The poet-musician who journeyed to the Underworld to retrieve his wife Eurydice, using his art to navigate the realm of the dead, a classic shamanic descent.

The wounded healer who travels in trance to the spirit world to retrieve lost souls, negotiate with spirits, and restore balance to the community.

The core action of the myth and its legacy, representing the deliberate voyage into non-ordinary reality for knowledge, healing, and retrieval.

The core action of the myth, representing the necessary descent into the unconscious (lower world) and ascent to spiritual insight (upper world) to retrieve knowledge and healing.

The core process of the myth, representing the voluntary descent into the non-ordinary realms of the psyche to retrieve knowledge, power, or healing.

The core action modeled by the myth, representing the deliberate voyage into non-ordinary states of consciousness to retrieve knowledge, power, or healing.