night sea journey, n.Definitions

The Night sea journey (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the perilous descent into the unconscious whose end and aim is resurrection and the triumph over death — the service rendered to the drowned King.

The Night sea journey (n.) into ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the unconscious is a sacrilege, a breach of taboo: consciousness seems to be extinguishing itself, like the hero devoured by the dragon — volunteering to die in order to beget new life in fallow darkness.

The Night sea journey (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a descent into Hades — in the belly of the whale it is so stiflingly hot that the hero loses his hair — a journey beyond consciousness, from which comes rebirth.

The Night sea journey (n.) takes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the hero into the belly of the whale-dragon, the Terrible Mother's voracious maw and the jaws of death — whoever conquers this monster wins eternal youth, but only by descending into it and sojourning there awhile.

The Night sea journey (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the hero swallowed by the monster in the west, lighting a fire in its belly and cutting out its heart, and slipping out bald in the east — the sun shut in the mother's womb.