Perhaps addiction is simply another fiction, another mythos, another story that one can fall into. Hillman begs us to remember that story is not something childish, read in a circle to kids – but story is something we embody, something that contains us, and we live in.
My point here, is that the urge to run away, be free of ones fate, to change course is not always the romantic heroic story the movies make it out to be. The hubris one embodies in the belief that they can beat the Gods, makes them a fool. In this case, the Morai, better known as The Fates. The betrayal of the fate allotted you, to chart your own, soon finds resemblance in the images we find in the myth of Tantalus.
Tantalus was a son of Zeus, and received what we might call “special treatment” – he dined with the Gods. Invited up onto Olympus, he even sipped the ambrosia that was solely for the immortals. But something within Tantalus lingered ; resentment, and a strong desire to disprove the Gods wisdom. Tantalus invites the Gods for a dinner, to which they accept (perhaps begrudgingly) and what is prepared is a stew – of Pelops, Tantalus son!
Here, the act of hubris is so, that Tantalus can abrupt in laughter, point his fingers now at the “cannibals”, no longer the Gods. Taking pleasure in his ability to “fool” the Gods. Think about how we still try to “fool” the Gods in our own lives today…
But, the Gods are wise, and of course realized what had happened, and agreed to lay onto him a punishment that would scare away generations and millions to come. Tantalus was sent down into a pool in Hades. Yet, when he became tormented by thirst, he could not reach the water. So close, it drains into the ground, and lives inches beyond his fingers reach. And again, when he stands tall to reach for the hanging fruit above, the wind comes and has its way with the trees. In the face of that which he believes will bring relief, relief slips right past him. Day in and day out.
Let us sit with this image for a minute, not interpret, sit. Ask how it makes you feel, what does it bring up, where do I see myself in it ? In doing so for me I find myself in a familiar land, bringing us back to the topic at the outset ; addiction.
Turning to the myths allows us to understand a few things regarding addiction. First, that addiction is not a universal experience for all those who suffer its wound, there are many ways of addiction. Tantalus is simply one of them. But, what this affords us is the insight that now we know, that each persons treatment or path of recovery must be different, and that a universal story no longer works. Secondly, we begin to see that the consequence of similar punishments like insatiable desires, or images that depict addictive experiences in the myths, all come as a result of an act against the Gods.
To the Greeks the act of hubris was an act that happened in defiance of the Gods, or the divine order. And it is said that hubris would bring “great shame” to those who flaunt it. Thinking about hubris in this reflection, the act happens in that moment of going against the life in front of you, the life which The Fates have weaved for you, and leaving the daimon behind…
In groups over the last few years, I have spoken to clients about addictions etiology finding its roots in self-betrayal. Its an interesting way to think of it, because while it does bear the negative connotation still as a “punishment” or “consequence” – it also can be seen psychologically. Moving towards a psychological perspective and understanding of addiction is one of the goals which Depth Recovery seeks to usher into being. Looking at addiction psychologically, from the souls perspective, we see that addiction is a call from the soul, and to the soul all at once. Its longing for us to realize we are off course, and its desire for us to return to it…
Myths portray the stories of the soul, we must not look far to find that which ails us. Returning to the images of Tantalus, might we be able to see symbolized in the killing of his son, the killing of our given fate? Tantalus attempt to deceive the Gods, manifest in our lives as the moment the Ego betrays the Soul. In time, perhaps not right away, one finds themselves in the underworld, in the land of Hades…
In closing, the point I wish to hammer home, is that the story of addiction is not new. The familiar themes which we hear over and over in the space of collective recovery groups are motifs as old as time. Through the modes of looking beyond, story awareness, and amplification, Depth Recovery moves towards the freeing of the stories of addiction, in hopes that we might see something anew, and in turn, create something new in the space of recovery…
