The hero’s decision to make the journey must come from within the individual and he must act from his heart, “not from the desires of the government or clergy.” To follow other than one’s own path is to “capitulate to the devil”, (The Hero’s Journey). We all set forth on many journeys throughout our lifetime.
Campbell believed, “that what we are seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our inner most being and reality…Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of life.” (Campbell, The Power of Myth, pg. 5). “Mythology teaches you what’s behind literature and the arts. It teaches you about your own life.” (ibid pg. 11). Campbell believed in a connection between myth, dreams and art. Mankind has been relaying the human experience since the beginning of his presence on earth. Cave drawings, folk tales, ceremonial dances, song, and the written word have all been handed down from one generation to the next in order that information is carried forward. This enormous drive to convey life’s messages and meanings permeates all cultures and exists in the form of symbolism. Even our neurons constantly strive to provide us with the most up to date information about the world around us and they do so without our awareness. It would appear that life is intent upon teaching us. So what is it that we need so desperately to know? Initially we are kept alive by our parents. Later we have to learn to survive on our own. As we learn to become successful human beings we experience many life altering events. One difficult event helps to prepare us for the next and possibly more difficult challenge.
Life’s journeys are believed by Jung and Campbell, as well as their followers, to be that which moves us toward attainment of psychic wholeness or “Self”. For Jung, the attainment of “Self” implied a transcended level of psychic growth. “Mythology has a great deal to do with the stages of life. The initiation ceremonies as you move from childhood to adult responsibilities, from the unmarried state into the married state. All of those rituals are mythological rights. They have to do with the new role that you’re in.” (ibid pg. 12) Contemporary rituals could include graduations, bar-mitzvahs, and marriage. “A ritual is the enactment of a myth.” (ibid pg. 83) They are meant to change us, move us on to another stage of life or into another level of consciousness. They connect us to that which has taken place for thousands of years.
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