Star Wars, Shadow Wars and the Hero’s Journey

Humanity’s on-going struggle to awaken in order that we may experience Reality can be explained or depicted several ways. We have Star Wars, the six films (mythology), Star Wars, the missile defense system (U.S. military), and “shadow wars” (our inner psychological “war”). Which phenomenon foreshadows the future of humanity? All are the result of the perceived epic struggle between good and evil, the light and the darkness, or our own individual True self vs. the false self. Are we truly aware of the deeper meaning of any of these aforementioned “wars”?  The questions can go on and on but let’s jump right into the ring and wrestle with each contender in turn and see if we can learn something.

From George Lucas’ films and the work of such mythologists as Joseph Campbell we have the theme of the hero’s journey. We will combine the insights of C. G. Jung and Campbell who saw the Star Wars films as a metaphor of the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey, involves discovering the answers to profound questions related to the nature of Reality.

Once we have given a profound response to the Three Great Questions, namely, what is the nature of reality? (Where am I?) and what is my identity? (Who am I?) then we must come to realize that each of us is here to create consciousness itself (Why am I here?). To act on this last insight requires a great deal of courage and wisdom, and humanity has been on the spiritual journey that has led to this point since the beginning of human self-awareness. So as we play our individual and collective roles in the emerging consciousness we engage in battle with the forces of darkness within. With the weapon of awareness we slay the illusions of the ego, the shadow, the collective unconscious and the armies of ignorance arrayed against us. We slay them or we shall be slain. Or to put it more accurately—we will either wake up or we will continue to self-destruct.

This leads us to the phenomenon of the Star Wars Missile Defense System or just Star Wars for short. The villain of this piece is not Darth Vader as it was in the Star Wars films, but the other. The other which is our own shadow reflected back to us by other individuals or collectives, terrifies us when we look in that “mirror.” The Soviet Communists were among the latest collectives to play that role for us and, of course, we returned the favor for them. As a terrified couple we danced dangerously close to the precipice of nuclear holocaust.

If we take a brief look back at the story through American eyes we would see the high points of the drama beginning with the Red Scare of the 1920’s, the Soviet acquisition of nuclear weapons in 1949, the fear of nuclear war with school children diving under their school desks during drills in the 50’s and 60’s, Sputnik in 1956, the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, etc. What happens when the other is no longer a threat? Well, we have to find another other because we always have to get rid of that unacceptable shadow concealed within. Now after 9-11, terrorists are the other.

The tragedy of the false-self need for the other has led in modern times to the Jewish Holocaust, and “genocides” in Bosnia, Ruwanda, Darfur, Tianamen Square, Iraq, and between the Israelis and the Palestinians. These events are not a result of the flow of history or clashes of ideology, or even religious differences. They are due to the intrinsic identity and psychological make-up of all human beings in the old narrative (P-B), the toxic “old story.”  These tragedies are built in to the myth that mesmerizes humanity today—a myth that is poisonous.  A new narrative must be written (P-A) to enable us to effectively respond to modern human suffering.

In the meantime shadow projections both individual and collective are everyday occurrences in the lives of all people in the global village. In the research and testing for Star Wars the U. S. had planned to spend 8 billion dollars a year. Our society, including the scientists and politicians addicted to the large budgets of the military-industrial complex, had trouble admitting that the system was not workable. All the other (our so-called enemies) had to do to render Star Wars ineffective was to fill the skies with “decoys” during an attack.  No system we design can distinguish between the real weapons and the fake ones.

America, as a result of these projections and counter projections, has become a nation driven by fear—the psychopathology of terror. And the insanity is that all of these projections by the false self are freakin’ out the false self.

Let’s conclude by looking at the larger picture, from the perspective of the three energy centers of our false-self survival strategy. The expression of our false-self is always “fear energy.”  The “fear energy” coming from our security center is, in part, the realization that clean air, drinkable water and edible food may not be available in the future. The “fear energy” from the sensation center is heating up our addictions as we strive to distract ourselves from our self-destructive behavior—acting out sexually, overeating, substance and process addictions which fuel the reality that the American culture itself has become an addictive system. We are all junkies! And finally, the “fear energy” from the power center screams at us to “get control” of the other or to destroy the other.

Both the Star Wars films and the Star Wars missile defense system would reveal to an awakening populace that WE are the other. Ironically then, in Star Wars, Star Wars, and shadow wars, we are engaging in a bizarre form of suicide—and it’s working!

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Find a much more in-depth discussion in books by Roy Charles Henry:
Where Am I?  The First Great Question Concerning the Nature of Reality
Simple Reality: The Key to Serenity and Survival