"Wild thing….You make my heart sing….You make everything…groovy…..Wild thing…I think I love you…”

If you’ve heard the song from the 1960’s, you’ll recognize the reference here.

There is something mysterious, exciting, and even a little bit edgy about the “wild thing” within each of us.

For many people in our “civilized” society, we have all but tossed aside our wild nature in favor of ideals that emphasize intelligence, reason, and social refinement.

To express anger or aggression, to act unpredictably, or even at times to be direct and honest are often looked down as primal or uncivilized.  

Instead we are taught to “be nice” and “smile”, or even to “put on a happy face even if you aren’t happy.”  While there is some usefulness to this in growing up, when we start to step into the adult world, these old ingrained patterns can actually work against us and keep us stuck in childhood.  

Fear of rejection, needing other’s approval, an inability to set healthy boundaries, and resistance to figure’s of authority, are just a few examples of what crops up when these patterns operate within us beyond their intended usefulness.

Young men often experience the most challenges with these lingering childhood patterns.

Looking to break free of these limiting beliefs and inappropriate emotional ties, young men often try to reconcile this by swinging to the opposite extreme by becoming rude, harsh, and domineering.

They become stuck between being the soft spoken “nice guy” and the cocky and arrogant “tough guy.”  

Yet where is the mature man?… the one with authentic masculine power, courage and leadership?

When did we lose him?

More importantly, where can we find him?

Robert Bly, a well-known poet and one of the leader’s in the men’s movement of the 90’s, says that this dilemma that young men face is the result of the lack of male initiation in our culture.

Throughout all of history, in cultures all around the world, societies developed and carried out male initiation rituals to help boys transition into manhood.

Around the age of 12-15, a group of older men (from the tribe) take the young boys, for a year or more, away from their mothers and into the world of men.

During this time each boy learns the lessons of what is takes to develop the qualities and characteristics of a strong man.

Through trainings like rituals, vision quests, and story telling and myths, each boy learns what is means to be a strong male.

In his book, Iron John, Robert Bly discusses how the wild man within us guides us through this path into adulthood:

In the United States, for example, we have done away with most rituals and myths like these, and often even written them off as primitive, pagen, or purposeless.  

In it’s place we have mentor-less boys who try to initiate themselves, often with disastrous results.  

We see this in extreme forms in street gang initiations, but it can also take place in more benign forms like college fraternities, videogame clans, or sport team hazings.

The solution is not simply a matter of bringing back the old initiation traditions, but rather, it’s about learning how we can take that same process and make it work in our world today.

According to Caroline Myss, America was the nation that birthed the archetype of the self. 

As a country, it honors freedom, independence, and self-empowerment; so it’s no wonder that tribal initiations are not a huge part of the culture (and this also goes for much of the modern western world as well).

The dilemma, then, becomes “how does a man become initiated if there is no tribe to initiate him?”

“How can a boy initiate himself into manhood if he only knows about boyish things?” 

He still needs a group of men who are older, stronger, and wiser to guide him through the path.  

Perhaps the trick here is for the young man to, not only choose when he will be initiated, but to also choose which men will initiate him.  

In this way, he is conscious and empowered as he goes through each step of the initiation process, yet the process is still carried out by more experienced men who have his best interests at heart.  

At the present time, there are some avenues that accomplish this initiation process to some extent.

Some men join the world of business and work under strong business leaders, other men study under a wise spiritual guru, while some learn through the no-nonsense approach provided by coaches in sports. 

All of these avenues can assist the man into maturing into manhood, yet often these methods are still missing something….something deeper….within the recesses of the psyche, or perhaps, the soul.

The work of Robert Bly just may provide that missing piece.

In the documentary, A Gathering of Men, Bill Moyers dives into the Men’s Movement of the 1990’s, and specifically focuses in on the work of Robert Bly.

Bly, a well-known poet, has spent years learning and researching the myths and fairy stories from cultures throughout time.

He says that these stories provide hidden messages that communicate with us on a very deep level; a level that has been neglected in our current culture.

Bly says that although most fairy tales are centered on women’s issues, there are some that are focused on men and the initiation process itself.

