DESTINY AND THE HERO/INE'S JOURNEY

DESTINY

Our destiny is preordained but not predestined. Free will allows choice and so it may take us many life times to find it. We have to juggle the cards we are given by our respective fates and the opportunities that we make of them. Finding our true destiny is a karmic requirement but once realized we are also required to carry it out within the laws of spirit. There is a direct link with destiny, the search for the Self and the Hero/ine’s quest for his/her archetype, mission or purpose. It might be useful to review the prior blog on destiny in the series on Karma.     

This blog is an introduction to the Hero/ine's journey which can help us to find who we really are. There may be more than just one hero's journey. We are always fine tuning our destiny. The first one or ones that we take may be the most impactful and lead the way.

Here is a summary of the prior Destiny blog.

We are all totally unique and each of us has a special role in helping the planet and all its Beings.

The Creator want to co-create with us. There are things that S/He requires us to manifest which the Supreme Being cannot. The Supreme Being created something out of nothing. We are required to take something and then make something else out of it - so helping to perfect the creation. Kabbalah looks to the metaphor of the creation of bread. The Infinite one gives us the potential ingredients but we then have to make the bread. Yeast - another tiny microcosmic representation of divine power makes the bread "Rise" as we do when we arise into our destiny and co-create with the Infinite One. 

Finding our destiny is also one of the vital requirements for fulfilling our karma.

 Some have been given bigger destiny "cups" to fill and more is expected of them. Those of us with smaller ones may have an easier time of it. No matter what destiny "cup" we are given we will be required to overcome the obstacles of our respective fates. Fate is the cards we are dealt with in life. Our destiny will depend on how we handle fates' challenges. Can we can turn the excrement into manure for the way? Our calamities and crises can also be opportunities depending on how we look at them and what we do with them.

We have to find our own way and merely following a path fashioned by others for us will mitigate strongly against our karma.

I only went out for a walk and finally decided to stay until sundown, for going out, I discovered, was actually going in.” John Muir

The Hero/ine's journey has the potential to lead us to our destiny. Historically, especially for indigenous peoples, nature was a preferred environment for the journey. However, She is not essential. The path only requires we go inward with the intention of finding our true purpose. Nature, however, can pave the way. It does not have to be in wild places.

Nature’s rapture is a way of being, a way of experiencing which can be sought wherever one is. We can hear it in the sound of rain, feel it in a fallen feather and see it in a spider's web . There are everyday wild wonders that are unheard and overlooked which seem far remote from wilderness until we realize how perception of the smallest bit of wild can connect to our higher Self. Nature reveals, inspires, encourages and shows the way.

 SACRED SPACE

The journey requires that we undertake the task in sacred space. This space can be found purely within our inner being or outside of us. There are many possibilities. Nature can offer all the challenges as well as the remedies that we require. She also inspires the senses which can assist us on the path. Nature is another manifestation of God's masterpieces.

"Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye... It also includes the inner pictures of the soul.”        

 Edward Munch

The way to God is through the Senses.

The soul's conversation is not of the mind. It is best heard with the senses.

The Vision Quest of the Native Americans is a hero's journey that always occurs in wilderness. Other indigenous peoples have had their own initiations. They were always in wild places, there was no urban environment.

Only to the white man was nature a 'wilderness' and only to him was it 'infested' with 'wild' animals and 'savage' people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery."  

Luther Standing Bear

 The classical journey is best taken in nature's sacred space. She is a room with many doors and windows to spirit that can help us find the middle way of the Buddha. She provides all the needed polarities for change: up/down, exhausted/rested, terrified/tranquil, hungry/satiated, thirsty/quenched, dark/light, sun/moon, day/night and much more. However, sacred space can also be created anywhere just by going inward. Going inward into one's own inner being may be prompted by a kick in the rear such as loss of a loved one, one's job or one's health. Nature can still be called upon to help in whatever way She fits.

“Accept surprises that upset your plans, shatter your dreams, give a completely different turn to your day and who knows, your life. Leave the Father free to weave the pattern of your days.”             Dom Helder Camara

 

“If we are willing to open up to it then it is just the unknown, the unplanned, the unexpected, the unfamiliar which can best teach us. In the tiny prefix “un” which so often spells trouble, lies the potential for change, for the new, for the hitherto unconsidered, unimagined, unrealized.”                 R. Hinshaw

 It's important to realize that the path is like a cybernetic, negative feedback mechanism. We are always going a bit wrong in order to go right. We turn left, make a mistake and then go right. We should not be disconcerted if we land up in the wrong place. Learn the lesson, self-correct and move forward. Take what you need from the past and leave the rest behind. It's not easy - very few of us are congruent with who we truly are. There are so many temptations and enticements to distract us. After acknowledging I was in the wrong place in my life it still took me 13 years to begin to find the way. The commitment also does not mean discarding the supply lines needed for our survival. Being in survival mode is antithetical to the purpose. Most of us have to learn to live in two worlds and still actualize our archetype.

Click, play and ponder

 02_Your_Search.mp3

So many distractions and so much to contend with. This does not look like a You Tube link but it is - click, view and listen - skip the add. It's only two minutes.

2:36