*The trials of Odysseus can be read not merely as mythic adventures, but as symbolic representations of the psychic and moral ordeals faced by those returning from war. Read this way, The Odyssey becomes neither entertainment nor religious doctrine, but a map of reintegration: a language through which the veteran may recognize dissociation, guilt, rage, temptation, alienation, and the difficulty of returning home as human again. *Homecoming is not a sentimental restoration. It is often a confrontation with the fact that both the veteran and the home have changed *The trials do not merely represent “symptoms.” They represent stages of distortion in the human person after prolonged exposure to death, fear, power, and loss. *The clinical frame is necessary, but incomplete. It can name the disorder; it cannot by itself restore narrative dignity. Myth does not replace treatment, but it can restore significance to suffering that bureaucracy can only classify. *For some veterans, inherited religious language no longer mediates their experience. It may feel sentimental, moralizing, abstract, or incapable of containing the reality of war. In such cases, older heroic and tragic patterns may provide a more immediate symbolic grammar for what the soul has endured. *The veteran does not need to be told merely that he is sick, nor merely that he should believe harder, nor merely that he qualifies under the proper administrative code. He needs a pattern vast enough to contain terror, guilt, estrangement, endurance, temptation, and return. The Odyssey offers such a pattern. Its trials name, in symbolic form, what modern language often flattens: that coming home from war is not a logistical event, but a spiritual, moral, psychological, and relational ordeal. *To return from war is not merely to survive it. It is to pass through a long disordered interval in which the self may become estranged from home, from others, and from its own former image. In Odysseus, the ancient world preserved a pattern for this ordeal: the lure of forgetting, the temptation of brutality, the humiliation of degradation, the torment of the dead, the pull of self-destruction, the burden of impossible choices, and the final, fragile labor of re-entry. Such a pattern does not replace medicine, faith, or institutional support. But where these fail to fully speak, myth may still speak truly. It may tell the returning warrior that he is not only damaged, and not only lost, but engaged in the oldest of human struggles: to come home alive, and then to become human again.

Everte Farnell <evertefarnell@gmail.com> 9:02 AM (0 minutes ago) to me There's a common fantasy literary motif of the person who sacrifices a person they love for power, magick, etc. On it's face it's silly. Why would killing X person give you power but Y person would be useless. But when you understand the metaphor, it makes perfect sense. In order to become great in anything - athletics, business, a skill, etc - you must surround yourself with people who support, understand, and encourage you. Most of the time, that's NOT the people you love right now. Your family, unless they are a family of achievers, thinks you're crazy for working on something as much as you do. "You're obsessed!" "It's not healthy!" "Take a rest!" Same goes for most of your friends. Hel, most of the people you love will think you're fucking nuts for working to become great.... think you're nuts for transforming and transmogrifying yourself into a legend! So you have a choice, sacrifice the people around you and find people more in line with your dreams. (Often, until YOU prove that you are dedicated enough the "people" will be biographies, fiction stories, and mythological figures. Why would other achievers risk being around you? You might be one of the people you're trying to get away from.) Or don't sacrifice the people around you and settle for what you have. If that's your choice, be at peace with it. There's nothing wrong with that choice... But if you want to be a legend, cut them out of your life RIGHT NOW! They ain't coming with you, and trying to bring the is just holding you back. Trust me, I spent 20 years trying to do it with a spouse and a handful of friends... And in February I almost died an unknown and insignificant man. Don't make the mistake I made, make your choice and follow the path you need to follow. As Frodo wrote to Sam at the end of LotR: "My dear Sam. You cannot always be torn in two. You will have to be one and whole for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be and to do."

It's been a long few weeks leading up to this past Thanksgiving holiday and soon the Yule season will be upon us. I have been extremely busy but I will say I make the time to visit this site on a near daily basis. The 9 Towers has been a great place for me to find like minded individuals to give me encouragement and foster new ideas. Recently I was given a great piece of advice from Bryan and expanded upon by Everte, where they pointed me in a direction for my financial coaching endeavors. Now I had thought of this in the past, but it was their nudging that made me reach out and contact a woman in charge of the Michigan Re-Entry Program, a program for prisoners being released to society. And it was the perfect timing because she said they were just talking about needing a program similar to the one I was proposing. I need to reach out and touch base with her again as it has been a couple weeks. I sent her a copy of my workbook and a brief description of what I do. The point being that this was made possible by this group giving me ideas and advice. When we surround ourselves with like minded individuals we are able to achieve so much more and get that necessary movement needed to create motivation. Because movement creates motivation, not the other way around. We are all here looking to create better lives. To be more successful. Forget that "rugged individualism" nonsense. The lone wolf barely survives. It is only as a member of a pack that it thrives. Use the knowledge of this pack. I have and it is already moving me towards better things!

I have seen so many different posts lately about how this, that or the other is the reason a person is not further along in life, or as successful as they want to be. There are always a myriad of excuses and the finger is always pointed outwards. Constant posts about how they can't get by and can't afford life. And how it isn't fair because so and so is holding them back and holding them down. Excuses, although they can be valid, are still excuses. I spent eleven years in prison. I have five felonies. I don't even have a high school diploma. I received my GED in prison. All excuses that I could use to justify not being able to get ahead, but here I am pushing close to six figures a year. I would rather be stronger than my excuses. Yet the real culprit is YOU. You refuse to put in the work. You refuse to put in the time. You would rather complain about how the deck is stacked against you and play the victim. There are literally hundreds of millions of books, courses, videos, posts, ads, seminars etc that will teach you how to make millions of dollars. Choose one and follow it. The problem is these all require time, dedication, discipline and work. In the "instant gratification" mindset of today, finding people willing to put in the necessary work is difficult. If you want to be better, you have to do better. Surround yourself with people who will push you and hold you accountable. Who will tell you the harsh truth, even if it isn't what you want to hear. Brutal honesty is better than sympathetic praise. I don't want someone telling "Great job doing the bare minimum." I want someone who is willing to tell me "Unacceptable. Do better." If you want an extraordinary life, you have to be willing to put in extraordinary work. Be extraordinary.

https://www.youtube.com/live/NzfuFok6LTc?si=FFEqRpqKTqTYUG9L