Photograph – courtesy, the estate of Sue Vincent

(All Tarot Card Images – Rider Waite Deck)

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The Silent Eye’s October Explorations Zoom Talk

The Thousandth Face – breaking through from the ordinary

Jospeh Campbell’s book, ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’, sold over a million copies.

In it, using his knowledge of philosophy and psychology, Campbell describes how all human myths share a common fundamental structure, which he called the Monomyth.

Essentially ‘the hero’s adventure’ is summarised as:

The hero ventures forth from the world of the common day into a region of supernatural wonder. Fabulous forces are encountered and a decisive victory won. The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow good fortune on his fellow man.

The ‘Mono-Myth’ describes a number of key stages or steps along the way:

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The hero’s adventure begins in the ordinary world with a call to adventure…

The Hobbit – Bilbo seated outside his Hobbit Hole smoking a pipe in the morning light.

The Matrix – Neo’s mundane job in a tech company.

The Arthurian Mythos – The Knights seated around the Round Table in the hall of Camelot

Tarot Card – The Devil, In this instance,

represents the Egoic Nature.

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…The hero sometimes initially refuses the call to adventure…

The Hobbit – Bilbo Refuses to have anything to do with adventures when first invited and then tells Gandalf that he ‘has got the wrong hobbit.

The Matrix – Neo follows the white rabbit but when following Morpheus’ instructions to avoid the Agents he fails to cross the abyss of the skyscraper and is captured.

The Biblical Myth of Jonah – The call from God in this instance is flatly refused by Jonah who tries to flee onboard a ship. After a number of negative events which the crew ascribe to Jonah he is thrown overboard to save the ship from further mishaps and swallowed by a whale which regurgitates him alive back at Ninevah.

Tarot Card – The Blasted Tower: The Egoic Nature

is penetrated by Higher Forces.

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