Self-Mastery and Evolution

In many articles we mentioned elevation of consciousness, evolution and self-development. For some people this may be a new age term or a new concept derived from the development of psychology in the late 1800s, but self-evolution is a subject that humans have since remote times.

If it is not the main purpose on this plane of existence, it is an important one. Self-development and our own evolution toward a higher level of consciousness depart from being just materialistic.

All religions talk about that, but they all share a common fault. You need to belong to ‘their team’ and all others are wrong. How can you achieve self-development when you have only one dogma for the group that you belong to, when this group is composed of so many different characters, background, families, countries and the rest?

The answer to this question is that you are the only one that can determine which path you take for self-development. Everyone needs help and guidance. In our case, astrology is an excellent tool that helps at the individual level, without joining the congregation. With astrology as a tool, you can create your own dogma according to who you are, what is your real situation, from what experiences you arrived until today and provides a road map on which way to go. We are all different, even if we share a lot of common aspects.

Since ancient times there have been tales, books and stories that narrate the journey of some character doing what we described. It can be following a path, or searching for life’s answers or changing the way they acted to become a better person.

We are going to mention two books that are worlds apart from the time they were written or from the culture they come from, but in essence they denote the same goal. Self-Evolution.

The first book is The Odyssey, one of the major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer, from around the 8th or 7th century BC and the second one is The Arabian Nights or also known as The Thousand and One Nights. This last one probably from long before with origin from India and Asia, translated to Arabic in the early eighth century. They are centuries apart and from very different cultural backgrounds.

From the Thousand and One Nights we are going to talk about ‘The Tale of Zayn Al-Asnam and the Sultan of the Jinn’.
The story follows Prince Zayn al-Asnam, the virtuous and wealthy son of a deceased king of Basra. After squandering his inheritance on pleasures, he is visited by his father in a dream, who directs him to dig under his palace for a hidden treasure. There, Zayn finds a cache of gold and a jewel-encrusted statue, along with instructions to go to Egypt and meet a pious devotee who will guide him.

The devotee informs Zayn that his true quest is not for worldly wealth, but to obtain the ninth statue, the most magnificent of a set of eight he already owns. They both journey to a magical island to meet the ‘Sultan of the Jinn’, who asked Zayn to find a pure maiden, young girl, who has never had an impure thought and bring her to him to be his wife.
Zayn eventually finds such a maiden, named Nūr al-Nisā, and despite her beauty and attraction, he resists marrying her himself, honoring his promise to present her as a virginal offering to the Sultan of the Jinn.
The Sultan tests Zayn’s virtue by offering him the choice of taking the maiden for himself or fulfilling his oath. Zayn chooses honor over desire. Impressed, the Sultan of the Jinn reveals that the pure maiden is, in fact, destined to be Zayn’s wife, and gifts him the ninth statue, a human-sized, perfectly sculpted figure of breathtaking beauty, made of a single, luminous gem. The statue serves as a guardian and oracle for Zayn’s kingdom.

The core of the story is one of spiritual maturation. Zayn begins as a prodigal prince, learns discipline, and graduates from seeking gold to seeking a divine, symbolic object (the ninth statue) that represents purity, wisdom, and divine favor.
The main aspects can be summarized as Self-Control by overcoming his initial frivolity, obedience by following the guidance of his father’s spirit or higher self, and honor by Zayn when he subjugates his personal desire to a higher promise. This is the ultimate proof of his transformed character.

Zayn, went from a not mature and inexperienced prince that squandered the fortune of the kingdom to a responsible and dependable person mature enough to lead others. All this was achieved by taking control of his emotions and finding direction in his life by self-mastery, virtue and integrity.

In the Odyssey, our protagonist is Odysseus, also known as Ulysses, who in his journey lost his crew, ships, and pride, forcing him to rely on his intellect and endurance.
Odysseus must resist the temptations of Calypso (immortality and pleasure) and Circe (comfort and forgetfulness), and crucially, he must follow instructions to not give in to impulsive violence or pride.
He is aided (and sometimes hindered) by the gods, primarily Athena, who acts as his mentor and protector. There is always an external (physical or not) source that provides help and guidance.

In the case of Odysseus, the journey is dangerous, external, and filled with monstrous obstacles (Scylla, Charybdis, Cyclops). The tests are often of survival, self support, and endurance against external forces.

At the end, Odysseus clears his house of strangers and reclaims his throne and family. He overcomes all the challenges and reaches his destiny.

Conclusion:

Odysseus represents the ‘Cunning Hero’ whose journey is about using his intellect to navigate a chaotic world and reclaim his place within it. His growth is in humility and patience.

Zayn represents the ‘Moral Hero’ whose journey is about internal purification to become worthy of a divinely ordained role. His growth is virtue and self-control.

Both characters are foundational stories of a hero’s journey where the true battle is against one’s own lower nature and impulses. Odysseus’s struggle is often externalized into monsters and gods, while Zayn is internalized into a clear moral choice. Yet, at their heart, both tales affirm that the greatest conquest is self-mastery, and the ultimate homecoming is to one’s best, truest self.