mythic wheel booklet

The Mythic Wheel of Life

Finding Your Place in the World

An Audio Seminar

Produced by

Genesis II Publishing, Inc.www.AchievingExcellence.com

by Charles Faulkner

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About this BookletThis booklet is designed to accompany the Mythic Wheel of

Life audio cassette seminar, providing graphics and outlines for the examples, demonstrations and lecture.

The Living Metaphors of Your LifeFor a long time, metaphors have been thought of as figures of

speech or clever turns of phrase. Today, researchers in a new field called Cognitive Linguistics are demonstrating that metaphors com-municate the essence of meaning. We naturally use metaphors in our every day language—”Our love is growing,” “This company needs team players,” “Life is a work of art”—and each of these convey distinctly different meanings, beliefs, values and goals. Metaphors permeate our lives—from the meaning of love to the meaning of life, from understanding the human body to understanding the cos-mos. Our desires, deepest longings, and even our hidden fears, are shaped (and revealed) by these unconscious metaphors found in our everyday language.

The Mythic Wheel of Life The metaphors we live by are not random, but are aspects of

deeper, natural and unconscious structures in our human imaginations. These deeper and universal metaphors are found in the symbols of medieval Christian church windows, astrological signs, alchemy books, eastern mandalas, the passage of a day, and especially the changing seasons of a year. They contain universal images: darkness and light, above and below, good and evil, heaven and hell, that have shaped human imaginations for eons. They form a Mythic Wheel of the human imagination with four archetypal LifeStories each matched with a season of the year. Through these, each of us uniquely expresses our own life story—our own Living Myth™. These Living Myths and Metaphors can be discovered by anyone as they have specific words, images and objects associated with them. This approach provides a grounded and verifiable way of discovering one’s own personal mythology and transforming it. For organizations, this approach provides extraordinarily powerful models for implementing evolutionary change.

Gaining a conscious awareness of the Living Myths & Meta-phors you live by, you can see into the hidden meaning of events and become more of a participant in them: a co-creator of your place in the world.

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Proc

ess

Time (Living Myths)

Content/Meaning(Living Metaphors)

The Domains of Human Knowledge

History Literature Philosophyactions/events metaphors ideas

IMAGINATION

“Without imagination, nothing in the world could be meaning-ful. Without imagination, we could never make sense of our

experience. Without imagination, we could never reason toward knowledge of reality.”

—Mark JohnsonThe Body in the Mind

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”—Albert Einstein

The 3 Dimensions of Human ExperienceHuman experience can be thought of as being made of three

dimensions: Content (or Meaning), Process, and Time. Our Living Metaphors hold and reflect the content and meaning of our lives, processed through our senses and language at each and every moment. Meanwhile, the passage of time creates and reveals the unfolding moments of our Living Metaphors into universal stories of human experience: Living Myths.

Meta-Metaphors and Living MetaphorsThere are at least thirteen universal Meta-Metaphors behind

each of our Living Metaphors. Listed below are several examples of personal Living Metaphors from the seminar participants and their principle root Meta-Metaphor.

Note: A Living Metaphor may have more than one Meta-Metaphor at its root, and an individual may have more than one Living Metaphor. See Metaphors of Identity for a fuller explanation.

Meta–Metaphor Living Metaphors

Season

Plants Gardens—Sarah

Day

Presence

Burden/Suffering Burden—David

Play A Merry–Go– Round—Kaz

Story Chronicler—Eric

Art

Substance

Journey Sailing—Gina

Game A Race—Sam

Machine

Human Life

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Spacial Orientation MetaphorsAll of us have desires in life; things we want, and dreads; things

we don’t want. This dichotomy reveals a fundamental symmetry in the human imagination and in language.

Note: When one-half of the symmetry is expressed, one naturally thinks of the other half, consciously and unconsciously.


Active

Passive

Rational

Emotional

Awake

AsleepDead

Virtue

Depravity

Good

Bad

Up isLight

Dark

Up is

Down is

Status

Common

Health

Sick

More

Less

Control

Controlled

Happy

Sad

Down is

The Mythic Wheel of LifeMeta-Metaphors and Time

Each Living Metaphor is a part of larger structures in the human imagination. Once a Living Metaphor is started, your imagination wants to complete it. This chart shows how the Meta-Metaphors of every Living Metaphor combine with time to complete themselves.

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/You

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Life

Meta-Metaphors, Orientation and TimeThis chart shows how Meta-Metaphors, Spatial Orientation and

Time combine to create desires and dreads. With this chart, you can locate where you are in your own personal Living Metaphor. For ex-ample, if your Living Metaphor is Gardening [Meta-Metaphor: People are Plants], are you a spring sprout, or in full-bloom? Or are you in the harvest of your years? Time, of the day and of the year, has always been in the background of your Living Metaphor.

