“You enter the forest
at the darkest point,
where there is no path.
Where there is a way or path,
it is someone else’s path.
You are not on your own path.
If you follow someone else’s way,
you are not going to realize
your potential.”
– Joseph Campbell
As of today I’ve been in Portugal nine months. It’s been an introspective time, a time of leaving behind old patterns I no longer want to live with in my new home. In the book, The Hero’s Journey, Joseph Campbell studied 240 separate cultures and myths and found a familiar sequence in most of them. The first time I heeded the Call to Adventure was when I moved to Vermont from New York at twenty-three-years old in search of something I didn’t know how to find. I feel like I’ve come full circle back to the young woman I was all those years ago with the elixir of truth held in my hands. By moving to Portugal I’ve begun another Hero’s Journey, uncertain where it will take me. I only know that I wake up grateful each morning because I’m finally walking on my own path.
Ordinary World: This step refers to the hero’s normal life at the start of the story, before the adventure begins.
Call to Adventure: The hero is faced with something that makes him begin his adventure.
Refusal of the Call: The hero attempts to refuse the adventure because he’s afraid.
Meeting with the Mentor: The hero encounters someone who can give him advice and ready him for the journey ahead.
Crossing the First Threshold: The hero leaves his ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure.
Tests, Allies, Enemies: The hero learns the rules of his new world.
Approach: Setbacks occur, sometimes causing the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas.
Ordeal: The hero experiences a major hurdle or obstacle.
Reward: The hero earns his reward or accomplishes his goal.
The Road Back: The hero begins his journey back to his ordinary life.
Resurrection Hero: The hero faces a final test where everything is at stake and he must use everything he has learned.
Return with Elixir: The hero brings his knowledge back to the ordinary world, where he applies it to help all who remain there.
