I'm learning so much as I make these videos.
I really didn't have a clue how perfectly the Hero's Journey works with a Spiritual Awakening. I didn't comprehend it so much before I sat down and wrote what I thought was going to be one video. Upon working on that one video, however, I realized I needed to make at least three videos on the subject. I bought Pathways to Bliss by Joseph Campbell along with several other books for my Birthday. Little did I know that it would be the perfect book to read because in his later life Campbell equated the different stages of the Hero's Journey with other concepts. For example, he explained how the Meeting the Goddess is the mystical marriage. That is a concept I will have to return to, maybe in a Travelrs Notes video, but I want to read a few books by Carl Jung before I work on that video. Jung, it seems, had a lot to say on that subject. I didn't really think about how much Initiation ties in with my own experiences until I worked on this video. I thought that my own personal journey would end somewhere in the middle of this part. I realized, however, that during my most recent 'Awakening' I completed this stage. In the ones prior to 2014 I don't think I did...and I don't thin many people do. At the end of Initiation I think a person becomes Self-Actualized. I don't know if I made it clear in this video but I think we go through this cycle often throughout our lives. We dont' go off and that's it...some people might but for most people it happens more then once. For me, I can say it happened three times and I don't doubt there will be another cycle...just hopefully not as dramatic. I did my best to maket his one relateable...or at least sketch out how it would work. I think a lot of people get to the Dark Night and then back off. They don't have what it takes to get through the road of trials. Well, we have one more video to go...the Return. Then I will recap this series and explain how I had a dream that pretty much matches this entire story. When I realized that one of my mountain top dreams so precisely matched this as I crafted this video I was absolutely shocked. I'm so excited about this information and my prayer is that it will help a lot of people.
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This is by far one of my more ambitious blogs. I hope you enjoy this concept and it brings a little bit of illumination.
Now, we know the meaning of life is to experience. We know that we are learning to create on a minute level. We understand the role of the Dark and Light experiences (positive or negative) giving depth to those creations. Can we know learn anymore about the purpose of this life journey? The Hero's Journey is the story that humanity keeps retelling itself. Now, I believe that each of us are living our own story and our soul is the narrator just as we are the characters in the story. This is why when we go back to a painful experience in our past we can redefine it and see how it led us to new knowledge. The Hero's Journey is the story of the soul. The soul starts off in the Spirit Realm, it hears the call to adventure...and off to Earth we go to play the Game of Life. To better understand this ride we have chosen let's look closely at the Hero's Journey... The Hero's Journey In 1949 Joseph Campbell shared a revolutionary concept in a book titled The Hero With A Thousand Faces. He studied the myths and stories of many cultures. He discovered that humanity seemed to resonate and repeat one story with many different characters. He dubbed this story the Hero's Journey. From The Hobbit to Star Wars we can discover that this Hero's Journey applies to them all. I believe it is important to note that Joseph Campbell had a direct influence on Star Wars. We can easily sum the Hero's Journey up by dividing it up into four sections. Those sections are Departure, Initiation, Crisis and Return. However, Campbell has three sections consisting of seventeen parts. The hero departs from the world that they know into the world of the unknown. In that unknown world there is usually an initiation (sometimes with a mentor), then there is a Crisis the hero must overcome and then they Return to the life they formerly knew with some sort of boon they share with others. Campbell's Seventeen Elements The above four steps are an abbreviation of Campbell's version of the hero's journey. Here are the seventeen stages that appear in most stories. Part One, Departure, Contains Five Elements: 1. There is the call to Adventure. We see Gandalf visiting the Shire and talking to Bilbo about a great adventure or in the case of Luke Skywalker the two mysterious droids appear. 2. There is a refusal to the call. The hero fails to heed the call because of some duty, obligation, fear or insecurity. Bilbo states that Hobbits don't approve of adventures and Luke states that his Uncle Owen needs him to stay on the farm. Campbell described this as, "...the subject loses the power of the significant affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved." 3. For those who don't refuse the call the first encounter is with a protective figure that will offer them teachings or talismans they will later use in their adventure. Campbell says, "...such a figure represents the benign, protecting power of destiny." 4. Crossing the threshold, is where the character cross into the unknown realm. "The usual person is more than content, he is even proud, to remain within the indicated bounds...the adventure is always and everywhere a passage beyond the veil...for anyone with competence and courage the danger fades." 5. Belly of the Whale: This is where the hero goes into a situation where there is a rebirth. This can be symbolically represented literally by the belly of the Whale (as in Pinocchio or Jonah). Campbell says, "The idea of the passage of the magical threshold is a transit into the sphere of rebirth...the interior of the temple." Part Two, Initiation, Contains Six Parts 6. The Road of Trials. The road consists of a series of tests, often in threes, that the person must undergo during their transformation. "The hero is covertly aided by the advice, amulets or secret agents of the mentor or he discovers here...for the first time...a benign power everywhere supporting him in his superhuman passage." 