Are you the main character of your story?
Using "The Hero's Journey" to add value and meaning to your life.
“The hero journey is a symbol that binds, in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas, the spiritual quest of the ancients with the modern search for identity.” - Joseph Campbell
This article is a part of my series called “Weekly Agenda” where I encourage not only deeper thinking, but provide action items for you to implement into your creative business practice. These articles are sent out most Mondays. Find more here.
As a child, I was an avid reader. I plowed through books on mythology and anything magical I could get my hands on. One of my favorite series I read was the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. The world building, the great details of the creatures, the epic adventures and, of course, the fact that the children were the heroes and heroines of the story all played a part in keeping me gripped between the pages. One day, I am sure I was ranting and raving to my grandfather about how much I loved these books I was reading (and re-reading) and he informed me that C.S. wrote these series to symbolize Christianity and the story of Christ with symbolism and allegory. For example, Aslan is symbolic of Christ, while the White Witch is symbolic of Satan. The more I researched this, I found out that many of the popular fantasy series I was reading had similarities to Biblical stories, and even that a lot of the Biblical stories shared things in common with stories from other religions. I found this very comforting, and eventually learned that this aspect of storytelling was so human, that is transcended culture and dogma. To be clear, I did not understand this as a child, I just was excited to find the “matching” stories and studying the clues involved. Some of these stories seem to originate on their own, across the world from each other, in a fantastical way that can only seem explained by a God entity or aliens, and some of these stories have been passed down, borrowed (or stolen) and edited for the direct audience.
The Hero’s Journey
Joseph Campbell developed a theory called The Hero’s Journey surrounding these similarities between heroic myths and epic tales, after a childhood obsession with American Indian stories. “By the time he was twelve he was voraciously reading books about American Indians. He soon recognized the parallels between these stories and those of his own Roman Catholic tradition, a discovery that would fire a cross-cultural study in the arcane discipline of mythology for the rest of his life.” from The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. Adventure calls and a Hero answers. Along the way, this hero encounters unlikely allies, formidable foes, and trials that will test their resolve. Against all odds, they prevail, and the world will never be the same. Right? James Joyce coined this recurrence as “monomyth”.
Read more about The Hero’s Journey from the Joseph Campbell Foundation.
In the C.S. Lewis series, Azlan, the lion, represents Jesus, the Sun God, and the son of God. He is depicted as fierce, great, and warm. He is warrior to his enemies, but gentle and loving to the children. He also serves as their Mentor during the journey and offers help when desperately needed. There is even a resurrection of Azlan, that you find out he sacrificed himself for. In this story, the children follow the guidance of the Mentor and keep his word in mind for the greater good of the Narnian people. He is the most majestic character of the story, but the main character and classic hero is a little girl named Lucy.
The Stages Every Main Character Takes
Just like our mythical heroes, “who must travel to an unknown world and do battle with the powers of darkness in order to return with the gift of knowledge.” The hero’s journey breaks down the monomyth into stages, outlining the transformative quest a hero undertakes to overcome whatever challenge they’re presented with.
Inspired by Joseph Campbell’s work, Christopher Vogler edited the stages to 12 for his book The Writer’s Journey.
The 12 Stages Of The Hero’s Journey
The Ordinary World: We see the hero in the Ordinary World before they’re thrust into a Special World.
The Call to Adventure: The hero is presented with a challenge that can only be overcome by abandoning the comfort of the Ordinary World.
Refusal of the Call: No journey worth taking is without risk, and the hero is reluctant to take on such a life-altering challenge.
Mentor (the Wise Old Man or Woman): A Merlin-like character appears to guide the hero on their journey, representing the bond we share with our role models (e.g., parents and teachers).
Crossing the First Threshold: The hero accepts the Call to Adventure and enters the Special World. Now the story really begins.
Tests, Allies, and Enemies: The hero encounters new challenges, learning the rules of the Special World the hard way.
Approach to the Inmost Cave: The hero pauses before entering the most dangerous place in the Special World: the Inmost Cave, where the villain and the object of the journey reside.
The Supreme Ordeal: It’s life or death! The hero confronts their greatest fear in battle and dies (literally or metaphorically), so they can be reborn.
Reward (Seizing the Sword): The hero prevails to claim the reward: a “sword” — a weapon, elixir, or bit of knowledge that can “heal the wounded land.”
The Road Back: Vengeful forces chase the hero for Seizing the Sword, leaving no choice but for them to return to the Ordinary World.
Resurrection: The villain makes one last desperate attempt to thwart the hero: a final test to prove whether the hero’s learned the lesson of the Supreme Ordeal.
Return With Elixir: The hero returns to the Ordinary World and delivers the Elixir, a treasure (e.g., love, freedom, wisdom, or knowledge), to their community.
Weekly Agenda, 21/52
May 20, 2024
Become The Main Character Of Your Own Heroic Tale
Imagining yourself as the main character of a heroic adventure could help you achieve a more meaningful life. You will continuously cycle through these journeys throughout your life and you will appear in others’ journeys as a mentor and ally.
01. Reflect on where you are now in your story.
J. Campbell believed myths revealed human truths and inspire us to live a blissful life in harmony with our inner selves. Recognizing these archetypes and patterns in storytelling, can help you in taking an eagle eye view of your life vs a snake eye view.
In the story of your life, what stage do you fall into? Have you given up and settled for The Ordinary World? Are you still in the Tests and Enemies stage?
02. Answer the call to adventure.
No Hero can begin their story without first answering the call. It will get you out of your comfort zone and can be chaotic. The call can come in one of three ways: voluntarily, involuntarily or by seduction. Try something new or something difficult.
03. Ground yourself in who you are.
Heroes and heroines are defined by a few character traits and a singular motivation. If you know yours, you will always come back to it. Sticking to what is important to you will keep steadfast on your journey.
04. Be open to redirection and advice.
There will be obstacles in your life that will redirect and change your plans. A hero always keeps ahold of the reigns and can make decisions and redirect quickly. Your Mentor and loyal allies will be there for advice, support and comfort.
05. Take care of yourself and your responsibilities.
A main character always takes care of themself in the middle of the chaos of their life. Don’t wait for your blissful ending to do so, and don’t get so excited by the adventure you neglect your own responsibilities.
06. Know when to play supporting.
The best main characters know when to step back and support. This is what seperates a confident classic hero and an egomaniac villain.
From the desk of... heroine.
Love, Britta
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My name is Britta Newton-Tarron and I have been working in marketing & design since 2012. IN-ORBIT is my avenue to discuss all things creative entrepreneurship with curiosity. We will stay in tune with the seasons as we rotate in our orbit, and you can learn how to harness your own gravitational pull. Right now, IN-ORBIT is free to all readers. Please show support by liking, commenting on this Substack post, as well as our Instagram posts that speak to you. Your interaction shows me that what I am doing is worthwhile, and can help inspire future writings.
“this aspect of storytelling was so human, that is transcended culture and dogma”
It is such a profound realization that we each live our own symbiotic but independent lives all at once. Magical, but overwhelming at times! Absolutely loved this week’s read!!