Light Warrior or Shadow Avenger?

 

From out of the murky depths of history, humanity has always had Warriors to protect their peoples and to forge new territories as Pathfinders.

In its most positive mode, the Warrior serves a worthy cause with nobility, at least according to their own peoples’ values. The Medieval knight errants upheld a code of honor. They wielded power from their skill at warfare, but their steel was tempered by acts of chivalry.

Dark warriors also emerge, too often perhaps, fueling fires of hatred and leaving destruction and grief in their wake.

But the Light Warriors, e.g. the Jedi knights of fantasy lore whose wisdom even more than their light sabers “bring balance to the Force” are those upon whom the folk can rely to safeguard a delicate  peace and to protect and preserve the common good.

Warriors will always be needed in this dualistic universe we call home, where light and darkness, good and evil (though so variously defined) pair off and polarize according to faith, tradition, or karma.

The Light Warrior, I would say, is more of a protector than an avenger. His or her goals are not selfish nor fanatical but rather aim to serve the greater whole. That is why so many epic tales of myth and legend depict the heroic adventures of protagonists who must save the entire world or all of humanity against cataclysmic forces or demonic, inhumane foes who wish to conquer and destroy for the sake of their own narrow beliefs or rapacious hunger for power and control.

The Light Warrior forces seek to build or to restore order, peace, and balance.

The movie Avatar presents an excellent example of both positive and Shadow-mode Warrior types. The greedy administrators of the earth invasion force, with their mercenary army, aim to rape the planet of Pandora of her mineral resources at the expense of the noble Na’vis culture and peoples. The Na’vis’s themselves along with the hybrid avatars and allies seek rather to preserve Pandora and its peoples and natural resources from the ravaging plunder of the cruel and selfish invaders.

So what about you? When it comes to your own inner Warrior archetypal modes of consciousness, are you more often a Light Warrior or a Shadow avenger or conqueror? Perhaps we first all need to recognize these polarized tendencies in ourselves if we are to seek to bring balance to not only our own personalities but to the world at large. How? By pausing before passing judgement on others’ beliefs and actions, including your own. My own spiritual orientation (Eckankar) includes a suggestion shared by many of positive spiritual focus today:

Ask yourself always, “Is it Kind? Is it Necessary? Is it True?” before acting, speaking, or thinking ill of any other or of yourself.  This can serve to balance the Warrior within.

I welcome your comments and stories!

The Elder Leader Archetype Ally–a Role Model of Service to All Life

“Make it So!,” utters Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and once again the Enterprise and its crew survive yet another harrowing threat.

Leaders are found in all societies throughout time and around the world. They are often the stuff of legend as culture heroes, yet villains are also often portrayed as Shadow leaders; that is, individuals who have gone over to the Dark Side. In general, a positive Elder Leader offers support, protection, or guidance to others; he or she SERVES OTHERS by developing and sharing from their own inherent strengths of character. Those negative, Shadow Elder Leaders usually aim to serve only themselves.

Followers are another aspect of the archetype of the Elder Leader. To become a Leader, one is first an Aspirant, an Apprentice, an Acolyte or a Disciple. So a true Follower of a bona fide, positive Elder Leader figure aims to develop their own leadership skills and potentials based on the role model provided by their respected Leader as mentor or guide.

Leaders STEP UP when the situation calls for that; they drive ahead without looking back, forging a path to success or survival for all those they can. There are various leadership styles and strategies, some more direct or more indirect, more humble or more directive. But the Leader creates a pathway or shows the way for people to accomplish their goals with a sense of clarity and responsibility.

Still, many people fear the Elder Leader in themselves, especially if they have been raised by Shadow elder leaders rather than fully positive ones. Many parents—who are models of the Elder Leader in either positive and/or mixed positive and Shadow mode for most of us—may fall short of always being able to manifest positive leadership traits; so as children we might struggle in developing our own highest leadership potentials.

Mythic and fictional stories present collective ELDER LEADER scripts that we all can learn from; again both in positive or else in Shadow formations.  The very stuff of Good vs. Evil tales is the manifestation of this Elder Leader duality.

So this week I invite you to contemplate your own Elder Leader potentials. Who are your most positive role models, either in your life or in mythology or fiction? What makes them the leaders they are? What are your own greatest leadership traits? What situations bring out the best of these in you? And, what of Shadow leader traits? How can you increase your own positive Elder leader traits to help you achieve a valued goal?

I welcome all of your insights and stories!

 

Your Life Challenges

A quest is more valuable when there are challenges to overcome in order to achieve it. In fact the challenges that we face in life are in direct relation with our quests as they help us to strengthen our resolve and deepen our understanding. As in fiction, in our lives as well the protagonist must overcome incredible obstacles if she or he is to arrive at a positive, meaningful outcome. Many of the best stories are TRANSFORMATIONAL; the protagonist undergoes a significant CHANGE OF CONSCIOUSNESS in the process of achieving their goals or realizing their deeper reason for the adventure.

So we ‘should be thankful’ for our obstacles, right? They may not feel like gifts in the moment we experience them, but if we persist to overcome or to survive our challenges, we often look back with gratitude for the tempering and for the lessons learned.

So, while I have titled this post “Your Life Challenges,” I might just as well call it, “Your Greatest Lessons”! What are yours?

To begin our weekly focus on this topic, I invite you to explore the lessons implicit in some fictional or historical storyline that contains a persistent and difficult challenge.

I’m thinking of the epic personal sort of challenge Harry Potter faces, for example, in Voldemort. His nemesis with murderous intent through seven years of struggle, Voldemort in all his evil antics is the perfect foil for the alchemical transformation of a young boy and by extension the entire Magical World of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

 

The inherent duality of Good and Evil shows up in Harry as he must contend with the feelings engendered in him by the malicious attacks of Voldemort upon his own parents, his friends and himself. How can Harry conquer Voldemort without becoming LIKE him in the process? Indeed, Harry’s greatest Lesson is that both Good and Evil coexist within everyone including himself, but it is his CHOICES that will determine his character and that allow him to cultivate his strengths instead of his weaknesses. Love and friendship provide the anchors Harry can use to bring forth his best qualities despite all evil influences around and within himself. Ultimately Harry faces the greatest challenge of all: to sacrifice his own life for the sake of all he loves. Only in so doing can he finally and forever rid himself of his own darkest potentials; yet when he does, he is granted a form of rebirth of his unriddled, mature character.

I welcome YOUR insights and stories!