CODE 6: The 5 Hero’s Journeys
The Missing Map for Your Inner Journey
The remarkable genius of Joseph Campbell revealed to the world the archetypal Hero’s Journey, the Hero with a Thousand Faces, a central theme of the human journey that has appeared in every culture and ever epoch. It is the subject of myth, folklore and epic, repeated endlessly in books, TV and blockbuster films. But this narrative, with its clearly laid out steps and stages, also applies to our individual lives, as well as organizations and corporations. It relates as much to educating the young, as it does to building a business or charting one’s spiritual progress.
Though this idea has been thoroughly discussed by scholars, film makers, psychologists, marketers and educators, The Human Code provides the key to a much more sophisticated and useful understanding of the Hero’s and Heroine’s Journey. Essentially, there is not just ONE such pathway, but exactly FIVE very distinct roads that comprise the Hero’s Journey.
- What makes each of these 5 paths different?
- Do the have the same goals in the end?
- Are there different obstacles for each journey?
- Are they different paths to the same place, or different arrival points?
- Can we fail on one path and be successful on another?
- How can I tell which path I am on, right now?
THE FIVE JOURNEYS
The Hero’s Journey has been described in 12 (or 17) classic stages. This is a remarkably accurate template of our inner process in achieving our goals, overcoming obstacles and moving through various crucial stages of life. However, as given, this template is only generic. Because in fact, we can follow five separate trajectories, individually, or all at once. Once we grasp this, a whole new world opens up in our understanding of story, myth, and particularly the journeys, short and long-term, that comprise our lifestream.
1. WARRIOR’S Journey
What is usually described as a the Hero’s Journey is actually the Warrior’s Journey. this is the classic Hero’s tale, about the drive to achieve something, the struggle to overcome all obstacles towards this goal, and the final achievement.
2. LOVER’S Journey
The Lover is about connection, and this is the story about Romance and love to be sure, but also about intimacy on all levels, including to reconnection to the greater sense of unity and wholeness. As the polar opposite of the Warrior’ Way, it is also often its redemption.
3. RULER’S Journey
The journey of the Ruler is to find one’s place, create stability, and establish an empire, be it for a nation, family, or one’s tumultuous daily life. Ruler creates peace and space for others, and a structure that nourishes all.
4. CREATOR’S Journey
The Creator aspect of our mind and heart is the Seeker… looking for discovery, through both analysis and synthesis, new frontiers, adventure and freedom of expression on every level. Combined with the Lover is also seeks the ideal, vision of beauty, art and true science.
5. GURU’S Journey
There are five motivations in life, and for the Guru part of our being, this drive is towards the attainment of Wisdom, the elixir of life, the Truth. This is not just knowledge, but a seeking of a core transformation of being. In this way, it is always present, and even central to every real epic or mythic life journey (or successful movie!).In the course of our own lives, we may take all five journeys, at different periods. Or we may focus much more on one path. This depends on age, ambition, goals, values and all the other parts and pieces of the Human Code.
The Journeys are the trajectory of our lives, each and every one of us, and also mark out the collective movement of businesses, economics, art, social movements and whole cultures.
In The 5 Hero’s Journeys we will look at the goals, obstacles and stages of the path for each of these journeys, which dominates our lives and how to perceive this in ourselves and others. Crucially, we learn how to optimize each journey through recognition and appropriate action in the story we are living through.