THE HERO’S JOURNEY
The hero’s journey is a personal journey to finding oneself and one’s purpose by traversing the fields of the psyche, emotions, and archetypes. It was created by Joseph Campbell, who was influenced by the work of Carl Jung.
Campbell’s insights into the parallels between various myths and religions, and their psychological impressions, was quite profound, yet he made a significant impact on the field of mythology with his mono myth, or hero’s journey. The hero’s journey consists of three main stages: separation, initiation, and return, where the return to the Self, or a return to wholeness, being the ultimate goal. It takes one through a psychological unfoldment of their inner nature to realize the Self. In this process of unfoldment, one faces their own personal myth, which Campbell believed to be the adventure of one’s life experiences from a transparent reality to a transcendent realization; a deep wisdom within that connects all the energies of the universe. One expresses these energies through mythic stories, poetry, and art. According to Campbell, myths reflect the different realities of the invisible, which manifest in many facets of life and the imagination through the psyche. These unfold symbolically through metaphors to evolve one to a higher consciousness.
Carl Jung made an extraordinary impact on our understanding of psychology with his insights on the psyche and myth. He saw mythology as a mirror to self-realization. To him, myth revealed the inner depths of an individual’s psyche through the expression of archetypal symbols, which represent the undiscovered truths within the unconscious. Jung also believed that the psyche is by nature spiritual and religious, and the hidden truth within the unconscious is guiding us on a magical and synchronistic journey.
THE GOAL OF THE HERO’S JOURNEY IS WHOLENESS
Wholeness can only occur when one addresses the whole person (mind, body, and spirit): the mental/emotional, the physical, and the spiritual. All aspects of our being need to be integrated and brought into harmony. Any pain, fear, or trauma that we may have experienced, but not healed, inhibits our ability to be fully realized within our authentic self. The conscious mind battles illusions, fears, doubts, and limiting beliefs, and is triggered by unconscious paradigms. If these are not dealt with, they may affect our emotional state and possibly manifest in the physical, as well. The conscious and unconscious must be mutually integrated so their energetic components can be grounded in the physical body, resulting in greater harmony.
To help us navigate through the conscious and unconscious, we can utilize the meanings of myths, symbols, and archetypes, to uncover the map of our psyche. Carl Jung believed that mythology served as a mirror to self-realization. He believed myths birthed from the psyche and the psyche, by nature, was religious and spiritual. This helped convince him that life had a spiritual purpose beyond the mundane, which led the individual on a mystical and mythical journey rooted in personal transformation. He coined this odyssey the individuation process: a process that brings the conscious and unconscious into harmony with the Self; a process to wholeness.
It takes internal strength, courage, patience, and perseverance to look within and face our pains and fears. There is no such thing as spiritual by-passing to arrive at wholeness. Each element of the mental/ emotional, the physical, and the spiritual has to be worked through—a consecutive process that requires us to take each step in order. When we attempt to jump ahead in the healing process due to our apprehension of facing our pains and fears, we will eventually end up at the starting line again.
