I ask that you use your own personal discrimination when reading this article, and set aside any words, aspects or concepts that do not resonate with you. For I recognise your freedom to choose what is right for you, and would not wish to violate your freewill, but rather, I would act only as a resource for your seeking.
In this piece, I’m going to explore how we can work with the archetypal energies, in a conscious and respectful way, to enact changes on our lives.
The Ritual-The principal method that I have begun to use recently for this purpose, is called “ritualistic mythic 'imagination.' This is a type of methodology which utilises ritual or ceremony at its heart, to enact certain defined paths forward. As humans, we continually use rituals in our daily lives, perhaps, without really even realising that we are doing so. For instance, sitting down for a meal with our families on a Sunday. 'Breaking bread', as it sometimes known, is a ritual. Taking our early morning cup of coffee or tea is a ritual. Any action that we undertake on a repetitive and regular basis, is a ritual. Going down to the pub on a Saturday lunchtime, perhaps to watch the 'game' and meet some friends, is a ritual. To a certain extent, even lovemaking when done in a conscious way, can be seen as a ritual. The difference here is that we are going to be deliberate, precise and very conscious about how we undertake this focused ritual. It is important to get the details right, for we are reordering our psychic space, with respect to certain decisions, outlooks and approaches to our life in general.
Bringing About Change – So, if we wish to change or evolve by balancing the archetypal energies, some new structure in our psyche, and thus are lives, then the use of mythic imagination in a ritualised form, can bring about the change we are seeking. Last night I had a dream about my own Warrior swearing allegiance to my new Sovereign essence, undertaking certain revised commitments. This swearing of allegiance is sometimes known as an oath, which is the type of commitment or agreement, to undertake certain actions. My dream prompted me to undertake a mythic imagination process.
So, I offer up the following, as a mythic ritual that one might undertake to bring about a specific change within our psychic space and therefore our lives. Previously, in my life, my Warrior had greater allegiance towards my Magician than to my Sovereign. This was because my Magician had been acting as “Regent,” in the absence of a centred Royal sector in my psyche. Now that my King and Queen (Sovereign) have taken up residence once again in my psyche running the Kingdom, perhaps a new allegiance between the Royal sector, and the Warrior sector needs to be established (See post https://tinyurl.com/bp8ruvxa)
Symbolism - At this point, I want to emphasise that ritualised mythic imagination is symbolic, or metaphorical in its nature. As previously defined, the distinction between signs and symbols, is that signs relate to the external objective world, whereas symbols relate to the subjective, internal, psychic world. Symbols arise spontaneously from the collective unconscious. They are not human constructs; they are psychic constructs. Myths are psychic tales of symbolism, which have immense impact upon us.
Myths - In some way, all our stories are myths. Let's be clear, the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Harry Potter, and Avatar, are all examples of significant and impactful myths of our time. The greater the symbolism within a myth, the greater its impact upon us. You will note that four of these myths utilise in some respect magical forces, in the sense of the paranormal or transpersonal. Myths are especially important to humanity. Whether they are creation myths, religions or scientific disciplines, they are all to be considered as a mythological in nature, having a direct, and sometimes indirect, impact upon what we believe, how we view ourselves, others and the Universe around us.
Preparation of the ritual space is essential to the efficacy and success of the ritual. By this, I mean, creating either in your house, your garden or out in nature, a space which will hold the ritual is crucial This is a portal connecting the inner and outer worlds. You may wish to mark out the boundary of the space with whatever is symbolically appropriate to your own mythological story. Place in the middle of the space a representation of what I call the Centre. This signifies the central connection with the Primordial Fountain, the Source, or whatever it is within your own personal myth, which represents your connection to the Divine. You may wish to call in some level of protection of the space. Some utilise the process of calling in the four directions or calling in certain beings to protect the space itself. This is important, because the space itself is an external representation of your own internal psychic space. That space needs to be protected from any unwanted influence from external forces at work in the collective unconscious, connected to your psyche. It may be important to you to have a witness, a friend or your partner, to be present for the ritual. However, this is not always as important as we might think. We may wish to have the proceedings witnessed only by our connection to the Divine. Placing some burning incense in the space, representing ‘fire,’ will also help. Setting up and igniting a small bonfire in the centre, would even be better.
