Scarcity of Courage

The use of myth and ritual to combat fear, anxiety and shame.

What we are experiencing today is a scarcity of cour-age. Traditionally, a variety of myths and their accompanying rituals were employed to tackle the problem. These rituals would offer transformative moments where the person ex-periencing the ritual would be reborn through the re-enact-ment of the myth within the protective environment of the group.

InthefirstchapterofKarenArmstrongsbook,TheCase For God, she walks us through a history of religion andritualsincehumankindfirstexisted,beginningwiththe rituals that shape pre-historic life. For the pre-modern person, myth only makes sense in the context of the ritual whichbringsittolife.Itisntthemyththatsimportant,oreven the truth behind it; instead what matters is the transfor-mationcausedbytheritual.Itspointlessknowingthatdeathisintimatelyentangledwithlifeifyoudontliveasthoughthatstrue.So,30000yearsago,aboywouldcrawlthrougha mile of underground labyrinthine passages with no light, and to the terrifying sound effects of screaming and thump-ingtofindhimselfinacavecoveredwithpaintings,wherehe would be introduced to the tribal rituals surrounding hunting, victory, death and birth and there in the cave he wouldntjusthearthestories;hewouldknowthemthroughanewlensofcourage,becausehedhadtofindthatcour-agesimplytomakeittothecave.And,whenheleftthecaveand faced the inevitable terrors of the adult world, he would knowwheretofindcouragetolive.(KarenArmstrong,2009)

This rich history of rituals is now either only associat-edwithreligion,andthusseemsunfitandoutofcontextinour secular society, or it has disappeared completely. While some of our desires have changed compared to that of people several years ago, our basic emotional needs have

remained the same. Is there a way to make traditional rituals relevantagain(intheframeofoursecularsociety)toad-dress our constant and transcendent emotional needs? Fo-cusing on the ever growing problem of fear, in our modern world, could we reinvent rituals to alleviate fear and exercise courage? How can we use ritualized social interaction to findbalancebetweenourpersonalfears(whicharepresent-edasanxietyandshame)andcourage?

Buttostarttalkingaboutcouragewefirsthavetodefineitinordernottoconfuseitwithmonumentalactsof bravery and the such. "Courage" comes from the latin word"cor",whichmeansheart,andspecificallyitmeansto tell a story wholeheartedly. Thus, the hero archetype is courageousnotbecausehe/shedefiesanexternalevilbutbecause of taking the risk to expose who he/she really is andthisexposureoftheirflaws(whatJungcallstheshadowself)iswhatmakesthemstronger.Addingtothat,courageisnot to be confused with fearlessness, rather it is the deci-sion of doing something despite being afraid. So courage is found in the simple act of taking the risk to be authentic, tobedifferentandultimatelytobeflawed.However,whathas become the norm during the past years is an obses-sionwiththeobjectiveandtherationalandadeepfearofthesubjectiveandtheemotionalandwiththemythofobjectivitycomesconformityandadeepfearoftakingtherisktoreallyexpressonestrueself.Therefore,theonlysafeway is to go with the herd, the perpetuating force of logic and rationality. Nevertheless, this lack of taking the risk to face our fears has numbed our soul, it has created a kind of paralysis.AsSimoneWeilbeautifullyputsitTheprotectionofmankindfromfearandterrordoesntimplytheabolitionof risk; it implies on the contrary, the permanent presence of a certain amount of risk in all aspects of social life; for the

absence of risk weakens courage to the point of leaving thesoul...(SimoneWeil,2002,p.33).Therefore,asmuchastheobjectivesideisneeded,soisthesubjective,thatistheemotional side. The two are not mutually exclusive, they are complementary, they have distinct functions but together they create our experience of the world.

Similarly, the ancient Greeks had logos and mythos. The former, translates today into speaking but it was more accurately the rational side, the pragmatic mode of thought, the things that people had to know to survive on a daily basis. It was also what was necessary to advance the knowl-edge to the future. In other words, it was forward-looking. The latter, was to acquire a deeper understanding of the things that couldn't be explained by logos, for example emotions,suchasgrief,joyaswellaspassionsandtheego.Unlike today, where the notion of myth is correlated with a self-indulgent fantasy and thus something not true, for the Greeks it was more of an experience and was not under-stoodasafactualstory.Asmuchasthelogoswasnecessaryto survive and move into the future, mythos was devised to explain the obscure regions of the psyche and to do that it usually looked into the past.

