true personality, not as you wish your own ideal.  Lea ve your images of heroism and grandiosity behind.  Be the unique person you are in inner, as well as outer life.  Once the imaginal experience begins, the ego is engaged and compelled to participate.  Take advantage of the opportunity to ask these forces just what they are seeking from you as a mortal being.  See if the god-form has any gifts or treasures for you to take back into the day-world.

STEP 5:  The gifts of these forces take many forms, some of which are physically and emotionally healing.  The idea of this stage is to apply what you have learned in the e ncounter and make it practical.  The god-form may have ordered or asked for certain behavior on the part of the ego.  If this does not contradict cultural, moral or ethical laws, you may experiment with these inner directions.  Mostly they seek attention.  In any event, the contact is established and you know where and to whom to return if there is further need of "discussion."

STEP 6:  If you have had an intriguing inner journey, and met the godform in imagination by directing the unfolding of the fantasy, give it some form of expression in your external life.  For example, write it down in your journal of inner events or dreambook, paint what you saw, sculpt it, dance it, or play the music you heard there.

NOTE OF CAUTION:  There is the chance of repressed unconscious forces breaking through into daily life, overwhelming the ego.  If you feel emotionally unstable, seek a therapist to function as a guide on your inner journeys.  There is a great deal of energy locked up, or stuck in past traumas, which needs to be released.  Active imagination is a means of facing up to and dealing with these shadowy problems.

Active imagination may bring unusual manifestations in its wake, including psychosomatic changes in blood pressure or heartbeat.  These are from strong emotions and can be worked through by consciously relaxing yourself, or being physically expressive.  Or, you might experience a strong sense of euphoria as the ego identifies with the archetypal forces during the event.  There might be a reactionary let-down, but it won't last long.

Synchronistic events, or seemingly magical, meaningful coincidences may appear.  Don't let your judgment be blurred  by excitement.  This is a normal occurrence when working on the inner levels and provides additional insight on the dynamics at work.

GUIDELINES FOR PRACTICE include the following:

 
1).  Maintain a critical distinction between wish fulfillment and the experience of true imagination.

2).  There is no rush to experience every gof-form or Tarot Path via imagination.  Take it slowly, learning and assimilating each new experience thoroughly before going further.

3).  Insure your freedom from interruption during your imaginal excursion.

4).  Establish a time limit.  It is a good idea to have a trusted friend nearby to monitor you.

5).  Record results in your journal of self-discovery, including physical reactions and synchronicities.

6).  Never do an active imagination which concerns living people.  This especially includes intentional sexual visualizations.  This is unethical from the magician's point of view, as it is an encroachment on their True Will.  It is a misapplication of the technique.

7).  Ground exercises in active imagination by applying the experiences gained in pathworking to daily life.

8).  Try to establish contact with your personal "inner guide" who will always offer protection if requested and allowed to do so.
 




PATHWORKING:
Pathworking, using the qabalistic diagram the Tree of Life as much in common with active imagination.  It means taking an imaginal journey to the 'location" of an archetypal form or dynamic group of symbols.  Once you can recognize imagination is the realm of the soul, you can develop a method for exploring the soul through imagination.  The paths of the Tree of Life function as metaphorical "in-roads."  Their correspondences (colors, animals, plants, symbols, etc) produce a gestalt awareness of soul through its own system of metaphorical language.
There are three primary modes of pathworking:
 
1) a trance-like state where the ego is overwhelmed (possibly through drug use) and incapacitated by the forces of the unconscious,
2).  "active," and
3).  "passive" pathworking.  The first form is a regression of consciousness and produces hallucinatory, not imaginal experiences.



