If your current problem were an actual villain, would you still let it thrive?
In This Article
The value of villains
A ritual on summoning and overcoming them
The Mythic Being Composer: Free for paid subscribers
The Inner Demon Mythos: Free for paid subscribers
What if your current life problem were an actual villain? A demon, monster, evil genius, or agent of chaos? Would you let them have their way with your life, or would you do whatever you could to defeat them? In this post I’ll teach you a technique on how to give a mythic foundation to defeating your problems.
The Value of The Mythic Villain
I’ll spare you the basics, you know what a villain is and does. But consider that, in stories, the villain exists solely to bolster the hero. This gives them a paradoxically “good” nature in a way. After all, it is the existence of the villain that gives the hero reason to arise.
Consider also, that the greatest villains of all time are the ones we can actually relate to. But why? It’s because we need to be able to see our shadow selves within them. This allows us to know what we are actually fighting. Take the issue of eating for comfort. When this act becomes a villain in our lives, we need to know the story behind it. Is it because mom didn’t feed me well as a child? Or because tasting good things helps me cover up unrelated bad feelings? Different stories require different approaches to defeating them.
Thinking this way about villains puts us in a position of “Yes, I understand why you are this way. Let’s resolve it.”.
X-Men as a Modern Mythology Example
Xavier believes mutants and humans should coexist. However humans fear and hate the mutants, resulting in needless killing and oppression.
Magneto believes mutants and humans cannot coexist. But by rallying mutants to rise up against humans he proves the humans right — that mutants are violent and must be stopped.
The yin and the yang. A well played villain is more a matter of perspective than “evil”. What does the baby dragon think of the “hero” who slayed their father?
Which is why I would encourage you to reframe your current life issues using the following personal mythology technique, and make the best use of your villains.
How to Personify and Overcome Your Villain
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Choose a current issue you are dealing with.
Imagine what kind of villain it would be. Note that not every villain has to be a killing machine or 5 stories tall. Some are just ruinous tricksters who need a good spanking. Take a look at the worksheets below to supercharge this process.
Compose the villain. Take the thoughts as far as you find interesting or entertaining. What is the villains personality? What is their name? What do they look like? What kind of encounters have you had with them? How have they defeated you in the past?
Summon them. Put your armor on, but don’t be a wall. You need to access the mindset that they put you in: the anger, the desire, whatever it is that bothers you so much about them. You aren’t letting them take over this time. You are here to figure them out. So pour a cup of tea and hear them out.
Let them monologue. You know the scene where we get to hear their side of the story? This is it. Let them talk, and ask them questions.
How were you created, what is your origin story?
Why do you do what you do?
Do you understand the consequences?
Why is it worth doing what you do, despite those consequences?
You’ve got them where you want them. Don’t settle for simply slaying them, they are a part of you after all. Now you know what makes them tick; their mythos. Knowing someone’s mythos means you know their motives, beliefs, and weaknesses. Use these to persuade, hinder, compromise, transform, or outright defeat them.
Yes, this is fun. But it’s not a toy. Einstein used to imagine algebra as hunting an animal you call ‘x’. When you finally track it down, you give it its proper name. In other words, using story to overcome problems and give deeper meanings to life is not a silly pursuit, it’s fundamental to the human condition.