Todayweliveinasocietyofscientificlogosandmythhas fallen into disrepute, taking along with it the experienc-es necessary to make us brave enough to take the risk to live andexpressourtrueself.Andmythcanonlybetransmittedthrough experience; it cannot be merely explained, thus it is inseparable from the ritual that re-enacts it. The problem, in our time, is that by being disconnected from our senses and focusingonthemind(again,therational)wehavealsolostthis connection with the mythical and the mysterious. We even try to understand religious myths under the scope of

logic. But, as Marrett explains savage religion is something not somuchthoughtoutasdancedout(R.R.Marrett,1914,p.34).So, in order for a myth to be meaningful the experience of it is crucial, because only then is it possible for every person to make connections with his own life and to appropriate the myth so that it makes sense for him/her.

This is evident in the movie Upstream Color. By inten-tionally leaving the narrative loose, the director wants to create an experience rather than an array of factual stories. Thus, the protagonistofthefilm,awomanamidstamentalbreakdownwhoisdesperatelytryingtofindandformulateherownnarrative,seems as a very appropriate choice. By not having a clear plot bothinthemovieasawholeandinthewomanslife,everyoneisabletoappropriatethefilmandfindconnectionstohisorherownlife.Inasense,thefilmistheritual,andtheviewerpartici-pates in it actively by formulating his/her own narrative.

Even in our language this favoring towards the rational is evidentinthemetaphorsweuseinourdailylife.AsexplainedinthebookMetaphorsweliveby,rationalisupwhileemotionalisdown,forexample:Thediscussionfelltotheemotionallev-el,Weputourfeelingsasideandhadahigh-levelintellectualdiscussion...etc.(Lakoff,Johnson,p.17).Inotherwords,rationalis good while emotional is bad. This is further discussed in the bookasthemythofobjectivismandthemythofsubjectivism.GeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnsonproposeanalternativetothese two models and claim that no idea is either purely unbi-ased(objective)ormerelyintuitive(subjective),itisratheranexperiential synthesis of the two. We experience things and by combiningtheabsolutetruthswevelearntaboutthemandourowninteractionwiththemwedefineourownreality.Whatisinteresting in this is mainly the connection with our educational system(andsocietyasawhole)whichfocusesmerelyontherationalization of knowledge which cultivates in us a deep fear of

expressing emotion or our own intuition.

So this fear of expressing emotion, perpetuated by the educational system, leads to a vicious cycle of fear of making mistakes,fearoffailureandultimatelyshame(fearofbeingafailure).AsReneBrownexplains,shamehasreachedthelevelsofan epidemic. Here, it is important to differentiate between guilt andshame:TheformercanbesummedupasIdidsomethingbad, so it points at the action, the latter can be summed up in thephraseIambad,soitisdirectedatthedeeperpsycheoftheindividual.Assheexplains,shameisdirectlycorrelatedwithmostanxiety disorders that rage our time. She talks about how vulnera-bility is misunderstood as weakness, while for her, being able to be vulnerableistheonlywaytoultimatelybecourageous.Also,thisconnects with the idea of collective rituals which most of the times are designed to foster a true connection between individuals and to achieve that connection the participants have to be vulnerable. Take for example the case of a funeral, the ritual is used to connect the people in grief with the rest of the community and to make themvulnerablemeanstofindthecouragetoovercometheloss.So rituals can play a crucial role in the alleviation of anxiety and can foster courage. The fear of connection that we experience today is deeply rooted in this fear of being vulnerable.

Fear of intimacy is also an epidemic of our time, we do not want to risk to connect with someone because of crippling fear of rejection,betrayaletc.Buthowcanwemakethisshadowourassetanddrawstrengthfromit?Jungexplainsthatinorderforcourageto exist, we have to be at ease with being vulnerable : The battle between the hero and the dragon shows more clearly the theme of the egos triumph over regressive trends. For most people the dark side of the personality remains unconscious. The hero must realize that the shadow exists and that he can draw strength from it. He must come to terms with his destructive powers if he is to overcome the dragon. I. E. Before the ego can triumph, it must master and assimilate the shadow. (p. 112)

Also,somethinginterestingtonotehereisthatinGreece,themythicalfigureoffear,calledphobos,wasalways drawn on the shields of heroes, such as Hercules, LeonidasandAlexandertheGreat.Thusfearwasnotper-ceived as something that made these men weak but rather as something that gave them the strength to surpass what the rational mind would believe possible and to achieve the impossible. Besides that, the myths of ancient Greece showcased the vulnerability of the hero, such as in the case ofAchilles.WhilethemythreferstotheAchillesheelasaphysical vulnerability this of course can be extended to the sphere of the psychological, again referring to this idea of drawing strength from our shadow self.

