The Hero’s Journey: Warrior Mind Podcast #180

The hero’s journey is a mythological adventure that has been and continues to be played out in lives of the initiate (the one called forth). It is archetypal in nature which allows everyone to relate to it.

The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers

Bill Moyers: Myths are the stories of our search through the ages for truth, for meaning, for significance. We all need to tell our story and to understand our story. We all need to understand death and to cope with death, and we all need help in our passages from birth to life and then to death. We need life to signify, to touch the eternal, to understand the mysterious, to find out who we are.

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 Joseph Campbell: People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. That’s what it’s all finally about, and that’s what these clues help us to find within ourselves.

Enjoy the Podcast on The Hero’s Journey

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• The Hero’s Journey – THE ORDINARY WORLD. The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma. The hero is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history. Some kind of polarity in the hero’s life is pulling in different directions and causing stress. This is your “Comfort” or complacent zone

• The Hero’s Journey – THE CALL TO ADVENTURE. Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from deep within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change. The hero is presented with a problem, challenge, or adventure to undertake. Once presented with a Call to Adventure, she can no longer remain indefinitely in the ease of the Ordinary World (comfort zone). The Call to Adventure establishes the stakes of the game, and makes clear the hero’s goal: to win the treasure or the lover, to achieve a dream, confront a challenge, or change a life. This is that feeling that something’s missing….that there is more to life than just “this”…the big question is being asked “who am I? And you must to find out!

•  The Hero’s Journey – REFUSAL OF THE CALL. The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however briefly. Alternately, another character may express the uncertainty and danger ahead. This one is about fear. Often at this point the hero balks at the threshold of adventure, Refusing the Call or expressing reluctance. After all, she is facing the greatest of all fears, terror of the unknown. The hero has not fully committed to the journey and may still be thinking of turning back. Some other influence—a change in circumstances, a further offense against the natural order of things, or the encouragement of a Mentor—is required to get her past this turning point of fear. This is where you begin to talk yourself out of “it…I don’t need to go to the retreat, I’ve just been working too much…I know…I’ll take a vacation and then everything will be fine. If you’ve confided in your friends they simply tell you not to do “it”, it’s just midlife….guess what? It is midlife….it’s calling to you to make a change!

•  The Hero’s Journey – MEETING WITH THE MENTOR. The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey. Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom. By this time many stories will have introduced a Merlin-like character who is the hero’s Mentor. The function of Mentors is to prepare the hero to face the unknown. They may give advice, guidance or magical equipment. However the Mentor can only go so far with the hero. Eventually the hero must face the unknown alone. Sometimes the Mentor is required to give the hero a swift kick in the pants to get the adventure going. At Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior Intensive you’ll not only have me as your mentor, guide and coach, you’ll also discover your unique Power Animal and Spirit Guide to help you with your adventure.

• The Hero’s Journey – CROSSING THE THRESHOLD. The hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values. Now the hero finally commits to the adventure and fully enters the Special World of the story for the first time by crossing the First Threshold. He agrees to face the consequences of dealing with the problem or challenge posed in the Call to Adventure. The hero is now committed to his/her journey and there’s no turning back. When you arrive at Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior Intensive you’ll crossing that threshold. It will be a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual threshold.

• The Hero’s Journey – TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES. The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World. Once across the First Threshold, the hero naturally encounters new challenges and Tests, makes Allies and Enemies, and begins to learn the rules of the Special World. At the retreat you’ll meet other travelers and together you’ll face your inner enemies by experiencing process that will test, educate push you.

• The Hero’s Journey – APPROACH. The hero and new-found allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world. Approach covers all the preparations for entering the Inmost Cave and confronting death or supreme danger. The hero comes at last to the edge of a dangerous place, sometimes deep underground, where the object of the quest is hidden. When the hero enters that fearful place he will cross the second major threshold. This the phase of the Approach. Approach covers all the preparations for entering the Inmost Cave and confronting death or supreme danger. Sometimes it’s just the hero going into his/her own dream world to confront fears and overcome them. The Inmost Cave is your soul. And in this part you’ll experience Soul Spelunking. This is where you’ll discover and return pieces of your soul and make it complete so that you can uncover your life purpose.

•  The Hero’s Journey – THE ORDEAL. Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear. Out of the moment of death comes a new life. (Dark night of the soul). Here the fortunes of the hero hit bottom in a direct confrontation with his greatest fear. He faces the possibility of death and is brought to the brink in a battle with a hostile force. This is a critical moment in any story, an ordeal in which the hero appears to die and be born again.  It’s a major source of the magic of the hero myth.  This is the magic of rites of passage and rites of initiation into fraternities and secret societies.  The initiate is forced to taste death and experience resurrection.  You’re never more alive than when you think you’re going to die. In this phase of Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior Intensive you’ll face your deepest fears of yourself. This is where you find out about your shadows and make friends with them.

• The Hero’s Journey – THE REWARD. The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death. There may be celebration, but there is also danger of losing the treasure again. The hero now takes possession of the treasure she has come seeking, her Reward. It might be a special weapon like a magic sword, or a token like the Grail or some elixir which can heal the wounded land. Sometimes the “sword” is knowledge and experience that leads to greater understanding and a reconciliation with hostile forces. There are many rewards at this junction and part of your reward here will be to know your life purpose and who you really are…your authentic self and all the joy that comes with it.

• The Hero’s Journey – THE ROAD BACK. Here the hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is brought home. We’re crossing into Act Three now as the hero begins to deal with the consequences of confronting the dark forces of the Supreme Ordeal. If she has not yet managed to reconcile with the parent, the gods, or the hostile forces, they may come raging after her. The hero realizes that the Special World must eventually be left behind, and there are still dangers, temptations, and tests ahead. In addition to any further forgiveness, during this phase you’ll develop a plan on how to live an authentic life that will include the 7 aspects of fulfillment.

• The Hero’s Journey – THE RESURRECTION. At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home. He or she is purified by a last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level. The hero who has been to the realm of the dead must be reborn and cleansed in one last Ordeal of death and Resurrection before returning to the Ordinary World of the living. Death and darkness get in one last, desperate shot before being finally defeated. It’s a kind of final exam for the hero, who must be tested once more to see if he has really learned the lessons of the Supreme Ordeal. The hero is transformed by these moments of death-and-rebirth, and is able to return to ordinary life reborn as a new being. During this phase you’ll ceremoniously put to rest the “old” you and step fully into the “new you…the authentic you.

• The Hero’s Journey – RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR. The hero returns home bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed. The hero Returns to the Ordinary World, but the journey is meaningless unless she brings back some Elixir, treasure, or lesson from the Special World. The Elixir is a magic potion with the power to heal. It may be a great treasure like the Grail that magically heals the wounded land, or it simply might be knowledge or experience that could be useful; to the community someday. Sometimes the elixir is treasure won on the quest, but it may be love, freedom, wisdom, or the knowledge that the Special World exists and can be survived. You return home with feeling complete, whole, energized full of the knowledge of who you are and how you’re going to express this to the world….and they lived happily ever after.