the timboucher experience

I’ve been getting a lot of good emails tonight. I have a couple that I’m going to post here, along with my responses to them (more or less - with a bit of editing). Anyway, this first one is by a person who’s been reading a lot of Joseph Campbell and who wants to know about heroes.

I just read about Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With A Thousand Faces”, and I was wondering what the importance of heroes actually is, in the real world and the fictional world. I know this is a broad question and all, but why do we study heroes?? It is all just very interesting to me , and I would like to know your input on it.

I’ve got some essays that would be helpful in exploring this topic in more detail. It’s actually one of my favorites, and I’ve spent a ton of time researching and writing about it, since it has to do with this whole idea of the monotheistic vs. polytheistic minds.

1. Joseph Campbell and the Synoptic Monomyth
2. Theories on the monotheistic & polytheistic mind
3. Archetypes, Autonomous Complexes & the Polytheistic Mind
4. The Hero’s Journey as a model for integration

Anyway, the response I gave her went something like this:

anyway, the way i understand it is this: the hero is basically synonymous with the ego. the ego is sort of the main part of the mind that we identify with as a culture. the “hero’s journey” to me seems like a story about what happens when the ego encounters parts of the mind besides itself. looking at how various cultures portray the archetypal “hero” can shed a lot of light on how their minds work, and the values they cherish. alternatively, i think that looking at the types of heroes and stories that you personally are drawn to can shed a lot of light on what’s important to you, what you’re struggling with, and possible symbolically encoded outcomes that could be achieved.

I was trying to be concise, because this is a topic I tend to be rather long-winded about (see links above) - but only because I think it’s a really important topic. It cuts right to the heart of our culture, down to the very nature of our minds and who we are.

• Pantheon of Dreams
• The threshold guardians
• Everyone Wants To Be The Hero
• Because I have called, and ye refused
• Hero’s Journey & Star Wars