7. Meeting The Goddess. This is the point where the person experiences a love that has power and significance of the unconditional love an infant experiences with it's mother. According to Campbell, "The ultimate adventure, when all the barriers and ogres have been overcome is represented by a mystical marriage of triumphant hero-soul with the Queen Goddess of the world and if the adventurer be a maid, she is the one who, by her qualities, her beauty, her yearning, is fit to become consort of an immortal. The heavenly husband descends to her...if she has shunned him the scales fall from her eyes or if she sought him her desire finds peace." 8. Woman as Temptress. The hero faces temptations of a physical or pleasurable nature, that may lead him or her to abandon or stray from their quest. "The crux of the curious difficulty lies in the fact that our conscious views of what life ought to be seldom correspond to what life really is..the seeker of life beyond life must press beyond (the woman), surpass the temptations of her call, and soar to the immaculate ether beyond." 9. Atonement with the Father. The person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. Everything in this story leads to this moment and away from it. "Atonement consists of no more than the abandonment of that self-generated double monster- the dragon tho to be god (superego) and the dragon thought to be Sin (repressed Id). This requires an abandonment of the attachment to ego itself, and that is what is difficult. It is in this ordeal that the hero may derive hope and assurance from the female figure, by who's magic he is protected from the father's ego-shattering initiation...only to find that the father and mother reflect each other and are in essence the same." 10. Apotheosis. When someone dies a physical death or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss. "Those who know, not only that the Everlasting lies in them, but that what they, and all things, really are is the Everlasting, dwell in the groves of the wish fulfilling trees, drink the brew of immortality, and listen everywhere to the unheard music of eternal concord." 11. The Ultimate Boon. The achievement of the goal of the quest. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself or a plant that supplies immortality or the holy grail. "The gods and goddesses then are to be understood as embodiment's and custodians of the elixir of Imperishable Being but not themselves the Ultimate in it's primary state...it's guardians dare release it only to the duly proven." Part Three, The Return, Has Six Elements 12. Refusal to Return. Having found bliss and enlightenment in the other world, the hero may not want to return to the ordinary world to bestow this boon onto his fellow man. "The hero must return with his life-transmuting trophy but this has been frequently refused. Even Gautama Buddha, after his triumph, doubted whether the message of realization could be communicated and saints are reported to have died while in supernal ecstasy." 13. The Magic Flight. Sometimes the hero has to escape with the boon. This can be adventurous and dangerous. 14. Rescue From Without. Sometimes the hero has powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back with their boon especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the experience. 15. The Crossing of the Return Threshold. The biggest trick is to integrate the wisdom learned during the journey back into normal life. Trying to share the wisdom with the rest of the world. 16. Master of Two Worlds. This is usually represented by transcendental heroes such as Jesus or Gautama Buddha. For the human hero it is a balance between the material and spiritual. 17. Freedom to Live. Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live. Campbell, "The hero is the champion of things becoming, not of things become, because he is." Conclusion I could, perhaps, write a blog on each level of the seventeen steps that Joseph Campbell shows. I may do that one day. However, right now we are like rocks skipping over the surface of the information I want to penetrate deeply into so that I may get to that which is occupying my mind currently. I have been familiar with and have adored the Hero's Journey for twenty years. I apologize if this is almost a callous treatment of this subject and I will develop this further. However, upon embarking on investigating the two oldest Hero's Journey's that I know I came across a startling idea that has currently shocked me into wanting to discuss that subject. For now, I will say meditate on the idea that the Hero's Journey is not just a pattern writers plot device that can be used to really speak to the masses. Instead, think of it as the story of the human soul. Each of us hear the call of this world, we turn to it and decide to descend because the wisdom we gain is worth the toil. While here, we hear the call of our immortal soul and we have the choice to depart on the Spiritual Journey. Some ignore the call and become victims. We are seeing this separation of people into those who consider themselves victims and those who seek to rise above this mortal coil for the bigger picture on a global scale right now. The Spiritual Journey then, is laid out in this template that mankind has been reinforcing to itself for years in the form of stories. Anyone can follow it once they see it for what it is and understand that it is ultimately a journey within oneself. |
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Brave Soul! May Your Journey On The Path Of The Seeker Bring You Joy and Peace! I'm currently posting every Saturday. With a new addition the family I have pre-scheduled most posts through December 2022. Full Moon Posts will contain up-to-date content when I can get to them. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! This is a place where you can encounter new spiritual ideas that have helped me develop as an Individual On The Path of the Seeker. Take or Leave this information as you see fit. Archives
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