Becoming Divine

I would tell the powerful myth of a love connection and a human becoming Divine. Cupid, aka Eros, God of Love, gives us the very first Western story of a woman becoming divine. Before this story, to be a god, you must have been born divine with at least one parent as a God or Goddess.

The telling of a myth brings out truths that are difficult to communicate any other way. As Joseph Campbell said, “Mythology is the song of the universe, the music we dance to even when we cannot name the tune.”  This myth begins with a Goddess being jealous of an innocent human being. As myths of this type go, the Goddess tries to bring devastation. Because of what the Goddess puts in motion plus an accident, the human goes through trials, yes, but in the end, a human becomes divine.

Main Outline of the story of Psyche and Eros

Our story begins in the land of Aphrodite worship. Known for her beauty, Aphrodite was worshipped often in temples as the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. However, she was also known for her selfishness and jealousy.

Psyche (meaning Soul in English) was born to a King and Queen. She was so beautiful people came from other lands just to see her. Her beauty grew and by the time she was a teen, people began to worship her, neglecting their worship of Aphrodite. Enraged by jealousy, Aphrodite commanded her ever-obedient son, Cupid (aka Eros) to make Psyche fall in love with an atrocious beast. Cupid saw her for the first time as he readied his bow. So stunned by her beauty, he pricked himself on his own arrow tip and fell in love with Psyche.

The two loved each other deeply. However, because no human can look upon the divine, her lover came only in the dark of night. So jealous of Psyche, both families sought to destroy their love and encouraged Psyche to take a forbidden glimpse of her beloved to make sure he was not an ogre. Thus, Psyche lit a lantern to peek at her beloved. Cupid awakened with the light, now feeling mistrust. With this act, Aphrodite convinced Cupid that this mortal was not worthy of being near the divine and forbade him from seeing her again.

In her deep love for her beloved, she began roaming the earth seeking to reunite with her beloved. After many months, a few Goddesses empathized with her and helped her find Aphrodite. Psyche implored Aphrodite to allow them to reunite. After such a heartfelt plea, Aphrodite gave Psyche 3 seemingly impossible trials. Promising, if she succeeded, she could reunite with Eros, a human becoming divine.

Her Trials

1. Her first trial required her to sort a mountain of barley, millet, poppy seeds, lentils, and beans into separate piles before nightfall with 0 errors. An army of ants sorted the grains within the time allotted. Psyche accomplished this task while at rest
   
2. Psyche’s next task was to collect golden fleece from a flock of shining golden rams. She heard a reed tell her to bide her time until the rams left for the evening and then gather the wool caught in the branches of trees so she would not be killed by the rams.
3. Her third trial required that she fill a crystal vessel with the water from the spring that feeds the River Styx which was guarded by dragons and very high up in the mountains. Zeus sent his eagle to help her complete this task.

Psyche achieved all 3 insurmountable tasks (in some stories there are 4). Following her success, Eros begged Zeus to make her divine so they could spend the rest of eternity together, the human becoming divine.

Analogy to expansion of consciousness

Many attempts have been made to give meaning to these tasks. So, I will not go into detail regarding the meaning.

However, I would draw some parallels with the story and expansion of consciousness, the road to recognize our own God within. One might note that Psyche would never have succeeded on her own. Help was available to her at every turn, even when least expected.

Of note to me, the story explicitly stated in the first task, Psyche was at rest during the completion of that task. We often forget just how powerful and important “rest” alone brings to our expansion of consciousness. When we are using our practice, using the Ascension Attitudes with our eyes closed, we are at complete rest! We are tapping into the Source of All Creation – at rest – yet things were sorted to perfection. Who can say what things might be sorted in life just because one uses their practice regularly?

The common threads that I see through her trials were her one-pointed commitment and her love. Her courage,  faith and hope led her on to do whatever she was capable of doing. Even though the odds were never in her favor, she stayed true to her love. And of course, maybe most important of all,  she was open to receiving help. Another way to say that is, even though she appeared to be alone, she was never truly alone.

Another article you might like to read is “Awe: The Secret to a Happier Healthier Life”