Who would dare to be king?
“Arthur is drawn to the sword, as the sword is drawn to him. Destiny has spoken. It summons comes without warning.”
The story of the sword is well known. Its myth and legend spreads across the world. But what use is myth and legend without him to pull it from the stone?
First there is the decision. The acceptance. The question of whether it is ‘I’ who must extract the mythical weapon from its stone prison. If not you, then who?
“The call to adventure signifies that destiny has summoned the hero.”
— Joseph Campbell
Next comes belief. Faith; or a lack thereof. The Monomyth tells us that at the end of this adventure, these roads littered with trials, beyond the slain dragons and the conquered ogres, there awaits a world-changing weapon. A magical potion. A boon-bringing revelation. Myths and metaphors. Intangibles and parables. He cannot see it, yet is meant to believe?
Intention without action is worthless. Regardless of the questions. In spite of the doubt. It is still he who must pull the sword from the stone.
Upon his return he will find the greatest challenge yet. How then can one communicate these inspirations to the uninspired? How to convey these feelings? How to explain these intangibles?
Alas; the sword is not real. The dragons, and the ogres, and the mythical adventure. How much more simple would it not have been had these things existed? It’s easy to prepare physically. We can run, lift, eat, drink, sleep etc. Physical preparation is the easy part.
But therein lies the trick. The sword lives within you. And it is this journey within that we often find unbearable. Because there away from the world and its pretence we are confronted by what is. It demands presence and honesty. A true account of who we are.
There awaits the true obscurities to be overcome. It is this journey within where the ego must be shattered. Where the obstacles are often intangible and unrelenting. It is within us where the dragons reside and are to be slain. Thus to slay the dragons, we must slay ourselves. To overcome the difficulties we must overcome ourselves.
The journey exacts a heavy toll. He must be willing to endure the intolerable. To cut away parts of himself and be humbled. To accept defeats and reinvent himself. In time the man who steps forth and pulls the sword from the stone will not be the same man who began the journey.