Active pathworking is analogous to active imagination.  The major purpose of a pathworking is to produce a conscious contact with the archetypal powers connected with the particular path.  There are active and passive forms of pathworking, but do not let this glib terminology lead you astray.  "Passive" in this sense does not imply the ineffective attitude of type-1 experience.  Both active and passive styles are desirable to develop.  Passive pathworkng is analogous to visionary imagination, not ego-driven.
Active pathworking is an exercise of the creative imagination. It is an excursion or consciousness journey into the astral plane using clairvoyance.  It is a combination of ego, will, and imagination.  Pathworking produces a dynamic imagery experience.  It surpasses sensory information processing, but precedes conceptual lucidity.  This is not a trance state where the images transform freely from one to another, but a disciplined artform, such as music, painting or dance.
Clairvoyance means seeing the inner world with increasing clarity.  This clarity comes through the ego's conscious participation.  The main use of active pathworking is for introspection.
In pathworking, the will forces the image to maintain certain parameters.  They are determined by the qabalistic correspondence system.  The "will," in tun, is brought into direct non-verbal contact with the non-rational, with mystery.  In other words, the communication is visual or multi-sensory rather than verbal, much like an RPG game.
Pathworking is a dynamic process which requires us to react to situations immediately through our feelings or instincts.  It is similar to (but more profound than) some of the X-games which reflect the mythic theme of The Quest.  The difference is, in pathworking the Will maintains a sense of responsibility for the ego's behavior on the inner planes.  You are more your self, not an other.  All of your faculties are kept alert.  Thinking and emotions are immerse d in the situation.  The ego's forceful elaboration helps ensure unfolding of a particular imaginative sequence.
An active pathworking traces the routes described in Qabalah as the transition stages between spheres.  Consciousness moves along them from one state of consciousness to another, following a thread or path of imagery.  A pathworking begins in one sphere, and culminates in the sphere immediately higher on the Tree of Life.  For example, the path Art leads from Yesod to Tiphareth, from the lower emotions to the spiritual heart.
Anytime two particular terminals are used, the traveler establishes a contact with both the "place" and the "entities" who inhabit that psychological "area."  With repetition, the imaginal reality of the place is confirmed through personal experience.  You can evoke this experience from your own imagination if you try, and become a regular visitor to these spiritual regions.
Always remember, in pathworking return to your point of origin.  This is one main reason the ego must be able to maintain concentration and follow-through.  If you use a Tarot Trump as the gateway to your experience, definitely pass through it on your way "out."  You visualize all you saw on your approach fleeting by on your "return."  You ground your pathworking by returning consciousness to its normal condition.
3).  VISIONARY IMAGINATION (or archetypal imagination) is analogous to passive pathworking.  All images are archetypal, in that they carry enfolded information about primal realities.  This form of imaginal journey is termed passive since ego-consciousness is present, though it does not interfere with the unfolding of psychic imagery.
True vision is a non-directive process.  This passive pathworking is actually more advanced because the traveler must employ his creativity or ability to synthesize information.  The practitioner requires an ability to deal with the opening of the lower, as well as higher mind.  We want to penetrate to super-celestial regions, not suffer an invasion from the primitive unconscious.
This form of pathworking uses a doorway of some type to initiate the experience.  This might again be a Tarot card, god-form visualization, or an I Ching hexagram, last night's dream image, etc.  The difference is that instead of following procedural instructions on where to go and what to visualize, you allow the pathworking itself to present images spontaneously.
This world we are describing is revealed in the world's great art.  Leonardo daVinci, Michaelangelo, William Blake, etc. were all visionary artists.  When ever they lived, they exemplified the Renaissance-type f spirit, which lives close to soul and the worked of myth and personified archetypal forces.  These show on the canvas as demons, angels, gods and goddesses.
This passive pathworking may be likened in some respects to what is termed "archetypal imagination" in leading-edge Jungian psychology.  It is an authentic visionary mode of experience, which produces keen insight through psychological perception.
if the main purpose of pathworking is to contact the archetypal powers behind it, an examination of the
We need to examine the meaning of "archetypal" if our purpose in pathworking is contacting archetypal powers which embody its dynamic process.  Archetypal theory has four general premises:
 
1).  Archetypes are located in the imaginal world of the soul, and are called gods and goddesses since ancient times.
2).  Psychopathology, or the negative manifestation which leads to human problems is emphasized.  The shadow is confronted in its physical, behavioral, and psychophysical manifestations..
3).  Archetypes are extremely important to human behavior and seem to carry a quality of "unkownness" and holiness or divinity.
4).  The ego comes to realize it is only one psychological perspective and understands its relative lack of control over the psyche and physical organism.



