Luke Skywalker, DarthVader. The light and the dark, good and evil. The hero and the villain or, in Jungian terms, the shadow. These two characters represent opposing archetypes. When George Lucas wrote the Star Wars script, he was deeply influenced by Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which Campbell mapped the essential structure behind myths and religions and illustrated that all stories are composed of the same pattern – the hero’s journey. There are 17 steps to the hero’s journey and you see them in movies and novels that speak to us in mythic terms.
Synchronicity is part of the hero’s journey. It fits best with that aspect of the journey that Campbell called “supernatural aid,” and occurs once the hero has committed to the quest. “For those who have not refused the call, the first encounter of the hero’s journey is with a protective figure , who provides the adventurer with amulets against the dragon forces he is about to pass,” wrote Campbell. “What such a figure represents is the benign, protecting power of destiny… protective power is always and ever present within or just behind the unfamiliar features of the world. One has only to know and trust, and the ageless guardians will appear. Having responded to his own call, and continuing to follow courageously as the consequences unfold, the hero finds all the forces of the unconscious at his side.”
The dark side of this journey occurs through external forces – through the shadow/villain that attempts to trick, thwart, subvert, and harm or kill the hero. This shadow comes in many guises and speaks in many voices. It can be the voice that tries to seduce you into believing that synchronicity is a malevolent force, evidence of your broken personality. Or it can be the whispers of the troll beneath the bridge, who insists that you must believe as he believes before he’ll let you cross.
The shadow/villain usually has a bleak, ugly view of the world and desperately seeks converts to his way of thinking. Your reality, he says, is hammered together by outside forces over which you have no control, and you and you and you have no idea what’s happening. Only he knows. Only he has the inside scoop. There’s an element of the dark trickster in him, too, a kind of insidious quality, slick and tailored, like a Wall Street conman. The shadow/villain insists that synchronicity isn’t about any underlying order in the universe, that there’s no such thing as unity, that unity, in fact, is ever so dangerous, that if you believe in it, you’re opening yourself to terrible, malevolent forces. Synchronicity, says the shadow/villain, is just the choked wheeze of a world in its death throes.
Darth Vader, like all shadow/villains, had a powerful, booming voice that made him the center of attention when he spoke. But beneath that black armor, he was just a broken, pathetic man. So if you meet him on your journey, think of Campbell’s words, “The hero is the champion of things becoming, not of things become, because he is,” and just keep on walking.
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No comment to make except to note the WV here: "verbil" Verbal.
I've just finished reading this post yet again, for its positive and uplifting undercurrents. Those who refuse and deny the call to Light ultimately become bringers and bearers of Darkness. They insinuate their convictions of personal helplesssness not only into their own lives but into the lives of other, much more vulnerable individuals who are searching for a higher path and stumble into the black pit of doom and gloom and the "inevitable death of the soul". Those vulnerable individuals are easily deceived and are pulled into that lightless Hell without recognizing they have become pawns; disciples of the forces of evil who are masters of charismatic eloquence. Some of them, robbed of all hope, decide to end their lives because they believe the teachings of Vader. This is not a movie but a real and tragic saga of which we must all be vigilently aware. It's a war between the soldiers of darkness and the soldiers of light that began in The Beginning and it continues today. An owner of another blog once said to me that I "espouse an ethos of Love that is ugly and repulsive". I felt pity for that person then. Now I feel deep sorrow for those who follow his doctrines of hatred and soullessness and hopelessness. May we all stand together in the Light, which WILL prevail.
Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes, I had a great, calm day!
Rob, do you ever tape your meditations and sell them?
Major volcanic eruption in Philippines: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/20/mount-bulusan-eruption_n_825787.html
Vicki – we're grateful for what we've learned from all of you. Also, for years, Rob and I felt isolated by our beliefs and explorations and when we started blogging, we realized there are many others whose beliefs are similar! You and Debra do seem to have a lot of the same planetary/physical symptoms.
Vicki
Happy Birthday!(sorry I'm slow)
It has been a lonely road. I'm grateful Trish and Rob have brought us together to share all this.
btw we just had a 5.2 across the border here.
Dpage, I have noticed that you and I seem to get similar symptoms/pains, I find that quite interesting but also affirming.
When I would suffer with some of these things I used to ask "what in the world is going on?" I felt very alone.
Thank you Rob and Trish for this site, Trish I always knew by your books that you understood these things, but meeting others from all over has really helped me.
I hope that doesn't sound selfish but this can be a lonely road.
Vicki, you are not alone! And take a look at this WV:
"perging" purging? Is Mother earth doing that, I wonder?
Vicki-
I went to Urgent Care. I have an ear infection. The past 24 hours have been filled with ear ringing in the left ear. I haven't slept very well for 4 nights. There was a 6.2 in Russia a little over 1 hour ago. My neck is in pain as well.
Ugh, now I know why my head has been pounding and the pain from my shoulders up my neck is still bothering me. Im walking around with a heated neck pillow to help.
