Stepping Stones
Guides and Threshold Guardians - Week Two
As we make the commitment to take the hero’s journey, to step across that threshold and onto our path, we are sure to be met by the threshold guardians. Threshold guardians are the gargoyles and creatures that appear on the path to test our resolve and to turn back the faint of heart. As we begin to walk in our own story we will find these guardians standing tall along the way, revealing our tightly held fears, insecurities and attachments. They will come in the form of obstacles, delays and detours. They will come in the voices of those around us who say it can’t be done. They will come in our inner voices that tell us there is not enough time, not enough money, not enough support or not the right conditions to allow us to move forward. Worst of all they will come in the form of voices from inside or outside to tell us that we are not enough somehow to be worthy of our dreams.
The Wicked Witch of the Oz story is Dorothy’s primary adversary and threshold guardian. The Wicked Witch represents Dorothy’s greatest fear about herself. Dorothy introduces herself to the Wizard saying, “I am Dorothy, the small and meek.” But as Dorothy makes her way along her journey to Oz and then through the dark forest, she confronts the Wicked Witch again and again, facing her fears and pushing through the challenges, until in the pinnacle moment she acts from the strength of her truest self to protect the scare crow and melts the Wicked Witch right before her eyes. In that moment, Dorothy breaks free from her inner story of being small and meek, and through her authentic action touches her true power and is hailed as the hero of the story.
Dorothy’s story reminds us that our life dreams await us, and the tests and trials along the way are not meant to stop us. The tests and trials of the hero’s journey simply challenge us to release all that is false and to break free from the small stories and beliefs that stop us from living and expressing the truth of who we are. So as we are faced with the threshold guardians we must keep walking, trusting that these are simply life lessons that are calling forward our truest selves.
Weekly Stepping Stones
Where in your life do you confront the threshold guardians? What are their voices saying to you? What are the inner fears or stories about yourself that can be triggered by the threshold guardians? How do those stories disempower you or stop you from pursuing your dreams?
