Key Takeaways
1. Embrace Myth as Your Guide to Becoming a "Real Human Being."
Humans are made of stories, and so we should be seeking the ones that call forth the best in us.
The core quest. The journey to becoming a "real human being" is the central theme, a process of tempering and deep connection that often feels missing in modern life. We accumulate "stuff" and information, but lack the wisdom and architecture of maturity. This quest is not about individual success alone, but about finding a profound sense of "home" within ourselves and the world.
Myths as allies. Myths are not mere fictions but "Sacred Stories" that orient us, speaking of our relationship to gods, earth, animals, and fellow humans. They provide ancient codes for a new world, challenging us to wake up rather than merely enchanting us. These tales, from Greek epics to Celtic lore, offer a "royal road to the deepest depths of the psyche," helping us understand our impulses on a grand scale and providing a framework for our own life narratives.
Storying your life. Every person carries a unique story, a "treasure" that needs to be told, rested in, and made peace with. In a world of constant distraction and superficial narratives, giving attention to our "lost stories" is a radical act. By threading our personal anecdotes with the grand themes of myth, we move from confessional to majestic, from persona to presence, finding camaraderie in a larger narrative and shedding unnecessary loneliness.
2. Navigate Life's Initiations: Severance, Threshold, and Return.
In a functioning initiation you would likely be given new clothes at the Return stage, or some intrinsic totem to show you are not the same.
Life's transformative pattern. Life's crises and opportunities are not random but often follow an ancient initiatory pattern: Severance, Threshold, and Return.
- Severance: A break from the familiar, triggered by threats like illness, betrayal, or spiritual upheaval, forcing us onto a quest for wisdom.
- Threshold: A disorienting, often harrowing journey through the "Underworld" or "Otherworld," where we are stretched, deepened, and rewired, acquiring a "limp and a gift."
- Return: Bringing back the wisdom gained for the benefit of others, completing the cycle and preventing endless trauma.
Beyond the "Shire." Many people attempt a spiritual life while remaining firmly entrenched in the familiar "Shire," reneging on the call to adventure. This leads to a "cosy, cookie-cutter" belief system that lacks true transformation. Without venturing into the Threshold, we never truly "die before we die," remaining uninitiated and unable to manifest the profound gifts meant for our community.
Marked by experience. The "limp" acquired during the Threshold signifies a diminishment in the eyes of the world, yet it is precisely this deepening that allows us to articulate our unique "gift." People instinctively trust those who have been through the Threshold, recognizing their hard-earned empathy and wisdom. This process is about becoming "marked" by life, not just accumulating experiences, and it's essential for true maturity.
3. Balance "Mud" and "Breath" for Wholeness and Resilience.
A myth is robust enough to hold the tension of the soul of mud, and the spirit of breath.
The initial ingredients. Drawing from Genesis, humans are "mud people" animated by "holy breath." This duality represents the essential tension between grounded discipline (mud) and inspired improvisation (breath).
- Mud: Grounds us, provides sobriety, discipline, and acceptance of aging ("bone house").
- Breath: Animates us, fuels excitement, improvisation, and spiritual elevation.
Avoiding extremes. An imbalance leads to either a "mud life" (all outcomes, no journey, nervous of paradox) or a "puer aeternus" (floating ecstasies, crashing depressions, Peter Pan-like). The challenge is to stay in dynamic relation to both, like a king mastering two strong-willed horses in a chariot. This tension is crucial for handling life's complexities and becoming a "grown-up."
Flamenco and O'Keeffe. True maturity is seen in the integration of technique and inspiration, discipline and spontaneity. Examples include:
- Flamenco dancers: Spontaneity within well-organized steps.
- Georgia O'Keeffe: Starkness and lushness in her art, technique and inspiration.
This integration allows us to fully occupy our "bone house," accepting both the boons and diminishments of aging with wry humor and grace.
4. Confront Death to Truly Live and Deepen Your Soul.
One day, any day, it will be my time, is better.
The great integrity maker. Confronting death is the final, essential part of getting "unmade" and becoming a real human being. Modern society's "death-phobic" denial prevents us from developing the skill and consciousness needed for this passage. We miss the sanctifying experience of sitting with mortality, often walking backward into our graves.
Beyond denial. The author challenges the "It's not my time" mantra, advocating for an acceptance that "One day, any day, it will be my time." This shift in perspective, often triggered by personal loss or dreams, allows for a deeper engagement with life's preciousness. It's about being "more gracious to that emptiness, more understanding of it," even when grief is overwhelming.
Extravagant grief. Witnessing deaths like Charlotte's and Torin's taught the importance of extravagant, protracted, and real grief.
- Labour over preparation.
- Show up fully.
- Make something by hand.
- Allow numbness, then howl, weep, and drink.
This creates a "tear in our little community," opening a "time outside of time" where the "Other Place is much closer," allowing for extraordinary things to happen and deepening our connection to both life and loss.
