Category Archives: Hierophant

The "Hierophant" as Guru/Guide

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The Hierophant Archetype – A Way of Life, Not a Jungian Psychological Type

Last night, I was talking with my dear friend Artie. Somehow, the conversation swung around to Jungian Psychological Types, as expressed by the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI). “I used to be an ENFJ,” he said, “but now I’m much more an ENFP.” He’s right, but his comment brought a great insight to me on the relationship between our archetypal modes (Magician, Emperor, Hierophant, etc.) and our “Types” – usually denoted by the MBTI Type-coding such as “ENFJ.”

This is important. Artie really has made a shift, over the years. When he was in his corporate career, he really was an ENFJ. His life and his world encompassed the three major masculine archetypes; Magician (NTJ), Emperor (STJ), and Hierophant (NFJ). (Artie was and still is an Extrovert, making him ENTJ, ESTJ, and ENFJ as he expressed each of those modes.) During his professional career, he really did have excitement, energy, and enthusiasm for each of these modes. He led teams that devised new technical approaches, several different times (Magician). He was effective as a team leader and as a project manager, getting projects funded and successfully accomplished, and leading performance demos and reviews for his clients. (All Emperor-related tasks.) And don’t get me wrong, he loved each of these roles.

But what was the underlying base for his being? The “river” that flowed consistently through his personailty? It was always his Hierophant mode. He was, and still is, a born teacher.

During the earlier stages of his career, he expressed this as a lot of “career coaching.” He also brought together interesting people, and created environments in which they flourished.

In all of these situations, Artie was still dominantly “Judging,” or “J.” That is, in all of his career roles, he was driven to “come to closure.” He may have been coaching a junior member of the team, but the focus (for example) would have been on “how to put together a Powerpoint presentation that will wow the client.”

Now, retired from corporate life, Artie is still a Hierophant. He is still a coach/guide/guru. But he is a lot more open-ended about this.

In part, this is because his life is structured differently. In retirement-mode, without the stringent performance demands of today’s corporate world, he is able to shift into being more “Perceiving” (open-ended) than “Judging” (coming-to-closure). In a broader sense, he is also more separate from our overall cultural zeitgeist that is very performance-driven, and which tends to demand “Judging” behaviors from us, from childhood on.

In part also, Artie’s shift is due to the kinds of people with whom he interacts. He does a great deal of what I’ll loosely call “service work.” He spends a lot of time just talking with people; being the “wise old man” with whom they can consult as they work out life issues. The people who seek him out the most are themselves a bit more “open-ended” in how they approach life – or at least they are in this mode when they seek out Artie.

So Artie is probably right. He has indeed shifted from being dominantly ENFJ to being ENFP. But according to our archetypal mode system, the NFP “mode” is what we call Hathor – playful and pleasure-seeking.

So is Artie dominantly in Hathor mode now? Becuase he has shifted from “closure” to “open-ended,” does that shift his fundamental orientation – that of being a teacher – to being more of a pleasure-seeker?

Heavens, no!

Again, don’t get me wrong on this. Artie would be the last one on earth to decline a good dose of pleasure and fun. He may even be more able to enjoy the “pleasurable” aspects of life more now than when he was younger. But at the same time, his fundamental orientation towards life – that which gives him meaning and purpose – that which helps him “define himself for himself” – that which gets him up and going in the morning – is not about “pleasure.” Or at least, not about “pleasure” per se. It is about teaching. It is about connecting. It is about making a difference in the lives of the people who come to him.

His shift from “J” to “P” reflects a shift in the way in which he goes about being a Hierophant, but not the fact that – in his absolute core – he is a Hierophant.

But more on how this “shift” is expressed in a later blogpost.

Moore and Gillette, "King, Warrior, Magician, Lover" – 2 1/3 Out of Four Ain’t Bad!

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Moore and Gillette’s “Archetypes of the Mature Masculine” – Most (Although Not All) of the “Mature Man”

I’m enormously grateful to authors Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette for their in-depth and fascinating work, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Archetypes of the Mature Masculine. They do a great service to all of us – women and men alike. And as this book is a prequel to a further set of four books (addressing each of these specific archetypes in the masculine context), I suggest each of them for further reading.