One fair story in particular, Iron John, provides many valuable lessons on the path into manhood.

Bly also talks about one of the main emotions that men have been stuck at, unconsciously, for years – grief.

He says that many men mistakenly buy into the notion that a man shouldn’t feel grief at all, and that this idea actually cuts off a man’s ability to feel anything at all.

Soon these men walk around emotionless and cut off from life.

In the documentary “A Gathering of Men”, you will hear Bly discuss these topics with Bill Moyers, and you will even hear the beginning of the Iron John fairy story.

A Gathering of Men Documentary:

Bly is an incredibly story teller and has a knack for communicating to men on a deep and profound level.

He goes into depth about these ideas in his book, Iron John.

In it, Bly goes through the full fairy story and provides insights and interpretations that we can relate to in our modern life, especially when it comes to getting in touch with our inner warrior and our inner wild man.  From Robert Bly’s Iron John:

“Michael Meade reminds us of the old Celtic motto: ‘Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.’…The initiator offers the sword only after the young man’s heart has been touched by the lover’s privacy and the lover’s dance.

…The warriors inside American men have become weak in recent years, and their weakness contributes to a lack of boundaries, a condition which earlier in this book we spoke of as naivete.  A grown man six feet tall will allow another person to cross his boundaries, enter his psychic house, verbally abuse him, carry away his treasures, and slam the door behind; the invaded man will stand there with an ingratiating, confused smile on his face.

When a boy grows up in a “dysfunctional” family (perhaps there is no other kind of family), his interior warriors will be killed off early.  Warriors, mythologically, lift their swords to defend the king.  The King in a child stands for and stands up for the child’s mood.  But when we are children, our mood gets easily overrun and swept over in the messed-up family by the more powerful, more dominant, more terrifying mood of the parent.  We can say that when the warriors inside cannot protect our mood from being disintegrated, or defend our body from invasion, the warriors collapse, go into a trance, or die.

The Inner warriors I speak of do not cross the boundary aggressively; they exist to defend the boundary.

…Robert Moore, the psychologist and theologian, has thought goently and intensely about the warrior, and we’ll sum up a few of his ideas.  He emphasizes that for men the warrior is “hard-wired.”  It is not software.  He may say to men: “You have plenty of warrior in you-don’t worry about it-more than you’ll need.  The question is whether you will honor it: whether you will have it consciously or unconsciouly.”

Moore emphasizes that the quality of a true warrior is that he is in service to a purpose greater than himself; that is, to a transcendent cause.  Mythologically, he is in service to a True King.  If the King he serves is corrupt…or if there is no King at all, and he is serving greed, or power, then he is not longer a warrior, but a soldier.

…Contemporary war, with its mechanical and heartless destruction, has made the heat of aggression seem disgraceful….‘Women hate war,’ it has often been said, ‘but love the warrior.’  That is no longer true.  Most women in the West see no reason to distinguish the warrior from the soldier or the soldier from the murderer.

..The fading of the warrior contributes to the collapse of civilized society.  A man who cannot defend his own space cannot defend women and children.”

Bly does a great job of opening our eyes to the honorable warrior that upholds truth and the integrity of the tribe.  

Caroline Myss touches on this in her program, The Language of Archetypes (a must for understanding archetypes), saying that the warrior is successful when he prevents war because his duty lies in the well-being of his people.

Most of us here in the west have forgotten that.  The naivete that Bly refers to in Iron John is the fear-based distortion that we should do away with the warrior (which many well-intentioned but ungrounded people buy into, I know I have).

It’s basically the equivalent of trying to stop war by killing all your tribe’s warriors, then naively thinking that there will be no more war.
 
Bly has also recorded a number of workshops which cover other male-centered fairy stories, and touches on the challenges that men face.

You can get access to many of these programs online through sites like MenWeb, or through Audacity.  Audacity has 6 of the these talks (about an hour each) for a couple bucks each, these includes:

• Into the Deep: Male Mysteries
• Male Naivete and Giving the Gold Away
• The Power of Shame
• The Masculine Road: The Red, White, and Black
• A Society of Siblings
• William Blake and Beyond

I’ve listened to many of these already and can tell you that it feels like something with me is re-awakening, as if these stories have activated a part of me that has been sleeping and long forgotten.