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HeavenAngelic Imagery

GoodHuman Desires

Human DreadsBad

Demonic Imagery

Hell


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The Educated Imagination

COMIC VISIONDesire: Wish Fulfillment

Human World: Community, symposium, communion, order, friend-ship, love, marriage or consummation

Animal World: Pastoral, domesticated; sheep, doveVegetable World: Garden, tree of life, rose

Mineral World: CityUnformed World: Four-fold river

Geometry: Star lit domeMyths of: Birth, marriage, resurrection

ExperiencePain

Loss of PowerDetachment

(Dissociation)

InnocencePleasure

Rising PowerIdentification (Association)

Asc

ent

For

ms:

Mou

ntai

n, to

wer

, w

indi

ng s

tairc

ase,

ladd

er, t

ree

Descent

Forms: Cave,

underwater

TRAGIC VISIONDread: Anxiety

Human World: Tyranny, anarchy, isolated men, gang, deserted, betrayed hero, harlot, witch, terrible mother

Animal World: Beasts of prey; wolves, dragon, shark, leviathanVegetable World: Sinister forest, wilderness, tree of death

Mineral World: Desert, rocks, ruinsUnformed World: Sea, flood water

Geometry: CrossMyths of: Death, metamorphosis, sacrifice

Operating/Living Metaphors™ Elicitation FormatPart I: Using an Important Event

Select a Domain (Career, Relationships, Life, etc.) ________________

What is a very significant/important event or experience you’ve had in

your (selected domain)? _____________________________________

________________________________________________________

What is important to you about this experience? __________________

________________________________________________________As the person talks, listen for the metaphoric words and phrases in his/her language. Write them down.

Part II: Using a Significant ObjectAsk about a significant, expressive/unique, personal (or corporate) object. See the object “as it is” and consider what presuppositions are embedded in it. Then ask the person about the significance the object has to him/her.

That’s a lovely (interesting) __________________________________

Tell me about it. ____________________________________________

________________________________________________________

What do you like about that object? ____________________________

________________________________________________________Listen for metaphoric words and phrases. If you need to, ask for more details or ask again, “What’s important to you about that?”

Part III: Operating/Living MetaphorAfter the person has talked for awhile about an important event and/or a personally precious object, he or she will be emotionally involved in the “state” in which their Operating/Living Metaphor is more avail-able to consciousness. At this point, ask, “What is [that domain] like for you?” or “What does it mean to you?” They will often state their Operating/Living Metaphor directly.

Part IV: Iconic ImageAfter you have assisted the person in discovering his/her Operating/Living Metaphor verbally and confirmed it with artifacts, ask him/her to notice the mental image in his/her mind’s eye that represents that Living Metaphor and its location in mental space [i.e. in front, to one side, above, below, far, close, etc.] 8

is

Operating/Living Metaphor

Adapted from Northrop Frye.


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Changing Your Time and SeasonPart I: Determining Your Time and Season

Demonstration with GinaEstablishing the Current State: What is the current state of your Living Metaphor and what (Iconic) Image do you have for it?

Living Metaphor: Life is Sailing.Iconic Image: Boat is dry docked and is in repair.Meta-Metaphor: Journey.Where does this fit in Time/Story?: There has been a climax in her journey, an accident, and now, after the climax she on shore.

In her Iconic Image:What’s the season?: Going into fall/autumn.What’s the time of day?: Late afternoon, going into dusk.Where is she now in her chronological life?: Summer.

Exercise IEstablishing the Current State: Explore the current state of your Living Metaphor and the Iconic Image you have for it.

Living Metaphor: ___________________________________________

Iconic Image: _____________________________________________

What is the Meta-Metaphor and where in the passage of time/story are you? For example, if Life is a Game, where in the game are you? Or, if Life is a Journey, where in the journey are you?

Meta-Metaphor: ___________________________________________

Where does this fit in Time/Story?: _____________________________

In your Iconic Image: Turn your attention to the background of the Iconic Image for your Living Metaphor and notice what time of day and what season of the year it is.

Time of day: _______________________________________________

Season: _________________________________________________

Where are you now in your chronological life?: __________________

For example, is your Living Metaphor in the fall/autumn season, yet

you’re still in the summer of your physical years?Examples from ParticipantsDaveThe Current State:

Living Metaphor: Life is a Burden.Iconic Image: Carrying a load up a hill.Meta-Metaphor: Burden/Suffering.Where does this fit in Time/Story?: Approaching a climax.

