Beyond the Mask: Embracing the Force Within and Navigating the Path to Spiritual Unity
The following article is a response to the “Power of Myth” series with Bill Moyers. This interview with Joseph Campbell which was conducted at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in 1985 and 1986 explores a wide range of topics, including myth, religion, and the human experience. Check out the following links to view a few of the episodes from this series for greater context before reading. Enjoy!
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth Episode 1: The Hero’s Adventure
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth Episode 2: The Message of Myth
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth Episode 6: Masks of Eternity
I am special.
I am unique.
I am powerful.
I am in control.
I am the god of my universe and all who reside within.
This is the voice of the dark dragon. This is the voice of the antithesis of unity, the voice of the ego. In these interviews, Joseph Campbell explains his interpretation of the process of spiritual growth beyond the primary influence of the ego. Campbell chooses to filter his interpretation of the process of spiritual growth through myth. He articulates the idea that for a human to achieve unity, or a state of heroism in one’s life one must initiate and pursue a spiritual process that involves facing the inner dragon, or the ego.
To Campbell, the importance of myth in the process of spiritual growth is attributed to its ability to transport the consumer of the myth to a higher state of being. It seems, according to Campbell, stories act as metaphysical portals to higher states of being.
There are innumerable myths throughout our world, and they all consist of many different details. However, Campbell pushes past the details and illustrates the raw structure of what we might call one aspect of the flow of the universe, or as George Lucas might call it, the Force. If the Force flows in currents, then Campbell has identified the Force current that flows through myth.
For a standard human consciousness to attain unity, or heroism the human must remove their mask, leave the world they know, and face the dark aspect of themselves. Once the dark aspect is defeated the human may return to the world they know with greater knowledge and wisdom.
In these interviews Campbell uses many different spiritual traditions and myths from all over the world to articulate the structure of this flow within the Force. He shows that no matter what spiritual tradition or myth that is applied to the Hero’s Journey the basic structure of it remains intact. It can be applied to anyone in any situation because the core of its structure is based on truth.
The Message of Myth:
The message of myth is not to derive meaning from life but to simply experience it. The art of living a life is but a single layer of consciousness that cascades down beyond knowledge and reason.
To filter the concept displayed in this video through the Force we must think of the Storyteller as a creation manifested from the Force. Because of this, the Storyteller must craft the gods of his world with care for not even the gods of his created world know what he is.
To put it another way, the pawn on a chessboard is compelled uncontrollably to cross the battlefield and take a position behind the enemy that will transform it into a piece of great power. However, the pawn can never have any knowledge of what is moving it. It simply moves in the moment. The pawn that wholeheartedly embraces the game will have the greatest chance of transforming itself into a piece of great power.
Above the pawn is the true player of the great game, moving many pieces and playing many roles on the battlefield simultaneously. If the player of the game wholeheartedly throws himself into the act of playing, he will have a great chance of victory.
However, the player of the game has no knowledge of the Force that is moving through him. He does not truly know why he plays. He does because he finds joy in it and thus is compelled to do so. The best players don’t require meaning to play. They are simply there for the experience.
Regarding the perceived duality of this universe, one must understand that neither the black pieces nor the white pieces on the chessboard are good or evil. They simply are executing a complex process through a beautifully designed system. The best players of the game understand this.
Campbell describes these concepts through the lens of myth, but they can be described through infinite lenses. What matters is what lens resonates with the individual struggling to make sense of their world.
The First Storytellers
The hero’s journey is a representation of the cycle of life, death, and resurrection. The myth is the metaphor for the base structure of the life experience. Behind this structure is a mysterious, all-encompassing Force that lies just beyond our understanding. It has always existed and will always exist. It has been explored by our ancestors and revered by their shamans. The Force has guided humanity from the cradle of the wilds using the structure of life, death, and resurrection.
When we compare the spiritual practices of our ancestors to the spiritual practices of our modern religions it becomes apparent that there has been a disconnection from the guidance of the Force. Let’s examine the current state of the Christ myth. Christ can be interpreted as the personification of the structure of this life experience. He is born, he lives, he dies, and he is resurrected. The cycle of his life experience is the standard for the highest spiritual achievement we can currently perceive. However, some of the religious factions that follow the path of Christ distanced themselves from the process. They feel that Christ is the singular son of God as if there can only be one. Only one miracle worker could ever be born in this world and the rest of us must revel in his greatness, never able to achieve anything close to the spiritual development he displayed during his life.
