Home
>
Spirituality
>
From Superstition to Clashing Rocks

From Superstition to Clashing Rocks

"Our mind is capable of passing beyond the dividing line we have drawn for it. Beyond the pairs of opposites of which the world consists, new insights begin." --Herman Hesse

Doorways, portals, gates and thresholds have served throughout history as the potent objects and symbols of superstition, rites and rituals (1), psychological development, and transcendent religious experience.

We commonly refer to windows of opportunity, doorways to the future, and open-door policies. Some say we must open a door at midnight to allow evil spirits to depart and that the first person to open the door on Christmas morning will have good luck. It's bad luck, some believe, to leave a house by a different door than the one used to enter the house or to eat in front of a door.

Brides, writes Tad Tuleja, are not carried over the threshold because they're incapable of walking into a house or because the groom is simply being a gentleman, but "because, as a stranger, she was taboo. It was only after she had actually entered the room-after she had, in effect, been sneaked past the guard-that the contagion of taboo was considered lifted." (2)

Important thresholds in both psychology and transcendent mythology typically have guardians. You will see these symbolized by the lions, dragons, gargoyles, fu dogs, and other beasts at the main entrances of churches, libraries, and other buildings. Beliefs vary about the origin of portal or threshold guardians. Some say they are a projection of our own fears, while others say that the guardians are placed there by the gods.

Hero myths, and the threshold guardians involved, impact us on multiple levels. Stemming from the work of Otto Rank (3) and others who studied the heropath and its connections to the first stage of life, myths are viewed as a symbolic of the dramas experienced by an individual as s/he comes to terms with parental authority figures and manages a healthy emergence out of the family nest as an autonomous adult. Stephen Larsen writes:

"As the child ego seeks to find independence from the all-nurturing, yet all-embracing, realm of the mother, a great inner struggle must be mobilized. The dragon to be slain by the hero is the instinctive bondage to smothering mothering, especially after the child needs less nurturing and more freedom to encounter its own destiny. The aggressive attitude necessary to acquire autonomy is appropriate to the first part of the hero journey, but this is the point beyond which-unfortunately-the na?ve interpretation fails to go." (4)

The complete interpretation, in fact, not only considers an individual's adult life but also includes the continuing inner journey to the psyche's greatest depths. Mystery schools and some fraternal organizations ritualize this continuing journey through a series of thresholds and initiations. Mystics often refer to a series of gates indicating levels of transcendence. Myths dramatize the stages of the deeper journey through multiple threshold experiences.

When Jason, for example, accepted King Pelias' challenge to seek the Golden Fleece, he made a commitment that can be considered the crossing of a threshold. Subsequently, Jason and his shipmates, including Hercules, Theseus, Orpheus and Nestor set sail aboard the Argo. Ultimately, they found their passage into the Euxine Sea (Black Sea) blocked by two floating islands that crashed back and forth on the waves. These clashing rocks were called the Symplegades at the Hellespont (Dardanelles) between Europe and Asia. Heeding the advice of a wise man, the Argonauts safely followed a dove through the treacherous strait, after which Zeus anchored the rocky islands forever. This myth illustrates an important threshold on the hero's path.

The hero, like all of us, comes from a world of duality, one dominated by pairs of opposites: good/bad, dark/light, mine/yours, us/them, pleasurable/painful. These opposites are said to clash with each other obscuring the fact that opposites in each pair are the two sides of a single coin. That is-depending on your frame of reference-they are all God's thoughts, nous, spirit, the force, or manifested energy and not the polarities they appear to be. When Jason sailed past the Symplegades the clashing stopped, symbolizing what the hero or seeker finally "sees" when s/he steps out of the world of opposites. As Joseph Campbell (5) sees it:

"One can have an intuition that is beyond good and evil, that goes beyond pairs of opposites-that's the opening of this gateway into this mystery. But it's just one of those little intuitive flashes, because the conscious mind comes back again and closes the door. The idea in the hero adventure is to walk bodily through the door into the world where the dualistic rules don't apply."

Or, as Rama C. Coomaraswamy puts it in his introduction to "Guardians of the Sundoor:"

"What could be more common than a doorway? To quote Gray Henry: 'It is more than coincidental that many doorways throughout the world exhibit a corresponding set of symbolic motifs that point to the One manifesting itself as duality ? a duality and a world that must return to that One.' One must pass through the duality of the doorjambs to the unity which is only to be found in the centre. As Christ said, 'I am the door,' and 'No one comes to the Father but through Me.' The passage through the door is always a passage that at least symbolically involves a change of state?"

Doorways inhabit our lives offering hope, expanded communications, initiations into mysteries, new lives, and a glimpse at-or even a merging with-the Creator. Mythic stories of the heropath at their deepest and most profound levels speak to old archetypes that we all know at the deepest levels of our minds and provide a means through which we can perceive the route ahead.

NOTES:

(1) See, for example, Van Gennep, Arnold, "The Rites of Passage," Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1960.

(2) Tuleja, Tad, "Curious Customs," New York, Harmony Books, 1987.

(3) Rank, Otto, "The Myth of the Birth of the Hero," in "In Quest of the Hero," Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1990.

(4) Larsen, Stephen, "The Mythic Imagination ? The Quest for Meaning Through Personal Mythology," Rochester Vermont, Inner Traditions International, 1990, 1996.

(5) Campbell, Joseph, "Pathways to Bliss," (David Kudler, ed.), Novato, California, New World Library, 2004.

(6) Coomaraswamy, Rama C., in Coomaraswamy, Ananda, K., "Guardians of the Sundoor ? Late Iconographic Essays and Drawings" (Robert Strom, ed.) Louisville, Kentucky, Fons Vitae, 2004.

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of "The Sun Singer," a new age adventure novel that explores mythic themes. Learn more at http://www.campbelleditorial.com/sunsinger.html

disinfecting cleaning services Winnetka ..

In The News:

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

From Superstition to Clashing Rocks

Spirituality