Archetypal imagination transcends active imagination by offering a method where we can learn to redeem some dignity through our suffering.  In archetypal psychology, pathologies (archetypal afflictions) are recognized as an essential component of the human soul.  Jung said, "The gods have become diseases."
Therefore, psychologists have explored the divine by insight into the light and dark aspects of the gods.  Greek myth is full of different version of divine images of darkness, death, and perversion, reflecting the world of mental illness and personality disorders.  Who could imagine sending Ares for anger management classes?  These divine forces are so powerful the ego cannot really "do" anything to them.
Like the Qabalah, archetypal psychology recognizes many varieties of consciousness reflecting the plurality and freedom of styles within the structure of myth.  Since there are no procedural constrain in this passive pathworking, what can we expect to experience in this awakened visionary mode?  This is the realm of true inner plane contact with the deities revealed through folk tales, classical myths, and in psychology through dreams.  Any attempt to engage in the inner life brings a deeper relationship with the unconscious.
To experience a luminous visionary imagination we must become acquainted with the archetypes through personifying their potent forces.  An archetypal topography, or psychic road map is of inestimable value here.  Qabalah is a generic road map of the psyche.  It provides the possibility of interaction of an individual with the divine, immortal forms.
There is a long tradition throughout history which regards personifying as a necessary mode of comprehending the world and our personal existence.  It is a way of ensouling psychic powers and getting to know them intimately.  Personifying allows us to discriminate among, and love or cherish these forces which make up our very being.
Personification is a path with heart, since it allows us to imagine both through and beyond what our eyes see into the primordial dimension of celestial beings.  Living is a special way of "knowing" which arises from personification.  The strong feelings aroused by subjective experiences of the soul speak volumes to the heart.
We can develop a passionate engagement with the mythic dimension, gaining access to our creative imagination.  Through getting to know the gods within, we learn to see visions and hear voices.  We may talk with them and they may talk with each other without us being losing our grip on ordinary reality.
We can speak directly to these archetypal forces within.  When we do, the basic transformative formula is always the same.  In terms of self-analysis there are three distinct steps.
1).  IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM.  Name the neurotic pattern to loosen its grip on the identity and seek the help of inner spiritual guiding principles.  This means you will have to suffer consciousness of your condition.  No more "ignorance is bliss."  We come to recognize our bad habits, and they seem to have amplified.  Actually we are much as we have always been, but we have never turned our attention in this direction before.  We may suffer a terrible, proud ego (Zeus), or a tendency to dishonesty with ourselves and others (Hermes), or an irresistible urge for an affair (Aphrodite), etc.  But our plight will no longer be unconscious once we have named it.
2).  Accept that suffering and find meaning in it.  Don't be a passive victim, face up to the shadow of outgrown behavior patterns and power-trips.  Confront the negative forces of the psyche by mustering inner strength.  Once you name a neurotic pattern, you clam it as a part of yourself, to deny this fact is to deny one's wholeness.  When you consciously relate to its source, the 'problem' is automatically transformed.
3).  Try to accept and manifest the potential strength of the inner self once it is called up.  In other words, once you have an imaginal contact with the archetype, try to contact its potential for positive transformation.  Experience the more exalted qualities of the archetype as well as its instinctual, compulsive side.  For example, the courage and loyalty of Mars, not just the bravado and violence.  Don't give up, because to passively withdraw means to stay stuck in neurotic patterns.
Confront inner and outer crises with the reserves of strength made accessible through creative imagination.
 
Next: Mythical Living

Excerpt from PANTHEON: ARCHETYPAL GODS IN DAILY LIVING, Iona Miller and Richard Miller, OAK, 1988.

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Last Updated: 8/8/03

Intro 9

Pantheon, Intro.
 