I also had a terrible nights sleep on Friday night.
It must be quakes that really get to me.
I also think I may have an ear/sinus infection, not how they usually present but the ringing is really bad and I have had pains in both ears today the left is worse.
This has been a really rough 8 weeks!~
What the heck is going on?!
wv:kesurd, absurd?
Gypsy – what a great synchro with the wv!
clarity – if we listen long enough, the other person, in one way or another, will always, always, tell us the "truth" as to themselves – that which we need to hear/to know – it's a matter of hearing, i think – and his telling you darth vader was just a bit more overt than most "tellings" probably – glad you heard him! 😉
cj – it's saturday afternnon late and i've tracked brian williams down on google but still unable to find video of the photos of the sun – bahhumbug – however, another day the same today – haziness in the air – bright white sun – no clouds – but winds that will knock you over! the sound of wind in the trees out back of the house is so loud one would think it's a train at times – literally –
am still having the left eye deal – and insomnia – but insomnia for me is fairly typical with a full moon – like i'm on speed or something – uh, not that i know what being on speed is like – but i've read articles, guys!!!
ok, this is too too neat! i was just minutes ago, literally minutes ago, reading that today is the 135th birthday of constantin brancusi – guess what the wv is here: constantin!!!
Nat, Clarity, I think most of us have had darth vaders in our lives at some point. Clarity, it's fascinating that the guy changed his role play choice to darth vader. Very telling!
Gypsy, you may already know this by now: On Brian Williams CNN news tonight he had several pics of the sun just like yours. They are solar flares, and he also showed videos of several countries where the flares are causing the aurore borealis to appear. Breath-taking!! Downside to this for us PEs..the shifts in the electromagnetic fields of our planet are wreaking havoc on us!!
Wow, great post! And thank you for (once again) shooting a profound synchro into my life with it. Much needed! Like Nathalie, I also had a Darth Vader in my life ..with the emphasis on HAD. In fact, at the beginning of our friendship, he and I had a conversation where I asked him which one of the characters in Star Wars he would choose to roleplay. First, he answered 'Luke Skywalker' …and then he changed it to 'Darth Vader'. Looking back I can see how this tiny bit of our conversation uncanningly came to mirror the development in our friendship ..and you know what?! Right after I broke off contact with him I started seeing the number 17 everywhere – but had no clue why. Reading this post made me realise that he was a test on my personal hero's journey and suddenly I understand all the misleading synchro's I experienced along the way; the footprint of the dark trickster. I am still in shock over how evil can disguise itself as good – and that I was too blind and unprepared to see it for so long. But like the hero there was a gift at the end of this journey with Darth: experience. Thank you once again for this fabulous blog of yours! And once again I must humbly express my respect and admiration for the gift of empathy some of you guys have.
From our Jacksonville weather channel:
Moon alert:
Tonight will be spectacular moon viewing. The moon will appear larger due to it being near perigee. The space station will be visible around 7:24 EST, moving from southwest to northeast, and will be visible for about three minutes.
So all us avid sky-watchers have a treat tonight!
Gypsy & CJ:
Cloudy, wet with a side of quakes here. Can't see the sun.
Wonderful post.
Reminds me of Keep Calm, Carry On.
Also reminds me to keep the courage in regard to my own Darth Vader.
A synchro for sure. THANKS. 🙂
Same here, Gyps. Oddly enough, hubby came home to pick something up a little while ago, about 4:00pm EST and I thought our neighbors were burning trash or had their grill on or maybe a forest fire closeby. It wasn't fog. It was a solid misty-like, but unlike yours, this one was lower to the ground like a morning fog would be, yet this covered the houses. It had no odor. What's odd is that the entire day has been sunny and clear and gorgeous, and the humidity is low. Even with that whatever-it-was, the sun was bright. Again, it wasn't smoke because it had no smell. And it's too dry for mist and fog. And it wasn't rain. No wind, either. It hung for a bit then drifted past. Reminded me of the scene in the movie THE TEN COMMANDMENTS when the plague is winding through the city streets in that ominous shade of noxious greenish haze. Altho this was a hazy white. Just….odd. It's gone now. Your pics are really something. Maybe solar flares or bursts?? I surely hope this we had here wasn't anything toxic.
has anyone noticed a difference in the brightness of the sun today? a haziness surrounding it/the atmosphere closer to the ground – i just took several cell phone shots because it seemed so different to me – at 3:30pm here in delaware, there was this huge sun in the sky but all around a haziness – as in a total eclipse – anyway, anyone else?
cj – maybe your antsy feeling is what i've been trying to describe to myself – i just commented, you know, in my email, that i've not accomplished anything lately – ie, my muses are musing somewhere else – and i've not been able to do my usual words past few days – which is a big deal for me –
weird times –
I agree, D. The planet feels as if she is shivering today. I seem to be in that weird "waiting" mode that can't be defined, but is walking-the-floor edgy and antsy and out-of-focus, unable to concentrate, sometimes feeling as if I've just stepped off a tiltawhirl at a carnival. Gotta be something happening or in the works.
