Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens." The apostles' creed confesses in the same article, Christ's descent into hell and his resurrection from the dead on the third day, because in his Passover it was precisely out of the depths of death that he made life spring forth." ~ CCC 631
Do not take away his life (Joseph, son of Jacob), nor shed his blood: but cast him into this pit, that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harmless. ~ Genesis 22:27
(4) And Elias went forward one days journey into the desert. And when he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die, and said: "it is enough for me, Lord, take away my soul: for I am no better than my fathers. (5) And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the juniper tree: and behold, an angel of the Lord touched him and said to him: arise and eat. ~ 3 Kings 19:4-5
(1) Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonas: and Jonas was in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights. (2) And Jonas prayed to the Lord his God out of the belly of the fish. (3) And he said: I cried out of my affliction to the Lord, and he heard me: I cried out of the belly of hell, and thou hast heard my voice. ~ Jonas 2:1–3.
So they decide to murder him.
(19) ... they said to one another, "here comes this dreamer. (20) Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams." ~ Genesis 37:19-20
He denies her. In response to being rejected she...
... in spite of Joseph's innocence...
LIES and says he took advantage of her.
Pharaoh throws Joseph down into the dungeon.
(14) And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. (15) So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into the fields to feed swine. (16) and he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. (17) but when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my fathers hired servants have bread enough, and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! (18) I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you; (19) I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants." ~ Luke 15:14-19
That we are trapped in a toxic cycle of sin.
This my friend.
Is the Hero's Journey.
Hero's Journey
You've left your "ordinary world" -- I.e., your place of comfort. You have answered the call to adventure. And along the journey... your path and mine have crossed.
Together you and I have crossed threshold and began your descent.
"The mark of descent, whether undertaken consciously or unconsciously, is newly arrived-at lowliness, associated with water and soul, as height is associated with spirit. ‘Water prefers low places.’” ~ Robert Bly
1.) Voluntary act of the will.
2.) Catastrophe/trial. Being dragged down.
Examples of being dragged into katabasis:
[+] Divorce.
[+] Ill health.
[+] Addiction.
[+] Loss of work.
[+] Loss of respect for yourself.
The list is long.
As Robert Bly puts it in his book, Iron John...
"He lives, but loses 'every shred of his former art and life'.”
Which is it for you?
Are you here out of your own free will?
Or because life threw you in the pit (like Joseph's brothers) and left you for dead?
What I want you to take away from this lesson is the CONSCIOUS FALL into katabasis. That's what Bucketing is. A voluntary descent into katabasis.
Going from the conscious (above water) and voluntarily diving beneath the surface of your soul (the unconscious) to discover the truth about yourself so you can free yourself from the pit of your own mind.
Remember... the 5 Elements of a Strongman are a natural means of voluntary suffering to acquire virtue... so you can become a better man.
And like suffering and your toxic cycle.
Katabasis is A GIFT.
It's in the pit -- the lowest moments of your life -- where you find your gift(s) and purpose. It's where you take hold of your wounds and the lessons you learned from them and bring them back to the community.
This is your natural rebirth and resurrection.
And when one journey ends, another begins. Throughout your existence you will encounter many Hero's Journeys. Every new training program is a journey. And katabasis is part of EVERY journey.
My Challenge to YOU...
It is the pit you were in which lead you to the Better Man Blueprint.
From here you have two responses to your descent:
Response #1: You deny the call and choose the Path of Passivity (and hope for the best).
Response #2: You accept the call to the journey.
... and consciously enter suffering to do the Bucketing Work of your soul so you can find your purpose, take hold of your wounds, and bring your gifts back to the world.
Just know.
Every trigger.
Every toxic cycle... is your personal journey into Katabasis.
How you respond is up to you.
I'm pullin' for ya.
hec g.