5. Overcome Passivity by Embracing Your Unique Quest.
There is no road, we make the road by walking it.
The "failure to launch" scent. Passivity is a crippling hindrance, often disguised by visible activity in other areas of life. It's characterized by "suspended animation," where big plans remain unimplemented due to hidden counter-intentions. This "offence of omission" keeps individuals stuck, waiting for the "right moment" that never comes.
The third sibling. Fairy tales often feature two passive siblings who refuse adventure, while the third, more humble one, "picks up the feather" and embarks on the quest. This signifies that overcoming passivity often requires:
- Humbleness.
- Forward-moving energy.
- A willingness to encounter the "Underworld" to engender urgency.
It may take decades and disillusionment to reach this state, but it's essential for growth.
Steadfastness and restlessness. The story of "The Firebird and the Hunter" illustrates the balance between the steadfastness of the horse (discipline, grounding) and the restlessness of the firebird (spontaneity, adventure). The hunter's journey, marked by "correct mistakes" and arduous tasks, shows that true transformation occurs when spirit-fire heats soul-waters. This balance makes us "saltier, stranger, possibly more eccentric," leading to a life lived in the "low cello note of both."
6. Refine Passion and Desire for Authentic Connection.
Sex without the refinement of passion becomes the new normal.
The erotic dimension. Passion is a combustible element of life, requiring refinement and understanding of its exalted and degraded dimensions. The author laments the decline of nuanced love songs and the rise of "booty" culture, suggesting a loss of the "knife" that gives specificity and boundaries to erotic desire. This leads to "endless rutting" that is "terrifically unsexy" and leaves us "oddly bound."
Silver hands and moon-dwelling. Hyper-pornography and constant stimulation create a "silver-handed addiction," a strangely removed and passive engagement with sex that compromises imagination. Like the "Handless Maiden" or dwelling in the "Moon Palace," it offers safety from risk and heartbreak but prevents true intimacy and creation. This leads to a combination of lust and loneliness, ultimately deadening desire and fostering impotence.
Kissing the crone. A "romanticism come of age" involves kissing the "crone" or "frog," embracing the testy, hungry, and dark aspects of love, as seen in the "Loathly Lady" tales. This means moving beyond adolescent romanticism, which thrives on absence, to a deeper connection that involves:
- Changes of gear.
- Long silences.
- Welcoming limit.
- Accommodating loss and heartbreak, which, though ungainly, can ripen into love and creativity.
7. Cultivate Prayer as a Dynamic Path to Divine Connection.
Prayer changes our relationships with pretty much everything.
A collaborative enterprise. Prayer is not passive but a collaborative, vulnerable act that involves surrender and active participation. It's a "vertical attention," stretching us through word and movement to contact "divine ground." This ancient practice, from Sufi swaying to First Nations dances, is about connecting with the source, not just personal display.
Beyond toddler prayers. The author's journey transformed prayer from "gabble" and "toddler prayers" to a profound, physical, and sensory experience, especially within Orthodox Divine Liturgy. This involves:
- Lighting candles for the dead.
- Kissing icons.
- Prostrating on stone floors.
- Chanting and singing scripture.
- Imbibing sacred incense.
This "fully realised culture of prayer" is perceived as "spiritual combat" against the Luciferic, offering immediate results and fostering confidence.
Hesychasm and the heart. Deep forms of stillness, like Hesychasm with the Jesus prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me"), allow the mind to nest within the heart. This creates a profound sense of peace and connection, where wishes become redundant as God already knows them. This "hermit place" of "absolute poverty of spirit" is a source of lion-like strength, transforming prayer from something we do into something we are.
8. Transmute Guilt and Envy into Purpose and Gratitude.
When has honey been made from what you regarded as a failure?
Guilt's transformative power. Guilt, though often tormenting, can be a catalyst for redemption. The story of the monk and the bees illustrates how perceived failure can be part of a larger divine plan, leading to unexpected purpose. Confession, whether in prayer or to another, shifts us from paralyzing guilt to remorse and repentance, which are "90 percent of repentance, really."
Envy's cold grip. Envy is a "cold evil," a "master class in smallness" that isolates and makes us feel "stiffed by the world." It's a "Witch-energy" that thrives on comparison and leads to "tremendous cold," fostering illusions and self-inflicted isolation. This state is "pure devilment" and must be "nipped in the bud" by speaking of the struggle to a trusted person, reducing its charge.
Akanida's patterns. The Saami story of "Akanida Daughter of the Sun" shows how divine gifts (patterns, songs, dances) can bring joy and culture, but also provoke envy in those who seek only material gain. Akanida's response to the elders' greed and malice is to continue her work, allowing her songs and patterns to blossom among the people, ultimately sealing the "smoke hole" of stagnant energies and fostering gratitude over greed.
