The Living Universe - Duane Elgin [52]
The themes found in the hero’s journey are universal throughout the world and throughout history. Popularized by the renowned scholar Joseph Campbell, the hero’s journey describes a path of separation and return whose general outlines are as follows.1 An adventurer hears a call and separates from the everyday world to set out on a path of discovery. Along the way, the hero experiences many tests and trials, each rich with learning. Eventually, the hero confronts a seemingly insurmountable challenge that cannot be overcome with the capacities of the ego. The hero then successfully confronts a supreme test and awakens to a new and more soulful relationship with the Earth, the rest of life, and the universe. Upon completing this rite of passage, the hero vows to bring these gifts of insight back to the larger community and turns toward home. The ensuing journey is rich with additional discovery and learning.
Although modern media often portray the hero’s journey as a quest for adventure, this is a shallow rendering of this archetype. Throughout history and across cultures, the hero’s journey has been viewed primarily as a process of inner discovery and personal transformation. In going through a supreme test, the hero does not slay demons and dragons; instead, the hero surrenders a limited sense of self and awakens to a subtle connection with the living universe and the community of life. The hero’s greatest challenge, then, is to slay the dragon of ego and the small sense of self. A supreme test devastates the ego and reveals the soul, enabling the hero to recognize his communion with a living universe. We can apply these insights to our “social ego” and see that, as an entire species, we are being called to a much larger sense of who we are and where we are going.
Looking at the broad sweep of our history, where is the human species on the hero’s journey? The accompanying figure illustrates the evolutionary dynamic of which we are a part.
According to archeological evidence, we humans awakened to ourselves roughly 35,000 years ago. At that time, we had a weak and shallow sense of self and a strong experience of connection with nature.2 Over thousands of years, we became increasingly conscious of ourselves as distinct beings, but at the cost of separating from communion with nature and the field of life. As we move into our time of initiation as a species, we are challenged to reconnect consciously with nature as a living field while growing an even bigger sense of ourselves as both biological and cosmological beings.
HUMANITY’S HEROIC JOURNEY FROM SEPARATION TO INITIATION TO COMMUNION
This picture of humanity’s journey tells us several important things. First, instead of a linear, one-way ascent of an evolutionary mountain, the figure portrays human evolution as pulling back from the universe in order to strengthen its sense of self. At a crucial point, the entire process begins to bend back and consciously reflect upon itself, which leads to our eventual return and communion with the universe at an entirely new level of understanding.
Second, when we look at the seemingly insurmountable problems facing humanity, we see the human species now entering a time of supreme testing. We are now in a pivotal transition zone; our challenge is to reorient ourselves toward communion with the cosmos and cooperation with one another.
Third, making the turn toward reunion with the living universe does not end our journey of learning and discovery. There will be as much to learn on our journey of return as there has been on our long journey of separation. This is humbling news. Instead of the modern era representing the culmination of human evolution, I believe that it represents only a mid-way point on the journey of realizing our potentials as doubly-knowing humans. We are halfway home.
A fourth important insight is