The Heros Journey

1
The Heros Journey

• Joseph Campbell described the Heros Journey as a
  circle starting with the call to adventure
  that information that gets the hero started on
  the journey and finishing with the Hero coming
  home having saved the day bringing the elixir or
  magical item that brings peace.
• The next slide diagrams what that journey may
  look like. Every hero does not go through
  everything in the diagram, but it gived you a
  good idea.

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Heros Journey
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Character Archetypes of theHeros Journey

• Hero
• The one making the journey, facing the
  challenges, and attempting to carry out the
  mission even if reluctantly.
• Shadow
• Often the villain, but may simply be negative
  energy trying to defeat the mission.
• Mentor
• Wise giver of guidance and advice.
• Threshold Guardian
• Tries to prevent hero from proceeding on the
  mission.

4

• Shapeshifter
• May be a helper or enemy or both. May literally
  change shape, form and allegiance. Ex. A bum on
  street with a sign, later learn hes an angel
  helping
• Trickster
• May be hostile or helpful to the hero. Plays
  tricks, games, changes the rules, etc Ex. Bugs
  Bunny
• Herald
• Signals to the hero something important is about
  to happen or points out the approach of
  significant people/events. Ex. R2D2
• Allies
• Assorted good guys/gals who assist hero on the
  journey.

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Heros Journey Steps

• The Miraculous Birth
• Usually at the heros birth, there was some
  astronomical sign shooting star or some other
  sign from the heavens that the hero is special.
• The Ordinary World
• Hero lives in the everyday world, but there may
  be something wrong or the hero may have some
  personal longing, need, or other problem that is
  throwing his life out of balance.

6

• Meeting with the mentor
• The hero comes into contact with a more
  knowledgeable / experienced individual, who
  provides spiritual, emotional, tactical, or
  philosophical guidance as well as encouragement.
• Call to adventure
• Hero is called to move outside his/her ordinary
  life to perform a mission or quest usually in
  response to some crisis that has occurred or is
  impending. The call may be issued by a mentor, a
  herald, or other character.
• Refusal of the call
• Uncertain of his/her abilities, the hero will
  most often refuse the first call to adventure.

7

• Crossing the first threshold
• Hero leaves the ordinary world and enters the
  special world of adventure. He/she may
  encounter threshold guardians along the way
  however, the hero has often gained or realized
  he/she has some special powers to overcome the
  guardians and enter.
• Tests, allies and enemies
• Arriving in the special world, the hero
  encounters a succession of challenges and
  characters some who help (allies), some who
  hinder (trickster), some who may do both
  (shapeshifter). Although the hero will make
  mistakes, he/she will learn from those mistakes
  and better harness his/her special powers.

8

• Approach to the innermost cave
• Having overcome the preliminary challenges and
  obstacles, the hero must penetrate the most
  restricted place of the quest often entering
  Hell or some symbolically similar place. It is
  only here that the hero may find the elixir
  (object/ person/knowledge hero is searching for
  to solve the problem).
• Ordeal
• Within the innermost cave, the hero must face the
  greatest obstacle often a battle with the Shadow
  (often a person but may be the hero facing
  his/her own fears).
• Reward
• Using skills gleaned from the adventure, the hero
  succeeds in obtaining the elixir. With the
  elixir, the hero can now resolve the problem that
  drove him/her from the ordinary world.

9

• The road back
• Hero must return to the ordinary world with the
  elixir however, the enemy may be in hot pursuit.
  At this point, the hero often undergoes some
  death experience literally dies or can be the
  death of beliefs, wishes, dreams, or hopes.
• Resurrection
• The worthy hero is reborn either physically or
  spiritually. The process of rebirth is a
  culmination of the heros transformation. He/she
  has leaned from the challenges and is now a
  better, stronger person. The hero makes it back
  alive to the ordinary world.
• Return with the elixir
• Once crossing back into the ordinary world, the
  hero provides the elixir person, object, etc
  that restores balance to the world. Having died
  and been reborn, the hero is an older, wiser and
  better person for having gone on the quest.
  Supernatural powers and abilities gained in the
  special world are often lost in that world.