In our current era; an era of rediscovery; we are learning to understand the real meaning of metaphors and the abstract. In our ignorance or false sense of loyalty to blinding paradigms, we for centuries took concepts which were meant to be allegories and interpretations as literal, and took literal concepts as abstract or allegories. Such a way of looking at our past history and ancient disciplines and beliefs, only retarded our understanding of life and of ourselves.

Thankfully nowadays we dare to look at many of these teachings from different perspectives; in many cases, we have simply learned to look at those teachings in the concept by which they were written at its time. Such is the case of philosophy….

The gift and beauty of philosophy is now being harvested by using it not as simply fantasy, but instead we now understand the genius of the Greeks when it came to looking at the divine and life through human eyes–honoring the divine within and without. Philosophy, like psychology is simply a humanistic way of looking at life; using metaphors to understand our own selves and our world. Despite the mystical, when analyzing philosophy we come face to face with a people unwilling to relinquish their power, for the Gods were never to be equated to the pure spark of divinity. The Greeks took the concept of the Gods, and like other even more ancient cultures, portrayed them to be more like us; in the sense that they were divine but also flawed–they were superior beings but not the pure divine force from which everything is made.

“Four legends tell us about Prometheus. According to the first, they tied him to the Caucasus for having made known to men the divine secrets, and the gods sent numerous eagles to devour his liver, in continuous renewal”
Franz Kafka, Prometheus (1931)

According to Greek mythology, Prometheus was a titan friend of humans, revered by humans for stealing fire from the gods. This myth throughout history has had many interpretations, here I am presenting deductions based on the concepts and interpretations of others, which I found as relevant for us today, as it was back when they were written.

When contemplating the severe punishment Prometheus was subjected to by the Gods for stealing fire for humans and sharing sacred knowledge with us, one can’t help but to try to associate him to other holy, sacred, characters/prophets which can be found within many cultures. There is a great saying…“history repeats itself”–in a constant spiral of expansion and contraction and expansion again–this is why I believe, we find so many similar concepts and personalities within all myths, histories, cultures–throughout various periods of time. It is not a process of discovery but of constant rediscovery.

I like to say that the best way to get closer to understanding the mysteries and history of our world and life, is not to cage ourselves within one formula, one concept, one belief or dogma; for life itself isn’t limited but a great magnificent expression. As such, learning with an open mind; instead of seeking only to support our already preconceived ideas; studying and comprehending the many histories and beliefs around the world, not only opens our mind and the spirit but helps us get closer to the origins of our so called reality.

With the theft of fire— and the surrender of knowledge—the titan shortened the chasm that distanced men from the gods.  Humans successfully used practical knowledge, but they wanted to hide the mortal nature that fire itself did not stop showing them. Instead of learning from it and seeking to transmute, they decided to abandon the knowledge that came with the lesson. A withered Voltaire commented in his old age: “I can do nothing but resign myself and tell myself that flies were born to be eaten by spiders, men to be devoured by sorrows.”–But is such a saying an accurate description? yes and no. In using such words, one is conferring on the soul the very nature of fire; for both shared that unknown essence; an inner core that must remain inscrutable in order to keep its spell intact.

The igneous human soul is made to suffer, it is in knowing this that lies the oppressive uncertainty that men never ceased to repudiate. Doctor Jordan Peterson says “life is suffering”; this is said not in an effort to be negative nor seeking to depress anyone, but a clear understanding that our 3D existence is made up of duality–as such, it is full of highs and lows. To understand this, to consciously accept that life is full of hurdles and pain, brings with it not an attitude of defeat but the beginning of the warrior; one who knows of peace but also when to use the sword.

As you can see then, it is not an statement meant to create more “sheep” who simply give up and blame everything on destiny, but rather to forge mental strength, to enter this dual battle with the right map or compass–that is, the clarity of knowing that to seek only bliss is not only naïve but also a great way of surrendering our power….making us easier to manipulate. I would also like to point out the fact, that the soul is not the spirit; for spirit always was and always will be–something every ancient culture in its purest form tried to teach us to differentiate. This pure divine force; which even the Gods depend upon to survive; is constant. To return to the realm of spirit or at the very least to start to feel its blue fire (which unlike soul’s fire cannot be destroyed), it requires the development of pure consciousness, and the desire to reclaim one’s own power instead of willfully setting it upon all type of altars–making the chasm between us and it, that much greater.