I particularly like and appreciate that in their introduction, authors Moore and Gillette identify that the reason that we have a hard time cultivating mature masculinity in our culture is a combination of three factors:

  1. The breakdown of family, in which we all too often have a weak or absent father,
  2. Current lack of an effective “initiation ritual” so that boys can become men, and
  3. A “patriarchal system” that really is based on an immature, rather than mature, masculinity – and is thus wounding both men and women in our culture.

Their insights and exemplars are excellent; well-thought-out, well-worked, and well-explained. Their work can help men of all ages – and women as well as men – understand masculine psychology in depth.

What is missing? Only one of the core masculine power archetypes – and a somewhat “bundled together” set of the three core feminine power archetypes.

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As often happens in our culture, for all their insights and true wisdom – and even their reference to this role – Moore and Gillette do not make a point of the Hierophant archetype.

Let’s look a bit more closely, because they do implicitly identify the role of the Hierophant, throughout their book. From Chapter 1:

“Ritual process is contained by two things. The first is a sacred space and the second is a ritual elder, a “wise old man” or a “wise old woman” who is completely trustworthy for the initiate and can lead the initiate through the process and deliver him (or her) intact and enhanced on the other side.” [King, Warrior, Magician, Lover, p. 6]

Throughout their book, Moore and Gillette clearly acknowledge both the need for and the significant role of the Hierophant. The Hierophant is precisely this “wise old man” or “wise old woman.”

But it is entirely in keeping with our society’s loss of “initiation rites” that we don’t have much of a clue about what a Hierophant really is! That is, we can’t look at someone and say, “Yes, this person really has a realy strong Hierophant essence!”

It’s a blind spot.

But it’s also a solvable blind spot.

Because as soon as we “get a clue” that we should be looking for Hierophant-instances, they pop up all around us. For examples, see Are Hierophants Really Important” (MacDonald’s Thinks So!) and also Who and What is a Hierophant?.

The fact that we don’t have as strong a concept of the Hierophant as we do of the King and the Magician is yet one more instance of how in our society, we greatly need to identify and honor this role.

Now, I’ve said (in this blog’s title) that Moore and Gillette have “2 1/3 out of 4.” Yet they identify four core archetypes. What’s missing?

First, they’ve introduced the Warrior as a core masculine power archetype. What I’ve been showing in my last several blogposts is that our Warrior mode – the “who we are” when we are on a Heroic Quest – is a means of “getting there.” It’s a transition mode. Really, in our society right now, our Warrior-path is our initiation process.

Further, we need to call upon our Warrior-selves time and again. We do this every time we step out of safety and comfort and venture into something dangerous and new. (For relevant posts, see Hero or Hierophant? Warrior or Wise Man? and also The Hero’s Quest and the Hierophant: Part I.)

Ideally, we use our inner Warrior to break through some limitations in our self and take on a new level of power or leadership. But we don’t need to stay in our Warrior mode.

So now, what do we have?

Replace Warrior (a transition mode, a means of activating one of our core masculine archetypes) with Hierophant. Warrior is a transition. Hierophant is an end-state; one of the culminating “archetypes of the mature masculine.” This gives us 3 1/3 out of 4.

To complete that remaining 1/3? We need to acknowledge that the Lover is a bundling up of the three core feminine power archetypes; High Priestess, Empress (Isis), and Love-Goddess (Hathor).

This is not a bad bundling. For simplicity, the bundling of three core feminine archetypes into one (the Lover) works for men, just as bundling three core masculine archetypes (Magician, Emperor, and Hierophant) into one (the Amazon) works for women.

But as men move further into their own integration journey, they would do well to identify, cultivate, and own each of their specific feminine strengths – the wisdom and intuition of their inner High Priestess, their love for wife, children, and community (as Empress/Isis), and their ability to revel in physical love and sensuality (Love-Goddess/Hathor).

The balancing of all these for men is different than that for women. But for all of us, all six core archetypes are necessary – as well as the two “reserve archetypes,” which I’ve not yet discussed in detail. (These two aspects will be subjects of later posts.)

Very best wishes as discover and empower each of your core archetypes during your own inner journey!

