Dr. Avraham Cohen’s Field Notes

November 1, 2025

Field Note #79

Avraham Cohen, PhD, RCC-ACS, CCC

Your Personal Odyssey and the Sirens Song

Your

Personal Odyssey

And

the Sirens Song

greektravellers.com/blog/greek-mythology-monsters

Audio version:

Some Quotes of Note

When you dream, you can do what you like.

—J.K. Rowling, writer

All paths lead nowhere. Choose the path with heart…

—Don Juan in Carlos Castaneda’s ‘Journey to Ixtlan.’

One often learns more from ten days of agony than ten years of contentment.

—Merle Shain, journalist and writer

A man who has been through bitter experiences and travelled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time.
― Homer, The Odyssey

Many of my clients tell me how disturbed they are as they continue to learn about the state of the world. They speak of climate issues, wars, the extremes of the left and the right, the leaders of countries who they believe to be inept and dangerous, and the models of leadership that they represent, nuclear weapons, extreme financial fluctuations, job security, what the future holds for children, crime, and an overall sense of insecurity and unsafety. I believe the world is currently replete with circumstances that touch the security wounds of most everyone. Many say that they have fears of a dimension that they have never previously experienced.

They talk about a sense of impending doom, lack of control, and a continuous level of anxiety and fear. They are talking to me about a state of dis-ease about their personal relationships, their marriages, relational concerns at work, children, finances, and fears about employees and employers depending on their job position.

At this stage of my life, I have known about many shocking and horrifying events in the world. However, this current period has been the most disturbing for me. I do wonder why this current time has such an effect on me. Is it because I am hearing much more from my clients related to world conditions than ever before? In turn, I would also ask: Why are my clients seemingly disturbed more than ever by world conditions?

Some possibilities that occur to me are:

1. Concerns about future generations in general, and our own children in particular.
2. A valuing of life in some absolute or preferential way.
3. Persistent ‘education’ about the possibilities and seriousness of dark events.
4. Inundation from media that seems to have an agenda beyond conveying factual information and informed perspectives.
5. Protracted, continuous, rigid identification with an identity, along with the view of polarized identities that are seen as the ‘opposition’ or the wrong way to be.
6. A belief in some ‘higher’ power and the overall ‘knowing’ of this power.

I believe the question that really matters is how I could work with my experience to further my own development and do this in an integrated way so as to further the best life for the planet or at least my small corner of the planet.

As I become increasingly apprised as to what is going on in the world, I wonder what the actual reality is and what really took place or is taking place that gives rise to the narratives and visuals that are sent my way. I realize that what I am exposed to in various forms is a narrative that someone has shaped. The question is: what is the intent? For example, when I walk around the city, I notice increasing numbers of people residing on the sidewalk. Later after I am home I turn on Netflix where I may well be watching a reality similar to what I witnessed on the street but now on the news and/or depicted in a film drama. What is my sense of reality about anything? How real am I to myself? How can I increase and improve my ability to discern the difference between what is real and what is interpreted (and made into stories that are held as if they are the ‘Real Truth.’) If I can integrate this learning, perhaps I wonder if I might better see the world as it is?

It seems to me that the questions about what is real has a lot to do with how much we value something. The moment I value something deeply; this something has potential to become much more real to me. In other words, what matters to me becomes something that I have little or no questions about. I believe that my and your sense of reality has to do with ethics and morality. What am I willing to live for, die for, fight for, and so on. So, what really matters to you and what are the values that underly what matters most to you? I might add that it is a fine line between what we might call real values and biases and about what people ought to be and believe and what they ought not to be or believe.

Some Questions for You

In the service of supporting you to think about what really matters to you, I put to you the following question.

Do you value life; yours, others, and all sentient life?

You may wonder, why ask this? Isn’t the answer obvious? If something is obvious to you, I would suggest to you that it is possible that you have not probed the matter deeply. I suggest that you consider what it means to answer “No” to the question about valuing life. Imagine what it takes to discard a life or to have a hierarchy of lives and their relative value. For example, give some thought to the current wars in the world and the ongoing casualty and death counts, as well as your response when you see images of the dead and wounded and then hear numbers. Or perhaps consider your response to seeing suffering individuals who live on the street.