The Force is here, in everything flowing all around us and yet many of us refuse to admit that we can tap into it and allow it to shape our life experience into something beautiful and poetic. For many, their relationship with the Force is disconnected as if they must observe it through a television screen.
Part of this problem lies in the lack of initiation into the mystery of life for the young men of our culture. Part of the problem lies in the discrediting of the young women’s initiation into the mystery of life in our culture. One gender is silenced and the other is left in the womb of the earth with no source of light. Wisdom is not cultivated, and blind intelligence is celebrated. Women were once regarded as the initiators of the mystical awakening for men. When a woman comes of age the magic of the world is thrust upon her through the awakening of her power to create life.
Part of her role in ancient societies was to initiate her sons into the mysteries of life at an early age. When the son comes of age, he undertakes his trial in the dark womb of the earth and uses the light his mother gave him to find his way. Eventually, he claims a mate. The role of the wife is to further initiate the man into the mysteries of life by guiding him through a shared trial of creating further life.
In modern society, especially in America, the act of giving birth is a private matter that is not to be spoken of. Many young women go into the birthing process with little or no understanding of what it is that she is doing. Because of the encouraged silence of women, they cannot play the role of initiating men into the mysteries, and therefore both genders remain ignorant.
Further, the young men of our society are left without the light of wisdom to guide them when their coming-of-age trial arrives. They are lost in the dark and many never fully mature into competent men.
If one knows where to look one can observe a sort of awakening of shamanism in the modern West. However, it does not look the same as it once did in tribal society. Modern Western guides take the form of media personalities such as Campbell, Watts, Ram Das, Peterson, Rogan… The list goes on and on. The growth of these personalities can be charted accurately along the creation arc of a shaman.
Within the Jedi tradition, as depicted in the cinematic universe of Star Wars, one could say that these individuals are Force-sensitive. They channel the energy of this world to spread wisdom and act as initiators in their own ways. The Force is trying to reconnect with our lost society and reinvigorate spiritual growth.
Each of us can undertake the trial of a modern shaman but I suspect very few muster the courage to enter the process. Each one of us is the manifestation of the mystery of the force. We simply need to muster the courage to see it.
Sacrifice and Bliss
Sacrifice and bliss are two aspects of a necessary duality in this reality just as life and death are. To achieve bliss, one must sacrifice. When one applies this duality at the individual level one can observe a core aspect of the myth through the actions of men and women. Concerning the Christ myth, Christ sacrifices his life for the betterment of the whole. In return, he is gifted eternal life through unification with the Godhead. However, I observe many misinterpretations of this myth in modern times.
We are all sinners incapable of achieving what Christ has achieved. Only Christ is the son of God, and we must wait for his return to achieve unification with the Godhead. From my perspective this notion is ridiculous. I suspect that Campbell thought so as well. Every human alive in this moment has the capability to transcend beyond duality to achieve unification.
Moving out of the Christ myth, allows us to filter this concept through the lens of the Force. Becoming one with the Force requires sacrifice. It requires the sacrifice of the ego. It requires the sacrifice of choosing. Through my exploration of a few different spiritual communities, I have noticed a sort of choosing between the dualities. “Love and light” and “eternal darkness” are concepts that are embraced and celebrated by many different communities online. These communities have yet to realize that they merely exist within one-half of the duality. The concept of “love and light” as the ultimate power of the universe must be sacrificed. The concept of “eternal darkness” as the ultimate power of the universe must be sacrificed. Lust, anger, and death are essential aspects of this reality. Love, compassion, and life are essential aspects of this reality. Both sides of the duality must be accepted and incorporated within the individual to achieve bliss.
When Campbell describes the sacrificial practices of indigenous forest tribes, he is describing a primal ritual that celebrates both life and death. However, exploring the duality of tribal life and modern life one must also accept both as viable ways of living. Our technology has extended our life span and eradicated many diseases. Tribal life has kept indigenous peoples connected with the earth on the deepest spiritual levels. As modern humans, it is our responsibility to incorporate divinity and technology seamlessly within ourselves. Through this, we can achieve bliss on a collective societal level and push our people to the next phase of human evolution.
