Joseph Campbell, professor of comparative mythology, has spent his life studying all sorts of mythological stories, symbols and characters from all over the world. He came to the conclusion that one particular kind of story can seemingly be found in every single culture and also appears again and again in contemporary literature or film. He termed it Monomyth or The Hero's Journey.
One of the main reasons why this particular story shows up in basically every culture is that it engages human beings at a level which is so fundamental to our existence that we all can identify with it. The Hero's Journey is something that happens to virtually everybody. It is the classic story of a youth, living comfortably at home, sheltered by the parents, being called out into the world in order to face adventures and challenges, growing stronger and gaining self-knowledge in the process. It is Luke Skywalker setting out to defeat the dark side and gaining knowledge about who he really is; it is Hercules confronted with challenges and adversity in the shape of The Nemean Lion (for example) only to slay the beast and increase his strength; it is yourself moving out from your sheltered home and looking to become your own person in this world. In this article, considering my age and experience, I will focus on the first couple of steps of the journey today.
There are a couple of different versions of the essential steps or stages of The Hero's Journey, yet they only vary slightly. Basically, it revolves around this:
It is a circle, or maybe rather a cycle. You start out into the unknown and have to face adversity and overcome challenges in order to become stronger and discover your path in life. Having received the strength and having built your character you return to the ordinary world in order to share your experience and encourage others to go on their very own Hero's Journey. Needless to say, all of this is to be understood metaphorically and never literally. I mean, unless you encounter an actual living dragon, then take it literally all you want. Also, I am not trying to imply that there is some sort of secret grand plan for everyone and that we only have to find out about it. That would imply some kind of divine being planning everything out and I don't think that there is enough of a reason to believe in something like that. I tend to think that there is no plan at all and that you'll have to figure it out by yourself. If however, you should find yourself in a situation that is similar to one of the metaphorical stages of The Hero's Journey, considering your situation as part of that journey can help you overcome the adversity your facing. Seeing that most people struggle when they reach the point of Crossing the Threshold can broaden your perspective on the situation and help you push through to where you want to be.
For me, for example, moving out from home into a new and (for me) big city can be understood as my Call to Adventure. It's not quite as dramatic as Luke Skywalker's call (unfortunately, because I would have loved to meet Yoda), yet it is part of my very own personal journey. Now, the Refusal of the Call for me could be running back home to my parents any chance I get, because staying in this new city and feeling alone a lot in the beginning is just too scary. The threshold to cross for me here is to stay at my own place even though it may be hard for me in the beginning, because then and only then can I start building up a new life in this new city as a new person with new (and renewed old) relationships. By realizing that most people go through a period of difficulty in a situation of strong change I gain more strength myself in pursuing the path of becoming my own person. This particular Call to Adventure is a very common one in Western society due to the way the education system tends to be set up. There seem to be three major ways this change can manifest itself. There are people who are alone a lot in the beginning and have to deal with that somehow, there are people who out of fear of being alone throw themselves into all kinds of activities in order to keep their mind off of their insecurity and need to navigate through that in order to deal with the change and there are people who are too afraid to jump and stay at home well after they have heard the call. All of these, or mixtures of them, are part of the challenges one has to overcome in order to achieve more independence and grow as a person. Failure thereby is almost never final and also just part of the journey. If you didn't make it the first time, try again.
This concept of The Hero's Journey is closely linked to another essential topic of Joseph Campbell's writings which is the concept of following your bliss. This refers to the idea of pursuing what really fascinates you, what gets you going, what makes you itch, as Alan Watts put it. This is not about mere interest or even passion. It is about that thing that makes your eyes light up, that reinvigorates you and thereby hints at where you may want to go in life. It's fascinating to watch people as they talk about that thing, their thing, as they literally start glowing with enthusiasm in front of you. That thing, that bliss could be anything. It could be teaching children, it could be a certain philosophy, a sport, being a carpenter, another person, whatever. By taking part in The Hero's Journey the hero is on his way of pursuing his bliss. There will be challenges and times where he does not feel that enthusiasm anymore, yet his bliss, that thing that really makes him feel alive is the thing to pursue. As Friedrich Nietzsche put it in Thus Spoke Zarathustra:
It is the idea that pursuing what really moves and invigorates you is worth the struggle it will demand. This might not be the case for everyone, but maybe for some people this may ring true as well. Nevertheless I feel like The Hero's Journey can provide some help in certain situations by reminding one that clouds usually pass and that adversity can also be used to build more strength for the next challenge. This is not to say that all the bad things that happen have some sort of hidden meaning, not at all. It rather is an invitation to consider certain difficulties as opportunities to learn and grow stronger from. Again, paraphrasing Nietzsche, we only ever build the strength we need.
