ONTOGENIC SELF

The fundamental question of the Mythic Way is simply, "Who am I?" The answer to the question has been a subject of inquiry for a very long time under the conceptual category of "ontology," the study of being. This inner sense of knowing ourselves is essential to a coherent way of being in the world.

In Man's Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl observed that in the Nazi concentration camps not everyone descended to primitive behavior. There were some who transcended the horror of their circumstances and became veritable saints. Such behavior was contrary to the theories of his mentor, Sigmund Freud, who expected people to respond poorly to wholesale, prolonged suffering and deprivation.

According to the HumanSynergetics model, there exists within each of us an "Ontogenic Self" that is connected to primitive, animal energies, evolved not so much to survive as to serve. Harnessing those energies is to deal with the tension of "opposites" and fundamental elements allows us to make personal, cultural and even cosmic contributions (see psychographic map).

The Ontogenic Self exists within a context that is expressed and understand in largely "psycho-symbolic" terms. The sense of being within the Ontogenic Self, allows us to view life as some combination of "Quest," "Mission" and "Burden." These are the themes of "purpose" that Frankl noted give people a reason to endure and survive.

QUEST for the "Holy Grail" and other such searches fire the imagination, but make the process seem remote from everyday living. The film "Flash of Genius" portrays the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper as a man on a quest for justice, or for a man on a quest for recognition, or both. Oftentimes, those on such a quest will seem overly zealous, misguided or just downright foolish, which the might well be. In terms of the "Mythic Quest" there may be little distinction between Parsifal and Don Quixote.

MISSION seems often to be more noble than quest. Mother Theresa had a mission of serving the poorest of the poor. Missionaries of all type have "advanced" civilization by seeking to change the world and various cultures for nearly a thousand years—with varying degrees of "success." Prometheus' mission of bringing fire to humankind unleashed the wrath of the gods and engendered endless ages of torment for him. Gratitude is rarely the reward for any mission.

BURDEN is an unpopular notion among many of the sophisticated elite. Burden is the lot in life for the ten year old who must enter and work the dangerous mines of Latin America or Asia. Burden is what the grandmother experiences in Africa as she tries to comfort her starving grandchildren who were orphaned when their parents died of AIDS. Burden is the journey of anyone who must carry the weight of unwanted necessity on their shoulders, particularly when there are no resources or alternatives.

The Ontogenic Self is that deep inner aspect of ourselves that draws upon those hidden reserves we each possess. Within the Ontogenic self is the ability to create and endless number of "Mythotypes "—stories and characters we discover and create to help us adapt and be the hero of our own story. Necessity brings out the best of our Ontogenic Self.