by Mona Pellerin

Created on: December 02, 2009

THE HERO AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE JOURNEY

.it becomes apparent that the purpose and actual effect of myths was to conduct people across those difficult thresholds of transformation that demand a change in the patterns not only of conscious but also of unconscious life. The so-called rites of passage, which occupy such a prominent place in the life of a primitive society (ceremonials of birth, naming, puberty, marriage, burial, etc.,) are distinguished by formal, and usually very severe, exercises of severance, whereby the mind is radically cut away from the attitudes, attachments and life patterns of the stage being left behind.

Joseph Campbell

The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1973)

The journey of the hero or heroine is about growth and self-discovery. During the journey a person passes through three psychological thresholds: (1) Separation; (2) Initiation; and (3) Return. Separation involves a call to adventure whereby some event, person or insight illuminated a larger view of the world other than the status quo. Initiation involves the road of trials where all types of dangers and mysterious looking creatures attempt to prevent the journey from moving forward. The last threshold is the Return or to the banalities he or she left behind

and to share the learning with others. At any point of the journey, there is the option to stop and to turn back or to proceed with the process of discovery of the unique self. During the journey, there always emerges a helper which may be an animal or a person which typically includes a mother figure and a father figure.

The elements in the hero's journey have been played out through mythology, fairy tales, novels, plays and movies. The myth about Hercules battle with the Lernean Hydra, a water-serpent with nine heads is characterized by Claus Jacobsen, Hercules Lessons II: How to Manage a Crisis, Feb. 6, 2008, as a lesson in how to manage multiple issues involved in a crisis. Claus says, on the psychological level the story deals with frustration, procrastination and poor execution of plans. Hercules on his own could not prevent each head he cut off from growing back until he has an idea of torching the open wounds. For this he engaged the help of Iolaus the annoying crab who was a traveling companion that kept striking at his ankle. The lesson learned was that a crisis can best be handled through cooperative efforts.

Some claim that the hero's journey is too often portrayed from a masculine point of view, but,

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