Have we not become more or less immune to such events? The new normal now seems to take what used to be considered horrifying as ‘business as usual,’ or just one more event in the day.

I recommend reflecting on how these global events are micro-imaged in the close quarters of our personal lives. At the extremes, the main difference between the battles between countries and the battles with ourselves, or with those with whom we live and work, is about the numbers of people involved and the dimensions, and the damage potential of the weaponry utilized. I suggest reflecting on these two levels of experience and note the similarities at the pattern level. Next, let us ask this defining question: if I absolutely do not want to see what is portrayed in the macro-level carnage happen to me and to my loved ones, why do I not feel the same intensity of response with respect to the macro-level happening? In fact, why do I feel rather numb and dissociated when watching the carnage depicted on the news and in films? What really is going on in our individual and collective psyches? I suggest that if we really took in what is happening in the world and its events we would be totally incapacitated. We cannot afford to really know the reality that these events represent. I suggest that you entertain the possibility of letting in a little more of the reality of the world events and see the pattern similarity to the micro level events in our own lives. Perhaps this supplies some increased incentive to work on ourselves and our relationships in the service of ‘local’ peace and harmony.

In reflecting upon the above questions, I have the following insight: that, for survival reasons, we do not invest energy of emotion in matters that are out of our control, whereas we do in matters that we think/perceive/feel that we can control. For me this this insight was followed by reflections on individuals with whom I have worked and who feel they have no control over even the micro-level of their own personhood. What is going on here?

At this point, I turn to the story of Odysseus and his encounter with Circe, and subsequently with the Sirens. I think this story is relevant to the question that I posed above: “What is going on here?” and are an analogy worthy of our consideration and study in the service of peace in our own micro worlds. The story is from Homer, a Greek poet from ancient Greece, who is reputed to have authored the Iliad and the Odyssey.  

hhps://www.amazon.ca/Ulysses-Sirens_Waterhouse-z15377-Poster/dp/B0B1N38NWJ

The Story of Odysseus and the Sirens

At some point during his 10-year long journey, Odysseus encounters Circe. Who was Circe? She was an enchantress with mysterious and great powers. She was enamoured with Odysseus and warned him of the dangers of the Sirens. Of course, Circe was no less dangerous herself and demonstrated this by turning Odysseus’ men into pigs! To protect his men from further harm and optimize the possibility that she would enable their return to human form, he was compelled to meet her wishes and become her lover. They had three sons. Full engagement always has implications!

Circe’s Message to Odysseus

Before Odysseus set sail again with his crew to journey home, Circe gave him advice on how to journey safely. One of these advises was about the Sirens.

First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song.

There is a great heap of dead men’s bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting off them. Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men’s ears with wax that none of them may hear; but if you like you can listen yourself, for you may get the men to bind you as you stand upright on a cross-piece half way up the mast, and they must lash the rope’s ends to the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening. If you beg and pray the men to unloose you, then they must bind you faster.

(See Samuel Butler’s translation of The Odyssey, Book XII, online via MIT.)

I take Circe’s message to Odysseus as an allegory for us and the contemporary world. Given that this narrative was written around the 8^th century BC, we might wonder what motivates continued reading and study of this writing to this day. I believe it is easy enough to see that the themes about life, conflict, and meaning are just as significant to this day.

Let me draw out a few themes from this story and say something about how they might apply to the contemporary world as well as to our own life dilemmas.

Odysseus is often portrayed as a great adventurer. Truly his goal was to return to his home. However, during his long journey home, he frequently was lost. After fighting in a war for 10 years, he spent another 10 years trying to find the way home. He was frequently taken off course by strong winds and other factors. His ability to navigate was limited. Finally, he was successful in returning to his home. His wife, Penelope, had faithfully waited for 20 long years, even while living with the presumption that he had died. They had one son, Telemachus, who in the spirit of all tales, such as this, was involved in a conflict with Telegonus, Odysseus’ unknown son by Circe. Eventually Telegonus accidentally killed his father, Odysseus. Perhaps Freud was right after all!?

