The cave myth has multiple names such as “cave allegory”, “cave prisioners” or ” parable of the cave”. This allegory is a part of the work “The Republic”, written by the greek philosopher Plato.
In this narrative, Plato induces us to imagine a cave where humans were born and grew up. The humans never left the cave, because they were emprisoned within the cave. The cave inhabitants were with their backs to the entrance. Outside the cave, there is a tal wall which separates the outside world from the cave. The man from the outside world keep a bonfire lit, and the noises from produced by them can be heard from inside the cave. In the same way the emprisioned humans silhouettes can be seen on the wall at the bottom of the cave, the chained human beings , see the shadows and think they are the reality.
Next, Plato asks us to imagine that one of these chained humans managed to flee from the cave, climb to the top of the wall and get to the other side, uncovering that the silhouettes he once saw, came from man like him. Beyond that, uncovered also the nature enlighted by the sun. Plato then goes on to address what this human would do with this new reality and what could happen if he decided to go back to the cave and tell the others that their life is actually a mislead conception of what life really is. It might lead to the other humans completely ignoring him, or at the worst case scenario, end up killing him, thinking that he is crazy or a liar.
Through this allegory, this metaphor, Plato refers to the situation that many of us live through: in a world circumscribed and limited to values that are immedite and elusive, like a rainbow when when we get closer to it.
The given example of the humans chained inside the cave resembles to the fact that we give life and power to the many “shadows” elevating them to the condition of gods and demigods in a modern mithological pantheon.
The consumerist diligence, the predomiance of brands and trends, a behavioral pattern dictaded by massive advertising campaigns, creating an army of followers of the forced social pattern, like if people used the same uniforms, used the same eletronical gadgets, attended the same places, tasted the same food, as if they spoke the same slang. All of this allows us to imagine that the god Mercury, god of the selling, profit and trade, is replaced by new gods: Channel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Apple and multiple other that start to evoque our absolute and exclusive attention to consumerist desire.
The goddess Venus, the goddess of beauty, united with Hebe, the goddess of youth, now, in the tample of body worship, come crossdressed with implants to sculpt the body, lipsticks and a vast catalog of make up, miracle creams for day and night, lotions that promise to rejuvenate, with fake nails and eyelashes, with merely aesthetics plastic surgeries. Everything for the outside. Nothing to make the internal world beautiful.
The god Bacchus, god of lust and wine, has naver been so presente like now. Many altars are dedicated to him, in all social classes. The irresponsible sex problematic that has transcended the freedom of each one to the debauchery, associating with alcohol abuse, that usualy attracts the use of other hallucinogens, each day affecting younger people (and also the older people who refuse to age mentally), entangling everyone around them into their suffocating lifes, where they stay hallucinated, living with the consequences: abortions, transmittable diseases, severe emocional disorders, alcoholism, drug addictions. Paths which many go through, but few people come back from. Bacchus transits freely during day and night, and his worshipers find themselves inside night clubs, bars, motels and private orgy parties. He can be in what is common practice for many, but not on what is normal, since not everything that is common is normal.
Mars, the god of war, settled in a privileged altar, as it is dangerous, beeing hard to be achieved: the majority of humankinds heart. He continues to be worshiped and recieves great sacrificies in his honor, either in the name of democracy, or in the name of theocracy, in the name of nacionalism, in the name of the religious factions, and many times in the name the arms trade, which the warlords provide in abundance. We will find him nowadays, enjoying his leadership, in Siria, Iemen, Iraq, in the Middle East, Afghanistan etc…
But also we se him on the “altar” of many discomposered lairs, in the traffic of vehiclesin the cities, in the superficiality if the human relatioships, in the behavioral aggressiveness, in the lifes taken out by stray bullets, in the homophobic agressions, and in the violence against womem and childrem.
Mars is in the AK-47, in the bombs of larger and smaller destruction scales, in the aircraft carriers, and also in the hands of the ones that harm, in the mouths that extravasate verbal agression, in the bullying, and in the slander.
We are not condemning who pursuits fisical welfare, who practices good sex, who appreciates a good meal, who lives life with joviality, who works hard and wants to spend his hard earned Money. That’s not it. What we ponder as the theme chosen, is the lack of constraints, the ones who Always take advantage of all and everyone for self benefits, the detachment from ethical, moral and behavioral values, the disrespect directed to themselves and others, people who do not give value to their lifes, the false civility, the fascination for the excessive consumerism.
We call attention to the necessity of the restructuring of the Family with solid bases on fraternity, on solidarity and tolerance.
Since the miths take part in the imagination of the human actions, figuratively, we are making a comparison with the gods of ancient roman mythology and modern behavior (as a matter of fact very old behavior that insists to stay) so, following the same focus, we worship Vesta the goddes of home, making so that she feels rewarded on the breasts of our Family, where we shall be the first to act with respect, with courtesy, with affability, we shall be the ones who use with frequency the words ‘please’ , ‘thank you’ , ‘excuse me’ , ‘ i love you’; we shall Always have our arms ready for Strong and affective hugs, and hands ready to collaborate.