In his Iconic Image:What’s the season?: Late autumn.What’s the time of day?: Dusk, getting dark.Where is he now in his chronological life?: Summer.

EricThe Current State:

Living Metaphor: Life is a Chronicler/Historian.Iconic Image: Person sitting in a library at a desk.Meta-Metaphor: Story.Where does this fit in Time/Story?: The climax has passed, and now he is chronicling events.

In his Iconic Image:What’s the season?: Goes between spring and fall outside; while Eric sits at the desk approaching winter.What’s the time of day?: Goes between mid-day and mid-night outside; while Eric sits at the desk at 3pm in the afternoon.

Winter

Hell


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Narrative PatternsWhen you can see which season/story a person lives inside, you

can determine where they are in the time of their Living Myth. These Living Myths, or Narrative Patterns, are within each of us, as well as in our businesses, governments, cultures, and religions. Whatever our lives mean to us comes from inside our own Living Myths and Metaphors, and there are different ones with different images and different phases for each of us. All of them are unique, and all of them are encompassed within The Mythic Wheel of Life.

TRANSPERSONAL

STORIES

HeavenSummer

StoryTRAGEDY

Alienation from society

Imagery Violent death and sacrifice, isolation

of the heroThemes

Dissipation, social disintegrationSubordinate CharactersTraitor, sirenExistential Position

I’m OK, you’re not

OK

StoryCOMEDY

Integration with society

Imagery Birth, creation

ThemesReconciliation,

social integration

Subordinate CharactersMother, fatherExistential PositionI’m not OK, you’re OK

Fall

Spri

ng

Story: IRONY, Frustration of quest

Imagery: Darkness, dissolution phase, floods, return of chaos; defeat

of the heroThemes: Detachment, failureSubordinate Characters:

Ogre, witchExistential Position: I’m not OK, you’re not OK

Story: ROMANCE, Quest is successful

Imagery: Marriage, triumphThemes: Identification,

accomplishmentSubordinate Characters:

Companion, brideExistential Position:

I’m OK, you’re OK

PERSONAL

STORIES

Where is he now in his chronological life?: Summer.Part II: Changing Your Time and Season

Demonstration with Gina:Living Metaphor: Life is Sailing.Re-accessing the Living Metaphor: Charles reviews Gina’s Living Metaphor to bring it fully alive and present.Suggesting a Change in Time and Season: Charles tells a story of the fall season moving on into winter, and in that time the ship is repaired and made strong and she prepares for a journey in the spring, a more seasoned and experienced captain.

Demonstration with Russle:Living Metaphor: Life is a Tree.Re-accessing the Living Metaphor: Charles reviews Russle’s Living Metaphor to bring it fully to the moment.Suggesting a Change in Time and Season: Charles tells a story of a tree going from summer into fall and releasing its seeds. In winter, the tree is dormant and as it awakens in the spring, the tree branches out and sees the seeds released the previous fall taking hold and beginning to grow into trees.

Demonstration with DaveLiving Metaphor: Life is Burden.Re-accessing the Living Metaphor: Charles reviews Dave’s Living Metaphor to bring it fully into his mind.Suggesting a Change in Time and Season: Charles tells a story of time moving forward until he finally puts his burden down, and then he lies down and falls into a deep sleep and rests and dreams a dream of possibilities, awakening to go on to his “next life”.

Exercise IIThink about your Living Myth and Metaphor, and consider what you want that you don’t have, or what changes you would like to make: ________Re-access your Living Metaphor.Suggesting a Change in Time and Season: Tell a story like Charles did with the other participants. Describe how your Living Metaphor can move forward through time, and as the seasons change, it can fulfill its metaphoric structure and carry you beyond a dread or difficulty into a new spring or summer.

Note: It’s often easier to do this with someone else’s assistance, and most people are more responsive to seasonal changes than time of day changes.

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Correlations with Other TraditionsThe traditions of the American Indian Medicine Wheel, Alchemy

and Chinese Medicine all correlate with The Mythic Wheel of Life and its Narrative or Story Patterns. These patterns have been with us through the eons and countless cultures, revealing to the observant the very structure of our consciousness.

Note: For the directions East and West to be in their traditional places, the seasons of Spring and Fall are transposed. The result is this diagram flows “counter-clockwise” while The Mythic Wheel of Life flows clockwise.