Alay'nya - author of "Unveiling: The Inner Journey"

Alay’nya – author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey

Alay’nya
(Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.)

Author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey
You are the Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. Become the Jewel!

The Unveiling Journey blog details the theory – archetypes, life journeys, integration.

To experience your own Journey in a structured, safe, and gentle (yet effective) setting, visit Alay’nya’s website, and consider either a workshop with Alay’nya or one-on-one coaching.

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Connect with Alay’nya and the Unveiling Community

Unveiling, by Alay'nya, currently has an overall five-star Amazon rating.

Unveiling, by Alay’nya, currently has twenty five-star Amazon reviews.

This blog series develops themes originally published in Unveiling: The Inner Journey, published by Mourning Dove Press.

Unveiling currently has twenty 5-star Amazon reviews, and has been recommended by luminaries:

  • Dr. Christiane Northrup – “This book is delightful”
  • Midwest Book Review, in Bethany’s Books – reviews by Susan Bethany – “highly recommended”
  • Nizana al Rassan, writing for (the now out of circulation) iShimmy.com – “a fascinating read with so much wisdom and solid advice.”

 

 

Julie Marie Rahm, aka America’s Mindset Mechanic on Unveiling: The Inner Journey

What does Julie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic and author of Handle Everything: Eight Tools You Need to Live Well and Prosper have to say about Unveiling: The Inner Journey?

Julie writes:

Unveiling is the definitive guidebook for women who want to experience lives of joy and fulfillment, and who just want to exhale into each day. Alay’nya reveals powerful, personal stories of her own life journey to fascinating womanhood, sensuality, and self-acceptance in ways that struck me like a velvet hammer. Her fresh approach to living illuminated my own bind spots. It is impossible to read Unveiling without awakening to new and possibly shocking self-awareness. For women ready to make real and lasting changes toward enlightenment and bliss, Unveiling is a must-read..”

Read this and more reviews of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.

 

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Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic

Check out Julie Marie Rahm!

Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic and author of Handle Everything: Eight Tools You Need to Live Well and Prosper and also Military Kids Speak (great for parents, teachers, and coaches of military kids) uses a great technique that can help you clear energy blockages, ranging from those from this life through the influence of your ancestral karma. Connect with Julie at info (at) americasmindsetmechanic (dot) com to learn more about how she can help you.

Books by Julie Marie Rahm, America’s Mindset Mechanic

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Copyright (c) 2013, Alay’nya (Alianna J. Maren, Ph.D.). All rights reserved.
Blog originally posted December 13, 2011. Revised and updated, October 22, 2013.

Related Posts: The Hierophant – the Missing Archetype in King, Warrior, Magician, Lover

Hero or Hierophant? Warrior or Wise Man? (Part I)

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Heroic Journeys: A Part of Our Growth Path (But Certainly Not the End!)

A dear friend and colleague – someone who is already successful with her own business – is on a Heroine’s Quest. She’s forming a new business – one that is much more in line with her core heart’s desire – and one which has potential for being solid and profitable. Yet it will not take advantage of the government regulations, her advanced degree, or the well-identified corporate needs that give her current business such a solid and stable base.

Nevertheless, she feels impelled towards her new calling, and launching her new business.

Another colleague – someone whom I love and respect dearly – is at the peak of her career with a major organization. She has respect. She has influence. She is comfortable with, and intimately knows how to “work,” her current organization. She is financially – and organizationally – secure. Yet she is also preparing to leave her “nest” and start a new business.

Anytime that we leave the comfort of our known, safe, and familiar surroundings to take on a new venture, we are “questing.” And in order to find the strength and courage to leave known, safe, and familiar, we have to posit ourselves as Heroes (or as Heroines – this blog is gender-indifferent).

There’s a huge amount of emotional charge that we get by identifying ourselves as a Hero on a Quest. This defines our role, and gives us ego-identification. It pulls us out of being a “cog in a machine.” The sense of difficulty and danger becomes galvanizing and even energizing. We know who we are in the sharp crispness of taking on an “impossible dream” – which perhaps even involves conquering certain “forces of evil.”

