Journey Into old Age (part 4)

 Last time, I offered the third part of the workshop based on the work of Helen Luke in her study of the journey into old age which draws on a number of classic stories.  Luke’s writing on this subject is found in her book – Old Age; Journey Into Simplicity.  Here is the final fourth part of that material.

 

III The Story: Odysseus awakes with realization of the path he must take.  He now knows the journey that he must take – a journey that is now not by water as is his want, but by land.  It is a journey he must undergo with a familiar token of his past voyages - an oar, which is now his only companion. Our hero then began this unfamiliar final journey until he came to a crossroads.   At this place he encounters a stranger who repeated words that had been prophesied so long ago.  The stranger did inquire after his well-formed oar, naming it as it was first so long ago – a winnowing fan.

 

Odysseus now is given the clarity vision to see the folly of his former years.  With eyes now clear and sight now freed he looked to what lay ahead and not behind.  His heart’s yearning was to go home.  However, he knew and the stranger’s words confirmed that would only lead folly to follow folly.  He must now face his fate so that he would not condemn his son to follow him in folly renewed.  

 

The stranger continues to tell Odysseus of the effect that oar - now winnowing fan will have on those that see it.  With the taste of that apple, they will be awakened to the possibilities they were not previously conscious of.  And so, a journey now beckons and begins.  Odysseus now plants the oar at the centre of the crossroad.  There it will grow as if alive - for so it is.  Its root will seek the depths of Hades – the Unconscious - and its new-formed branches – now sprouting leaves will reach the heavens.  This axis mundi will bear the fruit of Odysseus’ life work.  And there a carne was laid to mark this monument.    

 

 

Here the symbol of his former life – the oar which cut the water and propelled him through the hero’s journey of his youth – has now taken on a new symbolic meaning – a winnowing fan.  The winnowing fan that separates the wheat from the chaff will enable us to see clearly and differentiate the wheat, which provides the bread of heaven to nourish our souls from the chaff, which feeds our egos with empty calories.

 

The journey of growing old is one of increasing humility - where we see clearly the folly of youth - the striving and the conquests that youth is inevitably err to.  Will we give in to the temptation to hold onto the dream of recapturing our fading youth or will we seek the new way in which our oars will become winnowing fans. Again we face a challenge – to plant the oar of our last journey in a new land that will grow as we continue to explore the new land of our growing old.

 

Exercise: Identify an aspect of your youth - a symbol which propelled you through your journey in life. How can that symbol be transformed into a new symbol for your journey into Old Age? 

 

I will complete our journey with the final part of the material next time.  Blessings on your journey.

Journey Into old Age (part 3)

Last time, I offered the second part of the workshop based on the work of Helen Luke in her study of the journey into old age which draws on a number of classic stories.  Luke’s writing on this subject is found in her book – Old Age; Journey Into Simplicity.  Here is the third part of that material.

 II The story: Odysseus now recalls the words of Teiresias spoken so long ago.  With those words he recalled the folly and fate that youth had brought.  He recalled the prideful blindness his seeing eyes could not reveal.  In those words, consciousness came and with it the knowledge of the consequences they now bring.

 One of the marks of Growing Old is to begin the journey in humility.  To be truly humble is to see clearly as has been noted elsewhere.  We see our lives for what they are, the folly that we have embraced, the mistakes we have made, out of blindness and willfulness, the hurt we have caused others, and the hurt we perceive others have caused us. 

Exercise: How has humility, i.e. seeing your life clearly enabled you to appreciate this as a temptation? What does it mean for you to be humble?  Describe how you see yourself with clarity that you didn’t see at the age of 20, 30, 40, or 50. Identify a temptation that you experience at this point in your life that would feed your ego rather than enabling you to grow old.   

 I will continue with the next part of the material next time.  Blessings on your journey.

 

Journey Into Old Age (Part 2)

Last time, I offered the first part of the workshop based on the work of Helen Luke in her study of the journey into old age which draws on a number of classic stories.  Luke’s writing on this subject is found in her book – Old Age; Journey Into Simplicity.  Here is the second part of that material. 

Section 2 

In this section we will examine Helen Luke’s imagined epilogue to Homer’s Odyssey.  The epilogue was introduced by Homer in the middle of the story but never fulfilled.   Let us explore the final journey of Odysseus, which is his journey into Old Age.  I have summarized Helen Luke’s story and provided commentary on the different sections.   

I. The story: The peace and order ordained by Zeus has now been established for our hero Odysseus.  His reunion with Penelope long delayed is now enjoyed.  The hero watches his son gain manhood as Odysseus had these many years before.

Within Odysseus, rested but no longer at peace, restlessness stirs.  He yearns once more for the sea voyages of his years gone by where he once more would be the hero of years long gone.  Our hero falls into a sleep, which reveals to him a different journey now unleashed by forces stirring within him. 

The seer long absent to his waking life is now present once more.  Teiresias will reveal that fate, which has always been there waiting to be revealed.  The destiny revealed is no longer one of youth waiting to be lived out.  Rather it is one of completion to be fulfilled.

Teiresias reveals the journey that Odysseus now must make.  It is a journey unlike the others Odysseus embraced with joy and anticipation in his youth.  This journey will be by land not by sea.  It is his final journey he must now embark upon in his maturity.  It is a hero’s journey to be sure but not one for loot or conquest or glory.  Rather it is one of sacrifice and repentance.  

Teiresias, the wise old man, had appeared to Odysseus and revealed the journey that awaits him if he chooses.   This journey in his maturity will be unlike the one that he made as the hero in his youthful pride and exuberance.  It will be a journey by land and not the familiar sea, which he embraced, in earlier days.  

This different journey reveals the challenge of old age – particularly in our culture of eternal youth in which youth is prized and old age is devalued and ignored. The journey so tempting to our Ego will be one, “tempting us towards repetition of our life’s triumph, tempting us toward wreckage and the inferno, the other coaxing us towards the true journey of the soul that has lived long and well, and must turn away from mere continuation of accustomed efforts to new significant, perhaps painful, soul-journeys.” (Old Age viii)

Exercise: Imagine what it would mean for you to ‘Grow Old’ rather than succumbing into the aging process.  How will this journey be different from the journey of your youth?

 I will continue with the next part of the material next time  Blessings on you journey.