WESTSeason: Fall/au-

tumnEnemy: Old age &

deathKingdom: Mineral

Element: EarthAlchemy: Holding,the looks within

place,gateway to the

Body

EASTSeason: SpringEnemy: Power-

lessnessKingdom: Hu-

manElement: Fire

Alchemy: Determining,the far-sighted

place,gateway to the Spirit

Catalyst

South

North

Aether

SoulWest East

SOUTHSeason: Winter

Enemy: FearKingdom: PlantElement: Water

Alchemy: Giving,the close-to place,

gateway to the Emotions

NORTHSeason: SummerEnemy: CertaintyKingdom: Animal

Element: AirAlchemy: Receiving,

the place of knowledge,gateway to the Mind

King

Everybody

Tyrant

God

King

Devil

King

Everybody

Traitor

Celebrity

Nobody

Psychopath

Spri

ngC

omed

y

FallTragedy

SummerRomance

WinterIrony

The Mythic Wheels of LifeThere is not just one Mythic Wheel of Life, there are Mythic

Wheels of Life. This diagram shows how the Narrative Patterns or stories of Comedy, Romance, Tragedy and Irony, play out in each of the seasons of the year and the primary hierarchical characters as-sociated with each Wheel in each season.

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Selected BibliographyGiven the current abundance of books on ancient customs, myths,

stories and personal mythologies, the following list may appear too small. My reasons for not including more popular titles, some of them enjoyable and even inspiring, is I believe they are fundamentally misguided. Our Living Myths & Metaphors are not hidden in forests or drums or child-hood memories or even in classical myths. Rather, they are alive and available at every moment to the discerning eye and ear. Therefore, the following titles are offered as a means of widening and deepening your perceptions; of what you can see and of what’s possible—to increase the variety of myths you might choose to live inside.

Accessible Works in Myths, Stories & MetaphorsBettelheim, Bruno, The Uses of Enchantment. Vintage, 1977.Borges, Jorges Luis, Labyrinths. New Directions, 1964.Campbell, Joseph, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Bollingen Foundation,

Princeton University Press, 1949.Faulkner, Charles, Metaphors of Identity, Operating Metaphors™ and Iconic

Change. Genesis II, 1991.Henderson, Joseph L., & Oaks, Maud, The Wisdom of the Serpent. Collier

Books, 1963. Heinberg, Richard, Memories and Visions of Paradise. Tarcher, 1989. Lakoff, George, & Turner, Mark, More Than Cool Reason. University of

Chicago Press, 1989.

Evolution of Living Myths and ConsciousnessBerman, Morris, The Reenchantment of the World. Bantam New Age, 1986.Boorstin, Daniel, The Image. Vintage, 1961. 25th Anniversary Reissue,

1986.Mumford, Lewis, The Pentagon of Power. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich,

1964.Murry, Henry A, editor, Myth and Mythmaking. George Braziller, 1960.

Technical & Corroborating Works to Living MythsFrye, Northrop, Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton University Press, 1957.Frye, Northrop, The Educated Imagination. Indiana University Press,

1964.Frye, Northrop, Fables of Identity: Studies in Poetic Mythology. Harcournt

Determining the Themes & Characters of Your LifeDemonstration with Sarah

Living Metaphor: Live is a Rose Garden.Iconic Image: Gardens.Time of day: Mid-late morning.Season: Early summer.Narrative Content: People can come and be healed.Significant Others: Al (husband), friends, husbands parents and Sarah’s family.Kinds of Interactions: Appreciate one another; enjoy doing things with them; share things with one another.Phase: Romance.

Demonstration with EricLiving Metaphor: Life is a Chronicler/Historian.Iconic Image: Sees himself at a desk.Season: Winter.Narrative Content: Rest.Significant Others: Nobody.Kinds of Interactions: None.Phase: Irony.

Exercise:Review your Living Metaphor, its Iconic Image, and the time and season in the background of your Living Metaphor. Then ask the following questions.

What is the Theme (narrative content) of your story: _______________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Who are the Significant Others in your life: ______________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

What Kinds of Interactions do you have with them: ________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Now compare your answers to the themes and characters on the Nar-

rative Patterns chart and determine what Phase you are in—Comedy,

Romance, Tragedy or Irony.

Find Out More About Operating/Living Metaphors To more deeply learn the Operating/Living Metaphors™ approach, we

recommend the audio cassette seminar Metaphors of Identity, Operating Metaphors™ and Iconic Change by Charles Faulkner. You’ll learn detailed methods for eliciting a person’s or organization’s Operating/Living Meta-phors™. You’ll be able to determine [and predict] their Desires, Values, Beliefs, and Lifestyle. You’ll also learn to change them for richer, fuller and more meaningful lives. Available from Genesis II (see back cover).



