“You must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be” - Marianne Williamson
The ancient inscription of the Oracle of Delphi, “Man, Know Thyself”, holds one of the deepest indications of the human path. To know oneself means to move beyond the image we have built of ourselves, beyond the Personality through which we have learnt to present ourselves to the world, in order to come progressively into contact with a more authentic dimension of being, capable of recognising the meaning of one’s path and the Gifts we have come to bring into life.
The Personality arises as a necessary instrument of relationship with the world. It is formed through the education we have received, family, culture, experiences, wounds, external expectations and the roles we have taken on in order to be accepted, recognised, protected or loved. Over time, however, what initially helped us adapt to life can become a structure of identification, defence and repetition, gradually limiting inner freedom and the possibility of fully expressing what we truly are.
The journey from Personality to the deepest essence of the human being requires a process of recognition, transformation and progressive disidentification from patterns, fears, automatisms and the need for approval. It is not a matter of rejecting the personality, but of understanding its function, observing its limits and bringing it into the service of a wider consciousness, capable of orienting thoughts, words, choices and actions in a way that is more coherent with one’s inner truth.
Every human being moves through this passage in the course of life, often through crises, choices, changes, trials and moments of disorientation in which what was once familiar is no longer enough. In these moments, the Hero’s Journey becomes a precious map, because it describes the path of one who is called to leave the ordinary world, encounters thresholds, fears, resistance and shadow aspects, recognises allies and inner resources, undergoes a transformation and returns to life with a more mature awareness of self and of their own Gifts.
The Middle Ground, between a personality that can no longer guide as before and a more authentic dimension that has not yet been fully recognised, represents a fundamental space within the path. It is the inner place where emptiness, fear, confusion and resistance may emerge, but also intuition, deep listening and the possibility of orientation towards a new expression of self.
The Inner Hero’s Journey is a key to reading the human path as a process of awakening, maturity and integration. The Archetypes, the Phases of the Journey and the Ancient Wisdom Sciences allow life to be seen not as a random sequence of events, but as an evolutionary map in which trials, crises, passages and talents progressively reveal the meaning of the individual path.
OUTLINE:
- The Meaning of Individual Human Life.
- Personality and Inner Essence: Definition and Comparison of Two Different Visions of Reality.
- Personality as a Structure of Adaptation, Identification and Defence.
- The Hero’s Journey of Individual Awakening: Archetypes, Phases and Passages of the Path.
- The Call, the Refusal, the Threshold, the Trials, the Shadow, the Gift and the Return.
- Personality, Inner Essence and the Middle Ground.
- The Wheel of Dependent Origination and Its Link with the Patterns of the Personality.
- From the Known World to the Unknown: from the Fears of the Personality to the Intuition of the Inner Essence.
- The Hero’s Journey as an Archetypal Map of Individual Life and One’s Own Gifts.
- Conclusion.
WHO THIS COURSE IS FOR:
The course is part of the
IIS Academic Training and is intended for those who study or wish to deepen their understanding of
Holistic Disciplines,
Ancient Wisdom Sciences,
Coaching, the
Helping Relationship and processes of
Consciousness Development. It offers an important foundation for understanding the human path through the key of the
Hero’s Journey, the
Archetypes, the
Personality and the phases of transformation that accompany every process of inner growth. It may also be attended as a
Personal Growth course by those who feel the need to understand their
Inner Path with greater clarity, especially in moments of
Change, crisis, transition or personal redefinition. It is suitable for those who wish to recognise which aspects of their
Personality are still guided by habits, fears, adaptations and the need for approval, and to begin distinguishing what belongs to conditioning from what expresses a more authentic dimension of self. It is particularly useful for those who wish to understand the
Hero’s Journey as an
Archetypal Map of human transformation, observing with greater awareness the trials, thresholds, resistance, intuitions and
Gifts that emerge at decisive moments in life.
WHAT YOU CAN GAIN:
The course allows a deeper understanding of the passage from
Personality to a more authentic dimension of being, recognising how the identity built over time can become a structure of adaptation, defence and repetition. This makes it possible to observe more clearly the mechanisms that keep a person within the known world, the fears that emerge in the face of
Change and the resistance that precedes every real
Inner Transformation. The archetypal reading of the
Hero’s Journey helps to give meaning to crises, trials and phases of transition, recognising them as passages within the human path rather than isolated events. The
Middle Ground, between what no longer sustains life and what is not yet fully visible, becomes a fundamental space for understanding the meaning of disorientation, waiting, fear and intuition. The course offers tools of understanding that are useful both within the
IIS Academic Pathway and in personal work, allowing one’s
Path of Self-Knowledge to be read as a process of
Awakening,
Transformation and integration, in which lived experiences can become instruments of awareness, responsibility and deeper contact with one’s own
Gifts.