New Acropolis New Acropolis Presents Eros and Psyche The Journey of the Human Soul And today our challenge, our goal here is to correlate the myth of Eros and Psyche with the journey of our own human soul. What can we learn from this myth that we can take into our lives? And so we begin our story, based on the work of Apuleius from the 2nd century AD A work entitled "Metamorphoses".
The story goes that in a city there was a king with his three daughters, the youngest of these daughters being called Psyche. And she was beautiful, wonderful, admired by everyone, almost worshiped as a true Venus, the "Goddess of Love" within humanity. And logically, this, according to this myth, it did not generate a great deal of satisfaction on Venus.
She even started to get a little jealous. "What do you mean, a mortal can be worshiped and so beautiful and wonderful that everyone is forgetting about me. " Because the temples dedicated to Venus were being neglected, and Venus considered her beauty to be illicit.
And so, in this first part of the story, we already see an important element. How many times does our psyche with its different colors, your desires, your pleasures turned to the things of this world are so seductive, so wonderful, so variable that we really ended up disconnecting a bit of what is enduring and timeless. And that's the first part, because this beauty of Psyche belonged to this world, but this world exists today, after a while it no longer exists.
And yet, people worshiped that kind of beauty and Psyche herself felt like a real queen. So Venus plans revenge. Our Aphrodite, or Venus, she names her son the famous Cupid.
The one who carried your arrows and made people fall in love with each other. And she says like this, "Look, go to Psyche, makes her fall in love with that Being uglier, more cruel, so that she has the greatest misfortune. " And at the same time, while this was happening on Olympus that was in Greece this world of the gods, this world of what is enduring and eternal.
On Earth, Psyche's father also consulted the Oracle. "What am I going to do with my daughter? Because everyone thinks she's wonderful, but no one asks my daughter in marriage.
" And he takes advice from the Oracle "Look, take your daughter to a certain mountain, dress her up for a funeral wedding, because she will unite with a Being, very ugly and cruel. " And so it was done. She was clothed, and in the midst of sorrows and cries she is taken to that mount to unite with an unknown creature, but definitely cruel.
And meanwhile, Cupid, having gone to Psyche, falls in love with Psyche and he is unable to fulfill his promise to his mother. And behold, the one who will unite with Psyche is exactly Cupid, but all this was hidden and secret. So Psyche is left on this Hill, trembling with fear, amid the cries of his family, and then it is said to her: "Good, fulfill your destiny according to the Oracle.
" And so the family leaves, Psyche is carried away by Zephyrus, the Wind, to a meadow and there she falls asleep. When she wakes up, she was in a wonderful meadow, full of flowers, near a source of crystal clear water and in sight, not far away, a beautiful, wonderful castle and so she goes to that castle. Strange that the castle had no doors, watchmen.
She could go in and out and she starts to hear voices. "You can come in, this is your place, this is your castle. " A shining castle, full of gold, precious stones, beautiful, wonderful, like a divine work.
And Psyche enters, the voice continues. . .
"You can eat, take a shower, feel free, it's your home. " And so Psyche does. And we see up to this point in history that our psyche too, in the face of what is unknown, which was the case with this wedding, this mysterious marriage, we feel afraid.
And no matter what happens, but if it's something I don't know, for me it's terrible. And this despair, and this fear and this anguish that Psyche will feel facing the unknown it is one of the first tests that Psyche will face. She has to leave the family, she has to start a completely unknown path, completely risking your whole life, all your ties, and start a new era in your life.
And we know that psychologically, any change for us is very difficult. Even more so if you know absolutely nothing about what you're going to experience. So, this is Psyche, in this wonderful world that she did not expect.
It is interesting because there she sees reflections in that work, in that place that it was a world that in his dreams, in his imagination, as a divine world. And so she enjoys this palace, participates in the feeding, but she does not see anyone. He only heard voices.