Heroic Quests are alluring – and they are necessary. Without them, we would never find the courage to buck the status quo, to step out from the norms, and to do – very literally – “great things.” All the great adventures of humankind have sprung – one way or another – from such Heroic Questing.

Yet there is a danger hidden within the addictive nature of such quests. We can use them as a means of repeating life-stages through which we’ve already gone, and often with great success.

One man whom I know, let’s call him Theo (yes, the same “Theo” from Unveiling) had a brilliant military career, from his youth to retiring – with high rank and numerous accolades. He then had an equally stellar career with a well-known company, and then – with a band of comrades – started his own company, which became very successful. Theo’s unique insights, his tenacity and will, his total dedication to his cause, was a significant element in his company’s growth.

Theo has had a great career; a culmination of Heroic Quests.

And yet, there is an Achille’s heel to such exploits.

Ponder on it. (I’ll take this story up in the next blogpost.) But ask yourself: Is there a potential downside to repeating a known “success pattern”?

The "Lord of the Rings": A Classic "Inner Journey"?

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Frodo the Ring-Bearer, selected to convey the Ring of Power into Mordor where he can cast it into the fire, is weary on his journey. He is not yet into the dark lands, but already the responsibilities of bearing the Ring of Power wear heavily on him. Frodo and his band, the Fellowship of the Ring, spend their last moments traveling together as guests in Lothlorien. There, they meet the Lady of the Woods, the Lady Galadriel.

Lady Galadriel welcomes the group of travelers, and gives each a special gift along with an Elven cloak. To Frodo, she gives the Phial of Galadrial, which provides light during their journey. More than that, by touching the vial, Frodo can ease the corrupting power-thoughts induced by the One Ring. Similarly, the light from this vial (Phial) frightens away the voracious spider Shelob, whose web would ensnare him after he’s entered Mordor.

The Phial of Galadriel also seemed to inspire both Frodo and his companion Sam to call out in the Elvish language. Frodo, in particular, called out a reference to Earondil the first time that he used the Phial against Shelob.

Just two days ago, I chanced to watch a segment of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson and released in 2001. This was the segment in which Frodo was brought before the Lady Galadriel. He was mesmerized by her ethereal beauty, and awed by her gift to him.

Rachel Pollack, in her book, The Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, describes this first stage of our adult life-journey as the Worldy Sequence. This is the time in which we come to know, access, and integrate each of our core power archetypes. Two of these are like “reserve batteries,” and I don’t discuss them in Unveiling. The remaining six are our “power modes”: we need each of them to gain our full adult powers.

If this is the case, the Frodo might be a stand-in for each of us. This is not surprising – each of us feels a bit “smaller” than others, and we are each daunted by life’s challenges from time to time. And let’s recall that the purpose of these “heroic” stories is to exaggerate contrast. We are not simply trying to introduce a new process or product into our company, we are saving truth and freedom by delivering the ring to Mordor and sundering the forces of darkness!

So what does Frodo’s encounter with Lady Galadriel, the Lady of the Woods, mean to us? She would have to be one of the three feminine archetypes of our six core power archetypes. This means that she could represent the High Priestess (wisdom and inner knowing), the Empress (or Isis, love and nurturance), or Hathor (the goddess of pleasure and sensuality).

Really, there is not much of the “pleasure and sensuality” aspect in The Lord of the Rings! Hathor, as a choice for the Lady, is clearly out. Also, the Lady is a somewhat remote figure. She is not about warmth and nurturance. When we connect with our “inner Lady Galadriel,” we are not getting the oxytocin feel-good surge that we get when we curl up with our dog, cat, young child, or our “special someone.”

No, there is only one role for the Lady: she represents the High Priestess, or inner wisdom. And her gift to Frodo is precisely related to her role in his life; she gives him light, the ability see – and also to repel dark forces using this power of light.

This is reinforced with an earlier scene, in which the Lady pours water into a silver mirror-bowl, and invites Frodo to look within and see. This, very literally, is the role of the Lady in each of our lives. Our inner High Priestess is that aspect of us that gives us wisdom; she helps us “see rightly.”

When we access our own inner High Priestess – our own Lady of the Woods, we gain not only vision and clarity, but also wisdom. Read about her in Unveiling: The Inner Journey, Chapters 7 & 11.

