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The transformation of self is both a psychological and a spiritual issue.
Joseph Campbell referred to the particulars of mythological and religious traditions as "the masks of god". His assertion was that these depictions of gods and goddesses were intended to be transparent to the greater thing they represent. The Mystery behind them is so transcendent, that we cannot, in our normal mode of consciousness, comprehend or even relate to it, except in the most abstract ways. So we develop "masks" for it which make it more accessible and understandable.
It seems to me that the human soul is a thing very similar to the Mystery that Campbell is referring to here (and perhaps even in some sense identical with it).
Life is a dance at a masked ball. We all pretend to be what we are not, almost constantly. We wear masks every day of our lives. If we follow a path with heart, and eventually see beyond our own masks to realize our True Self, this does not necessarily mean that we will never wear masks again. It simply means that we will use the masks we wear to reveal Truth rather than conceal it.
Once we have reached that place, we also discover that the particular mask is irrelevant, all masks are equally true, or equally false, equally valuable or equally useless, depending on what we do with them.
A mask is a terrific tool for self transformation.
The magical power of the mask exists, not in the mask itself, but in the intersection of the mask with our human consciousness, in the synergy that arises when a mask is worn, the connection made between the wearer and the spirit or character of the mask. The famous maskmaker W.T.Benda noted in 1944, the magic inherent in the mask "is not due to any exceptional merit on the part of the artist who made the mask." In this equation, the skill of the artist who has created the mask is simply a conduit, a medium for that magical connection between wearer and mask.
When we put on a physical mask, often what we're actually doing is exchanging one mask for another. Those social masks are something we use for emotional and psychic self protection. Once we're protected by another, different mask - whether it's a wooden shaman mask from Borneo, one of my leather masks, or even a rubber Clinton mask from the Party Store, we're free to let go of the desperate hold we usually keep on that invisible social mask we wear.
We're also free, to some degree, of the responsibility for our actions. A normally conservative, uptight guy may put on a Clinton mask at a Halloween party, and immediately start making lewd suggestions involving oral sex and cigars to every woman in the room, behavior he'd never think of indulging in normally. And he can get away with this, you see, because it's not him, John Uptight, who is responsible for that behavior, it's the mask - or the spirit of Bubba Clinton.
Now, the example I've used here may not be a very spiritual sounding one, but it graphically illustrates the basic principle - John is able to take risks, experiment with stretching his shape, and try on new and different behaviors, because it's safe to do so when he's wearing the Bubba mask. And tho such behavior might not be seen as appropriate for John Uptight, it is seen as quite appropriate for a caricature of Bill Clinton.
What is it that you want to become? Usually the things that block us from becoming our highest vision are our own preconceptions of what we can and cannot be or do, which are reinforced by other's expectations of us. Put on a mask, and you can, temporarily, shed those preconceptions, both your own, and others'. Put on a mask that expresses those qualities you want to manifest in yourself, and you can try them out, feel what it feels like to be and do that which you aspire to.
This is, after all, always how we learn to be and do new things - by trying it on, testing the waters, becoming gradually familiar and comfortable with a new behavior or new mode of being.
The so-called "primitive" societies often claim that spirits inhabit masks, and possess the wearer when the mask is worn. I don't have a judgement one way or the other about the literal truth of that assertion, but I do know that in many cases, it might as well be literal truth. Whether it has to do with an inhabiting spirit, or simply that we all share certain mental images about the qualities and behaviors of the characters depicted by masks, the same mask will elicit amazingly similar behaviors when worn by a wide variety of different people.
In formal group work, masks are extremely valuable. Masks often allow the group to take whatever ritual they are working to the next level, to add to the intensity of the experience. Looking at your ritual companion in a mask forces you to focus on the archetypal force, rather than the individual, on the function rather than the person.
Let's say we're going to do a ritual, and my friend Bill has been chosen to represent Cernunnos. Now, I, or others in the ritual, may have some doubts about Bill's Cernunnos-like qualities (and so may Bill, for that matter). If Bill is only wearing a horned helmet, it's fairly easy to fall into seeing him as just our friend Bill, trying to be Cernunnos.
If, on the other hand, he's wearing a mask, we are confronted, in some sense, with the very face of Cernunnos Himself, it's that much harder to see this figure as "our pal Bill", and we will tend to relate to him _as_ Cernunnos.
Meanwhile, inside the mask, Bill is free of that inevitable awareness of his friends looking at him as Bill, in fact, quite the contrary, he will undoubtedly sense that the rest of us are relating to him as the Horned One, reinforcing his image of himself as inhabiting that role. If the rest of the participants are also wearing masks of some sort, this gives the added energy of these Other Beings relating to Bill/Cernunnos in that way, and the whole thing becomes a self reinforcing feedback loop, adding significantly to the power and energy of the ritual.
Our friend Bill, and John Uptight from the previous example, may have very different conscious intentions when they each don their respective masks. If you observe people wearing masks, you realize quickly that even those who have not gone consciously and intentionally towards a magickal process often find themselves transformed by a mask. The most unassuming, inhibited, introverted among us will suddenly become extravagant theatrical performers when their normal social persona is hidden and protected by the lineaments of a mask. It's a matter of degree.
The most significant difference is the element of intent. Tho many people wearing a mask for costume may be unconsciously groping toward some form of self-transformation, the shapeshifter's intent is a conscious one. The partygoer's conscious intent is simply to have a good time, and perhaps entertain her friends. The theatrical performer moves more toward serious transformational intent, but usually he will stop short of any change that lasts beyond the performance. For some performers, this transformation may be purely cosmetic and on the surface, for some it may go deeper, but for almost all, the shift of their shape is achieved primarily for the benefit of the audience.
The shapeshifter, on the other hand, transforms for herself, even when that transformation may be enacted in service to her community. Though the totality of that transformation may be temporary, much of its effect will still be felt long after she has shifted back. And she will do this with completely conscious knowledge and intent. Where the partygoer pretends, and the performer enacts, the shapeshifter becomes.
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