If you have the Damanhur 2019 Calendar, every day you have the chance to see characters that are part of the traditions of the peoples of the planet: gods, courageous figures and heroes who embody the best of the cultures from which they come. In the calendar pages, heroines and heroes take turns looking at us, and above all, they remind us that heroes do not only live in the past or belong to stories that are outdated but are present here and now, inside each of us, and they talk to us. In this period, the cinema, which represents perhaps the most advanced frontier of the myth creation today, offers us the figure of a new superhero: Captain Marvel, who more than Wonder Woman, who was linked more to a male-dominated iconography, could represent a true example of female freedom in the universe of modern myths. The vitality with which new figures are proposed to us, underlines the presence and the request, of mythical heroes in our time.
A serious game
So let’s try a game that is fun but can also be taken seriously. We can decide not to go and look for a hero outside ourselves, among the classic myths, the cinema, the great figures of our times, but choose to build the myth of ourselves. Let’s imagine that each of us turns into a hero and that we are the true hero of ourselves. It’s a game, of course, but the game is a serious thing that can reveal many things to us. Imagine then that you are a hero. Do you want to be a mythical figure, like Hercules or Gilgamesh? Do you feel closer to Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table? Or are Batman or Spider-Man, the ones that warm your heart?
How would you be, if you were a hero? What would your name be? And what would your powers be: the strength, the ability to fly, or to foresee the future? I wonder if you would have any enemies? Because yes, we are used to thinking of the hero as someone who fights for freedom, justice, and knowledge, usually against someone else. But today a hero can be a woman or a man who fights for civil rights, to defeat disease, or even save a forest!
A precious friend
After imagining all the details of the chosen mission, of the character, of the powers, try to give it a face. Draw it, create it on the computer or model it with clay. If you are not capable, here is an excellent opportunity to learn!
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a friend like that? A friend who is stronger than us but towards whom we have no awe because we created them and they are nothing else but the improved version of ourselves. At this point you have to ask yourself the last question: how much distance is there between us? How far do I have to go to become like that? Whatever you imagined, you can achieve it! So take the first step. In myths, the function of a hero is not to mark the distance between human beings and the divine sphere; but on the contrary, it is to indicate to the former a possible direction to reach the latter. A game-reflection-meditation about you as a hero shows you where to look for that extra something, that inner transformation and your habits that can really accelerate your growth process.
