Do You Know Of Any Myths To Live By When You're Turning 40?

Share thoughts and ideas regarding what can be done to meet contemporary humanity's need for rites of initiation and passage.

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Martin_Weyers
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Post by Martin_Weyers »

Dear Shanti,

it seems that you have been caught by the sublime in front of Kiefer's painting.

The painting on the site you have linked is called Decline of the West / Abendland. I have seen it before, but didn't know the title. I guess it is a reference to Spengler's book Der Untergang des Abendlandes, which in English probably would be: The Decline of the West. It has been one of the great inspirations for the early Campbell.

There are several paintings by Kiefer that combine motifs of Nazi Germany (landscapes, architectures) with the topic of apocalypse. That's probably, why the railroads on that painting may lead to a concentration camp.

I was thinking myself about the blue tree. I think it is symbolizing a kind of "personal world tree" the way it appears (unpersonally of course) in Germanic myths for instance. I see it as a symbolization of my personal Lebensentwurf, that may be translated perhaps as life script or life draft. Blue, for me, undoubtly, stands for transcendence. Maybe this is why it was not stabile, I don't know. It would be difficult to build something out of nothing.


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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Martin_Weyers on 2004-12-16 13:16 ]</font>

Martin_Weyers
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Post by Martin_Weyers »

(Unless you are a reader of Alan Watts, maybe.)


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Martin_Weyers on 2004-12-16 13:17 ]</font>

Dmouse
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Post by Dmouse »

Just for input for those of us yet to reach 40. I'm due to turn forty in July and my inspirational "myth" is the poem about the old woman who wears purple...with a red hat that doesn't go. This doesn't mean that I think I have one foot in the grave (although my children would joke otherwise) But it does symbolize that the time for absolutely following social norms is grown past, I've begun to come into my own and if I feel like wearing purple well then that's what I'm going to do. To me this poem is simply a creative humorous way of saying "Follow your bliss" :smile:

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Post by Poncho »

Hi DMouse,

Welcome to the jcf forums and thank you very much for your contribution.

Did you mean this POEM? Forgive me for asking. Being English it's not a poem I know, although I suspect from the way you've drafted your post it's well-known in the US, so please forgive my ignorance.

According to the LADIES' website, it looks like at 39/40 that you're a Red-Hat-in-Training (or a Pink Hatter)

BTW over here if a chap walks around in a pink hat he may find that he attracts the wrong kind of attention. :wink:


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ivor orr


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ivor orr on 2004-12-28 16:04 ]</font>

Poncho
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Post by Poncho »

Hello Dear Friends,

I should have mentioned that in fact purple is my favourite colour. Doh! Sometimes, I can be real dopey. Just about every day, I wear a purple shirt and tie. I guess that it's such a part of myself that I take it for granted.

Anyway, during the summer I went into town to buy a new bag, which I could sling over my shoulder as I walk around during the day either to and from the office, or at weekends as a tour guide. Being hot, I didn't need to wear a coat.

Finally, it boiled down to a choice between two: a black one and a cheaper reddish bag. Black is a bit boring, but I decided that if I bought the red one then it would be just my luck to bump into jcf's favourite preacher Jerry Falwell perhaps as a member of one of my tour groups. Seeing me in purple with my red bag might then have caused another international INCIDENT.

Being diplomatic, therefore, there could only be one choice :sad:


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ivor orr


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ivor orr on 2005-01-02 17:38 ]</font>

Dmouse
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Post by Dmouse »

On 2004-12-28 15:46, ivor orr wrote:
Hi DMouse,

Welcome to the jcf forums and thank you very much for your contribution.

Did you mean this POEM? Forgive me for asking. Being English it's not a poem I know, although I suspect from the way you've drafted your post it's well-known in the US, so please forgive my ignorance.

According to the LADIES' website, it looks like at 39/40 that you're a Red-Hat-in-Training (or a Pink Hatter)

BTW over here if a chap walks around in a pink hat he may find that he attracts the wrong kind of attention. :wink:


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ivor orr


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ivor orr on 2004-12-28 16:04 ]</font>
Ivor!