Woven into all of Robert Bly’s work is a subtle lovingness towards being male and an appreciation for what it means to be a man; something that is quite rare in this day in age.

For males looking to become empowered, self-actualized, and authentic men, then Robert Bly’s work is a must.  A good place to start is with Robert Bly's recorded workshop where he goes into the Male Mode of Feeling and Iron John in detail.

Also, be sure to check out similar work from Michael Meade, James Hillman, Robert Moore, and Sam Keen, some of whom have worked alongside Bly at his workshops with men.

Here is more interesting video of Bly that will give you a good idea of his approach and personality:

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We have often heard the phrase, "Well you can't change your genes"

Or, "That's just the way I was born, nothing I can do about it."

It seems like common knowledge to think that there are some diseases that are caused by "genetic factors"; as if to imply that those who become sick are just "really unlucky."

Many research studies and reports claim that a great majority of our behavior, health, and even our personality, is pre-determined by the genes we received at birth from our parents.

The whole notion of us "being powerless to change our genes" leads many people to hold resentment towards their parents (and possibly God too).

They may ask "Why me?" or say "Life isn't fair."

The entire reality is one of disempowerment…one of being a victim who is subject to what happens to them.

Every once in a while, though, someone comes along and challenges these long-standing paradigms of reality.

Someone who asks questions like, "What if everything we thought we knew was wrong?"  "What if our genetic makeup is not set in stone?"  Better yet, "What if there is actually something higher than our genes, something that has the power to change them?"

In the early 1980's, a cellular biologist named Bruce Lipton was doing research on human tissue cells at the University of Wisconsin.  

He would take cells out of people and put them into culture dishes to study them.

During his work, he came upon some startling realizations that shook his entire scientific reality when it came how a cell functioned and the role of the environment in determining that cell's behavior.

For one thing, he discovered that it was the cell's perception of its environment (not the genes), that ultimately controlled a cell.  

So for example, when a cell perceived danger in its environment, it would alter its genes in a certain way to get away from that danger.  

Although the genes controlled behavior, the cell's perception of its environment controlled the genes.

Bruce Lipton calls this "Epi-Genetic Control" which means "Control above the gene."

To see a full 2-part lecture, see the videos below:

Bruce Lipton The New Biology (Part 1)

Bruce Lipton The New Biology (Part 2)

Basically, a cell will monitor its environment for changes and, based on it's perception of the environment (it's beliefs), the cell will modify it's genetics to have the best chance at surviving.

It makes sense.  The cell receives information about the environment and then changes its genes so that it is capable of thriving in that environment.  

So we see that evolution is taking place in every moment. 

The old scientific belief implied that evolution happened primarily through the process of reproduction (in which an organism passed on its genes to its offspring ) in concepts such as Natural Selection and Survival of the Fittest.

This "New Biology" shows us that at any moment in time, we actually have the capability of changing our genes to meet our environment.  

In fact, not only do we have the capability, we are already doing it.

We have all heard about the process of cancer and how cells have "mutated" to become harmful and destructive to the body.

Could this have something to do with our perception of our environment (ie, our beliefs)?

If our cells are changing in response to the world we see out there, then what happens when we only see a bad world? 

What happens when we watch the bad news all day, or are engrossed in reality-show bickering, or hang around negative people?

Remember, our genes change, not in response to the world, but to our perception of it.

If we see a world that is dangerous and threatening, then our genes will change to meet that world: 

Our body will focus all its energy on short-term survival; blood will be directed to our muscles, our adrenal glands will be burning our energy reserves, our immune system will shut down, and we will have less rational thinking capability and more emotional-instinctual brain function.

If we see a world that is safe and peaceful, then our genes will change to meet that world: 

Our body will focus all its energy on long-term survival; blood will be directed to our organs, our brain will release endorphins, our immune system will be ramped up, and we will have more rational thinking capability and less emotional-instinctual brain function.

I don't know about you, but I like that second option.

