The Argonauts and the Chalybes - Mythology

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The Argonauts pass off the coast of the Chalybes, Tibareni and
Mossynoeci
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The myth depicts some other mistakes that the seeker must become aware of even though
he does not have to correct them at this stage as the Argonauts sail off the coast. Some of
these are the attraction for an arduous path that is expected to please the Divine, the trust in
the predominant efficiency of the mind, the projections and the blocked energies.

The Argonauts reached the land of the Chalybes whose inhabitants did not care to toil the
land or graze their cattle or grow honey-sweet fruits but extracted iron ore without ever taking
rest. Amidst the dark flames and smoke they wore themselves out in this laborious work.

What is denounced here is an excessive investigation into the depths of the subconscious –
nowadays called the inconscient – which leads to a hardening of the soul (Chalybe signifies
“hardened iron, steel”) in place of a healthy concern for a regular and conscientious work of
yoga carried out in a gentle manner. It is an arduous journey grounded in one’s own effort
and will, the polar opposite of “the sunlit path” which presumes surrender. However the
author does not indicate that we cannot expect any results from it as the Chalybes were
extracting ore.

They did not care to toil the land: the seeker does not work on his nature in the way he
should for the purpose of purifying and perfecting it with the aim of union. In other words they
were not concerned with the labors of Demeter, “the mother of union”. Nor did they care to
graze their cattle or grow honey-sweet fruits: the seeker’s concern is no longer even the
vigilance for the correct development of the potentialities of one’s being, and even less so is
the search for what can bring psychic joy.

Then they sailed past the coast of the country of the Tibareni. In this land, when women
bore children to their husbands the latter were the ones to moan and whine complainingly,
lying dejectedly on their beds with bandaged heads while their wives took good care to feed
them and prepare childbirth baths for them.

In this story an inversion of the goals and the labours of yoga are being highlighted: the
seeker takes a means or his discipline of yoga to be his aim.

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For example he gives increasing importance to the framework of his meditation or to a
discipline like Hatha Yoga, he refines it, makes it the highest priority in his life, and brings to it
all kinds of justifications and attention to nurture it. He focuses on his practice endorsing it
with his own vision of the goal.

While a new dynamic of the being is coming forth (the women who are giving birth) the active
part of the mind is ineffective (the bandaged heads) and the seeker complains, imagining
that he has worked very hard and deserves care and reassurance. It is actually a sort of
blackmail towards the Divine which continues for a long time in yoga as a sly way of
satisfying the ego: if I am a good disciple in my chosen practice, I very well deserve this or
that.

All the attachments to the labours that should be practised with flexibility and given up as
soon as the inner being feel it should come to an end can be included in this category. This is
the case for example with attachment for the sake of principle to virtues, renunciation, non-
violence, and so on (Tibareni probably signifies “to carry a heavy load on the spirit”).

Undoubtedly the path of renunciation was necessary in ancient forms of spirituality the sole
aim of which was to attain a paradise of the spirit. But renunciation cannot have the same
role today in the context of a spiritual path which aims at the blossoming of all of life’s
potentials in Truth. It can and should undoubtedly be a temporary stage; it should prepare for
a return to life on the path of non-attachment which is far more difficult to achieve.

One must always remember that yoga is constituted of reversals and what helps at one
stage of the journey becomes an obstacle for the next.

Since the Divine is patient with the seeker he nonetheless receives “the bath of childbirth”.

After that the heroes travelled past the land of the Mossynoeci whose customs were different
from those of other people: “Whatever it was right to do openly before other people or in the
market place, all this they did in their homes but whatever acts we perform privately they
performed out of doors in the open streets without shame. They did not even feel restraint at
coupling in public and with no consideration for those present they would, like feeding swine,
lay with the women upon the ground.

Here again there is an inversion, no longer between the practice and the goal but between
inner and the outer reality. It seems that what is narrated here refers to seekers who divulge
their inner life and experiences in public including a demonstration of their powers (their
coupling), whereas the inner experience must be kept a secret for a long time so as to retain
its power. On the other hand they carefully conceal the acts that do not conform to what they
claim to have achieved.

This story might also indicates seekers that pretend to be free through the satisfaction of all
desires.

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