Speaking of the Weight of the World

With the way this world seems to be shifting under the power of so many leaders and their ego, there seem to be this world mainly about self-reliance where everyone is taught to look out for themselves and “make it”/ become successful. Sometimes people need to believe they are soo great and build an ego, so they protect themselves from being walked over by others. And there are sooo many people in the world, some people don’t wanna feel insignificant, they want to believe their life has a high prominant importance-no one wants to believe they’re here for nothing
 There is no better visual image in my mind, of the human ego stuck in its self-imposed misery, than Atlas bending under the weight of the world.  

For example as a powerful Titan, Atlas firmly believed his strength was a match for the power of the gods and was condemned for his hubris.  And, like this familiar character in mythology, our own ego is not smart enough to distrust its own strength, so it inevitably gets us into trouble.

 Of course, it is the disappointments of childhood that define the limits of our adult ego’s sense of strength and weakened identity.  Once we are shamed and chastised by the world for our strength as children, we will suffer under the burden he believes we deserve and will accept that the egos small grasp of heaven is all there is. 

 In the familiar myth of Atlas, however, it is not the weight of the earth, but of the all encompassing heavens that he must eternally lift, keeping heaven and earth forever separate, and the ego does this as well…. it separates us from joy in our everyday lives.  We feel its suffering as our own, and this is difficult to unlearn, but, it is the childish ideal of heaven that is the main burden that must be relinquished.  Otherwise the experience of authenticity and full aliveness is impossible.

In the Eleventh, penultimate Labor of Hercules, Atlas is convinced by the Hero to fetch him the golden apples from his daughters, in exchange for taking on the task of holding up the sky temporarily.  So, the Titan, thinking this is a good bargain, because he cannot relinquish it unless someone else lifts the weight from his shoulders, agrees to retrieve the apples and offers to deliver them to Eurystheus himself.  This mirrors the interior confrontation with the ego as well… only an equally powerful “felt sense of identity” can lift the ego’s psychological burden long enough to escape its misery.

And as the story goes, Hercules is not just brawn but brains by this time, and perceiving the trick, asks Atlas for a little support to rearrange his cloak for the eternal task ahead. When Atlas sets down the apples and takes the weight upon his shoulders, Heracles grabs them and makes his escape without ever having to fight the dragon protecting the Garden of the Hesperides.

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