When we realize that our perception actually change us on a physical level, wouldn't it make to sense to consciously choose who and what we give our attention to?

Also, it's not just the world that we see in front of us, this includes the world that we see when we look at our past.

Do you know the role of emotions in keeping us alive?  

Emotions evolved as a way to help us survive.  During an experience in which we perceive danger, our emotions imprint a memory in our mind.  

This means that if we were eating berries by the river and a giant lion came to attack us, we would emotionally remember everything that was happening at the moment; what we were eating, what we were touching, what time of day it was, and so on.  

That way, the next time we were in that situation, our emotion would alert us of a possible reoccurrence of that danger.  

In this way, traumatic events imprint memories and emotions into our mind in an effort to help us survive.

The problem with emotions, is that they can be triggered at random times and throw our system into survival mode even if we aren't really in danger.

So if we have many traumatic emotional experiences from our past, then we may be triggered by these memories and react as if they are still happening to us.  

We see a dangerous world because we have emotional experiences that alter our perception.

We can see how important it is to both, consciously monitor what we are giving our attention to, and let go of old painful emotional experiences.

How do we do that?

It's actually not that hard to do.  Within the last decade or so, many new breakthrough "emotional technologies" have come out that allow us to rapidly process and release traumatic experiences and reprogram our mind and emotions.  

Two very powerful emotional technologies are the Emotional Freedom Technique and the Tapas Acupressure Technique. 

There are even programs like Holosync that help you to enhance your brain so that it becomes wired for peace and relaxation (rather than fear and stress).

I know these processes work because I've used them for the past several years and have witnessed dramatic changes in my quality of life and my relationships.  

When we really get it that we have the power to change our world, it actually becomes fun…who would have thought?

So reflect, for a moment, on yourself.  

What would you like to change in your life?  

What part of your body would you like to heal?

What kind of world would you like to live in?

You can apply these ideas and techniques to literally create anything you want.  

So what are you waiting for?  Give it a shot!

For me, I often learn things best when I have a very thorough understanding of the science behind a new breakthrough.

So if you'd a more in depth recap of exactly how Bruce Lipton came to these discovers, check out his audio program The Wisdom of Your Cells.

This program covers concepts such as:

•Why cells respond to energetic signals over a 100 times faster than chemical signals (and why this understanding shows, scientifically, why prayers and energy healing can create "sudden and profound" healing).

•Why the Nucleus of a cell is NOT the brain of a cell (and why this understanding totally changes everything we know about keeping our body healthy).

• How the Placebo Effect works (and how you can use it to your advantage in creating optimum health)

• How the Nocebo Effect works (and why not knowing about it can lead to disastrous health results).

This is definitely one of the foundational programs to learn and apply in your own life.  Check it out here.

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Avatar is quite possibly the biggest movie of our generation…and for good reason.

Not only does the film herald in several breakthrough film-making technologies, it also marks a major turning point for our culture in terms of spiritual understanding and maturity.

In case you aren't familiar with the film, Avatar is James Cameron's (Titanic, Aliens, Terminator 2) latest creation.

The movie is set in the 22nd century on a foreign moon called Pandora.  The 12-foot tall humanoid natives who inhabit the moon are known as the Na'vi.

The story follows Jake Sully, an ex-marine who is sent to a mining outpost atop Pandora in order to control a Human-Na'vi genetically engineered body known as an Avatar.

His initial goal is to infiltrate the Na'vi people, gain their trust, and then convince them to relocate, thereby allowing his corporate employer to mine the precious mineral deposits that sit beneath the Na'vi homeland.

As Jake learns more about the Na'vi people and becomes a part of their tribe, he quickly finds himself torn between 2 worlds and forced to make difficult life-altering choices.

You can view a trailer of the movie here:

There are many incredible aspects to this film.  For one, the film took nearly 5 years and $300 million dollars to create; a mammoth undertaking and risk in itself.

As part of the project, James Cameron invented a new "performance capture" camera that seamlessly places human actors into a computer generated world.  This means that while the actors are acting, as he turns the camera, the view of the cgi world moves with him as if he were filming on location in Pandora.