Thanks for the welcome!

Yes indeed, that is the poem that I was refering too :smile:

I first read it in a childrens' book believe it or not. I thought it was the greatest idea ever. Simple mind, what can I say :wink:

Pink hatter eh? Hmmmm just my luck, I look horrid in pink lol! It does win over black however, which seems to be the traditional color scheme for fortieth birthday parties here in the states. I wonder if it's the cultural attitude towards aging that cause one to be taken back by turning forty? For me, there is a bit of a "gulp" at turning forty but there is also a sense of finally coming into my own as well.

It seems to be as Joseph Campbell talks about in Power of Myth regarding fear and desire. If it were not for desire there would be no fear. If I didn't desire to see where my coming into my own would lead given endless amounts of time then I wouldn't mind or fear getting older and thus approaching the end of my allotted time.

Cheers!

Dora

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Post by Poncho »

Oh my God! :eek: You're a woman.

I'm soooo sorry Dora,

For some reason I genuinely thought that you were a bloke. Honest. I'd read your posts on other threads too and for some reason I could have sworn that you were chap. I feel really embarrassed. I'm glad that I've been able to get my apology in before I'm run outta town by the moderators for insulting a lady.

Thanks for taking it in good part. :smile: It shows that you feel confident in your feminity.

If it's any consolation, I've been mistaken as a woman on these forums! Press HERE and run down to post 2 on that page :lol:

Anyway, I've just noticed that in my earlier post on this thread and my reference to a possible international incident involving the Rev Jerry Falwell, the joke falls flat because it is now a dead link! Doh, I seem to be having a bad day don't I?! Anyway, I've replaced it with a fresh LINK. I hope that what I was trying to say in my last post makes sense now!



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ivor orr


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ivor orr on 2005-01-04 19:53 ]</font>

Dmouse
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Post by Dmouse »

On 2005-01-02 18:11, ivor orr wrote:
Oh my God! :eek: You're a woman.

I'm soooo sorry Dora,

For some reason I genuinely thought that you were bloke. Honest. I'd read your posts on other threads too and for some reason I could have sworn that you were chap. I feel really embarrassed. I'm glad that I've been able to get my apology in before I'm run outta town by the moderators for insulting a lady.

Thanks for taking it in good part. :smile: It shows that you feel confident in your feminity.

If it's any consolation, I've been mistaken as a woman on these forums!

Greetings from over the Silver Sea

ivor orr

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ivor orr on 2005-01-02 18:27 ]</font>
Ivor!

Now that you've left me laughing hysterically at my desk...fortunately it is lunch time and there's not too many folks about so my public embarrassment is limited...this time.

Now your comment about a guy wearing a pink hat makes much more sense :smile:

No worries!

Cheers!

Dora

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Post by Poncho »

Phew! That's a relief. :smile:

I've just noticed, dear lady, that by quoting what I had said back at me:
It shows that you feel confident in your feminity.

I can now see that I have misspelt "femininity". After a couple of pints of Guinness, though, I can barely pronounce the word let alone spell it. :lol:
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Post by Scarlett »

Well, ok here I go again. But I have all of this energy welling up inside of me and I need to express it. So I found another thread, another one full of cobwebs I think, but so interesting! When I come to these forums, it reminds me of my younger days, when I would walk through the endless aisles of books in my local library. There was always some treasured book calling out to me…I used to feel overwhelmed by the enormous feeling of all the knowledge.

Anyways, I’m going to post my feelings here because I loved the responses on this thread and I certainly related to them. I just turned 30 in August and I think it’s really been on my mind (even though I kept telling myself I wasn’t thinking about it). I laughed when I came to this thread because Ivor Orr mentions a person who kept referring to his age. Well, I thought back and in some of my most recent posts, I have often brought up the fact that I turned 30 or just lived through my twenties. Oops…I’ve been caught. The actual act of turning 30 wasn’t life changing. (In fact, a month before my birthday, I was sitting at a wedding rehearsal dinner, and the waiter kept walking around pouring everyone wine except for me. I had to call him over, and give him my ID. Anyways, I’m used to that because I have always looked younger than I am physically. So I’m not worried about my physical appearance….but of spirit).

