rescue from without

    When I first saw the definition of the rescue from without as “saved from as state of helplessness or bliss” I thought of that of a drug addict. I could not relate to this, having not ever been addicted to drugs myself, but I kind of understood because I have had friends that have been addicted to drugs.

Then I looked at this in the context of the hero’s journey since a drug addict it rarely seen as a hero. The only example from our readings that really stood out to me was Siddhartha. Like the life of the Buddah, Siddhartha spent his journey trying to achieve nirvana. Once his journey was over and he achieved nirvana, he did not return home. He stayed at the river in a state of bliss after achieving nirvana.

magic flight

poem i found:

Steppenwolf – Magic Carpet Ride

I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here

Well, you don’t know what we can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
You don’t know what we can see
Why don’t you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you away

Last night I held Aladdin’s lamp
And so I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away
I looked around, a lousy candle’s all I found

Well, you don’t know what we can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
Well, you don’t know what we can see
Why don’t you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you away

my poem:

on the hero’s journey

he/she finally decides to return home

driven by a magical force

which may be from the inside or out

the hero flees from his enemys on this journey

with the prize in hand

earned from this long journey

refusal poem

the hero at the end of his journey

feels accomplished and proud

in this new world everything is perfect

when the journey is over

the hero must return home

heisitant and not ready

the hero tries to stay put on the journey

instead of  continuing it home

refusal of the return

    On the third stage of the heroes journey that we are now learning, the first phase is the refusal of the return. This occurs when the hero completes his quest, but does not want to return home. Instead he/she wants to stay in the new world that is a result of his/her journey. Another case may be that the hero will not think back on the journey and understand what he/she has learned.

An example of the refusal of the return from our reading that our group thoroughly discussed was Siddhartha. Siddhartha’s journey was similar to the Buddhas, in that they were both trying to achieve nirvana. Once nirvana is attained the heroes refuse to return to an un-enlightened state of being. They also refuse to go back and teach others their path that they took to enlightenment.

In my life I have also experienced the ‘refusal of the return’ many times. The last time I experienced it was on winter break when I went on a cruise with my family. The cruise went all over the Carribeans/Mexico and was very fun and relaxing. I ‘refused to return’ in that I did not want the vacation to end and have to go home.

fear

fear is an important part of te hero’s journey

fear must be kept out of the hero

and into his enemys

once the fear enters

like a virus it goes through the body

and is hard to get rid of

conquering this is all a part

of the hero’s journey

a hero’s knowlege

    I think it is very important to share knowledge. The knowledge that I have that I could share with the world is eighteen years of experience in this world. I contain knowledge about living in the suburbs growing up just outside of Pittsburgh. I have 12 years of elementary, middle, and high school knowledge. In addition, I have one and a half semesters of knowledge of studying at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

I do both share and do not share my knowledge. I do not share my knowledge when someone does not want to hear it. I also do not share my knowledge if I think it will not help the particular person who may be requesting knowledge.

I do share my knowledge when someone requests it or I think it will benefit someone. Knowledge is something that I think should always be shared these cases. For example, look at the internet. The internet was founded on knowledge and allows us to spread knowledge instantly all across the world. Without the internet we would in no way be as advanced as we are today, especially in technology.

apotheosis poem 2

entering a new world

full of new responsibilities

the hero is completely changed

as he/she accepts the new challenges

that he/she will soon face

as a hero entirely different from

the beginning of his/her journey

apotheosis poem 1

stuck were i grew up

wanting to grow up and go to college

feeling like siddhartha wanting to become a shamana

the hero’s time will come when

he/she passes the threshold

and enters a new world

apotheosis

In my life I have experienced many apotheoses. One achieves an apotheosis when they experience a realization about purpose of live and self. This, in effect, expands the hero’s consciousness. After this achievement, the hero views the world as a completely different place.

The one major recent apotheosis I had was becoming an adult. For four years I went to high school at Upper St. Clair High School in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. For those four years I was supposed to feel older being in high school, but didn’t. I was not able to drive until my junior year, and did not have a car until my senior year. Even if I did have a car, there was not a lot to do in the suburbs and I still felt like a kid living with his parents.

The worst was at school though, we had the same things we had in middle school. ‘Home room’ to check-in in the morning, which was ten minutes of wasted time. I also had mandatory classes with harsh penalties if you skipped, and other simple responsibilities that were never given to the students that were supposed to be the oldest students in the school district.

This all changed though when I came to IUP. I am now an adult living and working on my own how I had wanted it. In this world I go to my classes, eat, and handle all of my responsibilities on my own. Here there is no ‘detention’ or punishment outside of the law. Here I am my own person and have all of the responsibilities I wanted when I was in high school back home.