In addition to that, James worked with a language specialist from U.S.C. for 4 years to create the Na'vi language.  The language features about a thousand words (the first few were created by Cameron) and required active pronunciation training with the actors during filming.

Yet aside from all of that, there is something much more significant about the film:

It signifies the ushering in of a new paradigm within the mainstream western mind.

It marks the decline of the hyper-masculine, macho mentality and the emergence, or "birth", of the Divine Feminine within our modern culture.  

What does this mean exactly?

Or better yet, why is it so significant?

There seems to be a crucial error within our western culture's mentality; one that is at the heart of many of our relationships, our work ethic, and our sexuality.

The error goes like this: "To gain the power of the masculine, the feminine must be denied or rejected."

It starts in adolescence when boys are taught to "suck it up" or "be a man" and reject any and all signs of pain, feeling, or emotion. 

We see it in the notion that maturing means to throw away our imagination and "grow up". 

We see it in excessive drinking among men as a way to be "cool", and an attitude where any type of vulnerability is met with harsh words in an effort to make one "tough" (I know because I've seen and experience them all).

We even see it in some of the feminists who reject their feminine side as they step into "the man's world", resulting in less polarity with the opposite sex.  

Basically, the whole approach could be called "macho".

In a simple sense, machoism is the expression of the ego coming through the left-brain (the analytical, thinking, masculine side).

If you are familiar at all with the ego, it is that part of ourself that survived and evolved through gain (often at the cost of other's well being).  

The problem with the ego's expression as machoism is that it sets up an unquenchable thirst within us; almost like a black hole that can never be filled.

No matter how much alcohol we drink, no matter how much meat we eat, no matter how many women we sleep with or how much money we make; it doesn't fill this hole.  

The only reason that any of us do all these things is because we think that they will fulfill us.

Yet they don't.

And as we realize this, we may find ourselves in an inner crises; as if our entire reality is crumbling.

We may have all the symbols of success yet still feel that something is missing…

This is exactly why Avatar is so powerful.

The viewer is able to start the movie as Jake Sully, the typical macho-man tough guy who wants nothing more that to go into this next mission, blow some stuff up, and return victorious.  

Yet deep down, a part of him is ready for something more…something meaningful.

Basically, he starts in the same place as many of us who are watching.

As he links up with his avatar body and begins to live a second life within the Na'vi tribe, his consciousness begins to transform.

It was as if all the tools were within him waiting to be activated.

He is able to gain the trust of the Na'vi people because he has a "strong heart" and he is able to learn their ways because he has an "empty mind".

These the same pre-requisites that lead us to rapid inner growth.

As he explores this new world, he discovers an entirely new side of himself; one that is capable of intuition, love, and devotion to a higher purpose.  

He finds the gifts of the feminine.

As he begins to integrate this other side of himself, he finds he is able to synthesize both his masculine courage and intellect with his feminine love and connection to become the new inspiring leader of the Na'vi tribe.

It was not until he integrated this other side of himself, that he was able to realize his greatest potential.

All growth and healing is found by accepting and embracing those dark, rejected places within us and reclaiming our power.

He is then able to look at his past with greater awareness.  He recognizes the ego's unquenchable desire for gain (represented by the overly aggressive military leader and the heartless corporate executive), and from a new vantage point, he makes new and empowering choices.

*Please note*, this does not mean that all military or all corporations are bad or wrong.  There are tremendous gifts and benefits that these organizations provide to society.  This movie simply shows, using examples that are common to our culture, how the ego can take over and become destructive.

The amazing part is that the viewer goes through this journey with Jake, sowing the seeds for a similar transformation within each person as they watch.

It's as if this movie is an expression of our evolution up to this time and it has come out now to activate a part of us that has long been latent and unused.

That unquenchable hunger within us is actually a part of ourself calling out for the healing energy of the heart.

The way to step into our masculine power is to integrate the feminine.

This one, unspoken truth, could be the most powerful aspect of this film.

This truth is clearly evident in the classic Taoist symbol of the Yin and Yang.

The black portion of the symbol represents yin energy (feminine) whereas the white portion represents yang energy (masculine).