Only as if it were a kind of dream did Psyche live. And after that time of day, at night she goes to sleep, hear a noise, and it was exactly her mysterious husband who came to consummate this marriage. And unlike someone fierce, aggressive, terrible, she is joined to a husband she cannot see in the dark, but that it was tender, respectful and who spends the night with Psyche.
The day dawned and she could no longer see him next to her. And so the days and nights passed. And once this hidden husband tells her "You will be tried, tried, because your sisters go there on Mt.
where you were left and they will cry, mourn because they think you died. And you can't give in to the temptation to go back and be with them again, and much less still, have the temptation to want to see my face. " This moment of the myth brings us an important reflection.
How many times are we in the current moment although he is very good, we have a yearning, an imprisonment, a sort of spontaneous, instinctive force of wanting to go back to the past. To our ties, what we already knew, our doubts, our fears surface again and we tend to go back to that past. And Psyche said thus, "No, no, I will not listen to these lamentations.
" But in fact, your parents, your sisters they were there crying as if the death of Psyche had really occurred. That is, they were all bereaved. And the days roll by again and again Cupid says, "Look what will happen again, they'll want you to come back and be with them.
" And Psyche begins to feel this anguish, this suffering too. . .
"No, but I want to be with my sisters, I miss them, I want to see my family. " And Cupid agrees, as long as she doesn't bring it up, that he was the one with the unknown husband, that she had never seen his face. And so it was, the Wind brought her sisters, she was able to show a beautiful and wonderful palace.
She was able to give gifts to her sisters and tell them she was fine yeah, that had not been attacked, had not died, that her husband was wonderful. But the sisters stayed. .
. "But where is he? Where is that wonderful husband of yours?
" "No, he had something to do, a task, he couldn't be here. " The sisters were a little, at first, envious. Because our psyche also has this "what" of envy.
Which is when really sometimes we are not able to see the success of the other, the joy of the other as our own happiness. And they walked away saying, "Hmm, strange. .
. This wonderful husband like that and we didn't see anything, is it true? Let's not tell anyone that Psyche is in this beautiful palace, wonderful, happy life.
We will continue to mourn. We won't even tell our parents. " And they left.
And they made that plan of regret again and call Psyche again so that she then, returned and they would tell her exactly those words of the Oracle. "Look, you're bonded to a hideous creature. " And what's more, to make matters worse, Psyche was pregnant.
And they planned it very well, said, "Well, we're going to tell her that this monster with which she has bonded, he will devour her and this child when it is born. " They return there to the house, the palace of Psyche and pose the doubt. They plant that seed in the psyche.
In the psyche, which is the Psyche, which is the Soul. And it's exactly that moment when we, not having the ability to have something tangible, visible, that we can capture through the most concrete things of our senses, we don't trust. We don't trust our intuition.
And we have doubt, fear, distrust and we want to see to believe. Exactly in this fragility that our psyche has, that the story of the sisters will enter. And they talked so much, Psyche was a little worried.
Not so much with herself, but with her baby. "Look, he can kill. " She thinking.
"Wow, what if I kill my baby? " And so, the sisters suggested, "Look, take a hidden lamp to the bedroom and also a weapon, a knife. And at night, when he is already asleep deeply, you will brighten up your face.
" Because she had told the sisters, fell into the trap, told the sisters who had never seen her husband's face. Psyche, at night, when her husband was already asleep, she gets up, takes this lamp and will see, and what a surprise she has. Because there is the most wonderful, Cupid, with his wonderful skin, with all his characteristics of a God.
Only she gets so emotional that she falls into a few drops of olive oil. and, Cupid wakes up. And as he had warned that if that happened, it would cause a lot of pain for him and a huge misfortune for Psyche, he gets up, flies and leaves.
And Psyche is then left, around, in her sadness, because she can realize what she had done. And starts wandering everywhere crying, wanting exactly Cupid back. And at the same time, Cupid, who logically was in love with her, also begins to suffer deeply.
