Most of mankind’s major expeditions happened from east to west. Since the beginning of man’s history, people have wondered where the giant fireball set at the end of the day and followed the journey of the sun. Odysseus, Christopher Columbus and Attila the Hun all believed the answer lied in the west. To journey to the west – that was a quest to know the future.
Contrary to the people who questioned where the sun was heading towards, there were also people who wondered where the sun came from. Marco Polo, Napoleon and Bilbo Baggins (protagonist of The Hobbit By J.R.R. Tolkien) are examples of people who travelled to the east. They believed that they would surely discover great things in the place where everything originated from.
In the symbolic system of adventure, there are still two directions left for travellers. The meanings of each are as follows: to venture north is to seek obstacles that can test your abilities, while journeying to the south is seeking rest and peace.
(from The Encyclopaedia of Relative and Absolute Knowledge by Bernard Werber)
