The Heroic Journey : Myth, Psyche & Tarot

Chapter 1 - Separation

POWER        Beltane (Bel-fire)

"It might be said that Native American religions can be understood in terms of power. To know stories, prayers, and songs; to practice ritual; to have visions and dreams; to be able to call upon guardian spirits and helping spirits—these things mean power; they allow one to live a meaningful life. Power is generally denoted by the English term medicine." Gill & Sullivan, 1992

"Dionysos represents the dynamic of the dark... The power of Dionysos is to ride on the full fury of the life force." Campbell, 1990

Magician

The appearance of this Otherworldly figure signifies the first inkling that the heroine is about to take a trip beyond the borders of the known world into the unknown. The Magician symbolizes power or energy manifesting in the psyche. There is "flow," the release of potential previously hidden, which has been produced by a "tension of opposites:" "The opposites constitute the most basic anatomy of the psyche. The flow of libido, or psychic energy, is generated by the polarization of opposites (Edinger, 1994)." In order for psychic energy to be activated in the psyche, instinct and archetype must meet: "The release of instinctual energy from a state of latency in the unconscious and the transfer of it over into ego consciousness and activity depend upon its linking up with an archetypal image that can give it shape and significance (Stein, 1996)." This meeting allows for the spontaneous production of a symbol. Previously untapped energy or potential becomes available and there is insight, creativity and meaningful activity. According to D. Stephenson Bond (1993), psychic energy "ebbs and flows like the tide," sometimes inward, sometimes outward, yet it always flows inevitably toward potential: intuition, ideas, insights, inventions, energized conversation - magic. The Magician uses her symbols (wand, sword, disk & cup) to communicate with the Otherworld, the unconscious, in order to realize its intent: "For it is the function of consciousness not only to recognize and assimilate the external world through the gateway of the senses, but to translate into visible reality the world within us (Jung, CW Vol. 8)." The Magician may also represent the container, or sacred space, where psychic communication (between the opposites) takes place.

The hero has the innate capacity for communication and self-expression, and the potential to use her intelligence, talent, skill and passion to live creatively, in a way she deems fit. This archetype pertains to potential skills and creative abilities not yet manifested in the hero. The hero is the one who feels compelled to seek something that is missing in her life, perhaps she has been separated or cut off from parts of herself and her quest is to become reacquainted with them, to become more fully her Self.

The "animus," or masculine part of a woman's unconscious, may appear in dreams, myth or fairy tale as a "sorcerer," or "seducer and exploiter," as well as, a potential helper or guide (Emma Jung, 1957). The Magician here personifies a woman's positive animus (her inner masculine potential) as he inspires and motivates her with fiery energy. 

Strength

"The linkage of spirit and matter takes place in the region of the psyche, where spirit, through archetypal images and ideas, and matter, through instinctual perception, meet up with one another and confront, conflict, harmonize, and mingle their influences." Stein, 1996

Strength indicates a "tension of opposites" between spirit and matter, conscious and unconscious that is necessary for the flow of psychic energy. Where there is a working relationship between the instincts and archetypes, a balanced tension between the opposites becomes possible: "When these two poles of the psyche, the material body and the transcendent spirit, are adequately coordinated, it makes for healthful psychic compensation from the unconscious. Compensation is conceptualized by Jung as a psychic mechanism that aims at directing a balanced dynamic movement toward individuation and wholeness (Stein, 1996)."

"The person who hasn't conquered, withstood and overcome continues to feel doubtful that he could." A. Maslow, 1968

Every hero has within her the unlimited potential for realizing her dreams, the inner Strength necessary to overcome great obstacles, and the ability to become her own best ally on the journey ahead. This archetype symbolizes inner Strength. It takes a great deal of courage to leave the world of predictability in search of a life more meaningful. Fortunately, even the hero who is faint of heart comes equipped with the power of resistance, whether she knows it or not. Strength represents this inner determination or life force that often saves the hero, who acts spontaneously and by her own ingenuity in the face of grave danger. Her resistance may be as subtle as a whisper, a curse unheard. Or she may struggle and fight with all her might. Either way she is resisting. Movie to watch: Erin Brockovich.

Devil

"The drive that remains hidden is compulsion; the drive that is revealed is freedom. The authentic life is the transformation of compulsion into freedom without the loss of the energy contained in the compulsion." Marion Woodman, 1998

The Devil symbolizes the state of being unconscious and therefore the projecting of, or identifying with, an unconscious drive or impulse: "As long as this unconscious identity with a drive or impulse persists there is no possibility of choice, for we act like helpless puppets and we never know what strings have pulled us (Whitmont, 1991)." This situation creates a loss of energy or power and a lack of meaning. The unconscious remains in a more or less primitive state where it is experienced as a threat or a disturbing beast: "the inconvenient or resisted psychological powers that we have not thought or dared to integrate into our lives (Campbell, 8)."

"The practical search for individuation involves two steps that must be undertaken by conscious effort if the work is to progress. The first is to collect within my psyche all that belongs to me; the second is to find a right relation to the non-personal energy that manifests itself in me—in my instincts, and in all those experiences, arising either in my environment or within myself, which have mana, that is, power to move me or arouse in me unruly or compulsive emotions." M. E. Harding, 1947

The devil archetype tends to be repressed in our culture and therefore projected outward onto evil others. For example, the collective suppression and repression of such feminine qualities as feeling and intuition, has led to an imbalance of power and a disparagement of the archetypal feminine: "The problem of evil and the return of the feminine are intricately intertwined. Power without relatedness is ultimately destructive. That is the problem with the too masculine God. Unrelated power makes him a devil (Bond, 1993)." The Devil here represents the collective shadow, everything that is unacceptable or taboo in our culture or society is banished to the unconscious.

When personifying a woman's negative animus, the Devil represents the hero's inner doubts and fears, those critical voices inside her head that tell her she is not good enough, not capable, that she is a victim. Alternatively, the Devil may represent people in the hero's life who try to manipulate her or tempt her away from the path to developing her full potential. Perhaps they are the voices of a culture or society that undervalues women and female qualities, perhaps a friend or family member. The hero whose need is to please or be accepted by others gives up her power to those same others, in which case, her task may be to learn how to say "no" and mean it, or to speak her own truth rather than protecting others with her silence.

"Temptation is the gracious way of introducing each soul to her power." Gary Zukav, 1990