After reflecting on the lecture and the readings, it left me in a state of wonder with what seems like just as many questions as answers. Some of these questions seem to have challenged me for a while now and maybe it is precisely through the study of myth that I can best understand them, such as fate and free will.

I am wondering to what extent archetypal energies are controlling our behaviors and to what extent will they always remain, even if they are just beneath the surface waiting to be resurrected in a new time. Are  humans merely instruments playing out the will of the "Gods" and Earth is the location of an epic proxy war that has been raging since the beginning of time? Perhaps, this is just the mindset that the vigilant and armed would have me believe, or perhaps it is time as the readings suggest to "Align ourselves with other gods" and what might the sacrifice be for this realignment? How much must be done to get back in the favor of Gaia. 

The quote that stands out the most to me from the readings, "Better also to make of the Underworld a place of initiation instead of a destination." I found this message poignant and an appropriate personal reminder that I don't need to get comfortable in the underworld, even though it seems like a place of familiarity, as much of the modern era would have me believe it has been operating here--behind the scenes beneath the surface in the company of Hades.