P.S. Who, in The Fellowship of the Ring, would represent the other two female power-archetypes? There are really only two other women of note that the Fellowship encounters during their travels; Goldenberry and Arwen. As a little test for yourself, why not research each of these two – and think them through in terms of the remaining two feminine core-power archetypes: the Empress (or Isis, in Unveiling terms), and Hathor. Which is which? And why? And do we need them? What roles did each play in The Fellowship of the Ring? What would the story be like without them?

Are "Hierophants" Really That Important? (McDonald’s Thinks So!)

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Why Do We Need Hierophants?

Gandalf the Grey (later the Gandalf the White), Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, and Professor Albus Dumbledore are all Hierophants. Mr. Miyagi, of Karate Kid fame (whether the first or second film release), is also a Hierophant. With this established, is a Hierophant something (or someone) that we really need – or is this just a nice artifact for certain film and story genres?

McDonald’s, a Fortune 500 company, certainly thinks that Hierophants are important.

A Hierophant is more than a teacher, coach, mentor, or guide – although he (or she!) is typically all of those roles. The “more than” is that the Hierophant is the means by which the traditions, “secret knowledge” (whether of spells or corporate plans), and values are transmitted from one leadership generation to another.

According to a Robert P. Gandossy and Nidhi Vermma, in “Passing the Torch of Leadership”, the implicit role of Hierophants is essential in ensuring that strong companies maintain their competitive edge. Quoting a study carried out by Stanford University researchers James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, as described in their best-seller Built to Last, these two researchers found that companies maintaining a stellar performance and managing 20th-century endurance had one essential ingredient: a culture of succession management. In other words, internal Hierophants trained the next generation of leaders.

Further, as described by Collins and Porras, and summarized in this article:

Organizations that embrace a formal, ongoing, top-to-bottom succession process that is a fundamental part of the corporate fabric–what we call best-in-class succession management–have developed a key ingredient for long-term success, as Collins and Porras demonstrated.

Is this sound advice? McDonald’s, a Fortune 500 company, certainly thinks so. In a Fortune article on Why McDonald’s wins in any economy (August, 2011), author Beth Kowitt describes a culture instituted by CEO Jim Skinner, who created “Hamburger U,” McDonald’s management training facility. According to Kowitt:

This push for talent development may be Skinner’s greatest legacy at the company, which has 700,000 employees in the U.S. alone…

His push for in-house talent development creates a substantial pool of leaders-in-training:

[Skinner] requires that all executives train at least two potential successors — one who could do the job today, the “ready now,” in McDonald’s parlance, and one who could be a future replacement, the “ready future.” … Every year the executive team, including Skinner, reviews the top 200 positions in the company and the feeder pool, which means it ends up looking at about 400 people. “We talk about all of them,” says HR chief Rich Floersch.

This is an excellent example of the Hierophant notion internalized into corporate values and training. We pay attention to that where we put our money. Clearly, McDonald’s is putting both attention – and money – into internalizing the Hierophant role within its culture.

Who – and What – Is a "Hierophant"?

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Hierophant – Leader of Leaders, and Teacher of Teachers

Those of us who’ve been following Unveiling: The Inner Journey – both reading the book and this blogpost – have probably wondered about this notion of a Hierophant. We never hear the term in any of our “leadership books.” The subject of “hierophants” is not covered in the Harvard Business School, or in the military’s leadership academies. So how can this notion possibly be important? And – perhaps most essential – how can it be one of our “core six power archetypes”?

For the longest time, the idea of a Hierophant puzzled me also. In fact, it was still something of a puzzle as Unveiling was going to press. I still hadn’t figured it out! But here, in a sort of “post-Unveiling epilogue,” a lot of the concepts I’d worked on earlier are becoming much more clear. And surprisingly enough, it was the work on the Hero’s Quest (and the Heroine’s, as well – see Chapter 6 in Unveiling, on that theme), that made the notion of a Hierophant much more clear.

Let’s start with one of the classic Hero’s Quest examples from Chapter 6; Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute. The young hero, Tamino, seeks initiation into a “higher order.” He undergoes trials of initiation, overseen by the High Priest, Sarastro. At first, we might not have a good “felt sense” of Sarastro’s role, other than that he seems to be a necessary figurehead. But let’s move on!