If you look at the part of the symbol where Yang is greatest, you will see a black yin center.  Likewise, where the yin is greatest, you will see a yang center.  

This ancient wisdom shows that to be powerful, one must integrate both parts within us.

This message is especially appropriate to us in the west.

Traditionally, the masculine has been represented by "Our Father in Heaven" (God), whereas the feminine has been represented by our "Mother Earth" (Gaia).

Although the west has had strong awareness of God the Father, the role of our Mother Earth is still not fully embraced not understood. 

This translates into a society that is overly concerned with masculinity and lacking in healthy feminine energy.

This is exemplified by the fact that major religious authorities have said in response to Avatar that "the earth is not a deity to be worshiped".

Perhaps some people treat nature like a deity but as I understand it, Mother Earth is not a god to be worshiped but an expression of divine creation to be honored.

It's as if the western world is afraid of the feminine, as if it's afraid of love itself.  

If there is anything a really tough "macho" guy is afraid of, it's love, this is why many men stick to casual sex – they just don't have the capacity to go there, yet.

The reason is that men have a yang sexual center and a yin feeling center. 

For men, the most vulnerable part of them is their heart, which is why they most often avoid it or close it off altogether. (For women, their yin side is in their sexual center and their yang side is their heart/feeling center).

Our culture is sort of like a macho guy who has walled off his heart and is now suffering because he feels cut off from his feeling center.  

Many men turn to things like alcohol, porn, or one night stands with women to fill this feeling of lack.  All of these are false sources of feminine-yin energy and often lead a man to become even deeper into despair.

The real answer lie in reconnecting to nature, the body, and exploring the energy of the heart.

Of course, you want to keep a balance of both masculine and feminine.  Some people take this too far and reject the masculine and swing completely to the other side, which is expressed as extreme anger at corporations and technology, an obsession with "preservation", or being overly emotional or "sensitive".

We want to honor both nature and each other. (What good is saving the environment if we hurt each other doing it?)

Another aspect of the film that is so powerful is the fact that it is set on a far away planet, in the future, with an alien race.

The Na'vi tribe, with their connection to nature and simple ways, resemble the American Indians whereas the gun-toting corporate miners resemble the American Cowboy (though the Cowboy's negative aspects seem to be exaggerated in this case for dramatic effect).

Had this film been just another Cowboys and Indians, it would not have been as powerful because it would have brought with it all the preconceived ideas and positions of the viewer's past.

Yet since the film is set in the future in a distant moon with 12-foot tall blue people, we as viewers are able to watch with "empty cups", so to speak.

We don't have many of the past opinions of who's right or wrong because we haven't seen anything like it before.  This allows us to watch without as much noise from ego.

Instead, we see the same human challenges played out, yet this time, we watch with new eyes.  

Our vision is unhindered from all the judgement and analysis of the past.  The incredibly realistic environment and 3d effects also help to captivate our awareness as well.

All of this shows how technology can help us improve our experience and accelerate our own inner growth.

Another interesting aspect of the film is that it allows the creator to direct the viewers' awareness to things that they wouldn't normally focus on in their daily life.

In Avatar, special attention is given to nature; the exotic plants and animals, the breath-taking landscapes and waterfalls, and the incredible floating rocks and neighboring planets.

We get to appreciate all the beautiful nuances of life on Pandora.

The funny thing is, as we evolve spiritually, we get to experience that same sensation and wonderment with everything that surrounds us right now.

Stepping into nature, even in our own backyard, becomes just like stepping into the world of Pandora.

By changing who we are internally, we actually begin to experience the outside world in a new way; a way that is deeply satisfying to our soul because it recognizes the spirit within every living thing.

This allows us to hold all of life (including our own) in a sacred space.

As this happens, all of nature is transformed before our very eyes.  This doesn't mean that we lose our practicality with nature, it's just that we honor it because we know it's source.

That could well be one of our greatest gifts ever, and Avatar helps us to tap into that ability.

One of the things that kind of confused me when I first watch this movie was how it ended.

If these people are supposed to be tuned in to nature, if they hold all life sacred and are aware of the interconnectedness of all of life, why do they fight back?

