The Sumerians wrote the first story ever discovered. The Sumerians carved this story, dated at 2000 B.C., into a stone tablet. This story is about Queen Inanna and the psychological transformations she encountered to come into her own power and lead her people with wisdom. This story describes the stages of the inner journey one makes from living in reaction to external events to a life lived from inner awareness, power and creativity. Joseph Campbell also describes various processes associated with this transformation, ones he has discovered in his studies of various cultures and religious texts, current, as well as, ancient. His discoveries indicate more similarities than differences and can be seen in some of our modern day films, such as Star Wars and The Matrix.

Many people undergo this transformative process without actually knowing the steps or stages because this wisdom is available on a collective unconscious level and everyone has access to it intuitively.  What is not widely available is the courage and commitment needed to continue pushing forward when the road becomes riddled with blocks, challenges and despair. Many people do not complete the Hero’s Journey stopping the process too early when they become fearful. Heart-centered awareness helps us to stay the course because we are able to move into the witness observer state of consciousness and access transcendence states. These states of consciousness allow us to walk alongside fear without being overwhelmed, until the transformations are complete.