Our desire to let free our spiritual fire or to keep alive our soul’s fire, is evident throughout history; yet until we learn to differentiate one from the other, and until we learn to stop chaining ourselves to any concept that promises us acceptance, like myths, they will remain simple mere representations of something greater. Perhaps that is why the West would raise the electric light as a new torch. There is a certain lewdness in the dance report of fire, but it is in the same way linked to the weakness and ephemerality of the human essence.

Electric light, always vigorous, aims to achieve the immortal ideal. Men thus unseat the creative genius of nature with a clumsy substitute that seems enough to control and distort reality. Why do we do this? because as Cicero said, “No one likes pain..” and that is very accurate–to accept our own mortality is very painful, but pain is also part of the road of real awakening–perhaps that is why we run away from looking in and are so eager to find superficial pleasures to numb what will always be there. This pain will remain until we are ready to start peeling off the masks and false programming imposed on us, or that we ourselves many times have chosen.

Men always engendered mystifications to make life more bearable.  In the tongues and minds of our ancestors many describe flowed rivers of milk and honey, placid Arcadias; epochs prior to present existence, which is marked by suffering–a soother to satiate the pain of the soul.

In the era of hyperstimulation and of the digital, mystifications imitate reality without its “imperfections”. We are then witnessing, the most sophisticated variant of post-mortem paradises in modern life: a new Arcadia, an accumulation of distractions that abstract us from our own nature–from our magnetic and uncertain essence–which stylizes and enhances the pleasure of an artificial divinity. The electric soul, synthetic substitute for the igneous soul, seeks to overthrow the uncertainty inherent in its predecessor. This is the center of modern man: without demons blooming from the most hidden and gloomy edges of his being; sleepy in a promised land of steel and cement.

Modern society shouts is delusions from every corner…“You don’t have to be yourself, you can be like so and so”, “Why feel pain when you can feel pleasure only”, “Why seek within, when dogma can wash the pain away from you” (but only if you sacrifice self upon their altars)–They masqueraded the stripping of your soul, preventing the light of your spirit to shine once more. They have accomplished this, by simply seducing the masses with a false idea of “connection without individuality”–to be an individual now is condemned because we all have to be “one”. On the other hand, they sell false rebellion (the abuse of self) as the alternative–anything to run away from pain…anything to get you to submit and be easier to control. But what happens to those who point the absurdity of such thinking and the contradiction of our actions? Those will get labeled as weird, misfits, troublemakers, crazy or worst….anything to bury the pain. There is no lapse between our desires and their satisfaction, no real furious rebellion–because to do so, means one is a troublemaker. We become meek, lazy, moldable. Our flesh stays “fresh” longer but our spirit languishes, it twists… and dies–yet in our sickness we call that “well adjusted”–but to be adjusted to an ill society is not a triumph but a defeat.

With this new attitudes and ideas, we feel as if we are far better than our ancestors; rather than learn from history we simply are repeating it. Dogma or false rebellion still are the rulers and yet we think we are being different….meanwhile we chant niceties that often hide a dark meaning “strip yourself of your identity”, “you are not you, you are everyone”. We have mixed and twisted concepts, yet we believe ourselves the new Icarus. Like Icarus, we take flight, without realizing that it will be the sun which will melt our own wings.

To follow this path; will like in the past; only lead to one end… the heart succumbing as it falls, beating in a frenzy that suffocates the senses. The ground rushing towards us. The long-awaited understanding of existence issued—only then—in some ineffable maxim. The brush of immortality within the fingertips–or so we think. Between heaven and earth, between life and death, the fragile flash of a fiery soul that abysses in blackness, because it rather do anything than face its own pain and develop its own wings–wings made from the power of indestructible spirit…one which goes beyond delusion, beyond self abuse, beyond dogma, beyond puritanical faith. Only as we are about to crush and die, we realize…pain was not the enemy, our cowardice was. There is no one way, but the way we make, which is unique to our own transformation….the only way out, is in.