Where Are You On The Hero’s Journey?

“The hero’s journey always begins with the call. One way or another, a guide must come to say, ‘Look, you’re in Sleepy Land. Wake. Come on a trip. There is a whole aspect of your consciousness, your being, that’s not been touched. So you’re at home here? Well, there’s not enough of you there.’ And so it starts.” (Joseph Campbell)

Separation, Initiation, Return

The Hero’s Journey, or the monomyth, is a universal narrative that Joseph Campbell encountered in his comparative study of world mythology during the 20th century.

At the heart of all of our stories — be it ancient, modern, and personal — is a common, recognizable theme. And while the characters change, the stages do not.

According to Campbell, this theme is composed of three primary phases: separation, initiation, and return. They expand into a total of seventeen more specific stages.

Before I explain these stages in detail, I would like to give you a sense of the overall theme.

This quote from Campbell’s The Hero’s With A Thousand Faces sums up the journey in a few words—

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder (separation): fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won…