And then Venus, seeing that situation, speaks "But it is not possible, she is making my son suffer, I will generate more unhappiness for Psyche". And in this story of Psyche's periculous through various places, she asks for help and receives help from several people, until she decides to truly face her trials. And goes before Venus to ask for her forgiveness, ask her to be generous, and let the union of Cupid and Pique takes place.
And Venus says, "Well, I'm going to require you to pass four tests first. " Even this moment of the myth is very interesting, because we see that for there to be then this pure, true union of this love, that bond of union, with that which is resplendent, beautiful, true, within each of us. Thinking that Cupid is that love and represents that bond of union with that dimension of goodness, of beauty, of everything that human beings bring with them enduring, beautiful, good, there will have to be proof.
And these tests are the necessary steps so that all those weaknesses which then Psyche presented, were purified, resolved. Those fears, those doubts, envy, uncertainty, all the insecurities that Psyche still carried with her, until she could fully experience that love. And sometimes, on one side, we talk like this "Wow, what evil sisters, what evil Venus is this?
" Deep down, these sisters, the goddess Aphrodite or Venus herself, she represents that impulse that in the heart of every human being has that he wants to seek, wants to live these trials of life so that he can then join in fact with what he has of true and good. So these little tests are actually going to be the evolutionary key of the human being. And we will be able to follow a path, a dharma, a law of life that can take us step by step in that direction that already existed, deep down, down in the human heart.
Because if you pay attention, Psyche already present, this divine world within you when she comes into contact with her husband without seeing him, without absolutely having any material proof, without having any element that could tell her that it was wonderful. She already knew, that there was something that was good, beautiful, true within herself. But in life we need to come to understand this consciously.
And this is the symbolism that she wants to take that little lamp. She wants to see the face of love. She wants to surrender more consciously what it means to her the highest and most beautiful.
And that first test it is to sort out a heap of grain before nightfall that had been mixed together. This theme is repeated in many stories. even children's stories and other myths.
And Psyche finds herself in a humanly impossible task "Because how am I supposed to separate all the grains if there were six, seven, eight grains mixed there, tiny, a lot of them and I have to manage to sort it all out by the end of the day? " And here comes the ants to help Psyche. Also a recurring theme in many myths, which is when you follow a path where you should be, Nature will help you.
That is, this whole process of life is actually in our favor, in favor of our human growth. And come help Psyche to separate all these grains and she manages to accomplish her task because it develops within itself a capacity that goes beyond that limit that until then, Psyche possessed. This test represents Discernment.
We have to learn then, when it comes to separating grains, learn to discern, to differentiate, to separate the false from the true, to separate what is lasting from what is fleeting, separate exactly those realities that we want to achieve that represent human references of what are false values. It is proof of intelligence or discernment. And Venus arrives there, not satisfied, says, "But there's one more proof.
" And the second, she needed to collect the fleece, golden wool from extremely ferocious rams, who destroyed, killed all those who approached him. This proof too, which will be helped by a reed. He tells her the following story, speaks, "Look, every afternoon these sheep get tired and they sleep here in this meadow, and you can go quietly remove a little of that golden wool and take it with no problem.
Again nature collaborates with Psyche and so she succeeds. And what does that mean in our life? It represents that very difficult task.
It's like facing all these forces who apparently are completely against us. When you have to undertake a kind of real struggle. And sometimes, the way we react to difficulties is to hit head-on, to break up all over the difficulty, while sometimes, the test is intelligence, to know the right time to act.
And besides, being able to, in very complex, difficult, challenging situations, withdraw that portion of gold, this portion of Wisdom. That it seems she is unreachable, impossible to be acquired by a human being since in the middle of that there is only bestiality which is fiercer, which is worse. "What do you mean?
I won't make it. " But a little gold always exists in the most adverse situations, in those that are sometimes, for us even terrifying. This test done, Venus says "It's not enough yet.
