Covert Metaphor

admin :: Dec.29.2007 :: metaphor, myth :: 2 Comments »

The main character goes out searching for a god in order to find a suitable gift for the village shaman. During a hunt he comes across Odin.

I introduce Odin as a higher power who will help the main character to discover new abilities.

Odin, the Allfather, God of Poetry, Battle, and Death tells the main character he must first pass a test of courage, and then he will recieve the gift of magic to help his village. Magic will help him heal, give an advantage in battle, call the rain and the sun for crops, and protect the village against attacks.

The process of passing the test and Odin giving the power of magic will symbolize the conquering of fear and newfound self-confidence.

Odin gives the main character a test which requires a skill he has never developed. He must trust himself and break through his own fear in order to pass the test. He will learn his limitations are self-imposed.

When the main character returns to his village he will teach others about magic.

Looking back we started with:

1. Address a problem. (example: insecure and self-doubting)
2. List new abilities. (example: developing new skills and teaching others)
3. Offer desired outcome. (example: self-confident and secure)

Address A Problem

The main character has a problem with insecurity and self-doubt. This is addressed by showing his feelings of not being able to provide, in his eyes, an adequate gift for the local shaman. So, he ventures out to find a god which can give him the ultimate gift.

List New Abilities

The main character will need to pass a test by using abilities he does not know he already has. This will be done by going beyond his self-imposed limitations. What should the test consist of? And what abilities will he discover?
This is still undecided. What do you think?

Offer desired outcome

The main character will pass the test given to him and receive the power of magic. He will realize he already had the power of magic in him to begin with. After returning to his village he will teach others, increasing his self-esteem and self-confidence.

It may look a bit sloppy so far, but like I said, don’t concern yourself with details just yet. Just address the three key points and let the metaphor follow a natural progression. But we’re far from finished.

admin :: Jul.31.2007 :: metaphor, magic, myth :: No Comments »

In the beginning of constructing a metaphor, details should be kept to a minimum. Chunk up as much as possible. No more than two or three characters are needed to convey the message. It is often that inanimate objects like rocks and trees, for example, can be used as characters in the metaphor.

Depending on the audience and the problem being addressed, we can even use mythical creatures. Since this piece is about weaving myth and metaphor, this is exactly what I’ll be doing.

The metaphor must not be strictly isomorphic, but the problem should at least be associated with that of the main character.

Yesterday, I decided which problems would be addressed, but I’ll reiterate for clarity’s sake. Suppose I have a friend who has doubts about his own abilities to succeed in life. His fear is blocking him to take action. Perhaps he was told by his family he would never succeed at anything and is still living this childhood trance. He may be good at many things, but underestimates his own abilities and believes everyone else can do many things better than he can. Of course this is not based on logic and reality, but rather his belief of himself.

As it turns out this problem is not uncommmon, and ignorant parents continue to pass on their ridiculous trances onto their children. It is interesting to note that some of my writings trigger negative past experiences in some readers, causing them to relive those childhood trances. I recognize their attacks as such and offer to help them.

The main character has a problem with fear and self-doubt. He would like to conquer his fear and be self-confident.

Write down something similar to the following:

Main Character

problem————->outcome

fear, self-doubt—–>conquer fear, self-confidence

The main character already has the abilities to achieve the desired outcome, but is just not aware of it. I have chosen the Norse myths to work with, and therefore I have decided that he will be a hunter and warrior who admires the village shaman for his ability to heal. The shaman also tells stories of the Gods that the villagers live their lives by. Because of this he is very precious to the villagers and receives many gifts.

The main character doesn’t feel he has much more to give than the meat, pelts, furs, and skins of the animals he hunts. Up to this point I have addressed his problem of self-doubt, but I am still unsure how I will work the problem of fear into the story.

Remember, a good metaphor can take months to construct, even years. Don’t start out by trying to write award winning prose. After some months of telling and rewriting the metaphor, your unconscious will reveal ways to build on it you never thought possible.

Join me tomorrow as I continue to mix myth and metaphor.

admin :: Jul.29.2007 :: metaphor, myth :: No Comments »

I find it unfortunate that myths are no longer an important part of modern culture. Mythology has become a class you take at the University, a subsection of the sociology section in the corner of a bookstore, and a bedtime story you read to your kids.

Mythology used to shape the minds of whole cities, and even countries. Many people seek out destruction, either of themselves or others, often because a person’s pain and suffering has no relevance to any story they could use as a guide to help them solve their inner conflict.

All the old myths we now take for granted were created out of our collective unconscious. This may be a bold statement, but I am truly convinced that there are a set of universal myths that transcend religous, cultural, political and social boundaries. A little research will soon reveal this common thread without question.

Myths can give meaning to our lives in the same way that dreams can. They both draw from the same well of powerful symbolism. Realizing this I began to mix myths, conversational hypnosis, and advanced metaphor techniques to create truly powerful stories that would affect people on multiple levels. I’m still experimenting with this idea, but I see a lot of potential. Currently I am working on a set of stories based on the Norse myths which I will record for CD or MP3 in the future.

As I develop these stories and refine them, I’ll will post all material during the process and the techniques I employ, so you can do the same with your own stories if you choose. From the rough beginning of a simple story to a persuasive and powerful metaphor. Please follow along.

The first step is to choose which problem we will create a solution for, the type of new abilities we will develop, and our desired outcome. The first phase is basically a simple formula. Once we have the foundation of the story, then we will need to tweak it quite a bit and transform it into a covert metaphor.

So, again we start with:

1. Address a problem. (example: insecure and self-doubting)
2. List new abilities. (example: developing new skills and teaching others)
3. Offer desired outcome. (example: self-confident and secure)

I’ll develop this further tomorrow…

admin :: Jul.29.2007 :: metaphor, storytelling, myth :: 1 Comment »

I take the time to research everything out there from Reichian Therapy to Chaos Magic; anything that might enhance spiritual and psychological growth. I have found Psychosynthesis to demonstrate sustaining self-transformation.

Psychosynthesis is based on the work of Roberto Assagioli, and consists of a number of very effective techniques that allow both psychological and spiritual growth. A major part of psychosynthesis techniques are working with subpersonalities.

In psychosynthesis, subpersonalities have have their own motivations. They each perceive the world in their own unique way. The psychosynthesis model of subpersonalities separates our overall personality into mini-personalities. The subpersonality model can be a very useful one if your goal is to unite your unconscious and conscious mind to focus on those things you really want.

Each subpersonality has its own mythology, its own story. Metaphor can be very useful when communicating directly with one of your subpersonalities.

By keeping a daily journal you can easily identify different moods, desires, traits, and reality perceptions. One idea is to separate these traits into subpersonalities using your favorite mythology, and gave each one a name. By objectifying a subpersonality in this way, it makes it possible to dis-identify with it and observe its behaviours.

admin :: Jul.20.2007 :: metaphor, psychology, psychosynthesis, myth :: 1 Comment »