Aren't they connected to those they fight?

What was even more extreme was that fact that the animals and the moon-planet herself appeared to fight back.

I later realized that the Na'vi people were very much feminine in their nature; they have cat-like features, were very adapt at intuitive guidance, and lived in harmony with nature.

If you know anything about female animals, you will know when they will attack; if their nest or young are threatened, of course.

So the Na'vi themselves have to evolve, just as the humans do.

The first time I watched the movie, I was really hoping that the Na'vi would find some way to transcend the fighting and evoke a change in consciousness in it's attackers.

Yet, the more I thought about this, the more I realized how it really works out for the best.

The movie meets the audience where they are.

It's been said that the first step of change is acceptance.

Our culture as a whole, especially movie go'ers, are still in the "good triumphs over evil" paradigm.

Perhaps we will discover, in future Avatar sequels, that fighting back is often just a short term solution that doesn't really change much.

The real and lasting change occurs within our own consciousness and includes and benefits everyone involved.

The irony is that sometimes we need a good fight to realize this.

In spiritual work, one discovers how the outside world is a reflection of one's inner consciousness.  As we go within to "fight our battles", our enemies are transformed into allies.  

The Na'vi may have been able to overpower the small corporate mining operation, but what happens if an entire army comes back to Pandora?

It is up to the Na'vi to begin to integrate their masculine side of intelligence, courage, and perseverance.

Luckily for them, they have just the leader who can help them do it.

So what about this film would make it a once-in-a generation milestone?

Is there something about Avatar that points the way to the next 10 or 20 years?

If we look back to one of the most successful and influential movie series of all time, we may find some clues.

Star Wars first came out in the late 70's and heralded in, not only a whole new level of film-making technology, it also brought us an entire world of robots, space battles, and jedi-superheroes.

If we look at our world at the time, we can see that the movie was the precursor to the technology and information age.

In the early 80's we saw the emergence of the personal computer, videogames, and other technologies that dramatically altered our culture…and Star Wars seemed to have paved the way.

I believe Avatar signifies that a similar jump in our culture's evolution is about to take place.

While Star Wars shows us how we could use our left-brain, mental-intelligence to change our world, perhaps Avatar is showing us how we can use our right-brained, feeling-intuition to change ourselves.

Star Wars came to us as we explored the power of the mind, perhaps Avatar is here to show us the power of the heart.

Star Wars came to us imbued with a deep Masculine-Father theme ("Luke….I am your father") whereas Avatar comes to us with a deep Feminine-Mother theme.
 
It seems to me the next area of our evolution does not lie simply in more advanced microchips, synthetic pharmaceuticals, or dynamic computer systems, but instead, in advancing our own intuition, our self-healing power, and in discovering our innermost spiritual essence.

Time will tell.

If you liked the music in Avatar, I would recommend checking out any Adiemus album or Robert Gass' Medicine Wheel.

Adiemus is a group that uses a made-up language with tribal beats that I was reminded of while watching Avatar.

Robert Gass' Medicine Wheel features many native American songs that will help you tune in to the connection to Mother Earth, especially the song based on the Speech by Chief Seattle, which is profoundly powerful and moving.

There is a tremendous amount of wisdom, power, and love available to us as we step into this new world of feeling and intuition.

For us as men, our greatest gifts can be accessed through the heart.

In watching Jake's transformation into "Toruk Makto", the tribe's powerful and inspiring new leader, we see a perfect example of how this plays out.

Of course, everyone who watches Avatar will get something different.

What did you think of Avatar?

Did you have any realizations or 'ah-ha' moments?

How did it affect you?

Feel free to leave a comment below. 

By the way, be sure to check out this article on Avatar's archetypal message, as well as the official Avatar community, and the Avatar Wiki.

And of course, here are some programs that I recommend to help you on this path of healing your heart and living your deepest purpose:

Entrain the Brain – Remove Fear & Anxiety by Listening to a CD 
Abundance "Tapping" – Remove Subconscious Money Blocks
Total Well Cleanse – Detoxify your Body for more Energy

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