Phobos depicted on the shield of Leonidas

Ritualsweretraditionallyusedtoofferrelieffromfearinhighlyuncertaintimes.In1948,theanthropologistBronislawMal-inowski examined the tribe of the Trobriand Islanders and discov-ered that they had developed a way to relieve fear and anxiety in highly uncertain moments through the use of ritual. He explains thattheislandershadtwoverydifferentwaysoffishingdependingonthesettingthattheyhadtofishin:Thefirstonewastheinnerlagoon,wheretherewasplentyoffishandlittledangerwhilethesecond one was the open sea, where the yield varied and the dangerwashigh.Malinowskinotesthatwhentheislandersfishedintheinnerlagoontheydidntuseanyritualbeforehandbecausetheycoulddependontheirskillandknowledgetogetthejobdone.Whentheyhadtofishoutintheopensea,however,theyused magic rituals to ensure a good yield and the safety of the fishermen.

Malinowskistheorycanstillbeobserved,inourmodernsociety, in a number of rituals that people perform in times of high uncertainty and fear. His observations have been extended, for example,inthefieldofsports,likebaseballandthatofgambling.However, apart from these exceptions, rituals designed to aspire courage reduce fear and foster social interaction are increasingly disappearing. On the other hand, the ones that survive are the moresecularandpersonal(superstitious)rituals;likeknockingon wood, wearing favourite pieces of clothing when being inter-viewedforajoborrehearsingbeforeaspeech,amongothers.Butwhy did we abandon rituals that require social interaction with oth-ers, like eating together, dancing or bathing? How can we reinvent convivial rituals of the past and make them relevant to our secular society?Lastly,howcantheseconvivialritualshelpusalleviatethefear of scarcity?

Starting with these questions and trying to address a personalfear,aritualwasborn.Asapersonwithoutathyroidthefear of not having access to my hormonal replacement pill is crip-pling. During my recent visit to Greece, I realized that the case of drug shortage was actually not at all a distant and unlikely scenar-

io. There was a shortage in several hormonal replacement pills, leavingpeoplelikemewithnoalternative.Whilethisisdefinitelysomething that can cause panic to an immense amount of people (1outof10peoplehasthyroiddisease),itisatthesametimeanopportunity to change the existing ways we use to heal ourselves. How can we, for example, use myth and ritual as an alternative to simply taking a pill? Do we need to do it alone, or can we share the experience with others? Does it need to be sensually mun-dane, or can it instead stimulate the senses and be an exciting experience on its own?

Theritualsgoalwasatfirsttoaddressascarcityofmed-ication in times of high uncertainty. With that in mind, however, the focus was also directed towards a scarcity of gratitude that we areexperiencingtoday.Idontfeelgratefultothepharmaceuticalcompany that provides me with a pill, even when my life depends on it. What if we shift the way we perceive the pill from commodity to gift? When someone is offering you a gift, you intuitively feel grateful, when there is a person caring for your health the experi-encechanges,itbecomesabondingritual;Acommunion.

InspiredbyAlainDeBottonsbookReligionforAtheistsanddeeply convinced that there is a way to borrow ideas from existing religion and reinvent them so that they are relevant in the context of a secular society I decided that the Christian communion ritual was the most appropriate for several reasons. First of all, it is about sharing an intimate experience with people you may or may not know. In the context of the steam bath this also holds true; peo-ple are naked and vulnerable among other people. Sharing their vulnerability and a common sensual experience is what makes the bonding process easier. The Christian Communion is also about thisnotionofthesacrificethatbecomesagift.Inthechurchcon-textitisaboutthesacrificeofChristandthesacramentconsistsofhisbloodandbodyintheformofwineandblood.Justlikewhenwatchingafilm,theparticipantinthisritualwillhavetoletgoofthe rational, logic side that reminds him/her that this transforma-tion is in reality impossible. The participant is instead convinced of

the fact merely by willingly choosing to focus on the experience andnotthefacts.Inthecontextofthesteambaththesacrificecomes from people and is directed towards people. The euthyroid personissacrificingtimeandultimatelytheurinethatcontainsval-uable hormones that will be used to heal the hypothyroid person. The hypothyroid person is responsible for providing the bathing experience and the tea. In this setting there is an exchange of gifts that initiates a perpetual cycle of giving, receiving, gratitude and connection.