The Significance of the Warrior - For the purposes of the myth, let us elevate the Warrior within, to the position of a General, to reinforce its significance. The Warrior represents our physical interface into the external world. The Warrior undertakes all actions. The other archetypal sectors have no access in themselves to action whatsoever. This is a crucial point of understanding. If the Warrior is not acting in accordance with a loving King, well counselled by the Magician, then any unconscious Warrior actions, will be enacted as our behaviour. This can be in the form of unwittingly and unconsciously expressing aggression and even violence in pursuit of protecting the kingdom against ‘perceived’ enemies.
The Oath - The Royals (King and Queen) have invited the General to enter into a ritual, whereby it will swear an oath of allegiance to the proclamation that the King/Queen has issued. The use of King or Queen here, is interchangeable, depending upon how we consider we express our sexuality/gender, or whatever equivalent we utilise, in the world. For myself, I’m in the process of balancing both my masculine and my feminine energies. Therefore, I prefer to use the term Sovereign instead of King or Queen.
Before enacting the ritual, it would be beneficial to have determined and written down the nature of the oath itself. By this I mean, what it is that you wish the Warrior, in the form of the General, to commit to. For myself, my Sovereign is asking my Warrior to commit to the following. I swear by the great Warrior archetypal energy invested in me, to my King/Queen/Sovereign that:
I will transfer my allegiance from the Magician to my Sovereign
Whatever instructions, the Sovereign issues I will faithfully carry out, to the exclusion of the Magician and the Lover (this is important, we don't want either issuing instructions to the Warrior, without first going through the King/Queen, for proper judgement that they will benefit the Sovereign realm)
I will conduct myself with humility, openness, kindness, grace, and above all else, total respect for others
I will protect and serve the interests of the kingdom, from a heart-centred position of mutuality for all those around me
I shall gently enforce boundaries around any Lover tendencies towards addictive behaviours
I will not overstep the Sovereign's authority
Intention plays a crucial role in the enactment of our ritualistic mythic imagination. The ritual is to be performed with reference, pathos, and serious commitment to the proceedings. If we approach it in a flippant, offhand or comedic way, then the significance to ourselves, and the efficacy of the ritual, will be reduced. The ritual is to be considered as life changing and is to be approached with great reference for us and the impact it will have upon others.
The Enactment - I offer up the following merely as a guide as to how to conduct the ritual. Please use whatever resonates for you and undertake whatever actions you consider are appropriate. First, we must fully step into our Warrior energy. To do so, we literally say aloud, I” call forth the great Warrior energy to be present within me for this ritual”. We may need to repeat this three times to ground its pure presence into our physical bodies. Second, we connect directly with whatever symbol you are using in the middle of your space, as representative for the divine numina of the Centre. It is vitally important that we connect with the Divine Centre of our psychic space with reference, and if possible, loving devotion. Lastly, we say aloud, the prepared oath, with dignity, solemnity and deference. Step outside of the of the space, bow and depart.
Summary - These types of rituals can be used for any number of proposed changes that we desire to bring into our psychic structure, resulting in changes to our commitment to our lives. For example, we may wish to instruct our Magician to undertake a certain task. We may wish to instruct our Lover to become more aligned with the Royal sector, the Warrior and the Magician, in a balanced way. The more importance we place upon each ritual, the more meaningful the change that we are seeking becomes. Physical enactment in the world underlines, the importance of the ritual. Yes, we can conduct the whole thing in our imagination inside our heads. However, a physical enactment, I believe, is more powerful.
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