All English teachers are familiar with Campbell’s work. He was a professor and a writer. He is the one who noticed the undeniable patterns in all great stories. It is the pattern of the Hero’s journey. His famous text The Hero with a Thousand Faces details how this pattern plays out time and time again, not only in great works of literature, but in our own lives as well. We are all heros in our own journey through life. We are all asked to to rise, but only some heed the call.
You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path…
James Campbell
The Steps of the Hero’s Journey
Step One: Call to Action
All great journeys start with the call to action. This call is foreign to us. It appears intriguing but at the same time scary and often dangerous. We long for the adventure but the cost of going seems too great. Perhaps it is a new job or the opportunity for an education. It can be a literal trip to a foreign land. It can be finding the love of your life.
Step Two: The Refusal
Great heros often deny the first call, but the signs and the desire only becomes stronger. The hero is pushed emotionally, spiritually, physically towards the call. Great heroes heed the call. If the call is ignored, the person loses hope and faith and slowly feels the desire inside her slip away.
Step Three: Meeting the Mentor
Every great hero has a mentor who guides him. The mentor can never stay, but is often ephemeral and pops in and out at all of the “right” times. Think Dumbledore in Harry Potter and Gandalf in The Hobbit. These mentors always have a spiritual or physical end. In our own lives, it can be the classroom teacher, the coach of your sports team, a grandparent.
Step Four: Crossing the Threshold
This is where the Hero starts her journey. She puts her fears aside and decides to act on the call. It is the physical representation of her commitment.
Step Five: Tests/Allies/Enemies
All along the hero’s journey, she is met with a mixture of tests. Each test strengthens the hero, but it also takes a toll. Allies can be friends or foes, and the hero is often confused by whom to trust. This is also the part where trust is broken and doubt is sown. It is the moment that Luke is told that Darth Vader is his father. It is the part in Frozen where Elsa creates the snow creature to protect herself. There are many challenges but each step brings the hero closer to the end of the journey. For you, these are your daily struggles, the people who support or work against you along the way, and it is keeping the energy to move through them to the next step.
Step Six: Approach to the Innermost Cave
This is either physical or spiritual. The hero must enter the cave to finally face his greatest fears before he can truly defeat his true foe. These are the final moments of struggle before the real struggle begins. It is often the dark time in the hero’s journey. He doubts everything and everyone. When he leaves this cave, he is reborn and ready to meet his foe. It is Harry Potter before he is “killed” by Voldemort and he is visited by his parents and deceased friends who tell them they will be with him at the end. It is when you don’t feel like you can go any farther and you are forced to see certain truths about yourself. These truths make you feel certain that the path you are on is the right one. You find clarity on the other side.
I will continue this tomorrow…
Where there is a path, it is someone else’s path.
Joseph Campbell
Love and Light
I adore Joseph Campbell and have many of his quotes in my office. His insights have always struck a chord within my own soul and definitely upon my soul’s journey of healing. I find his PBS series on The Power of Myth to be one of the greatest pieces he gave us before passing. I often refer to self healing as becoming your own hero. Nobody is coming to save us in this life therefore it’s taken me layers upon layers to peel from, cry and express and taking many different perspectives into consideration to learn to love myself and feel worthy. His wisdom from decoding the greatest myths through archetypal stories brings so much truth to light. What we all are striving for, the meaning of life and our place in it. A relationship with a higher power, something greater than ourselves. I’m a deep diver and find my place of comfort is in all tnings deep 🌠
This post reminds me to keep being my own hero because not only am I worthy but tbe satisfaction in rescuing myself is pure elation of heart and soul, so much love❤
So much love to you Kelly along your inquisitive journey of self and soul ♥
Thank you so much! I am going to have to check that out. I have never seen it. I feel the same way. I think is our job to find who we are by looking at our paths through the eyes of the Hero. If we see ourselves as the Hero of our own stories, it gives us the opportunity to cycle out of any victim story that may be holding us back. Again, this gets me to thinking…Thanks so much for always letting me know what you are thinking.I look forward to your responses! Sending love, my friend!
Always my ear Kelly, it is a mutual love and interest in our shared paths to living by our soul and of healing. I agree totally with your statements of the path of the Hero and believe we each can be our own. It’s so empowering to know we have the power and right to do so! Let me know what you think of the series, it’s available on Amazon. Love to you always ❤
Will do!!
I can get it on Amazon Prime.
You have to rent it but yes😊