What can we learn from this Homeric tale in the service of living well in the contemporary world?

As many of you will know, the tale of Odysseus is complex. Our focus is on his encounter with the Sirens.

Odysseus has a powerful and incredibly compelling inner drive to experience the sirens’ and their song. His will to survive his encounter was very strong. He was no doubt certain that they were beautiful beyond description. As well, he knows that many before him have died when they sailed their ships toward the shore of the island where the sirens dwell. He wants to see them and hear their song, but he does not want his ship to founder on the rocks and have his men die along with himself. He exhibits uncommon common sense. He has his loyal sailors restrain him. As instructed, they tie him securely to the mast. He can hear, see, and most substantially feel the incredible inner pull toward the sirens. His restraints ensure that he cannot do anything to endanger the ship and his crew. He had them plug their own ears and put on blindfolds so they would not be affected by the the sirens extreme seductive power. They are protected from any entreaties from Odysseus to release him as they sail near the island and the power of the Siren’s song works on Odysseus. They do not unplug their ears or take off their blindfolds. The mast and Odysseus’ bindings completely constrain him, and his loyal sailors row steadily past the siren’s call. Odysseus sets the example for us about not falling into the pit of temptation.

What insights might we derive from the tale of Odysseus’ encounter with the Sirens?

• At the level of survival and continuance, it seems that we are strongly inclined to become numb, deaf, dumb, and blind to the state of the world. To stay conscious and see the world as it is, we must learn to bear the pain of seeing horrible sights and ‘hearing’ the screams of the suffering. This is on the world scale. To see clearly how the world is, is probably just too much for most of us to truly bear!
  • On a personal level, our own trials and tribulations in all dimensions of our lives are of a similar pattern as that of the world and the pandemic of suffering. Although our personal suffering is on a much smaller scale that what we see internationally. It is not different in pattern, and mostly very different in the dimension of weaponry that is brought to bear. And of course, our suffering is still big to us. The Sirens are beautiful and sing with incredibly beautiful voices, and are incredibly difficult to resist. Think about that which you do not resist and yet has damaging and even life-threatening implications. We must be tied with strong resilient material to our own version of the mast on our personal ‘ships’ as they sail on through our life. Perhaps reflect on what it would take to be tied to your own mast to resist that which is dangerous and destructive to you and others. How can you learn to distinguish between true beauty that enriches and beauty that kills? Odysseus is every man, every woman, and all sentient beings who are tested in life. His story gives us a map for living life within the context of the way the world is. Perhaps it is helpful to see his adventures and ours as tests set for us by the gods, life, the ineffable, the force, however you choose to name it… The strength of the bindings and the support of our network is essential for survival and eventual thriving. Without his loyal crewmen, Odysseus couldn’t have survived. What is crucial in all this is, a personal dream about possibilities to be increasingly alive, and to live in ways that carry us beyond personal survival. Our mast, the bindings, and our support must all be resilient and prepared and willing to work in the service of life. Our dream to hear the Sirens and not be destroyed by them requires awareness, alertness, certain kinds of skills, and wisdom. Our ability and capacity to see beyond our individual consciousness to the collective consciousness is certainly a crucial part of the developmental process.

Identifying our core values, learning to live these values increasingly, and being able to respond to Mary Oliver’s great poetic statement and question: “Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Many thanks to my great and precious supporter, Heesoon, for help with this Note.

My very best wishes for the coming season, and for the coming year…

Shalom to you all,

Avraham

PS This will be the final Field Note for 2025. Field Note publication will resume February 1, 2026 when Neelam Oik, MA, RCC

(https://www.lifewiseclinic.com/about-neelam-olk) will author a guest Field Note for you.

I will return in March 2026. As well, I will continue to bring you talented guest Field Note authors as time goes by.