Our next example (also from Chapter 6) is Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. Young Luke also goes through trials, much as does Tamino. He trains first with Obi-wan Kenobi, and later with Yoda. In Star Wars, this stage of training – of both learning and proving himself – is essential before the young hero takes on his true, defining challenge. But in the early stage, a teacher is essential. As a similar example, Mr. Miyagi is the necessary teacher in the Karate Kid movie series.

The same is true of young women, facing their Heroine’s Quests. Young Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz, has Gilda, the Good Witch of the East, to guide her.

But is this consistent? Is this something necessary?

Let’s look at a few more Hero’s Quest stories. The Lord of the Rings is a great one. We have young Bilbo Baggins first in The Hobbit, and later Frodo and his hobbit-companions, together with warriors from men, elves, and dwarves. But throughout, we also have a certain special character – not Aragorn (who really is a Hero, joined in Quest with Frodo and the others). No, the character who deserves our attention is Gandalf. That’s right; Gandalf the Grey, later Gandalf the White.

One essential component of the Hero’s Quest – since it is really the Hero’s story – is that the Hero needs to be guided by his teacher, the Hierophant, in the early stages. Yet later, he needs to confront challenges on his own. Usually, the Hierophant is killed in this process – in order to make the Hero’s isolation during his final challenge most real and concrete.

During crucial portions of The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf is unavailable to Frodo and his companions; he sacrifices himself while fighting the ancient and fearful Balrog. Similarly, Obi-wan Kenobi sacrifices himself in a duel with Darth Vader, allowing Luke and other to escape. We’re seeing a pattern here; can we find another instance?

One of the greatest “mythological sagas” of our time is the Harry Potter series. We meet young Harry when he is only twelve years old, and is whisked away to Hogwarts to study magic. He meets the Headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore. In a manner similar to that of Obi-wan Kenobi and Gandalf the Grey, Professor Dumbledore dies in the last book – forcing Harry to have his final confrontation with Lord Voldemort on his own.

We see that the Hierophant is a powerful figure. He is essential to the growth and training of a young Hierophant. Often (but not always), the Hierophant sacrifices himself, although this is usually a plot device – and not a necessary Hierophant characteristic!

Our culture focuses on the drama of the young Hero/Heroine, in their respective Quests. We see, now, that the Hero or Heroine does not gain skill, insight, or understanding on their own. Before they go on to their “great challenge,” they must undergo training. The Hierophant is their teacher; their guide.

So in your own life, are you being a Hero/Heroine, or a Hierophant? Learning to see this distinction in yourself, and in those around you, will be the subject of the next blogpost!

The "Hero’s Quest" and the "Hierophant" – Part 1

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The Warrior’s Road to Wisdom: Going from the “Hero’s Quest” to the “Hierophant”

In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, beholding the devastation that once was his uncle’s farm, has no choice. Not only is there no “going back,” there is nothing left to “go back to.” He seeks out his new teacher, Obi-Wan Kenobi, more out of desperation than desire to go off “adventuring.” Yet, as his training and his travels unfold, he finds himself on a Hero’s Quest; one of the grandest sagas of our time.

Princess Isabelle, in a “The Embryo Goddess and the Morpho,” a short story written by Nicole Cutts, Ph.D. (in Many Paths, Many Feet, edited by Phyllis Wilson), leaves the safety of her Queen Mother’s love and her King Father’s castle, and ventures off to reclaim a portion of her father’s lands and restore the kingdom.

The young Tamino, in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, undergoes the trials of initiation into the priesthood of the Sun God worshippers. In The Karate Kid, young Daniel simply wants to survive the daily humiliations of martial arts-skilled school bullies.

Is there something is common to all these stories, and to many other stories of heroic adventure?

As it turns out, they share a great deal in common – so much so that the great Joseph Campbell identified the underlying story-structure of all of these as the monomyth. As he described it, there is only one great story or grand saga. It has a consistent structure. And it underlies all the great stories of human “becoming.” The monomyth describes the journey of Jason and his Argonauts, as they searched for the Golden Fleece. This monomyth similarly underlies many of our current “grand sagas” – both in myth, movies and books, and in our personal lives.

