myths, labyrinths and psyche
What is the psychospiritual significance of the mythical labyrinth? The labyrinth can be seen as an archetypal symbol of the psyche and of what C.G. Jung called the individuation process: that twisty, unpredictable, tortuous, serpentine path toward wholeness and authenticity. The goal is to reach the center, the Self, the core of our being. But this is only half the journey. For having discovered the inner center with it's treasure, the pearl of great price, is not sufficient: one must then find a way out of the labyrinth and back to the outer world- forever transformed by this experience. And this inward and outward expedition is repeated over and over, each time yielding new riches.
...
One implication of this myth is that we are most at risk when we refuse to voluntarily venture into the labyrinth, but engage instead in what Freud referred to as resistance: the fearful refusal to enter, or in some instances even acknowledge, the powerful reality of the unconscious. But by mustering courage, being heroic despite our doubts, like Theseus, we stand a fighting chance to survive meeting the Minotaur--a representative of our inner demons--and returning to life transmuted by the experience.
...
The return to the light requires sensitivity sufficient to discern the thin Ariadnean thread in the dark, the humility to crawl on hands and knees grasping the fragile thread, and the faith to trust in the often imperceptible thread's ability to lead to salvation.
...
Mythologically speaking, it is the gods who decide our fate. But we alone are responsible for our own destiny. In psychotherapy, as in life, each person has both a fate and destiny. Fate must be acknowledged, along with our reactions to what has fatefully befallen us. Destiny is a creative process, a movement toward the future, a process of becoming, which requires courage and always involves existential choice to some extent.
