Stages of the Journey

Stages of the Journey The following is offered as an inspiration towards the naming and defining the current stage of your heroic journeys and subjoumeys. The first step is to define a few areas where you are at the beginning, middle end of the journey which might fit into the stages listed below. Then, star the ones which seem most meaningful to you. Finally, rewrite the most critical onto a crib sheet you can stuff into your High Holyday Tallit bag .. Hesed-Beginnings: Hoo-Harvesting the Inner Depths Birth You have come to the start of a new cycle. This is the beginning; this is the time of your birth Initiation Now is the time of your initiation. You will soon meet sages who will offer you the benefits of their wisdom. In what areas of my life am I in the Birth and Initiation stages ? Corifrontation with the Devil The time has come when you must confront the devil, or the hidden, shadow side of your psyche. This is the only way for you to go past your deepest fears and angers and other barriers that hinder your progress. In what areas of my life am I in the InnerDepths Confrontation stage? YESOD-Rejuvenation Rebirth Gevurah- Introspection W-tthdrowal You have been initiated. You have met the sages and you have learned from them. Now you must withdraw within yourself, to find your center and your balance. The next four sections will lead you through the withdrawal portion of your pilgrimage In what areas am I in the Withdrawal stages? TIFERET-Beginning to Move in Balance Quest You have come to a plateau. you were born and initiated, and you have come to a deeper understanding of yourself and of life. You are now prepared for the next stage in your journey, in which you must face challenges and come to terms with your greatest desires and your deepest fears. The time has come for you to begin your quest. In what areas of my life am I in the Quest stages? Netzakh-Persevering Into the Realms of Death You must now prepare to enter the realms of death. you have found the resources you will need to pass through these regions. Quiet your mind and open your heart, for this is the passage through the nether regions. You will be asked to give up much. This is the only way to travel safely when you come into these lands. After you have come to terms with the devil and all the demons that haunt you, you can be born anew, with a higher understanding of yourself, your life and the world. Thus you progress on the path of selfrealization. The hero has died violently and visited the underworld. Now is the time for rebirth and the defeat of death. Seasons run in cycles, the sun and moon have their times. This is the season of rebirth; the demons have been defeated and from the depths of your own psyche you are ready to be born anew. In what areas of my life am I in the Rebirth stage? MALKHUT-Reframing of the Previous Stages Transformation The hero has completed a cycle in the process of selfrealization which leads us to freedom from our fears and all our limitations, and to harmony with life. This is the final event in the achievement of the self, which has lost all its illusions of separation from life. This is the culmination of the process of losing the self in order to find the self. You have achieved a mythological consciousness, in which the divine is active in all things and events of your life. In what areas of my Zife am I in the Reframing stage? In what areas am I in the Perseveringstage?