We are entering an era of human existence where everyone can unify with the Force. Everyone can find bliss through sacrifice if one has the courage to face death with a smile and embrace life passionately.
Love and the Goddess
The product of the union between the masculine and feminine aspects of the Force is love. In modern western spirituality, many of us are enduring the aftermath of the purging of the feminine aspect of the Force.
With a purely masculine influence, spirituality has ironically become a material practice devoid of the true essence of love. In ancient Mesopotamia, females were revered as the initiators of the magic of the world for men. There were great temples dedicated to the act of sacred prostitution.
This does not refer to the manipulation of the feminine form for selfish gratification as we know prostitution today. The Mesopotamian use of the word suggests a woman who has fully come into her spiritual power and wishes to initiate a man on his sacred path through tantric sex magic.
This is one example in history of how the feminine has been altered and warped to serve the self-gratifying egoistic masculine spirituality that has run rampant in Western society. Without the balancing feminine Force, the masculine swings to towards an atavistic, primal gnosis based on the ancient reptilian brain of humanity.
To be clear, this is not a Feminist point of view. Both masculine and feminine energies are required to maintain balance. When Campbell refers to the holy grail, he is referring to a metaphor that represents the internal balance between the masculine and feminine. The source of magic, the source of creation stems from feminine energy. To take the action required to birth something new requires masculine energy. To birth something new into this world needs balance.
Incubation and internal growth followed by massive action is an adequate description of the process of birth. If one is a mother, a builder, or an artist this structure of creation remains the same. The problem with our modern society is that we keep attempting to create without feminine energy and thus produce concepts that are devoid of spirit or magic. How many lifeless or useless products have you seen in the marketplace? This is the outcome of creation without feminine influence.
The feminine aspect of the Force is necessary to create at the level that this reality requires. Embrace the feminine and one will be embracing the magic of the world.
Masks of Eternity
The masks of eternity can be viewed as aspects of the self. Beneath all the masks is pure divinity, or the authentic self. It is the responsibility of the incarnate human to dawn their masks, understand them, and then discard them, or absorb them, to reach a level of existence that requires no mask.
Campbell’s masks of eternity describe the process of inner structural growth. As one grows one must discard perceived illusions to achieve a higher level of awareness.
As one’s awareness increases one may begin to perceive a larger structure of reality. However, it is important not to succumb to a sort of metaphysical lust for the end of growth. This concept is simply another mask. There is no end to spiritual growth. Life is boundless and the mask of pursuit must be dissolved.
To simply exist in the moment honestly with no desire is the end of the masks of eternity because the masks are limiting. The masks are mortal constructs. To adopt the construct of the divine is to adopt a boundless mystery with endless potential.
To filter this through the lens of the Force we can perceive Jedi as beings who are operating at a perpetual peak performance, physically, spiritually, and mentally. An interesting observation of the Star Wars Myth is that Jedi are never seen wearing masks. However, Sith lords, soldiers, bounty hunters, and many other characters are depicted as wearing masks or playing a role that they feel is their ultimate potential.
However, the Force cannot be wielded with balance in mind while a mask is being worn. The Jedi are maskless. They are stoics who put little stock in social and economic identities. They give themselves over to the mystic Force and act as conduits for the will of wills.
To try and put eternity into words is to construct a mask. Even the title of Jedi is a mask of sorts. Those who may be called such a thing may not put so much weight or importance behind the title. The Jedi simply is, here, now, doing what the Force requires.
Be sure to check out my high fantasy project, Moonsong’s Descent: A Journal of Infernal Origin
In Tidehaven’s Reach and Owlkin cutpurse named Lysander Moonsong struggles with making ends meet as he works tirelessly to steal enough coin to appease his Guild and feed himself. After being arrested for petty thievery Lysander turns to infernal powers to secure his freedom. Little does Lysander know that he will get far more than he bargained for.
Image of a celestial hellscape. (Image by Valua Vitaly)
Check out the first entry of this post-series!
If you’re just finding this post series check out the Moonsong’s Descent Table of Contents.
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