%20(900%20x%20300%20px)%20(900%20x%20200%20px)%20(4).png)
Katabasis
& Anabasis
We served this world like angels
Been burned both night and day
Now we turn with eyes blazing
Well its time for us to go
Look straight into the light
Look straight into the light
You and I will fly again
"Straight to the Light"
Fields of the Nephilim
Mourning Sun album
Katabasis, from the Greek word katabainein, literally to walk or step down, is usually followed by its counterpart anabasis, the ascent or return. Katabasis is widely discussed and used as a theme in literature and pop culture. Katabasis requires the sacrifice of possessions, ego, power and pride, and to return from this journey, a person would need face difficult challenges and receive a gift of knowledge before returning to the starting place.
Descent or willful fall is a key theme in the Watcher and Nephilim myths. For the Watchers, heaven is the foundation from which they descend (katabasis) and would later rise if the Biblical authors had not condemned them for eternity. It’s interesting to hear on Fields of the Nephilim’s Mourning Sun album how the missing ascent is addressed, almost as a final act of defiance - the Watchers awaken and unfold their wings to rise again.
Early tribal rites of passage form our first known use of katabasis and anabasis. Rituals simulating death and rebirth were part of the rites of passage from one stage of life to the next. It is interesting to note that these were primarily for males of the tribe, who had lived initially with their mother or female family groups. Once the males begin these initiatory processes, they are taken to a different hut, or house, where they are taught tribal myths, songs and dances. They have no interactions with females during this process, as it was believed that this would weaken them.
Some of the main gods and heroes of antiquity also took the journey of descending into the underworld and returning to the world of the living in katabasis and anabasis that reflected the cycles of nature. This was the case of Inanna in Sumeria, Marduk in Babylon, Ra and Osiris in Egypt, the Cretan Megistos Kouros, the Syrian Adonis, the Phrygian Atig and agrarian gods Dionysus and Persephone celebrated in Eleusis. Among the heroes related to the classical period, Heracles, Theseus, Perithoos, Orpheus and Odysseus performed the katabasis with different objectives. In Christianity, Lazarus and Christ himself descended to the abode of the dead. In the Renaissance world, Dante was taken by Virgíl to the concentric circles of hell where sinners are suffering.
The process of katabasis and anabasis also forms the Hero’s Journey written about by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
In the Hero’s Journey, the descent is sparked by a call to action. The Hero is living their mundane life, when something calls to them. Think of Lord of the Rings for example, and how life in the shire is peaceful but unexceptional. Frodo is called to adventure by Gandalf, who gives him the One Ring and tells him to “keep it secret, keep it safe”. Gathering allies is also a key part of katabasis, the Hero normally has helpers - friends or supernatural aid - as the path is fraught with danger. There is also something else in the descent which is about traversing death, about immortality and establishing some sort of the divine element of the Hero. Some of these elements are missing in the story of the Watchers as they are already divine.
There are different theories about why the Watchers descended to Earth from Heaven. In the book Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson, the Watchers chose to descend to Earth to educate and civilize humans.
According to ancient magical legend, Azael, or Azazel, was originally one of those beings of primordial fire, first created dwellers in the high heaven…Azael and his followers, according to old lore, in defiance of their masters, elected to descend upon the Earth countless eons ago, for the purpose of educating and civilizing primitive man as he then existed. Whether it was a part of their original plan or merely a side issue, these angelic beings…elected to mate with humankind. - Paul Huson, Mastering Witchcraft
If we look at the Hero’s Journey of Campbell’s writings, this desire to educate mankind would have been the call to adventure, and desire or lust would have been one of the temptations they faced (and succumbed to) during their katabasis.
While the katabasis of the Watchers is from their foundation of Heaven to Earth, a more traditional katabasis is from Earth to the land of the dead, or the underworld. There are several paths to descend, ranging from caves and crevices to rivers to more formal gates. In Inanna’s descent, for instance, there are seven gates of Kurnugi, with a staircase, and the descent itself requires sacrificing certain elements of power at each gate. There are typically guardians who take the offering or sacrifice, such as Charon, the ferryman of the Styx or Acheron. Herakles had to be initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries to descend to Hades to retrieve Cerberus (although this is a bit sketchy as the mysteries themselves were said to be a form of katabasis based on the rites of Persephone and Demeter).
Even today, there are still certain caves that are considered as entrances to the underworld. I visited one in Mexico while touring the amazing Mayan pyramids and our local guide showed us the blue crystal waters of the sacred cenote believed to be an entrance to the Xibalba, the Mayan underworld. I admit feeling both entranced and apprehensive about going into those waters, especially given I had just literally drowned and had to be rescued when staying at a beach not far away. I was onshore when a huge wave came over my head and drug me out to sea, so I thought at that time I’d already had my brush with death and I respected the cenote enough not to tempt fate twice in one week!
Katabasis is an important part of the Hero's Journey, and is often referred to as the "dark night of the soul" because inward reflection often includes dealing with things that we uncover along our journey. From a psychological perspective, katabasis is part of a life-long endeavor involving confrontations or interactions which can help dissolve elements of projection that split the self into dissociated fragments.
Renown Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote “There’s no coming to consciousness without pain.” He continues “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
Jung writes in the closing pages of The Red Book "The way to your Self is the longest way and the hardest way. It is the way of your living soul, which is your true Self. May you succeed in your quest, may you come to realize your Self, may you arrive at your being, may you find your inner star, may you walk with its light, may you remain true to yourself. May your light shine!”
Although the descent can be extremely difficult, it is worth the effort to reveal the light within us.
Stages of the Hero's Journey, from the Call to Adventure through Katabasis and Anabasis, returning with a gift of knowledge