One of the main reasons why this particular story shows up in basically every culture is that it engages human beings at a level which is so fundamental to our existence that we all can identify with it. The Hero's Journey is something that happens to virtually everybody. It is the classic story of a youth, living comfortably at home, sheltered by the parents, being called out into the world in order to face adventures and challenges, growing stronger and gaining self-knowledge in the process. It is Luke Skywalker setting out to defeat the dark side and gaining knowledge about who he really is; it is Hercules confronted with challenges and adversity in the shape of The Nemean Lion (for example) only to slay the beast and increase his strength; it is yourself moving out from your sheltered home and looking to become your own person in this world. In this article, considering my age and experience, I will focus on the first couple of steps of the journey today.
There are a couple of different versions of the essential steps or stages of The Hero's Journey, yet they only vary slightly. Basically, it revolves around this:
- Ordinary World
- Call to Adventure
- Refusal of the Call
- Meeting the Mentor
- Crossing the Threshold
- Tests, Allies, Enemies
- Approach
- Ordeal, Death & Rebirth
- Reward, Seizing the Sword
- The Road Back
- Resurrection
- Return with Elixir
It is a circle, or maybe rather a cycle. You start out into the unknown and have to face adversity and overcome challenges in order to become stronger and discover your path in life. Having received the strength and having built your character you return to the ordinary world in order to share your experience and encourage others to go on their very own Hero's Journey. Needless to say, all of this is to be understood metaphorically and never literally. I mean, unless you encounter an actual living dragon, then take it literally all you want. Also, I am not trying to imply that there is some sort of secret grand plan for everyone and that we only have to find out about it. That would imply some kind of divine being planning everything out and I don't think that there is enough of a reason to believe in something like that. I tend to think that there is no plan at all and that you'll have to figure it out by yourself. If however, you should find yourself in a situation that is similar to one of the metaphorical stages of The Hero's Journey, considering your situation as part of that journey can help you overcome the adversity your facing. Seeing that most people struggle when they reach the point of Crossing the Threshold can broaden your perspective on the situation and help you push through to where you want to be.
For me, for example, moving out from home into a new and (for me) big city can be understood as my Call to Adventure. It's not quite as dramatic as Luke Skywalker's call (unfortunately, because I would have loved to meet Yoda), yet it is part of my very own personal journey. Now, the Refusal of the Call for me could be running back home to my parents any chance I get, because staying in this new city and feeling alone a lot in the beginning is just too scary. The threshold to cross for me here is to stay at my own place even though it may be hard for me in the beginning, because then and only then can I start building up a new life in this new city as a new person with new (and renewed old) relationships. By realizing that most people go through a period of difficulty in a situation of strong change I gain more strength myself in pursuing the path of becoming my own person. This particular Call to Adventure is a very common one in Western society due to the way the education system tends to be set up. There seem to be three major ways this change can manifest itself. There are people who are alone a lot in the beginning and have to deal with that somehow, there are people who out of fear of being alone throw themselves into all kinds of activities in order to keep their mind off of their insecurity and need to navigate through that in order to deal with the change and there are people who are too afraid to jump and stay at home well after they have heard the call. All of these, or mixtures of them, are part of the challenges one has to overcome in order to achieve more independence and grow as a person. Failure thereby is almost never final and also just part of the journey. If you didn't make it the first time, try again.
This concept of The Hero's Journey is closely linked to another essential topic of Joseph Campbell's writings which is the concept of following your bliss. This refers to the idea of pursuing what really fascinates you, what gets you going, what makes you itch, as Alan Watts put it. This is not about mere interest or even passion. It is about that thing that makes your eyes light up, that reinvigorates you and thereby hints at where you may want to go in life. It's fascinating to watch people as they talk about that thing, their thing, as they literally start glowing with enthusiasm in front of you. That thing, that bliss could be anything. It could be teaching children, it could be a certain philosophy, a sport, being a carpenter, another person, whatever. By taking part in The Hero's Journey the hero is on his way of pursuing his bliss. There will be challenges and times where he does not feel that enthusiasm anymore, yet his bliss, that thing that really makes him feel alive is the thing to pursue. As Friedrich Nietzsche put it in Thus Spoke Zarathustra:
"Halte heilig deine höchste Hoffnung. Wirf den Helden in deiner Seele nicht weg."(literal) translation:
"Hold holy your highest hope. Don't throw away the hero in your soul."
It is the idea that pursuing what really moves and invigorates you is worth the struggle it will demand. This might not be the case for everyone, but maybe for some people this may ring true as well. Nevertheless I feel like The Hero's Journey can provide some help in certain situations by reminding one that clouds usually pass and that adversity can also be used to build more strength for the next challenge. This is not to say that all the bad things that happen have some sort of hidden meaning, not at all. It rather is an invitation to consider certain difficulties as opportunities to learn and grow stronger from. Again, paraphrasing Nietzsche, we only ever build the strength we need.
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