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Living the Transformative
Life: The Cassandra
Syndrome March 3, 2003 One of the storylines that has patterned my life is the Cassandra syndrome. This myth has the distinction of pathology, associated as it is, with the word "syndrome." The Cassandra storyline rates this label, because like so many myths, it represents a prevalent pattern in society. Cassandra was a Greek goddess to whom the Greek god Apollo bequeathed the gift of prophecy. Apollo had ulterior motives in giving this gift to Cassandra; he wanted sexual favours in return. Cassandra had personal integrity. She was not attracted to Apollo so she declined his requests for sexual exchange. Out of retribution, Apollo put a curse on Cassandra's gift of prophecy, a curse that no one would believe her. An underlying message of this myth is that choice hurts. Cassandra's gift was tainted by disbelief. She also lost her own life and the lives of her two children as further consequence of refusing Apollo. Like many other people, I have had direct experience of this mythological imprint. In addition to issues of disconnect related to my gifts, I have also kept my life and choices in shadow so that consequences from others were limited. This has been a hard, and very limiting, way to live. The writers Joseph Campbell, Angeles Arrian, Caroline Myss and Jean Huston have all shared perspective of the power of myth in the psyche-structure of our lives. These stories are bloodlines for us; important, vital sources of meaning. It is time, though, to rewrite the outcomes of our mythological support stories. These old storylines can no longer support our essence, our light, our understanding, our being. We have outgrown them. We can revise the outcomes of these myths to accommodate the change in dimensions that we, ourselves, are making. These old storylines do work in third dimension reality; they do not work in fifth dimension reality. In the third dimension we come up against walls and experience seemingly limited boundaries. In the fifth dimension we see through the apparent boundary of walls to where all possibility exists. The number five expands infinitely, and so too, does the nature of reality when experienced through the fifth dimension. It is a rare time in cosmic history when the archetypal stories that support us call for revision. The crisis point in our geopolitical world and the depth of intensity in personal lives suggest that now is such a time, when the mythological webs that have been holding life together are so broken that new outcomes to the old stories demand to be written. My revision of the Cassandra myth is a work in progress. In the now version, people believe what I say and I make choice in the full light of the Sun, not in shadow. Cassandra no longer hides, as she is not thwarted, nor does she thwart herself, for living in power. If you have been feeling confused, bewildered and stuck, consider that maybe you, too, are being asked at this time in our evolutionary history to rewrite the outcome of one of your supporting mythological stories. Maybe you are being called on to revision new, archetypical pathways that support your becoming. If you do not know, off hand, the mythological stories that have been supporting your life story, invite the information to come to you. Ask through the dream, ask when you are out in nature, ask when you are having tea with friends about their mythological storylines, and see what surfaces in consciousness for you. When you have the name of your myth, or myths, picture a blank page as wide as the sky, and with feet and body rooted on the earth, heart open, start to image new outcomes to your old story. Blessed, blessed be, you, everyone else, and me, Aureal ©2003, Aureal Williams |
