Heroes and Mystics 2022

Abhirami Sankaran 1/30/2023 The refusal of the call in daily life One step of the hero's journey I find interesting is the refusal of the call. I understand the purpose of the step. By allowing deliberation before the journey begins in force, both the protagonist and audience are allowed time and space to consider the ramifications of the endeavor: Achilles understands that he will die at war, Jason understands that his path may crown him, and Dipper (from gravity falls the animated kids show) understands that pursuing his journal may lead him into paranormal situations). The audience and characters are mentally prepared for the personal and general consequences of the journey. The stakes of the path ahead are set up thereby building tension. However, as Campbell has explicitly stated, the hero's journey also applies to the audience as individuals.  We are all constantly growing and changing. We cycle through the monomyth each time we pursue a new endeavor. Yet the aforemention...

Abhirami Sankaran In the beginning of this semester one topic we discussed was the symbolism of divinity. These symbols can be seen from the Herms of ancient Greece to the Lingas in Hinduism. Many divine symbols take the semblance of genitalia, whose connection to life is rather obvious. Jung was one scholar who was particularly fond of these symbols. In his work he often referenced how different dreams could be interpreted, he would suggest for example that a cave one struggled to emerge from was a womb and the struggle indicative of an attempt to gain independence. In his writings these symbols of feminine divinity are something to be overcome and separated from, their presence itself contaminating to male power. This theme of separation from femininity appears in multiple forms throughout psychoanalysis and other subjects which focus on the interpretation of symbols. One specific segregation of femininity that I often see is the distillation of female divinity to the production of...

  I write this final entry at the end of my finals week. Looking back at my time in this class, I recognize that this, itself, has been a journey, and wanted to point out some of the structural points. I refused a call early on, only to bash my head against that call until I finally understood it. My first post remarks on a distaste for Campbell’s examples and work, and that was a huge roadblock for me early on. It required me to leave presuppositions at the door, embrace the sometimes brutal forms of myth, and look for the deeply entwined, shared symbols still hiding all over the place. The middle part of the journey began my focus on interplay. Emotions contributing to thought and reflecting contributing to productivity, taking contributing to giving. This would be my focus for the remainder of the semester. It kicked off with the shadow self and extended through the interior castle, eventually culminating in the interplay-centric innocuous boons. I’m left at the end with a diz...

  While I was writing my term paper, I came across the discussion of memory, but in relation to Christian repentance. I quickly became fascinated. Evidently, to audit the original meaning of an experience (to remember it) and overlay an understanding that the action was sinful isn’t enough to repair the damage caused by the original experience. We can’t be forgiven just by this because the effect of that action ripples outward, propagating. I find it interesting to tackle this in regard to Christ’s sacrifice. We are still sinning. Our actions still ripple outward. And yet now, because the effects will be cleaned up, we can immediately be forgiven and made clean. Thus an internal acknowledgement of a sinful state becomes sufficient for repentance, no longer demanding penance. The process is intriguing, and plays into one of the themes of my essay: the effect of the past on the present and vice versa—except this overlays the effect of the future onto both.

  We recently reintroduced the concept of the second self into class discussion, but this time regarding the encounter between two beings. I was struck by the fact that we referenced a shadow self as elements that we’d rather not reveal about ourselves, rather than a completion of self. This form of shadow self is just as valuable as an Enkidu or Patroclus, though. It confronts us with our perceived failures and asks us to grapple with whether or not they are controllable or perhaps instead not failures at all. I was reminded of the scene of the crushing of the snake’s head in C.S Lewis’s “The Great Divorce.” The snake—temptation—begs that its life be spared. Because it appeared as a companion, hearing its pleas and acknowledging that it will permanently die makes any action against the plaguing influence (a parody of a shadow self) inherently much more difficult. In some sense, the shadow self has a competing self-preservation instinct that may make us hesitate and spare it...

  It is important to analyze the duality of myth created by symbolism. As discussed in class and in many blog posts, myth has led to the creation of symbolism in the human race. Without symbolism, humans can only relate to absolute fact. Fact is the only form of information that humans would understand. Symbolism closes the gap between tangible and intangible actions. With an understanding of action’s deeper meaning, it is possible to relate myth to real life. Though individual stories vary in contact, all journeys correlate through symbolism. Journeys come in many forms. Some journeys are mythical stories and others are real-life examples. These journeys can be extremely different in the specifics and details of the journey. The journeys still relate deeply due to the symbolism of its steps. Regardless of the journey, the steps of a journey, such as initiation and others, all get followed along the path of a journey. These steps have symbolic meaning, regardless of the specific de...

  In a previous blog post, I discussed the duality of myth. The symbolism found in myth helps relate real-life situations to mythical stories. Duality of myth is exhibited through journeys themselves though. When analyzing an individual journey, a journey will exhibit duality as well. The external aspects of a journey are easily identifiable. External aspects include physical movements and tangible differences in location. While external journeys occur, an equally powerful internal journey is occurring. This journey consists of changes in emotions and beliefs. Changes in belief are reflected in changes in action. A person’s morals and beliefs drive the actions they take. In order for an external journey to occur, an internal journey must propel someone’s actions to change. As a person’s internal feelings change, it becomes possible for their behavior to change. Another example of the duality of myth is the double-sided journey that occurs.