I have always been fascinated with stories.
As a young kid, I would lose hours flipping old dusty pages of words could not yet read, fascinated by images of the ancient mytholgies of Greece, Northern Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa.
I would envision Hermes, Zeus, Odin, Thor, I would play with them, I would converse with the elements imagining I was in conversation with the Old Gods.
And then there were the New Stories. The ones about webhead Spider Man, who taught that with great power comes great responsibility. I was so fascinated by the hero that I engaged in daily conversation with house spiders, asking them to bite me and bestow upon me their powers.
The moon and trees also held great mystique in my eyes.
Beings I would converse with, open my heart to, express my longing, visions and desires.
One story that stays with me, specially after reading the book (which I strongly suggest reading, as it is much deeper and widly captivating than the movie) was the NeverEndgin Story.
It’s an 80’s movie about a young child, Bastian, who, after hiding in the school attic from the local bullies, begins reading a book, the NeverEnding Story, a book that tells a story strangely familiar to the Story of our Time. I won’t retell the whole story here, but I will highlight a moment in the movie.
This moment, in one of my absolute favorite novels and movies, has become iconic in my life and in my work. I also thinks it speaks to our generation and to what we are going through as a planet.
Despair gnawing at your feet, feet that sink into the muddy waters of stagnation and dark grief. It's hard to come out, all seems lost. All feels so dark, there is no direction other than the swamps around us.
We must keep believing. We must not give in.
As Joanna Macy says, "Active Hope is not something you have, it is something you DO". Hard, swampy confusing times ahead and all around.
But the tribes are gathering.
The passageway is narrow and the hero/heroine's journey takes us to the underworld of who we are. There is Hope. There is way.
(Also don't fight the sadness, Artax. Grieve instead, let it transform you. The soil needs your waters.)
G'mork serves The Nothing. The moving, relentless, stories eating Nothing. As people forget the old stories, as human people forget to tell stories, to dream stories, to share the New Stories, the Nothing advances. Fantastia dies.
Joanna Macy tells of the prophecy of the Shambhala Warriors, the ones that will rise up in a time of great darkness, the ones that will rise up when all hope seems lost.
As the Old world crumbles, the New Story emerges. The New Story takes form, the OldNew Tale is told again, the world keeps on living.
I have been noticing, watching, naming, dancing with, dreaming with, laughing and crying with a new tribe of younger and elder warriors for a few years and this fills my heart with joy.
We are here, Tribe.
Please watch this short clip of the Shambhala Warrior Prophecy as told my Joanna Macy: (Begins at 2:40 min.)
UPDATE: Blogpost from my dear friend Meagan Chandler:
Meagan Chandler
Okay, dear Fabio, I finally got to re-watch The Never Ending Story this week - wanted to see it again before I read your post, and was itching to see it again anyways. I literally have not scene it since I was a child, and it was a completely new experience as an adult! So fantastic.
There were critical pieces that I had forgotten, like how the boy's mother has died and his father is ignoring the grief, shutting down the imaginative world and calling the child too quickly to grow up and leave behind the feminine, the death principle, the imagination, the world of soul, his inner hero, his dreams. The boy, we see, lives in fear and always runs when he faces danger.
What an incredible painting of egocentric culture.
Then, seduced into the quest of Atreu with whom he identifies his own hero self, to save the dying Empress (the feminine principle, soul, life-death-life, heart of imagination). A
nd what must he do?
Give her a new name - the name of his mother who passed away, a gift from his young grieving heart.
I just happened to read a portion of Women Who Run With the Wolves (HIGHLY recommended, if you have not yet read it, and want to explore the feminine principle, power, gift and mythology, and how it interacts with the masculine) right before seeing this movie again. And I am reminded how our egocentric culture is absolutely terrified by death, which is exactly half of everything. We are limping around with only half of ourselves!
This story so beautifully paints a picture of how life and death form a cycle that is never-ending. Fantastia is destroyed, and then with proper courage, grieving, owning, and re-embracing of the imagination, it is rebuilt, on and on, out and out, from Bastion to those watching Bastion on the movie and so on. So yes, I love what you've written in your blog.
I just wanted to add the piece I felt so strongly about the Life-Death-Life feminine principle that was so present for me in the re-watching. Such a treat - thanks for the inspiration to revisit that world, and so perfect coming up on Day of the Dead. This year, I shall honor the Death half of the cycle with immense respect, gratitude, tears, adventure, and celebration! New Orleans, I'll see you soon.
Okay, dear Fabio, I finally got to re-watch The Never Ending Story this week - wanted to see it again before I read your post, and was itching to see it again anyways. I literally have not scene it since I was a child, and it was a completely new experience as an adult! So fantastic.
There were critical pieces that I had forgotten, like how the boy's mother has died and his father is ignoring the grief, shutting down the imaginative world and calling the child too quickly to grow up and leave behind the feminine, the death principle, the imagination, the world of soul, his inner hero, his dreams. The boy, we see, lives in fear and always runs when he faces danger.
What an incredible painting of egocentric culture.
Then, seduced into the quest of Atreu with whom he identifies his own hero self, to save the dying Empress (the feminine principle, soul, life-death-life, heart of imagination). A
nd what must he do?
Give her a new name - the name of his mother who passed away, a gift from his young grieving heart.
I just happened to read a portion of Women Who Run With the Wolves (HIGHLY recommended, if you have not yet read it, and want to explore the feminine principle, power, gift and mythology, and how it interacts with the masculine) right before seeing this movie again. And I am reminded how our egocentric culture is absolutely terrified by death, which is exactly half of everything. We are limping around with only half of ourselves!
This story so beautifully paints a picture of how life and death form a cycle that is never-ending. Fantastia is destroyed, and then with proper courage, grieving, owning, and re-embracing of the imagination, it is rebuilt, on and on, out and out, from Bastion to those watching Bastion on the movie and so on. So yes, I love what you've written in your blog.
I just wanted to add the piece I felt so strongly about the Life-Death-Life feminine principle that was so present for me in the re-watching. Such a treat - thanks for the inspiration to revisit that world, and so perfect coming up on Day of the Dead. This year, I shall honor the Death half of the cycle with immense respect, gratitude, tears, adventure, and celebration! New Orleans, I'll see you soon.
