Transform Consciousness with the Power of Myth: Your Personal Myth

Ever wondered why you find yourself in the same or similar situations in your life? Do dynamics with family, work, or intimate relationships happen over and over again? If you’re curious to unlock the mystery of what could unconsciously be playing out in your life, personal mythology provides a fresh and unique perspective of what occurs beneath our awareness. We are meaning-making creatures. Discovering your own personal mythology provides a window into the meaning of your life.

Depth psychology provides the framework for personal mythology. A basic premise to depth psychology is that we always move within some storied situation, some psychic framework of fantasy, fable, or myth. It’s not a difficult leap to see your life as a story that has unfolded. It’s also not difficult to recognize that life’s dramas are not all that unique; that in fact, the same basic human dynamics play out over and over again, as they have throughout history.

So what is your drama? Who is the character your life subconsciously plays out, and in what story? Are you destined by its fate?

The term “personal myth” was used by Carl Jung to describe collective stories, images, and motifs that recur in our lives. When we venture into the collective stories that have been passed down through centuries, a chord is struck recognizing one as our own. The first few similarities seem like coincidences. However, as the defining moments, core beliefs, and essence are not literalized, but used as metaphors to our own experience, exciting and awe-inspiring stones are upturned about our own predicaments.

Carl Jung also used the term “archetype”. An archetype holds a vision of existence, or a type of energy, and is a universally recurring pattern. Archetypes are general such as Child, Hero, Rebirth, and The Wise Old Man. A myth differs from an archetype because a myth is a specific story. In Greek mythology, for example, there is no Hera archetype or Hermes archetype, but there is a Divine Mother, and a Trickster. The energy of the archetype within the myth gives the underlying core of the story. As complex beings, we all carry some aspects of many archetypes. However, it is not unusual for a primary way of being to be found.

My dear friend, I’ll call him Chance, consented to my using his personal myth for illustration. I have known him for many years, and as friends, he has shared many stories and events in his life. From the Greek pantheon, he is a classic God of Communications, Hermes, the Messenger God. The archetype for Hermes is the trickster. Trickster energy permeates the myth of Hermes, as it does through the life story of Chance. Trickster energy represents a mode of the unexpected, of catching us off guard in creative ways to pursue a goal or overcome obstacles. It is also a mode of uncanny luck. Hermes was symbolized with winged sandals as he was a swift messenger, both articulate and persuasive. Shrewd and cunning with his charm and friendly nature, he always had a way with words. His antics would also win the confidence of his brother Apollo, from whom he stole some cattle. Hermes amused his brother, who then overlooked the theft, and appointed Hermes to protect the cattle. Through this Hermes became a protector. He was patron of travelers and had the ability to usher others to the underworld, the land of the dead. He was one of the few who could travel between both worlds unhindered. Roads and traffic became two of his domains.

Chance found his passion and career in the field of media communications for which he has won a half a dozen Emmy awards. Most of his accolades came his way after he left the confines of a media company and started his own. True to the Hermes nature, Chance rejects authority and constraints. Career success exceeded his expectations once his vocation in communications aligned with his core nature to work without restrictions. Through his sincere charm and grace, he is able to assemble teams that will jump through hoops for his production company to meet grueling and sometimes insane deadlines. Hermes had issues with time; likewise, Chance seems to always be scheduled far in excess of what might be considered normal. His time management becomes difficult for important people in his life that would otherwise wish to spend more time with him.

Because of Chance’s protective and supportive nature, also found in the myth of Hermes, people are drawn to him. Those who have hit hard times in their lives find a truly empathic ear to listen. He has found himself at the center of helping those in their deepest hour, and guiding them through some of life’s toughest moments. During these times, the Hermes’ psychopomp ability of guiding souls channels through him.

Call it dumb luck, or the gift of Hermes, when Chance can talk himself out of a traffic ticket after being caught blatantly in the wrong. How does that happen when the rest of us are tagged with another fine? The patron of roads and traffic may have saved Chance’s life when he lost control of his car while entering a rain-slick freeway swerving across several lanes untouched by the onslaught of traffic. Somehow the man always lands on his feet, the feet with wings.

Another wonderful illustration of Hermes symbolism is in the movie Cast Away, whose protagonist is played by Tom Hanks. Hanks plays a FedEx employee, Chuck Noland, in charge of effective delivery of communications, a messenger. If you take notice, in the beginning, before he is set adrift, you will see several symbols of clocks and time, something of which the Hank’s character never seems to have enough, not even for his fiancée.

Once washed ashore a deserted island, a package from the cargo he leaves unopened is adorned with Hermes’ symbolic wings. Chuck finds himself at the service of his wit and ingenuity to fashion methods for his survival overcoming what appear to be insurmountable obstacles. Luck follows him as a passing cargo ship finds him when he was drifting aimlessly.

Chuck makes a conscious decision to change the script he had been unconsciously living. He became aware of the parts of his way of being that no longer served him, and moving forward he would pay attention to what was most important in his life, his relationship. The film ends as Chuck stands at a crossroad, noticing and watching another symbol of Hermes’ wings, and smiles.

One day I asked Chance if he had ever seen Cast Away. He replied, “I love that movie. I’ve seen it 20 times!” Not surprising.

I’ve shared Chance’s version of the Hermes myth, and the way it is enlivened through his experience. With awareness Chance can choose to re-script how it will play out for the aspects of his life he feels do not serve him. No one knows what the future holds, but for Chance, knowing his myth provides a useful internal compass when he reaches another fork in the road, or when another crucial life decision needs to be made. His knowledge gives him a way to validate his intuitive feel, and provides guidance of where he might want to steer clear. It’s another checkpoint to make sure his decisions are in alignment with his true self.

The realization of the story your life has been following can allow you to change the future, and keep repetitive patterns in your life from persistently taking charge. Conscious awareness provides an opening for you to choose and shape the outcomes you’d prefer, unleashing the grasp of your story’s fate.

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About Author

Rebecca Elliott holds a master’s degree in Consciousness Studies. She is a contributing author to the book Storied Lives: Discovering and Deepening Your Personal Myth by Craig Chalquist PhD.

In addition to facilitating personal myth work, she is in alignment with her myth by bringing people together to envision the type of future we want to live in, and inviting creative solutions in response to the pressing concerns faced with our environment. Her myth is revealed in Storied Lives. She can be reached through her website at www.ecoanxietycoach.com.

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