" Third test which is exactly to fetch some water from a fountain which was at the top, in the middle of a kind of path, unreachable, high, with smooth slopes, impossible to climb. Impossible to get there. And there was a fountain that communicated with the rivers of hell.
I mean, it was pretty frightening. An unreachable source, just a little bit of water that Venus wanted Psyche to achieve. Again she gets help and who will help her who will help her is an eagle.
Because that eagle flies up there with the little vessel given by Psyche, take some of that water and bring it back. What does that mean? That source of life that exactly communicated with the depths of the earth and which would have to be sought after by an impossible effort.
It was impossible for a human being to get there. And that eagle is a symbol of the human will, that ability to overcome the impossible. What you look and say like that "Impossible, I'll never make it".
How many times have some of our proofs, when a few years have passed and we can look back and talk like this "Wow, I thought this was impossible, but I did it. " These impossibilities that you stay, sometimes, before her as if he were totally paralyzed, this is where the strength that comes from the human soul comes from and that can be developed, awakened, so that we can then overcome what at first, on the face of it, it really seems impossible to us. After winning the third test, comes this so-called fourth and final test.
Get a little of the beauty of Proserpina, the queen of hell. Why? Venus wanted more beauty than she already had.
"Look, you go there with that little box and I only want a little bit. " Well, now it's complicated, right? Consider that for a person to go to hell, that for the Greeks it wasn't just the negative side, no.
It was like an after death world. This world where only those who had died went. "What do you mean?
I don't want to die, no. " Isn't that how we're going to think? "I don't want to, because if I go there, I'm going to die.
" And again the challenge, of some experiences, some attachments, some desires would have to be left behind, we would have to die for some peels, some things that are fleeting, attachments, selfishness, things that would have to be left behind. This is the symbolism of entering hell. This is the symbolic aspect of death.
Death as release, detachment. Everything that is fleeting has to stay, everything that is delaying our growth as a human being, everything that binds our development. It's like a chain tied around our feet, that prevents walking, should be left behind.
And psyche again gets a helping hand and they tell her like this "Go to such a Mount, that there is a door to hell". One more piece of advice "When you get there, you only eat bread, because otherwise you stay there if you eat something else. " And besides, she had to carry two coins in her mouth and a muffin in each hand.
And so she did and said "Look, you will go through several traps, you will pass by some people who they are carrying firewood and will drop the firewood and will ask you to pick it up, then you will have to release the cookie and you can't let go of the cookie at all. And so, you want it, you will do it. " "Then you will pass by other old ladies who are so kind, so nice, who are going to be sharpening and say "Wow, help us a little bit here, please.
" And they're so nice, you'll feel sorry for them and want to stop. Do not stop. Follow your path to where you have to go in front of Proserpina.
And there don't get up, sit on the floor before the queen of hell. Be humble. Don't get distracted on the way.
" And this is some of the trials that we often experience. This inability we have to follow our goal, our direction, and we go down a path and we make a detour and suddenly we stay there. And forgot the final goal.
Then the first step is the charon, who was the boatman, she has to go through and the boatman doesn't do anything for free, no, you have to give him the coin. She gives the first coin and the boatman takes her to Proserpina's palace. So when she arrives at the palace, behold, someone is guarding the gate of the palace.
Cerberus, that hideous dog, three heads, terrible, but she gives a scone, the dog lets it go. And comes before Proserpine, ask for a little of your beauty, keep in the box, cover the box. And there was advice too "Do not open the box, return it exactly closed to Venus.
" Then she took the closed box, left for the door for her to leave the palace too, the dog, in the middle there "It won't come out" She gives another cupcake. "You can leave now" The boatman had to take her to the exit, she gives the last coin and then leaves the hells. From Hades, which in Greek means "the invisible world".
This deep, invisible world and it is also a key within our moment, of our life, it is our unconscious world, our invisible world, the one we don't deal with constantly, our inner world. And on the trajectory, after leaving hell, before taking the box to Venus, beat that curiosity. I also did so many tests, I suffered so much, I think I could get just a little bit of this beauty.
