The Hero’s Path
By Jose Contreras
One of the fundamental elements in the creation of an alter ego and our evolution as human beings is conscious awareness. What does this mean? It's important to experience, to feel firsthand through our life experiences, the things that happen to us and what's happening around us. As we become increasingly aware, we realise that life revolves around endless loops. Life puts us in situations that often spiral out of control, out of our hands, and without knowing it or wanting to, we find ourselves playing victim in the face of that loop, in the face of those situations.
What does this mean?
I'm referring to that moment when you say, "Why does this and that always happen to me with these people or in these situations?" It is here where we decide to change our attitude towards these situations and see beyond that which is obvious. This change of attitude leads us to realise that these situations are not new but have been repeating themselves for years. Little by little, thanks to endless unfavourable and painful experiences, the veil of oblivion becomes translucent and we observe that which had been getting out of hand become conscious. When we comprehend it, we say, Aaaahh, this had to happen so that I could realise this other thing; cause and effect or Karma. It is here where we decide to break the cycle and change our behaviour, getting out of the discomfort by ceasing to be victims of problems stemming from our unconscious. We face situations with strength, feel better and get out of that never-ending loop of discomfort, unhappiness and heaviness which not only affects our peace and tranquility but unknowingly affects the peace and tranquility of others.
The veil places us in an unconscious victim position because it's truly difficult to see those uncomfortable things that affect us. We're constantly in the midst of chaos without knowing it. We're literally ‘crazy’, not knowing where to go or where to turn, and even worse, not knowing that life isn't the suffering we think we're experiencing or the unfavourable situations we're going through. The suffering is but a consequence of the chaos within us; the loop in which everything repeats itself for the sole purpose of getting us to realise what we're not realising. We feel the discomfort, but we don't know why we're uncomfortable. A veil of forgetfulness, a shadow, covers us, blinding us to reality, avoiding and evading life's trials at all times.
"There is no greater battle than the one we fight with ourselves, with our shadows."
We are complete warriors when we decide to make a change because there is no greater battle than the one we fight with ourselves, with our shadows. Fear and trauma complicate our fight as we tend to reject the truth when it is presented to us head-on. We reject the messages that life has to give us at all times, and instead, our mind, guided by the unconscious, plays tricks on us. It places our body in unhealthy energy-draining conditions, worsening the feeling of victimhood. We assume that we deserve all the bad things that happen to us, that God forgot about us and blame the rest of the world for our misfortune. Because we are the victim, we believe that we are ‘innocent’ and that everything is always against us.
This is where spiritual disciplines and various therapeutic techniques come into play, helping us navigate this path in the best way possible and gradually walk our path as true warriors. We can see references to this life adventure in virtually every philosophy around the world, from shamans throughout the Americas to Buddhists with their more than 1,000 doctrines in the East, passing through Egypt, Europe, etc. All of them empower and guide you, illuminating the path of darkness for each warrior when they decide to face life and venture forth on new journeys each time.
Personally, for me, the best tool we have to identify where we are on the Warrior's Path is the Tarot. Tarot itself is a compilation of symbolism and wisdom from different philosophies and is a completely faithful reflection of our unconscious. Along with astrology, the Tarot provides us with incredible guidance on our journey, a magnificent reading of our energy. In the Tarot, you can see in the Major Arcana how this path is perfectly described from the beginning, with the Fool in some and the Magician in others. Together with the complement of the Minor Arcana, they describe the energy of the person being read. They give you reliable guidance on the things you face and the obstacles that arise and may arise on this path, of course, depending on who is reading the reading, since the interpreter's interpretation is also subject to their human evolution and cosmology.
The Path of the Warrior is undoubtedly walked alone, but at the same time, accompanied. An anchor that connects us to the ground is always important. Beyond the information that the Tarot, constellations, astrology, etc. can provide, it is very important to open ourselves to the people we trust, those friends who, with true love, can see our processes from their perspective and give us their most sincere opinion. As always, acceptance, forgiveness, sincerity, self-observation, and self-love are fundamental.
