Living Happily Ever After: The Reward of the Monomythic Journey

Joseph Campbell's Monomyth provides the blueprint for this book. Certain common psychological barriers must be overcome before creativity can flourish. We'll explore the cage of Mythlock that blinds us to new possibilities. We'll see how Scapegoatism hijacks the emotional harbingers of the creative process and vents them through anger upon any handy external entity. We'll confront the Threshold Guardians of fear that bar the threshold crossing and, if confidence is lacking, a Magic Amulet can ease the passage. Our first trial across the Garden's threshold is to face the Looking Glass. In front of the Looking Glass, we confront the unleashed emotions of guilt, regret and anger. Our emotions must be groomed for safe navigation because within the Garden of the Goddess, the realm of the human mind, negative emotions can breed monsters of the mind. A negative response to new ideas can transform the Goddess into a Hag. A negative attitude towards our own sensuality can transform the Goddess of promise into a Seductice tempting us into sin and depravity. The climax of the Adventure is an encounter with the Goddess in all her splendour. Everything becomes clear and an answer is manifest in all its beauty and simplicity. But the Goddess always promises more. Beyond the Goddess lies the Stairway to the Stars. This is 'Nirvana'. In religious mythology this is called seeing the face of god. But the greatest challenge of all is yet to come. The exciting, and innovative ideas hatched within the realm of the mind are as nothing until they have passed through the Crucible of Reality. The real test of our Monomythic Adventure comes with the Return, when we take the Boon, those powerful insights we discovered within the Garden, and put them to actual use in the world of every day.