Archetypes of the Hero's Journey

When embarking on a spiritual journey understanding symbols and archetypes becomes essential.

Exploring Symbols and Archetypes: 

Symbols are sign posts guiding the hero down paths of the unknown. . .

Archetypes are models or patterns of energy. . . knowledge of which informs the hero about what type of challenge she/he may be working with or facing, friend or foe. . .

For those of us on healing and creative soul journeys, symbols offer clues to direct our path. Archetypal characters represent people we meet and face in our ordinary world expanded to mythic proportions.  The wolf in Little Red Riding Hood represents an archetype the dangerous stranger, the rapist, or serial killer, who could victimize us if we are unable to recognize them on the street. The wisdom of our ancestors passed down to us through myth/story.  Our recognition of the archetype assists us in interpreting our experiences and recognizing friend and foe.

What symbols and archetypes do you recognize? 

How powerful an impact symbols and archetypes may have on your psyche would depend on your knowledge and experience of their use. The more symbols and archetypes you recognize the better prepared you will be for the road ahead.

The danger for us comes through losing conscious connection/understanding with the knowledge of the past; when we have forgotten the meaning of a symbol and are only affected by a vague sense of shared resonance.

Over time, misuse or misunderstanding of a symbol can create new associations and fearful responses. We might recognize that a symbol holds importance but not know how to interpret it or use it in our lives. 

Growing our recognition of archetypes and symbols is useful to our personal development and lends richness to our life journey.

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Joseph Campbell's book, Hero With a Thousand Faces, examines the archetypal characters found across cultures, in our stories and myths. How many of these archetypes do you recognize?  Can you associate any of them with people who already appear in your ordinary life.

Seven Archetypes:

1. Hero: “The Hero is the protagonist or central character, whose primary purpose is to separate from the ordinary world and sacrifice himself for the service of the Journey at hand - to answer the challenge, complete the quest and restore the Ordinary World’s balance. We experience the Journey through the eyes of the Hero.”

2. Mentor: “The Mentor provides motivation, insights and training to help the Hero.”

The Threshold Guardian

3. Threshold Guardian/Demon: “Threshold Guardians protect the Special World and its secrets from the Hero, and provide essential tests to prove a Hero’s commitment and worth.”

4. Herald: “Herald characters issue challenges and announce the coming of significant change. They can make their appearance anytime during a Journey, but often appear at the beginning of the Journey to announce a Call to Adventure. A character may wear the Herald’s mask to make an announcement or judgment, report a news flash, or simply deliver a message.”

5. Shapeshifter: “The Shapeshifter’s mask misleads the Hero by hiding a character’s intentions and loyalties.”

6. Shadow: “The Shadow can represent our darkest desires, our untapped resources, or even rejected qualities. It can also symbolize our greatest fears and phobias. Shadows may not be all bad, and may reveal admirable, even redeeming qualities. The Hero’s enemies and villains often wear the Shadow mask. This physical force is determined to destroy the Hero and his cause.”

7. Trickster: “Tricksters relish the disruption of the status quo, turning the Ordinary World into chaos with their quick turns of phrase and physical antics. Although they may not change during the course of their Journeys, their world and its inhabitants are transformed by their antics. The Trickster uses laughter [and ridicule] to make characters see the absurdity of the situation, and perhaps force a change.”


Think about the people in your life. Think about the role(s) they have played and their influence on you. Where would you be on your journey through life without them? How have they helped or hindered you?

Banned! What THEY don't want you thinking about. . . The Science Delusion

Although this blog's themes may seem unconnected to the scientific research in which Rupert Sheldrake Ph. D. is engaged, his theories on Morphic Resonance do serve to provide a scientific foundation for understanding how the theories and research of others, namely psychologist Carl Jung and anthropologist Joseph Campbell, can be believed and applied as truth.

Scientific theories and research can now provide measurable proof-- for skeptics of the mystical, which can explain how knowledge of sacred symbols and archetypes may be passed along on a collective level with other evolutionary knowledge hardwired into our DNA. With scientific theories such as Morphic Resonance entering global consciousness, intuitive leaps made by free and creative thinkers in the past suddenly become more digestible and less likely to be relegated as dubious pseudo science.

There was a time when humanity collectively viewed the world as flat. This idea was held in place by the governing branches of the establishment, and even enforced by the ruling order of the Christian church through religious dogma. Today, Science has become a form of religion, and scientific dogma threatens to limit the expanding edge of evolution.

The following is the banned TEDx Talk,  entitled The Science Delusion at TEDxWhitechapel. given by Rupert Sheldrake Ph. D. on January 12th, 2013. The theme for the night was Visions for Transition: Challenging existing paradigms and redefining values (for a more beautiful world). In response to protests from two militant materialist bloggers in the US, the talk Rupert gave was later taken down by TED and placed in a special corner of their website. Before it was removed from their main website it had had about 35,000 views. Since it was "banned" it has been seen by at least half a million people.

I am sharing this talk with you because it raises some valid questions about how our society has erred in failing to apply scientific principles to our beliefs about Science itself. If we are going to value Science and scientific evidence as the measure of truth, ought we not be able to apply those same tools of measurement and achieve demonstrable proof that they hold up under their own weight? What delusions are in operation that could limit humanity's leap forward in evolution? Would correcting our understanding assist us in affecting changes and creating a better society, one more in harmony with the natural world?

As part of my personal development and Hero's Journey, I have come to recognize that all is not right in my society. Rupert is one of the teachers and guides I have discovered on my quest for knowledge, clarity, and purpose.



Rupert Sheldrake, a biologist and author, is best known for his hypothesis of morphic fields and morphic resonance, which leads to a vision of a living, developing universe with its own inherent memory. He worked in developmental biology at Cambridge University, where he was a Fellow of Clare College. He was then Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in Hyderabad, India. From 2005 to 2010 he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick project, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge. [View Biography]