The journey within

The hero's journey within

Campbell found one story under the myths of the world. Read with Beebe's eight seats, it is also the story of a type: a strength that sets out, meets its shadow, and comes back whole.

The story under all stories

The journey through your eight seats

Departure: the known world

1. 1. The ordinary world Hero, seat 1

   Every story starts in the hero's home, where life works. Yours is the world of your first function, the Hero: what you are good at, what you trust, who you think you are. It works so well that you can live there for years.

2. 2. The call to adventure Anima or Animus, seat 4

   Then life brings a problem the Hero cannot solve. The call comes from the other end of your spine: your fourth function, the Anima or Animus. A longing, an attraction, a failure, a person who has what you lack. Campbell's guide figures, and his "meeting with the goddess", are close to Jung's anima: the inner figure who calls us toward the unknown.

3. 3. The refusal of the call Eternal Child, seat 3

   Every hero first says no. The easiest way to refuse is to retreat into the comfort of the Eternal Child, your third function, and let it feed the Hero in a closed loop: busy, pleasant, and going nowhere.

4. 4. Meeting the mentor Parent, seat 2

   The mentor is the one who prepares the hero to leave. Inside you, it is the Parent, your second function: the part that takes responsibility. The way out of the loop always goes through it.

Initiation: the unknown

5. 5. Crossing the threshold Opposing Personality, seat 5

   At the edge of the unknown stands a guardian who blocks the way. The first shadow figure you meet is the Opposing Personality, your fifth function: your Hero's own process turned around, stubborn and suspicious. Crossing means letting the Hero be questioned.

6. 6. Tests, allies and enemies Trickster, seat 7

   On the road nothing is what it seems. The Trickster, your seventh function, sets double binds and blind spots. Allies appear too, often people who are strong where you are blind.

7. 7. Approaching the inmost cave Senex or Witch, seat 6

   Before the great ordeal comes the voice that says "you are not enough": the Senex or Witch, your sixth function. Campbell's "atonement with the father" is here: making peace between the good parent in you and the critical one.

8. 8. The ordeal Demon, seat 8

   The hero dies, or seems to: Campbell's belly of the whale. The Demon, your eighth function, is the part of you that you fear most, at the very bottom of the circle. It is met, not defeated.

9. 9. The reward Daimon, seat 8

   What the hero finds in the depths is the treasure, the elixir, Campbell's ultimate boon. The same force, faced, turns into the Daimon: a guiding spirit, creative and renewing.

Return: back to the known world

10. 10. The road back Anima or Animus, seat 4

    The inner figure who called you now guides you home. Your fourth function is no longer only a fear: it has become a bridge between your ego and your depths.

11. 11. The resurrection Hero, seat 1

    A last test, and the hero is reborn. Your first function is still your strength, but it no longer works alone: it knows its opposite and its shadow, and it is wiser for it.

12. 12. Return with the elixir Eternal Child, seat 3

    The hero comes home with a gift for others, "master of two worlds", in Campbell's words, and free to live. The Eternal Child, your third function, comes back too, as a new innocence: play without escape.

A journey lived many times

Nobody travels alone