The Journey of Transformation is a mystical quest of evolution and expansion which is fundamental on the pathway of spiritual growth.
But what does the Journey of Transformation look like? What happens as we awaken from a state of fearful self-involvement to one of enlightenment? What are the challenges we will face?
Originally the Hero’s Journey was a concept put forward by Joseph Campbell to explain the framework for many of our stories from myth and legend, literature and in modern day cinema. As described by Campbell the Hero’s Journey is a twelve step path from a state of fearful self-involvement to one of enlightenment. The journey takes the protagonist into unknown territory to retrieve something of value they need. After facing much conflict and adversity they return triumphant and transformed.
But the Hero’s Journey also provides a beautiful metaphor for the gradual journey to spiritual awakening and the pathway of the modern mystic.
The Journey
We think of hero’s as being larger than life, but anyone can take this journey, anyone can become a hero. However, whether it happens by choice or accident, the journey is not straightforward. The road is challenging and involves a painful evolution.
The individual is tested along the way. They meet both enemies and friends, and are challenged and tested along the way by their greatest fears. They go through a metaphorical death which ultimately leads to resurrection when they later emerge from the journey or quest.
By surviving this they receive their reward, wisdom. But in fact, although it may seem the journey is now over, this is really only the halfway point, as they must then, in their transformed state, share their wisdom with others.
In Campbell’s model the journey involves twelve stages beginning with the call to adventure, a challenge which appears in their ordinary life. This may simply present as curiosity and a desire to delve deeper into the spiritual journey. Initially the person may feel apprehensive and refuse the call. But eventually, often with guidance from an outside source, they overcome their fears to cross the threshold and commit to the journey.
The Spiritual Hero’s Journey
There comes a moment when you begin to doubt and question your old habits, beliefs and actions, the beliefs you unconsciously adopted as a framework for yourself and your life. This is the moment you awaken to life.
As you start to sense there is a greater presence and meaning to life your awareness is triggered. You begin to notice where things don’t add up, things you’d missed before. You start to see with clarity that much of what you were taught is not aligned with your values. And so your search for deeper meaning begins.
The First Challenge: Fear And Courage
Before the journey begins there is an initial upset or unease that emerges from their ordinary, mundane world for the individual. This marks the first phase of the journey, the call to adventure, closely followed by an initial refusal, through to the point when the individual takes up the quest and the crosses the threshold from the ordinary, known world into the unknown domain.
With this Spiritual Awakening you start to question your purpose, why you are here, the circle of life and death, and the nature of life. You begin to seek meaning in connections. As you become aware that something is missing you start yearning to discover a state of higher consciousness.
Often those around you can’t understand your new focus, and no longer support you. You must travel this journey alone and this can feel a very lonely and frightening time. Some call this experience the Dark Night Of The Soul. But as with every Hero’s Journey throughout time, in order to emerge cleansed and renewed, you must first travel to the depths, passing through a challenge or test along the way.
Transitioning through this time can be frightening as it can feel as if you’re caught and held in the dark void. In order to pass through this Gateway of fear, the first in the initiation process, you must call forth your courage. Apprehension, reluctance and uncertainty surround you as you must leave behind all that’s familiar if you are to undertake this journey.
The Second Gateway Of Authentic Power
Having called forth your courage you begin to move forward into the second stage of the journey.
But suddenly, you’re surrounded with a cacophany of noise from the subconscious. Obstacles and reasons why you can’t continue on your journey appear, flooding you with doubt and eroding your courage. The forward movement and initiation of the process of change you have begun is clouded with disillusionment. Doubts creep in. And you begin to question yourself, “I can’t do this,” “I don’t deserve it,” “What was I thinking,” “What will others think.”
Once again you question your choices as you search within for authenticity, truth, and deep engagement with your Highest Self. You may be tempted to relinquish your power to the obstacles, wherever they have come from.
As you face this challenge you are called upon to drag yourself out of the idea of limitation and unworthiness. You are being shown you must reclaim your Authentic Power in order to again move forward.
It can be difficult to reject the self doubts that arise and to close your ears to the misgivings of others. Rather than engage with the emotions that rise up, observe and witness them with awareness, from a place of stillness, calm and clarity.
The wisdom you seek is within
The Challenge Of Confusion
As you awaken more and more to this process of evolving and expansion you begin to re-engage with your soul. You are always connected, that never stops, but for some time, perhaps your whole life, you had not been actively engaged with your higher consciousness. As you start to nurture, grow and expand the relationship, you begin to experience the transformation. You begin to find peace, freedom and joy.
At the same time you may feel confused, as your life no longer seems to make any sense. This is the third stage of the initiation process where you are challenged to transmute this confusion into clarity.
It may feel as though you are surrounded by chaos and upheaval. But the confusion and suffering you experience during this transition has a purpose. As the old is broken apart it opens the way for the new. This time is a dismantling, or death, of all your outdated beliefs and habits. It is a breaking apart that creates a space for new awareness, understandings and consciousness to move in.
In many ways this process is similar to what happens when you upgrade your computer. The new software you want to install won’t run properly while the old software is still installed. So before you can install the new version, you must first clear out all the old, outdated programs. If the old programs are not removed the new program will not run cleanly.
Often at this point you are ready to discard all the crap, all the inauthentic superficial rubbish that masquerades as spirituality. And again you go searching for more; for something deeper than feel-good self-help; something more than pretty trinkets. You become a student of transpersonal philosophies or ultimately, deep Mystic principles.
You position yourself in alignment with the voice of your Soul to find clarity.
Burnout, The Fourth Challenge
And so you reach the final Gateway and the challenge of exhaustion. You have fought so hard and it may seem, without success. You feel you now understand much more, but at the same time, you understand nothing. Suddenly it seems the challenge, the journey is insurmountable and you give up. You have lost your zest for life and the impetus to continue.
This is the challenge. You must exercise Conscious CHOICE at this point to claim your Sovereign and Divine Identity.
WHO we become along the way is really the ULTIMATE reward. And once we become this new version it can never be taken away from us.
Breakthroughs And New Perspectives
And so you move into the final phase of the journey, your return home, and you cross the threshold back onto the ordinary world, a different person, a Master of Two Worlds, a Sage and Holder of Wisdom.
As your perspectives shift you can no longer view the world in your old unconscious and unaware way. You begin to find answers and to experience breakthroughs which bring joy and hope. The heavy veil of darkness starts to lift, or thin, and you experience moments of lightness.
Gradually you integrate the lessons along this path, and the insights you receive from doing the inner work.
As you begin to integrate this into your everyday life, you create new habits in your life and thoughts. And as you engage ever more deeply with the Divine you create deep and long-lasting change.
And here you have come full circle, through the journey of transformation, to awaken to the true Divine purpose of your life on Earth. Your purpose, as it is for each of us, is simply to remember who you truly are, a divine spark of Source.
Nothing more.
What you do on the earth plane is how you choose to express yourself as a Spark of the Divine. What you do, the action you take, is purely an expression, not a purpose. It is in the Being, rather than the Doing, and your Awareness of that, that you find your True Purpose.