Thenewrite,calledthenakedcommunionissplitupinfourparts, according to the liturgy of the eucharist in the Christian church.Everyparthasaveryimportantroletoplay.Thefirstpartisthe Preparation of the altar and the gifts, in which the hypothyroid are preparing the steam bath and the herbs for the tea. This stage also includes the undressing and preparing physically and psy-chologically for the steam bath. The second part is the Eucharistic Prayer, where the medicine is prepared as a gift in the lab in beau-tiful vessels that allow the viewer to see the hormone crystallization process. The preparation, however, is mysterious, all people are participating but the exact method is not revealed, again to focus on the experience and symbolism and not on the rational. The third part, is the Communion rite, in which the hypothyroid and euthyroid people are exchanging the gifts in the nurturing context of the steam bath. The hypothyroid person offers the herbal tea and the euthyroid person the medicine, in the form of sugar rock candy to accompany the tea. It is here that it becomes apparent that the process of healing can be much more sensual and conviv-ial than merely taking a pill. The last part is the Concluding Rites, where Christians are send back to the world to in turn become sac-raments themselves. In a similar fashion, that is the stage where the sacramental gift of urine occurs in the intimacy of the toilet.

The ritual is then repeated every evening after work, a time that is traditionally used by many cultures for their public bathing rituals as it marks the passage from activity to inactivity.

Aswithallrituals,theoneanalysedbelowcanbeunder-stood as two complementary actions; the implicit action of pro-viding a meaningful experience and the instrumental action of achieving a goal.

The implicit action of the ritual is to bring back the lost ceremony of public bathing, an activity that combines a strong sensualexperiencewithphysicalandspiritualpurificationandconvivial social interaction. Humans have always used rituals to cre-ate social bonds and even to nourish interpersonal relationships. For example, nearly all fraternities and sororities have rituals incor-porated into their structure, from elaborate and sometimes secret initiation rites, to more formalized ceremonies used to convene a meeting. Thus, the meaning of the ritual is both to foster self care and conviviality. On the other hand, the instrumental action of the ritual is to offer an alternative scenario in case of the synthetic drug shortage. The herbal steam bath is designed to stimulate the thyroid and boost the production of hormones that will be later extracted(fromurine)andofferedtopeoplethatneedthem.Re-search has shown that when the body temperature of an euthyroid personrisesto39degreesthethyroidproduces23%morethyroidhormone,calledthyroxine(Carrelletal,2014);thissurplusisthenexcreted in urine. Secondly, thyroid stimulating herbs are added to the steam bath to induce further production of hormones. The ritual described above could thus provide a way to shift the emphasis from being dependent on pharmaceutical companies to creating a valuable connection with others. The goal is to move awayfromtheimpersonalwaythemedicalfieldoperatesatthemoment towards a system that would connect us more intimate-ly with the people that provide for our healing and to learn to express our gratitude. In other words, to complement the brain centred process of western medicine with emotional and sensual experiences that could prove effective in different ways. The vulner-ability aspect is also present in the ritual, in the form of nakedness and exposing the imperfections. Of course, as mentioned before,

this vulnerability from both sides is necessary for a deeper emo-tional connection to be even possible. Through the ritual, the drug is transformed from a commodity to a gift and the act of taking the pill is transformed from a mundane habit to a convivial ceremony of gratitude.

References

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DeBotton,Alain.ReligionForAtheists.London:Penguin,2012.Print.

Lakoff,George,andMarkJohnson.MetaphorsWeLiveby.Chicago:UniversityofChicago,1980.Print.

Campbell,Joseph,andBillD.Moyers.ThePowerofMyth.NewYork:Doubleday,1988.Print.

UpstreamColor.Dir.ShaneCarruth.Perf.AmySeimetz,FrankMosley,ShaneCarruth.Erbp[us],2013.DVD.

Weil,Simone.TheNeedforRoots:PreludetoaDeclarationofDutiestowardsMankind.London:Routledge,2002.Print.

Hicks,David.RitualandBelief:ReadingsintheAnthropolo-gyofReligion.Lanham,MD:AltaMira,2010.Print.

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Brown,Rene.Thepowerofvulnerability.TED.June2010.Lecture. Hoyt,Randy.JourneytotheSea.Mythos&Logos:TwoWaysofExplainingtheWorld.RandyHoyt,1Mar.2009.Web.22Feb.2014..

Marett,R.R.TheThresholdofReligion.London:Methuen,1914.UniversityofTorontoLibraries.Web.20Feb.2014..