Cj-thanks for the kind words.:-)
We just had a 5.1 quake. I have a feeling the globe may be active for awhile.
Lauren – Hadn't heard of this Bali ritual.
Mike – the 17 steps are the premise of robert mckee's book Story, about how to write great novels and screenplays.
empaths – maybe the 23 quakes in arkansas are what's causing this for you all?
Just a note: The Dot changed from red to green and is now soft blue.
Debra, the cluster of quakes may have been the tipping point for red. Let us hope that was it and that it is over. Do feel better.
We know your body is wrought with dastardly ailments, but your spirit and mind and heart are beautiful and whole. We care.
Wonderful post!
cj & gypsy- no solid sleep last night. Several sad nightmares. Woke up crying, filled with grief. Left ear (the one that rings or bleeds before quakes) is draining fluid and infected.
I did see on CNN that Arkansas had 23 quakes in 36 hours.
Keep on walking: good advice. I wasn't aware of the 17 steps, so thanks for the intro. Great post.
This is a profound post which you have infused with your own deep feelings, and I thank you for it. Speaks to my own long journey with Joseph Campbell, as Alex Grey ("The Sacred Mirrors") once said, the "Bodhisattva of artists".
Faith in the underlying unity of all things…..no, perhaps, as Joseph Campbell said in his interview with Bill Moyers, not faith but knowledge…..is what makes the journey possible, and what we all most need now, in this time of extraordinary crisis and possibility. Thankyou for reminding us.
In Bali there is an annual ritual drama between the Barong (light or good) and the dreadful witch, Rangda (evil, or dark). Ultimately, the balance is kept between these two forces, and the Barong drives Rangda off. Where does she go until she re-appears in the next ritual cycle? Well, she goes off in some myths to become Uma, beautiful wife of Lord Shiva, the God of transformation.
I think of how Darth Vadar began as the heroic jedi youth who was seduced by power, and was finally transformed into the white robed spirit at the end of cycle, watching his son with love.
So very well said! Things are changing and the old ways are crumbling before our very eyes. Anyone who professes to know the answers, and to use fear as way to have you not listen to your own inner voice, is someone to be avoided at all costs.
Yes, Gyps…Sister Luna was quite an impressive Presence last night here, as well! How odd, my left eye is also "twitching". Actually, not so much the eye itself but the eyebrow and area surrounding the eye. Shall check out the USGS and other such sites, but haven't yet because I have a sense that "whatever" is in the "building" stage and hasn't yet become manifest. Let's all combine our UNITED thoughtforms and get that old Dot back into the comfortable green range, shall we?
Love this WV: "ousta" As in 'get outta here', whatever it is!
first, i was left speechless by the magnificently powerful post of clarity [for those needing such clarity – and they are out there in lalaland] – and then, once again, left speechless by the beautifully pointed comment of my cousin cj – so – there you have it – my work is done here!!! 😉
and cj – on the red dot: i think i could just shut up shop and take a few days or weeks off and not be missed at all as you are there, once more, one step ahead of my own words, lady! geeeeeee…….
no sleeping at all last night for me but most probably attributed to the influence of sister luna beaming down upon me and my bed – how glorious – i digress – in any event, just the left eye twitching/pain thing today – and the usual palpitations with the solar stuff ongoing –
macgregors – again, great and powerful statement! brava! bravo!
wv here – adhos – or perhaps ad hoc?
At 10:40am EST on Friday, February 18, 2011, THE DOT is now RED and bears watching. Planetary empaths?
Breath-taking, awesome, spectacular, magnificent presentation of Reality; of the opposing forces of black and white; of Darkness and Light. There are those who would attempt to persuade us that life has no purpose; that we have no control but that instead our very bodies, thoughts and actions are BEING controlled and invaded and are possessed by elements that are sinister and destructive and that lead to a nothingness, to a total death; to a termination of our very souls. We know better; we know there is a Continuing of Becoming; and we are not seduced by the articulate but delusional illusions emanating from minds that are warped and apparently twisted out of sanity by the malignancy that is called "evil".
Thank you, Trish and Rob, for a reminder that Luke Skywalker ultimately triumphed over the power of his very own father, Darth Vader, and in doing so, became free of the tentacles of The Dark Side. Much, much to ponder. Compelling WV: "diatoni"
Diatonic relates to a standard major or minor scale of eight notes. The frequency of GOD, in virtually all languages, resonates within the number 8. And 8 is the frequency of Supreme Power and Authority and Dominion in every aspect of our lives. 8 is the frequency of the word UNITY. These numbers, as all numbers, represent the influences of each frequency in the universe, and are unchanging constants. They speak the language within which we each live and have our Beingness. Bravo, MacGregors. Let he who has eyes, see. Let he who has ears, hear.