Jung | The Journey Home

Myths and symbols are messages from the past that convey human understanding of life. Myths speak to us in pictures, stories and concepts that often cannot be communicated in words alone. It would be a mistake to try and take them all literally. It would be a bigger mistake to not learn from the lessons and wisdom they are trying to pass on to us.

Myths preceded the development of primitive writing and were the way humans explained the world around them. The first recorded evidence of the myths was the hieroglyphics and pictures in Egypt around 3200 B.C. The Greeks left tablets giving evidence of its myths around 1300 B.C. In time, every culture in the ancient world had a fully developed set of myths to explain the origins of humans and their environment.

The symbolism of every people reflects the same spiritual principles. Myths recognize, in symbolic stories, that in our lifetime we must learn to balance the dual energies within us. Myths tell the underlying stories from every part of the world and every epoch in human history. Knowledge of human consciousness has been preserved in symbols, allegories and myths. This symbolic language lays out the journey we all must take from ignorance to knowledge.

Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation. Joseph Campbell

Mythology is –

a production of poetical fantasy from prehistoric times, misunderstood by succeeding ages. Muller

a repository of allegorical instruction, to shape the individual to his group. Durkheim

a group dream, symptomatic of archetypal urges within the depths of the human psyche. Jung

the traditional vehicle of man’s profoundest metaphysical insights. Coomaraswamy

All mystics speak the same language, for they come from the same country. De Saint Martin

The mystics of all religions concur on what to believe: that the core of our personality is divine, and that the purpose of life is to discover this divinity for ourselves. Eknath Easwaran

What we have lost in the modern world is our “transcendental anchor.” It appears many of us have forgot the ancient wisdom that the goal of religion is not to “perfect ourselves,’ or “get in touch with ourselves,” but to get beyond ourselves, in an effort to find something far, far greater than our isolated little egos. Vaclav Havel

Surely growth, learning and reaching maturity must be a purpose and have meaning for life:

Maslow provides the hierarchy of needs, leading to Self-Actualization

Covey gives the seven habits, leading to Interdependence

Jung writes about the four stages of adulthood, ending when you realize you are a Spiritual being having a human experience. The first stage is the athlete, when identification is our physical prowess. The second stage is the warrior, when we extend our prowess to conquering the world – setting goals, accomplishing things, defeating other people. The third stage is the statesman, when you try to transcend your ego and begin to ask how you can serve and make this a better place. Many people get to this stage in their lives, but Jung said the highest stage is the fourth stage. The fourth stage is the spiritual, when you realize that you’re none of the three things – the athlete, the warrior or the statesman. When you realize you are a spiritual being having a human experience (rather than the other way around) your consciousness shifts out of the material world and is able to go into the other world.

Myths & Symbols – Wisdom of the Past

Opportunity for Learning and Growth