Man's Constituents: Karia

     The heart has caused more pain and more joy than any other part of history. It is responsible for erecting great empires, but it is also the cause of morale to falter, the army to fail, and that same empire to disintegrate into the past.
     Kardia, the Greek word for heart, encompasses its full range of potential. Like all the gifts of mankind, the heart is a two-edged sword. Its passions force us to sculpt masterpieces and preform works of wonder. Its drive gives ambition to achieve greatness in ourselves and, further, to inspire others. The soul may stir, the mind plan, but without the heart's energy, no designs would ever be accomplished. The heart is the energy plant of the human body. Its desires coerce our actions.

     Egyptians mythology held that the heart controlled the thoughts since it was responsible for driving passions. After death, the heart was weighed against a feather of the goddess Isis to determine if the heart was weighed down with guilt. This guilt ranged from mistreating others or desecrating a temple to exploiting those socially below you and misusing your resources.
     If these people held the heart's power to such high importance as to have their entire life judged by it after death, modern man should recognize the power that the heart possesses is key to reaching the full potential of life.

     What's a man to do? Use these necessary and valuable components of life to be all he can be.   
1.) Motivation comes from the heart.
2.) Planning develops from the mind.
3.) The sum of these actions are compiled in your soul to forge the individual you are becoming.

    __    
Agatha Tyche

Man's Constituents: Nous

     The mind is the most powerful tool man possesses. Without it our lives become purposeless struggles of self-preservation and reproduction. Using it, however, allows man to beneficially interact with others, improve his surroundings, and draft lofty ideas for the future by integrating knowledge gained from the past.
     The Greek word for the mind, nous, speaks of the cognitive ability to process, direct, and control our actions. The mind gives us our reason - both of logic and causation for action. Thinking, planning, considering, examining, and deciding are all critical components of every day life rendered impossible without a mind. The mind is curious, constantly exploring. To contain it with endless fixation on worthless things or to go periods of time without using it at all is a waste of our great gifts and abilities.

     Aristotle, the great philosopher, was well acquainted with his main control center. Theories on social interaction, inanimate objects, natural forces, and the purpose of life - all were processed by his analytical examination.

"The energy of the mind is the essence of life." ~Aristotle

     As the second part of a man, no one can afford to neglect his greatest asset and the only thing that can't be taken away - your mind. Within yourself, you can go on endless adventures, locate hidden fortunes, rule a nation, defy physics, and explore suggestions for improving the real world around you. Citizens of the Hellenistic world became masters at pushing the boundaries of their minds. The modern Western world almost seems content to let those boundaries contract around him (with several notable exceptions). Constantly push, explore, and expand your mental powers.
     Some thoughts are best left unspoken. However, without a voice, your mind remains incapable of impacting the world.

    __    
Agatha Tyche

Man's Constituents: Pneuma

     Man is a single entity devised and expressed through several elements. The ancient Egyptians believed in seven parts of a man. Each piece played a role both in life and in death. Some were merely physical, some spiritual, others odd mixtures of both. All parts existed and reflected the uniqueness of the individual. This was the first civilization to take a long, hard look at what it took to be who you are, how it impacted others around you, and your life after death.

     The first of the modern Western components is the soul, pneuma. The soul is an eternal reflection on life’s actions. The Greek means “breath” or “to blow” and angles perspective to the energy and liveliness of the soul. The soul is the spirit of life that provides the substance from which life is derived.

     The soul will live for eternity and speaks of the greatness and goodness or wickedness and selfishness expressed during life. Life is the loom that weaves what the soul becomes, every stitch revealing the character of the craftsman.

     A man must be certain that he is creating a piece that will be suitable in the conditions of his afterlife. Picturing life after death as a ship tossed on a sea, it would be foolish for a man to craft a scarf; sails would be much more appropriate. Our decisions in life are reflected in our judgement in death. Pick your convictions and consistently follow them. Achieving goals is more admirable than drifting aimlessly through life and will reflect poorly on you once you've passed through life's opportunities.

    __    
Agatha Tyche

Fortune

Luck. Chance. Fate. Fluke. Odds. Statistics.
     Since ancient times, people have felt that coincidental circumstances bring about life's events from the mundane to the extraordinary.
Good fortune, blessings, God's will, godsend, karma.
     Religion has played a major part in the perception of events'occurrence. Similarly, gambling has produced its own following of bystanders willing take a risk on the turn of the wheel, a streak of luck, or a gut feeling.
     Whatever inclines a person to believe that the luck of the draw is involved in his life, the historical component in fortune is an overlooked portion of Western culture. The Greeks' Fates evolved into the Roman goddess, Tyche, who was often depicted blindfolded because of the random nature fortune seems to be dispersed through life. She became a prevalent goddess in many occult practices. It was with Tyche's power that love potions, astrological predictions, and other fortune tellings were performed. Interestingly, this perception was not overruled by Christianity in the fourth or fifth century. "God's will" replaced Tyche's predictions, but the belief that a deity controls the random oddities of life persisted.
     Fate, the unchangeable outcome of an event or life, differs from fortune. Fate was seen as set in stone in the early Greek culture exemplified in The Odyssey and The Iliad. However, the Hellenistic world, Rome, and early Christians had a more fluid notion of altering fate with prayers. The medieval world believed that fate could be changed by our actions. Shakespeare's MacBeth, fated to become king, could choose his path to kingship with patience or murder.

     Thus, fortune persevered over cultural and religious changes for millenia. Even today luck is regularly called upon in both religious and secular settings. Regardless of use and context, why is believing in chance, karma, or  luck beneficial? What can we learn or hope to understand by placing our understanding in the idea of odds? Why? Taking an analytical look on human perception . . .
     Bad things happen in life. Inconveniences occur all the time. To prove this fact, go into any room in your house or office and bounce a ball. Soon, the ball will bounce the wrong way and end up hitting something it shouldn't hit or rolling under the one item that is bolted to the floor. The odds of that ball only hitting things that can't be damaged dramatically increases with the cost of that item. Think I'm making this up? Perform the experiment keeping track of where the ball goes in relation to its difficulty to retrieve.
     Belief that luck can interact with our lives teaches people perseverance. "It didn't work out this time. I'm just going to have to buckle down and grind this out again." This is the cause of many people's anger and irritability about life. If you try enough times, eventually, you'll succeed.
     In a religious sense, placing fortune in a deity's hands puts a perspective on man. We learn to respect the limitations of man's control on his own life and the power of man as a species. Thus, we place our desired powers in the hands of a deity to fulfill our ambitions.
     The last lesson we can learn from man's dependence on luck is hope. Hope constantly drives men forward. Why would any person buy a love potion? In hope that is would achieve the desired affect. Superstitions generally play upon the hope of a believer. American sports' superstitions take on absurdity with dirty clothes and odd rituals. Hope pushes a man farther than he thought he could go to achieve the impossible, or if you will, the improbable as his fortunes are played out.


    __    
Agatha Tyche