To Saturn, the god of time, making our professional work, our work at home, our social Works, our presence in the lives o four beloved ones, our dedication to god sacred. We shall learn to administrate time so that he can be efficiently used and so it can produce delicious results which raise the spirits.
To the goddes Minerva, goddes of knowledge, approximating us towards knowledge, culture and also wisdom. We shall conquer the knowledge, taking advantage of the loads of information avaliable to us, that allow us to reach a vast amplitude of knowledge, that may come to us to serve as base for a well lived life. “Reverent” to Minerva, we shall put effort into good Reading, into the seeking the reason to our existence, into the learning of the undying values, the letters and practice of virtues, in a way that we can utilize the time brought to us by Saturn for our moral development, entretaining us with ethically uplifting matters, leaving to the side the numbing distractions of the fellings and the senses.
To Cupid, the god of love. Love, word decanted in chit chats, in all language and in all corners of Earth, however, taken appart from its true meaning, far away from our fellings.
How much does the lack Love!
Love is such a rich contente, that it presents itself in many ways and we end up thinking that we feel it in diverse ways: maternal love, paternal love, the passion-love. When actually love is love, and thats enough.
In a more general way, the more known tipes of love are Agape, affinity to spirutal ideals; Eros, fisical attraction and desires; and Philos, mental and cultural affinity.
What is the most importante, really urgent, is that we develop this noble felling in us, dedicating it to ourselves, to the others and to God.
To the god Apollo, god of light. Its time for us to leave cavern where we lived with the shadows of an illusory reality, learning the unnecessary, not neglecting the good causes and charmed by the the effects and things. We shall go to the day light, to the “kingdom of Apollo”, so we can recognize and experience the real truths that life has to offer. The clarity of sun and life shall penetrate our cores, and illuminate our best desires, aligning ourselves to the right way that will lead us to the personal achievements in the field of virtues, of wisdom and harmonious human relations.
It is time to magnify the vision to the further exterior and, mainly to our interior, estimulating the personal growth, with no remorse and no harmfull constrictions to the mind. Looking at life without cruelty, the objective without magic, the subjective without superstition. This will demonstrate that the conquering of happiness and personal harmony, depends only on the effort we put in to be free, to leave the darkness of the cave of ignorance, to aspire the future, on order to fly high and far, not by the mythical imagination, but through the psychic, the intellectual, the sentimental resources towards the cosmic consciousness, that slowly will develop inside us.
Outside the cave, free from the shackles that kept us from the great ligh of true life, we shall go back to the reedification and the harmonous coexistance in our home, “loyal” to Vesta; we shall appreciate time, giving it an effective utility, “along” with Saturn; we shall dedicate ourselves in to conquering knowledge, “followed” by Minerva; we shall experience love on our Jobs, “paying homage” to Cupid; we shall light up the beam of noble values inside each o fus, getting us closer to others, “guarded” by Apolo.
In this enlightening journey, which is the way towards the inside of us, conducting the torch with the light of true, lets discover ourselves and then we will be capable of cherishing others like na outing brother. And this will be our celestial rendezvous with Jupiter, will make so that our hearts pulses in permanent daylight and never goes back into the shadows, because where there is no light, the shadows withdraw to.
We are natural heirs of our own experiences, which allows us to grow and acquire the biggest amount of intellectual and moral values, if put into good use.
The myths thus find themselves in the bulge of our formations, not dissociated from our current behavior. Attitudes and realizations, proposals of a wide range of content lie, unconscious, in myths that were not decoded by consciousness. Show themselves and guide actions
However, as we psychologically develop, as we reach new levels of consciousness, the myths suffer transformations and adptations to the different periods of growing and maturation mechanisms. The fantasies are being replaced by new realistic aspirations that merge from imagination, making way for a healthy and balenced development.
The liberation of “our” cave myth, and all myths, is possible when we coat ourselves with moral and cultural values, and demythologize ourselves, leading us to assume our spirutual reality.
The King of Kings chanted full of hope and revelations, over two Thousand years ago, affirming: I am the light of the world, the salt of the Earth. You are gods, and you can do what i do, and much more.
We shall not have fear, therefore, once out of the platonic cave, knowing the light, lets expirience the light walking over its clarity, and we shall not falter when it comes to go back together with the ones who are still back there in the cave, to tell them that life has a new meaning, a new reality, an amplitude never thought of before, a sublimity not dreamed before.
Plato said, on the interpretation of the myth, that the one who left, dreaded to come back, not be understood and even beeing killed for revealing his new true.
On a bigger scope, Plato reflected on the human being behavior. Based on what mankind has accomplished through history, to the ones that talked about what happend “beyond the cave” in their time: Socrates, Giordano Bruno, Jan huss, Joana D’Arc, Mohandas Gandhi, Marting Luther King, without mentioning Jesus, and many other. All of them dead, sacrificing their entire lifes for the good of mankind, revealing to us new horizons, that they dared to transpose.
Plato used this narrative to explain how the human being can obtain freedom from darkness with the help of the light of truth, also talking about the theory of knowledge, the comcept of lenguages and education as bases of a ideal state.
So we shall search for the Truth, that is beyond the relative realities. Knowing truth, it will free us.
… And the great light said: I am the Way, the Truth and Life.
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