9. Discern Dreams into Visions for a Storied Life.
You know you have a vision when it doesn’t melt away in the daylight.
Dreams as inner mythologies. Dreams are not random but "shifting inner-mythologies," offering tempering and provocation under the cloak of sleep. Taking them seriously, giving them space and attention, can lead to unusual and profound insights. The "Green Chapel" dream, for instance, hinted at surrendering one's life to find it, a concept initially resisted but later embraced.
From dream to vision. The story of "John of the Dreams" (The Pedlar of Swaffham) illustrates how a simple, repeated dream, initially dismissed, can lead to a life-altering vision. John's journey, marked by discomfort and uncertainty, required:
- Boldness: To leave the familiar.
- Faith: To persist when the dream was vague.
- Discernment: To recognize the "key" in an unexpected place (the shopkeeper's dream).
- Conscience: To use the discovered wealth for the greater good (rebuilding the church).
The Acorn Theory. Psychologist James Hillman's "Acorn Theory" suggests we carry the blueprint of our potential "oak" within us, guiding our life choices. Dreams can offer glimpses of this destiny, years ahead of manifestation. Turning a dream into a vision requires "real, solid work," endurance, and persistence, transforming an epiphany into "village wisdom" that is robust enough to grow without losing its dreaming roots.
10. Embrace Limit as an Ally Against Modern Distraction and Excess.
You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.
Limit as an extraordinary ally. In a world of constant excess and frantic visibility, limit is not an imposition but a profound instructor and ally. It fosters depth, discernment, and a sense of relief. St. Brigid's blind woman, who chose to be re-blinded, found she was "closer to God" in the "fertile darkness" of limit.
The Spyglass and disappearance. The story of "The Spyglass" highlights the peril of endless information and visibility. The hunter's success in evading the spyglass by disappearing—even under the princess's feet—symbolizes the need for:
- Unpredictability: Being untrackable by the secular world.
- Higher account: Holding oneself to spiritual rather than societal metrics.
- Prayer: The "prayer mat directly underneath you" as the ultimate hidden place.
This is a pushback against the "Luciferic" nature of technology that corrodes imagination and fosters distraction.
Ecology of genuflection. The Christian perspective, particularly panentheism, sees God both within and outside creation. This means nature is infused with divine intelligence, not dead matter for human "dominion." Embracing limit in our consumption and attention allows us to "behold beauty" and practice being saintly, recognizing grace in the everyday. This "ecology of genuflection" connects us to the "imperishable" and prepares us for eternity.
11. Recognize and Resist the Insidious Nature of Evil.
The Devil in us is that part that has turned the farthest from God.
Encountering darkness. Growing up involves encountering darkness and peril, recognizing that not everything has our best interest at heart. Evil is not merely human construction but a seductive, charismatic energy seeking to sow division and addiction. Storytellers universally acknowledge its existence, and myths help us apprehend its tricks and maneuvers.
The Devil's evolving guise. Historically, the Devil has shifted from a terrifying, impactful figure to a ludicrous buffoon, and now, insidiously, to an abstraction or a "lifestyle." This "Pannish Devil" dissolves into the hardwiring of smartphones and the "banality of evil," making it almost impossible to locate. It thrives in "unthinking obedience" and the "God of Normal," which can incite terrible, vivid extremes.
Angelic troublemaking. Richard Beck's concept of Satan as a "relationship as much as a person" is useful: anything that obstructs our path to the kingdom of God is a satan.
- Hate is the satan of love.
- Exclusion is the satan of inclusion.
- Oppression is the satan of justice.
Resisting this requires "angelic troublemaking"—subverting the world with love, discernment, and vigilance. This means turning away from the magnetism of overwhelming, survival-of-the-fittest narratives and embracing "wolf-wisdom" to navigate the blizzard of our times.
12. Practice Praise-Making as the Highest Form of Being.
Praise is an extraordinary discipline in a world of me-first.
The natural expression of a mythic life. Praise is the culmination of the journey, a natural expression of a life tuned to the mythic. It's a discipline that fosters gratitude, generosity, and connection, especially when noting qualities one wishes to possess. Praise is specific, not sugary, and carries a blessing that strengthens rather than sedates, helping to silence the inner critic.
Fidelity to place. Praise-making requires fidelity, a commitment to a place and its unique ecosystem, history, and cultural weight. This means being "claimed by a place," trading growth for depth, and resisting the modern urge to sever ties at the first sign of trouble. It's about getting "down into the mud of things," knowing the "hedgerow gossip," and being loyal to the "bells of your village."
Longing over desire. A praise maker understands the difference between fleeting desire and profound longing. While desire is easily satisfied by consumerism, longing is a deeper spiritual yearning that leads to disciplined engagement with the divine. This involves making a "covenant with limit" and learning to say no to the world's carousel, allowing for a discerning ground of absorption and a "blue feather language" that embraces subtlety and imaginative nimbleness.
