The Hero’s Journey, according to Joseph Campbell

Do we always write the same story? What determines our path of evolution? There are different theories and one of them is the one proposed by Joseph Campbell describing a path of personal development called The hero’s journey that each of us experience at different times in our lives.

The choice of a path would depend a lot on the energetic resonance of the person, their courage and their bravery in the face of the challenges they take on. In this sense, consciously or not, We can all see ourselves reflected in the same basic model of history and Campbell proposes a 17-phase structure to understand it.

Who is Joseph Campbell?

Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) was an American writer and professor, specialized in the study of mythology and religion, who discovered the repetition of a basic pattern of experiences studying many stories from all over the world in which reference is made to a god, divinity, savior or hero.

Campbell describes the stages that a character or hero goes through (the one myth or monomyth) and which can be found in Western and Eastern religions alike. He explained it at length in his book The hero with a thousand faces (1949), one of the most influential works in 20th century literature. In short, in it he tries to explain the simple and basic concept of “pursue your happiness”, which human beings long for.

The hero’s journey

The hero’s journey is a structure that stands out for its flexibility, capable of mutating without sacrificing its magic. The different phases try to explain the circular history in which a protagonist begins a journey that will change his lifefacing different difficulties to achieve a goal and be able to return home.

The circularity of the hero’s journey imitates the traditional compass of the world: life and death, order and chaos, consciousness and unconsciousness. The protagonist goes through several phases that take the action to the end, completing what is called the character’s arc, his evolution.

The 17 phases of the structure of the One Myth

Campbell describes seventeen stages or steps along this journey, although very few myths meet all seventeen. Some add many of the stages and others only some. The seventeen stages can be organized in different ways.

To understand its development, the division into three sections is common: departure (sometimes called “separation”), initiation and return.

Exit

The exit is about the hero’s adventure before completing the mission. In this section, the following aspects stand out:

The ordinary world and the call to adventure: within everyday life, something happens and works as a call to action.Call rejection: Obligations, insecurity, weakness and fear influence the hero to reject the call and prefer to remain as he is. But finally, by necessity, he must embark on the adventure.The teacher appears: the guide or instructor appears who will introduce you to this new world. He often prepares you for what is to come and offers you tools and amulets of protection. In this way, the protagonist is prepared to cross the border from the ordinary world to the extraordinary world.The first threshold: The hero enters the field of adventure, venturing into unknown and dangerous terrain where there are no known rules or limitations. He has crossed the door. The hero is now ready to take action and truly begin the quest for him, whether physical, spiritual, or emotional.In the belly of the whale: represents the hero’s final separation from the known self and world. By participating in this stage, he shows himself willing to undergo a metamorphosis.

Initiation

Initiation deals with the hero’s various adventures along the way:

Tests: different, seemingly impossible tasks that the hero must overcome. He makes mistakes and, through them, discovers his weaknesses, strengths and talents.Meeting with the goddess: the hero discovers how unfathomable and powerful love and unconditional dedication are. True love is personified.The temptation: Many activities, pleasures, and rewards tempt the hero to give up.The supreme test: the hero faces himself and is initiated.The apotheosis: the metamorphosis or definitive transformation elevates the hero to a higher plane.The final gift: symbolizes the achievement of the mission, the climax. All the previous steps served to prepare the hero for this moment in which he achieves that precious transcendental objective. This is the climax of the hero’s story, where everything he loves comes into play.

Return

The return is about the return of the hero with the knowledge and skills acquired on the journey.

The refusal to return: after having found happiness and enlightenment in the other world, the hero doubts, disbelieves or refuses to return to the ordinary world to grant the acquired gift to his fellow men.The magical flight: Sometimes the hero must escape with the gift he has obtained, fleeing from gods and dangers.The external rescue: Just as you had needed initiators and guides to begin the adventure, you will need assistants or saviors to begin the return, because you are probably hurt, weak or disillusioned by the experience.The return threshold: the meaning of return is the conservation of the wisdom acquired in the search. Incorporating that wisdom into a human life and then finding a way to share it with the rest of the world.Master of two worlds: the hero achieves a balance between the material and the spiritual. Being able to feel complete and competent in both worlds, the everyday and the exceptional; the interior and the exterior.Freedom to live: balance and understanding lead to freedom from the fear of death. The hero, with the powerful achievement of him, chooses to live in the moment.

Upon returning to the ordinary world, the character will have grown as a person and acquired many lessons. He will have faced many terrible dangers; including death. He now looks forward to the beginning of a new life. He discovers, at last, the treasure of his own identity.

The hero’s journey represents three things: change, success and the test of the journey lived. Ultimately, the hero will return to where he started, but the ecosystem will clearly never be the same.