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Feb 28, 2011, 10:13 AM
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Member Since: Feb 2007
Location: The place where X marks the spot.
Posts: 1,848
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You may enjoy this article as well mgran...
Quote:
Metaphor of Descent and Rebirth
Poets have always been interested in the journey of descent whether into the underworld as in early Greek myths of Persephone’s abduction by Hades or Orpheus in search of his beloved Eurydice. Ever since the days of Virgil right up to modern day, stories of descent have been the topic of poets. They are metaphorical descents, of course, for no one really means to enter the word of the dead and return. So what are these journeys meant to signify?
Called to Transformation Traditionally, with each descent a transformation is in order. The hero or heroine sacrifices herself to the journey in order to arrive at a larger vision. As in any hero’s journey, sometimes there is success, sometimes not. But in any case it is the mystery of rebirth through transformation one has been called to, and this is the stuff of poetry and myth...
A Contemporary Journey Call it a journey to the underworld to retrieve dying souls or a departure to the study to bring words up from the unconscious, a descent always involves a disappearing act. These are journeys meant for transformation. Anytime one is heading out, leaving one known way of life for another and for any variety of reason, ie. divorce, death, loss of employment, money—it is an entry into a kind of wilderness of unknown scope, range and depth. In the case of the poet, painter, writer, this descent is made again and again.
The Poet’s Way
It becomes a way of life for the artistic enterprise, for which the outcome is always unknown. Is it any wonder that the journey involves entry into the same underworld which is the underworld of the collective unconscious? It is the work of poets to make this descent and return with the goods for transformation.
Source: The Poet's Journey to the Underworld
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Last edited by spiritual_emergency; Feb 28, 2011 at 10:57 AM.
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