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Living Myths: Time, Theme, Characters & PhasePart I: Determining Your Time and SeasonExplore the current state of your Living Metaphor and the Iconic Image you have for it.

Living Metaphor: ___________________________________________

Iconic Image: _____________________________________________

What is the Meta-Metaphor and where in the passage of time/story are you?

Meta-Metaphor: ___________________________________________

Where does this fit in your Time/Story?: _________________________

Turn your attention to the background of the Iconic Image for your Living

Metaphor and notice what time of day and what season of the year it is.

Time of day: _______________________________________________

Season: _________________________________________________

Where are you now in your chronological life?: ___________________

Part II: Determining the Themes & Characters of Your LifeReview your Living Metaphor, its Iconic Image, and the time and season in the background of your Living Metaphor.

What is the Theme (narrative content) of your story: _______________

________________________________________________________

Who are the Significant Others in your life: ______________________

________________________________________________________

What Kinds of Interactions do you have with them: ________________

________________________________________________________

Now compare your answers to the themes and characters on the Nar-

rative Patterns chart and determine what Phase you are in—Comedy,

Romance, Tragedy or Irony.

Phase: ___________________________________________________

Part III: Changing Your Time, Season & PhaseThink about your Living Myth and Metaphor, and consider what you want that you don’t have, or what changes you would like to make.

Re-access your Living Metaphor.Suggesting a Change in Time, Season and Phase: Tell a story describing how your Living Metaphor can move forward through time, and as the seasons change, it can fulfill its metaphoric structure and carry you beyond a dread or difficulty into a new spring or summer.

Operating/Living Metaphors™ Elicitation FormatPart I: Using an Important EventSelect a Domain (Career, Relationships, Life, etc.) ________________

What is a very significant/important event or experience you’ve had in

your (selected domain)? _____________________________________

________________________________________________________

What is important to you about this experience? __________________

________________________________________________________

As the person talks, listen for the metaphoric words and phrases in

his/her language. Write them down.

Part II: Using a Significant ObjectAsk about a significant, expressive/unique, personal (or corporate) object. See the object “as it is” and consider what presuppositions are embedded in it. Then ask the person about the significance the object has to him/her.

That’s a lovely (interesting) ___________________________________

Tell me about it. ____________________________________________

________________________________________________________

What do you like about that object? ____________________________

________________________________________________________

As he/she answers, listen for metaphoric words and phrases. If you

need to, ask for more details or ask again, “What’s important to you

about that?”

Part III: Operating/Living MetaphorWhat is [that domain] like for you? or What does it mean to you?

Part IV: Iconic ImageAsk him/her to notice the mental image in his/her mind’s eye that represents that Living Metaphor(s) and its location in mental space [i.e. in front, to one side, above, below, far, close, etc.]

Iconic Image: _____________________________________________

© 1993 Charles Faulkner© 1991, 1993 Charles Faulkner

is

Operating/Living Metaphor

Genesis II Publishing, Inc.P.O. Box 2615, Longmont, CO 80502Ph. 800-354-0575, Fx. 800-724-4333email: [email protected]

Visit us on the web:www.AchievingExcellence.com

Music Composed and Performed byEric “Doc” Kampman

© 1993, 2005 Charles Faulkner. Operating Metaphors, Living Metaphors and Living Myths are Trademarks of Charles Faulkner.

P 1993, 2005 Genesis II Publishing Inc.

About the Author Charles FaulknerBeginning his exploration into the human psyche in the 1970’s,

Charles led Gestalt/TA groups and studied mythology, philosophy and literature with Joseph Campbell, Jorges Luis Borges and others. His ideas culminated in 1974 with a map of human imagination and his LifeStories approach to personal change.

In the 1980’s, while in extensive, in-depth training in the hypnotic work of Dr. Milton H. Erickson and the new cognitive–lin-guistic approaches to therapeutic change including Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Systems Thinking and several Brief Therapies, Charles took advantage of opportunities to immerse himself several Asian languages, and cultures. Through these first-hand experiences and his studies in Cognitive Linguistics, he formulated Operating Metaphors™ (now called Living Metaphors™), Iconic Change, and recreated his earlier LifeStories work as Living Myths.

An internationally respected Certified NLP Trainer and expert modeler, Charles is the program designer and co-author of several best-selling Nightingale–Conant NLP audio programs and a video. He is a featured interview in the book The New Market Wizards for his groundbreaking work describing the mental side of financial decision-making. In addition to his speeches, courses and private clients, Charles consults with companies on corporate identity and vision-making.

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