MYTHICAL LIVING:
A METAPHORICAL PERCEPTION OF EXPERIENCE

by Iona Miller, 1983

CREATIVE MYTHOLOGY is another application of awareness of the gods within, or archetypes, in personal mythology.  It is the result of combining creative imagination with a mythical perspective on life.  When we see through to the mythic patterns enacted i our lives on an on-going basis, we are living mythically as a lifestyle.  Our personal history becomes a metaphorical analog of ancient, divine patterns, weaving an eternal tapestry -- Penelope's suitors, Sisyphus' endless toil, the Fisher King's never-ending wound, star-crossed lovers, wunderkind, homebody, philanthropist, etc.  Our personal mythology can be revealed by our favorite fairy tale or movie, since we identify with the figures in these dramas and tend to act them out.

Our personal mythic enactments can provide a focal point for our meditation concerning the nature of our existence.  We can catch ourselves in the act of being lager than the personal self.  When we get caught up in the crises of our archetypal complexes, we are again and again faced with the basic questions of life:  "Who am I, where do I come from, and where am I going?"  When we consciously seek an answer, we are looking for the meaning of existence.  We seek to unfold our awareness of totality, and we begin to see the gods everywhere.

Myth supports all the levels of our human civilization which includes spiritual, social, and individual (or psychological).  We seek a return to the mythic dimension to find our how we personally relate to the cosmic order.  In the modern search for meaning, we are thrown back on our own resources.  For a time, the social limits no longer apply, since they don't provide an adequate model for our experiences.

During this period we gain a vivid relationship to the symbols and dynamics of the subconscious, and reestablish this vital connection.  In this rebirth or renewal, symbols take on the highest personal value.  What seemed a lifeless concept, takes on depth and life.  Development of our latent subconscious powers becomes possible, balancing out the personality.

Myth represents a paradoxical world with exquisite differentiation.  For example, the Greeks had different specific names for the gods in their various facets.  Thus Hermes could be simultaneously the god of writers, merchants, and magicians besides that of thieves, liars, and opportunists.  In each of these aspects he would have a different appellation, or modifier to his name to identify the specific aspect of Hermes in action.  Most of the gods also have an infernal or chthonic aspect.  It embodies their negative or shadowy nature.

We aren't to look at myths as prescriptions for living when we find we are caught in a particular one, or oscillate, or cycle among several.  They do not provide solutions to our personal problems if we can but read ahead a few pages; they have their own agendas with our lives -- embodying these natural forces.  They won't tell us what step to take next, or right from wrong.  Even if we view their manifestations as 'signs from God", they aren't reliable signs as we tend to read them in a biased way, the way we would like things to be.

We obtain their value from participation in mythical consciousness, finding the gods as mythic metaphors living through our daily lives -- our connection with the eternal, the primal, the great cycle.  We participate with them in a sort of dance when we recognize their mythic enactments in us in progress, and notice and pay attention to that.  Noticing is a form of worship, based on where we place our value and attention.

Mythical living provides us with a background which starts us imagining, penetrating deeper into ourselves, gaining in self-awareness, psychological sophistication.  It is a mode of reflection, of direct perception.  Myths do not show us the center of ourselves; they reveal that there are several centers, all interrelated with one another in dynamic relationships.  We contain the whole pantheon, in a sense.

Personification is also a key for mythical living.  It is the mode of viewing these archetypal processes from a psychological perspective, rather than literally or as mere metaphor.  We can see them as divine forces, gods and goddesses with which we can have a relationship, a conscious dialogue.  This method helps us to love the gods and focus our attention on them, as part of our personal mythology.  Man has a symbiotic relationship with the gods.  Their names give us the ability to call upon them for their boons.

This process of devotion takes place in the imaginal realm of the heart, and has the power to transmute our outer fate into our inner destiny.  It allows our true individuality to emerge.  To achieve this, we must turn toward the archetypal realm and actively seek admittance, identify underlying mythic conflict, find the roots of that conflict in the past, and learn to recognize when a guiding myth is no longer an ally and get in touch with mythic renewal -- your new emerging myth.
 


Excerpt from PANTHEON: ARCHETYPAL GODS IN DAILY LIVING, Iona Miller and Richard Miller, OAK, 1988.

File Created: 8/8/03
Last Updated: 8/9/03
 
 
 
 

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