 |
 |
Everyone is the protagonist of their own narrative. Joseph Campbell’s work
on the adventure of the hero, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces,
points to the call to adventure, the crossing of the first threshold and
then the road of trials. I found Red Road in a story based on Egyptian
scrolls dating back to 1770 BC. The test of trials for entry to an elite
brotherhood of warriors included training horses, charioteering, javelin,
wrestling, archery, swordsmanship, crashing barriers of fire and crossing
chasms. This was one of the paths a Pharoah could take to assume office
before his allotted time.
Red Road
is also a term used in many Native American tribes, usually associated
with a vision quest. In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield describes
being a writer as “…an infantryman. He knows that progress is measured in
yards of dirt extracted from the enemy one day, one hour, one minute at a
time and paid for in blood… Remember, the Muse favors working stiffs. She
hates prima donnas. To the gods the supreme sin is pride. To think of
yourself as a mercenary, a gun for hire, implants the proper humility. It
purges pride and preciousness.”
|