Because, look, Proserpine's beauty was enviable. And she opens the box and falls into the trap. Once she opens the box, she falls into a deep, death-like sleep.
That is, the trap of having to enjoy, to enjoy this invisible world I had to die having a sleep related to death. And meanwhile, Cupid, knowing that Psyche fell asleep, go ask Zeus, the boss. "Look, I need to join Psyche, this separation is no longer possible, she's asleep there, she's done all the tests.
" And Zeus grants then that, Psyche gains immortality and is an ultimate wife of Cupid and may live on Olympus, which was that world of the gods. And so Cupid awakens Psyche from her slumber, she receives the ambrosia, which was the nectar of immortality and may then live with Cupid forever. That is, it reaches this dimension, this consciousness of immortality, now yes, she can live with cupid seeing it directly.
Symbolizing the ability we have to be able to become aware of this invisible world, this eternal, timeless world, with which we come into contact in a very indirect way, because it sounds to us like distant dreams, very distant yearnings. And many times we think that this world does not exist, that it is unreal for us. It's like it's just a childhood fantasy, where you could be being a little childish or young, to dream of what is beautiful, what is good, with what is true, with what does not wear out over time.
With those realities that do not die, that are truly immortal. And then, as she awakens, goes through the tests of life and manages to verify that there is always something that remains, something that is real, beyond the changes, the difficulties, of these apparent and true deaths that happen to each one, something always remains. So, beyond space, beyond time, of what is destructible, does not have this indestructible reality.
And she can be aware of it, can live definitively united to these ideas, these dreams come true who inhabit this invisible world, in this world that would be palpable to us through the senses. And this is what we see in the idea of the three Greek worlds. The world of soma, the physical, concrete, dense world.
This world of the psyche, which is the symbolism of Psyche or the Soul. And this soul, many times it is seduced by the body, by things that pertain only to our physical senses, for the pleasures, enjoyments, pains, fears, that are here in this world that we can see, guide, but that both pain and pleasure are also very fleeting. But we are seduced all the time by it, and the other world is only dreamed of, glimpsed, sensed.
And as we build an objective path of discernment as is the first test, a path of will, a path of liberation, of detachment, of love, of selfishness, that's when we conquer the bond, the condition of uniting not only with the world of matter, but to definitively unite with us, which represents that eternal or spiritual world, in which the human being constantly being in a world that varies, that is transient, he manages to find an axis, an element that is stable and connects you internally to your inner world, what is truly good, beautiful, fair, and that he may have his experience, his consciousness of it, regardless of the variations of this world that he has contact through the physical part, which is the soma. And that is the great lesson of the myth, that the human being lives on this journey, where he has contact with things that pass very quickly, that are just appearances of what is beautiful, what is fair and he wants to seek that which is deep and beautiful, but in the things that go by too fast. Till she'll purge it, discern and conquer your human virtues, so that she can really live in this dimension of the Nous, which would correspond to the dimension of the Olympian, which is the divine world.
This journey each of us lives. And through philosophy, we can unravel at least a little bit of these old myths, that speak to us of these realities of our inner world. These realities that we don't get sometimes express in concepts, in words, rationalize.
But that touch our feelings deeply, that make us reflect, that awaken our soul for those dreams that were like Psyche, sometimes asleep. And it wakes up definitively so that we can see directly face to face with that which is profound and divine. So this message from a myth so ancient can be just as valid in our current moment.
And this work of rescuing the language of symbols is fundamental so that the human being can walk towards Wisdom. In every symbol, in every myth, we can see a solid stone with symbols that, sometimes, for our concrete reason, our logical reasoning, they don't say much. But for the human heart they say a lot.
They tell us old stories, but that can be lived here and now. Thank you for your presence. New Acropolis is an international, independent and non-profit philosophical movement, based on Culture, Philosophy and Volunteering.
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