Joseph Campbell

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Joseph CampbellsHero Journey

• The Hero with a Thousand Faces
• a theory for all the ages

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The Monomyth

• It will always be the one, shape-shifting yet
  marvelously constant story that we find, together
  with a challengingly persistent suggestion of
  more remaining to be experienced than will ever
  be known or told.
• (Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 1949.)

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DEPARTURE(also known as Separation)

• The Call to Adventure
• Refusal of the Call
• Supernatural Aid
• The Crossing of the First Threshold
• The Belly of the Whale

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INITIATION

• The Road of Trials
• The Meeting with the Goddess
• Woman as Temptress
• Atonement with the Father
• Apotheosis
• The Ultimate Boon

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RETURN

• Refusal of the Return
• The Magic Flight
• Rescue from Without
• The Crossing of the Return Threshold
• Master of the Two Worlds
• Freedom to Live

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The Call an invitation to adventure

• willingly or unwillingly
• transformative crisis or gradual
• something has been taken the quest is to find
  it something is missing in life the quest is
  to find what is lacking honor has been sullied
  it must be restored something is not permitted
  rights must be restored
• Interesting note the herald is often an
  animal or stranger

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• "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, youre my only
  hope.
• -- Princess Leia, A New Hope

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Refusal of the Call a polite no thanks

• a vehement denial or a last moment of hesitancy
• based on fears of the unknown or
  societal/familial/cultural constraints
• may be manifested through a regret or desire for
  normalcy
• can only result in stagnation, disintegration,
  and death

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• "We are plain quiet folk and have no use for
  adventures.  Nasty uncomfortable things!  Make
• you late for dinner! I can't see what anybody
  sees
• in them...Good morning!...we don't want any
  adventures here, thank you!  You might try over
• The Hill or across The Water.
• - Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit by J.R.R.
  Tolkien

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Call to Adventure Links

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vMy8Kwzbl10k
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vMOHVSi65bPk
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vkkAM0tRv5lMfeature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v6T1tvyfcezI

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Supernatural Aid helpers and mentors

• a protective figure offers advice
• mentors are often little old men or old crones
• helpers often become sidekicks on the quest
• Aid is often presented in the form of a talisman
  or divine gift (ring, sword, magical helmet, map,
  etc.)

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• "I can guide you but you must
• do exactly as I say.
• -- Morpheus, The Matrix

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The Crossing of the Threshold jumping off
point of the adventure

• passage must be earned
• threshold is often blocked by an adversarial
  guardian who requires the hero to rethink the
  plan
• threshold the territory between the known and
  the unknown

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• You mean you'll put down your rock, and I'll
  put down my sword and we'll try and kill each
  other like civilized people?
• -- Wesley, The Princess Bride

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The Belly of the Whale transit into a sphere of
rebirth

• a symbol of the womb
• a form of self-annihilation
• a near-death (or death of the old ways/the old
  self) and a resurrection
• sometimes called Into the Abyss

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A few more film clips

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v35cLo7d07Xs
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vVSnPjiLEA2Yfeature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vUc5skIrEiVEfeature
  related
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v7U3Oti2L8S4
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vjs1clOdhNM8

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The Road of Trials(aka The Challenges, The
Tests)

• tests may be physical or spiritual
• the trials become progressively more difficult
• the hero discovers and assimilates his opposite
  either by swallowing it or by being swallowed
  (Cambell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces).
• trials often include brother battle, dragon
  battle, abduction/sea/night journey, ritual death
  or dismemberment

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The Meeting with the Goddess(a sacred or
mystical marriage)

• a woman of mystical power who offers gifts/
  aid/healing/nurturing
• woman represents the totality of what can be
  known (Cambell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces).
• sometimes a hero finds the person he can love
  most deeply
• Sometimes a hero discovers feminine intuition a
  heroine finds male reason
• the union of opposites can take place entirely
  within a person

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The Temptress temptation as obstacle

• the meeting with a woman may be another obstacle
  to overcome
• woman a symbol of life, so recognizing the
  woman as temptress a revulsion of the flesh or
  earthly self

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Atonement with the Father(at-one-ment)

• often involves an encounter with the father
  figure or recognition from a person of power
• the hero has taken the fathers place
• the ogre father is seen in a more realistic
  light and therefore the world view shifts
• for the transformation to take place, a death and
  rebirth must occur

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Apotheosis becoming godlike

• a god-like state free of strife and obstacles
• a period of rest before the hero returns to the
  real world
• the hero has moved beyond the pairs of opposites
  male/female, time/eternity, enemy/friend,
  birth/death, yang/yin, etc.

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The Ultimate Boonthe quest realized

• the hero meets the original goal finds what he
  was seeking all along
• sometimes leads to transcendence (especially
  since the quest is often for an elixir of
  immortality)

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Refusal of the ReturnYou mean I have to go
back?!?

• when the battles are won and the elixir is in
  hand, sometimes the hero balks at having to leave
  all the adventure behind and return to the real
  world
• the refusal may be adamant or brief, obvious or
  implied
• sometimes it is impossible to return to the real
  world because it has been destroyed

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The Magic Flight help/hindrance for the return

• sometimes the hero wins the elixir and receives
  favor/power from the gods in this situation,
  the return trip is magically shortened or made
  easier with gifts
• if the elixir is stolen rather than won, powers
  may conspire against the hero to prevent a
  successful return in this case, the return trip
  can be as arduous as the original road of trials

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Rescue from WithoutA little help, please?

• if the hero refuses the return or if powers
  conspire against a successful return, an outside
  source may step in to assist
• resurrection is often linked to this step a
  literal visitation or a metaphorical voice from
  the past may coincide with the return

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Crossing the Return ThresholdBack to the
grindstone

• the hero must find a way to retain the wisdom
  gained from the adventure and apply it to
  everyday existence
• its often difficult to deliver the boon,
  especially if it involves wisdom rather than a
  physical gift the hero must translate
  otherworld experiences so that ordinary people
  understand them
• synonymous to reverse culture shock

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Master of Two Worldstranscendental heroes

• the hero releases the ordinary self and gives
  himself/herself over to destiny
• usually represented through transcendence from
  human to god-form (Jesus/Buddah)
• for human heroes, it means that a balance has
  been struck between the material and spiritual
  worlds.

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The Freedom to Livedenouement

• open plot points in the story resolve themselves
• a reconciliation between consciousness and
  universal will
• mastery of the quest removes a fear of death
  which allows the hero freedom to live
• involves a realization that the journey is never
  really over