He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - guide to becoming a master of the Universe (part 4)
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Image courtesy of Filmation
This post is a Metaphysical explication of an early episode of the He-Man cartoon. Season 2, episode 18 is titled, “Revenge is Never Sweet” picked at random. For further explanation of the overall themes of the cartoon, see the initial post, here. Metaphysical and Hermetic teachings, that have been passed down for over three thousand years by initiates, have made appearances in literature and popular culture for hundreds of years and the origins of these inspirations were unknown to the public. In 1997, Gudni Gudnason, was given permission to bring the knowledge and teachings of the ancient mystery school to the public, which operates as The Modern Mystery School; that enables the open discussion of some of the fundamental themes today.
Image courtesy of Filmation
In this episode, He-Man battles Cathos, a magician who has been turned into a sand slug by Evil-lyn. Cathos is most likely a reference to Pathos, which is one of the three modes of persuasion in rhetoric and the word itself comes from Greek meaning suffering. In terms of rhetoric, pathos is an appeal to the emotions either through positive or negative connection. The other modes of persuasion are Logos (logic) and Ethos (credibility).
The ancient philosophers (many of whom were early mystery school lineage holders, running their own mystery schools, therefore, masters of Hermetic teachings) were of the belief that Pathos could produce an erroneous response or error of reason when unbalanced by Logos (logic) and Ethos (facts). In this episode, Evil-lyn, which sounds like "evil-in", a possible reference to "the evil within" all mankind, turns Cathos/Pathos into a sand slug, an animal without a spine and only a nervous system, but not a centralized brain. An illustration in this story, that the lower form of Cathos/Pathos, has a potentiality for becoming all feeling without thinking; and spineless would be another way of saying unprincipled/lacking principles.
Additionally, Cathos/Pathos is a magician. In metaphysical terms, a "magician" is one who puts people under a "spell" which is a term derived from the word "spelling", and an ancient reference to the use of words/incantations (what one says) to create change. In the mystery school teachings, words are emphasized as being a very potent form of “magic”. In other words, they have the power to conjure (ideas/visions) and transform reality. In the story, Cathos/Pathos, the magician, can freeze people, in a sense, holding them captive or captivated. He also has a helmet that he uses on He-Man to weaken him. In other words, Pathos, which could be seen as emotional appeals in the absence of logic and understanding/facts (the other modes of rhetoric) applied to the mind, can weaken the higher self (He-Man)..
In the story, Evil-lyn and Cathos, are involved in a cycle of revenge and at one point in the story, Evil-lyn complains to Cathos that, "...you kept me cooped up in a cage like somebody's pet Flugel mouse!" This is a reference to the German word "flugel", which means "winged" and this refers to the literal translation of the German word for “bat”, "fledermaus" literally, “winged mouse”. Moreover, Die Fledermaus (The Bat) is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss and it is often called "The revenge of the Bat". This operetta was based on a play called, Das Gefangnis, German for "the prison". In the operetta, revenge, in the form of trickery meant to teach a lesson, causes chaos and the victims are also the perpetrators. Additionally, the chaos as well as the commencement of the restoration of order, takes place in the local prison. In the operetta and in the cartoon, the prison is the metaphor for a mental state and being mentally enslaved.
Image courtesy of Filmation
It is notable that He-man (the higher self) fights Cathos’/Pathos’ “magic” by using his sword of power to deflect the energy. This is a metaphor for the initiate (one who has been initiated by the sword into the mystery school lineage) acting from one’s higher nature, deflecting negative energy using the sacred tools of power that one has learned through the mystery school initiation process.
Image courtesy of Filmation
In the He-Man episode, the climax of the story takes place on Cathos' floating palace (which is symbolic of the mind and in the cartoon, the interior of the palace looks very much like the interior of a brain and it’s ganglia, the connections between the brain neurology).
Here, Evil-lyn becomes so overcome with vengefulness that she transforms into a ball of fire (vengeful anger) and attacks the control center, which looks a lot like the basal ganglia of a brain., the regulatory center for functions such as cognition and emotion. The attack causes a loss of control and He-Man (the higher self) is summoned to regain control of the mind aka floating palace. Prior to recovering control, the higher self (He-Man) makes (Cathos/Pathos) the internal conjurer of emotions, promise to never engage in vengeance., which could also be seen as relating to making judgements without logic and facts - a core Hermetic teaching.
Image courtesy of Filmation
To get up to the floating palace (mind), earlier in the story, as well as later in the story, to restore harmony and keep it from crashing, He-Man uses a craft called a "sky sled" and this is highly likely a reference to meditation.
In the end, (Evil-lyn) evil within is first ejected from the mind (the floating palace) and Cathos/Pathos uses his other power, which is creating storms (symbolic of emotional drama) to instead create rain, which could be seen as a positive emotional outpouring, to create flowers (a metaphor for positive growth and beauty) throughout Eternia (eternity).
This process of removing negative energy/influences to allow growth not only refers to the mystery school Hermetic-based teachings for gaining mastery over the lower self, but also alludes to lineage modalities that have been handed down for over three thousand years that powerfully accelerate the process. One of these modalities, central to the metaphysical core of the teachings is called the Life Activation.
Image courtesy of Filmation
Find out more about lineage initiation and the path of empowerment - Empower Thyself
Or to find a guide to the mystery school in your area - Guide