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The Hero’s Journey: Why This Myth Reflects Every Human Transformation
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Baranovska Myroslava
Since ancient times, people have created myths. These weren’t just entertaining stories — they were a way to make sense of life. Through the images of gods, monsters, trials, and returns, myths spoke about what happens inside a person when they go through change.
One of the most universal mythic patterns is the Hero’s Journey — a narrative structure that repeats across cultures: from the Sumerian Gilgamesh and Greek Odysseus to the stories of Buddha, Jesus, or modern tales like The Matrix and Harry Potter.
This path was outlined by researcher Joseph Campbell, who analyzed hundreds of myths and identified a common structure: the hero sets off into the unknown, undergoes trials, transforms, and returns with a gift.
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Why does this matter to us?
Because it’s not just about stories — it’s about inner experience. When a person enters a crisis, when the old no longer works and the new hasn’t yet appeared — they stand on the threshold of a journey. Maybe without a map, maybe without confidence, but with a deep knowing: “Things cannot go on like this.”
We all live our own versions of this myth. Sometimes subtly. Sometimes dramatically.
The Hero’s Journey is a metaphor for personal transformation:
The familiar world → The call → The trials → The loss → The insight → The new meaning → The return.
What is the structure?
Campbell described over a dozen stages, but the journey can be viewed in three main parts:
  1. Departure from the known world. The moment when a person feels that something fundamental must change. They may resist, hesitate — but the call is already there.
  2. Initiation — inner trials. Here the hero meets their shadow, their fears, pain, doubts — and also receives support, guidance, and insights.
  3. The return with the gift. The hero is no longer the same. They don’t just come back — they bring something new: wisdom, identity, integrity.
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This journey is not necessarily an event. It can be a long inner process. It may unfold during grief, illness, the search for meaning, burnout, creative blocks, or therapy.
Why see life as myth?
Because we are not just “coping with challenges” — we are creating ourselves. When a person views their experience as part of a greater story, they gain:
  • a sense of meaning even in crisis,
  • a deeper understanding of their inner path,
  • the ability to recognize lost parts of themselves — and retrieve them.
This isn’t fantasy. It’s a psychological language that allows us to talk about complex things through symbols.
The Hero’s Journey in practice
Today, the Hero’s Journey is used in: Gestalt therapy, Psychodrama, Narrative therapy, Trauma work, Art coaching, Bibliotherapy, Archetypal psychology.
The journey activates archetypes that live within us. These are not just characters — they are inner aspects: the Hero, the Shadow, the Mentor, the Threshold Guardian, the Inner Child, the Higher Calling.
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Working with symbols is a way to meet yourself
One of the most effective tools for working with archetypes is metaphoric associative cards (MAC). These are decks of evocative images that help visualize the unconscious and explore what words may struggle to express.
At the intersection of myth, psychotherapy, and creative self-inquiry, we created a unique deck: “My Myth: The Hero’s Journey”. This is a tool to see where you are on your inner path, which archetypes are active, what unconscious needs arise, and how your personal myth is evolving.
50 symbolic cards — like 50 mirrors. Each card doesn’t give answers — it asks questions.
If you’d like to try
You can already use our free online card spread tool here: https://mriya.run/metaphoric-cards
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Choose your query, draw a card — and discover what your subconscious may want to tell you right now.
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