Change winds itself slowly around you like a snake. I just want to make sure I can charm the serpent and not become strangled.

(I don’t mean to sound dramatic. I really enjoy living my life: I’m a mother which is a wondrous thing. I enjoy my family and my job, but I also feel the need to satisfy deeper spiritual urgings. When I was 25, I tried to ignore this fact and go on about life, but then I saw this painting. I told Martin about it…probably not the greatest work of art, but it jolted me back into my inner self.

I don’t want to go through my 30’s forgetting. I think that’s why I’ve been posting here a lot.


Ivor orr posted regarding turning 40:
I was wondering how other associates have been able to get through such experiences. Have there been any myths, rituals or films, or songs even, which have helped them on such occasions? The other threads on this Forum seem to be mainly about the transformation from carefree-childhood/youth (or "yoof culture" as we say over 'ere) to adulthood. There doesn't seem to be much sharing of experiences of aging as we go through the decades of 40, 50, 60, 70 and beyond. I seem to recall somewhere JC saying that when he retired the myths helped him such as adopting a new way of dressing. He also spoke of how in India, when the men reach a certain age they leave their family and their jobs and go into the forests.

Can anyone offer any advice to our friend? It's an important subject and I'm sure that each of you has something interesting and worthwhile to share.
Can I include 30? Or should I float away to another thread? So I came here for some advice since some associates have already lived through their thirties.

To focus this a bit, I have been stuck on Chapter 1 (4): The crossing of the First Threshold in THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES.
Joseph Campbell wrote:
With the personification of his destiny to guide and aid him, the hero goes forward in his adventure until he comes to the “threshold guardian” at the entrance to the zone of magnified power. Such custodians bound the world in the four directions – also up and down – standing for the limits of the hero’s present sphere, or life horizon. Beyond them is darkness, the unknown, and danger; just as beyond the parental watch is danger to the infant and beyond the protection of his society danger to the member of the tribe. The usual person is more than content, he is even proud, to remain within the indicated bounds, and popular belief gives him every reason to fear so much as the first step into the unexplored….like an endless mythological serpent biting its tail – had to be cozened and urged on like children…

If you have any good books, music, or other works of art…please send me a note…. A thread to lead me out of this labyrinth! I don’t mind if they are books that were written by men. When I read Iron John by Robert Bly – it was a real eye opener for me.

Scarlett
Last edited by Scarlett on Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

james.tegeder
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Some Books/Authors that speak of initiation

Post by james.tegeder »

Here are a few that may help you on your quest:

Marion Woodman (Bone, Dancing in the Flames, Ravaged Bridegroom etc.) Michael Meade (entire collection, especially The Water of Life etc.)
Robert Johnson (He: Understanding Masculine Psychology, We, She
Sam Keen (Fire in the Belly, Learning to Fly etc.)
R. Moore & N. Gillette (King Warrior Magician Lover, The Warrior Within etc.)
Linda Fierz David (Women's Dionysian Initiation)
Sylvia Brinton Perera (Descent to the Goddess)

Scarlett
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Post by Scarlett »

James,

Thank you very much. I'm glad to see you post and I hope we see more from you.

Actually, if it wasn't for your post, I was about to go ask the Army of Mary for some advice (just kidding)!

I've read Marion Woodman, but I am going to look into the other authors you suggested.

Well, I realized that I had some thread (to lead me out of the labyrinth, so to speak) in my own pocket --- and I followed it to the Heroine’s Journey Thread. ivor orr and Gracie had some interesting posts there. Perhaps my questions would be better answered in that thread.

And I have been rereading A HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES ..... and returning to my journal, which I have neglected this past month.
I have been playing around with some ideas and dreams ... and this forum has always been helpful to me in the past.

Besides I'm still 30 ... maybe I'll come back in ten years!

But thanks for giving me a paddle, as I head down stream.
I've already googled Sylvia Brinton Perera.

Scarlett

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Post by Myrtle »

Enchanted April and Shirley Valentine are good metaphorically structured films for women.

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