The reason that certain monomyth retellings achieve huge cultural resonance (Star Wars-like resonance) with us is not just the quality of the movie or the book. Rather, it is that the movie, book, or even someone’s personal history faithfully adheres to the core monomyth storyline.

Monomyths are compelling. They pull us along; they sweep us away. When we go through our own Hero’s Quest or Heroine’s Journey, we undergo a profound personal transformation. We have left the warmth of nurturing love, and the security of a known environment. We even give up our “identity.”

Think of Aragorn, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yes, the monomyth there is being largely carried out by the young hobbits. However, Aragorn as much as the hobbits is on his Hero’s Quest. In classic heroic manner, he travels – not as a prince of the realm, with servants and retinue – but under an assumed name, as the Chieftan of the Rangers of the North. He has relinquished identification with his “true name” and “true heritage” until he has successfully concluded his Heroic Quest; reuniting the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor.

We have many Heroine’s Quest stories as well; Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz is an early prototype. Sarah in the Labyrinth, and Lyra in The Golden Compass are other young heroines. Each of them steps into their quest to rescue someone whom they know and love. Dorothy wants to rescue her dog Toto, and Sarah seeks to rescue her baby half-brother, Toby. Lyra searches for her friend Roger, and for other children taken by the Gobblers.

Heroic Quests can take on many forms and guises. Consistent to all of them – Hero’s Quests and Heroine’s Quests alike – is the moment when the young Hero/Heroine leaves safety, security, and a well-defined (although limiting) role.

Similarly, we each take on a Heroic Quest – often many times in our lives! When we leave home to go off to college, or join the military, we are beginning a personal Heroic Quest.

When we start a new business, leaving behind the safety, security, well-defined structure, comforting companionship, and certain role of corporate life, we are beginning a new Heroic Quest.

We can undertake Heroic Quests within a corporate structure as well. If we champion a new product or idea; whenever we go into Warrior mode, we are questing.

Questing, although arduous and dangerous, is exciting, More than that, it is self-defining. It is the process by which we individuate; become our own person. We find courage, step out from our parent’s home, or the security of a corporate paycheck, and forge our own pathway. It is through this forging – which may take many years, and require severe and lengthy training (think Luke Skywalker; think Aragorn) – that we become that which we were meant to be. The higher the calling – be it Jedi Knight or Ruler of the united Gondor/Arnor kingdoms – the more difficult, lengthy, and perilous the journey.

Because it is so intense and so self-defining, with such a clear end in sight, we might think that questing leads us to our final goal; that it is the “single defining journey” of our adult lives.

Surpisingly, not so. In fact, even if we undertake successive Heroic Quests, there is still a realm beyond. So suppose that we leave home to go to college, and then get an advanced degree. That’s one Quest. Suppose that we get a corporate job, and spearhead a new initiative within the company. That’s another Quest. Suppose that we then strike out and form our own company; yet another Quest. We can go questing all our lives.

But there really is more. There is indeed a “life beyond the Heroic Journey.” And it is not at all staid and boring! Rather, the journeys of a mature adult, while often more “inner” than “outer,” have just as much challenge as our youthful, self-defining questing – perhaps even more!

A Heroic Quest is obvious. Everyone – including ourselves – knows what we are doing. We are re-uniting the severed kingdoms, getting the “Ring of Power” into Mordor, writing a dissertation, climbing a mountain, or rescuing someone in distress. Our goal and our focus is clear. Further, we shape who we are in the process.

In contrast, the “journeys” that we may undertake as mature adults – something that we may do after we’ve successfully completed a Heroic Quest (or two or three) can be much less overt. Those around us may not even know that we undertaking some sort of “inner journey.” In fact, we ourselves may not even know it – until we come through the other side and say to ourselves, “I really have changed!”

So how do we know the difference? How can we tell if we are on a Heroic Quest, or doing something different? What lies beyond questing? And are there signposts or guides, so that we can know what we’re doing?

That will be the theme of the next blogpost – and perhaps a few more afterwards!

In the meantime, if you have a copy of Robert Moore’s King, Warrior, Magician, Lover – take a look. There’s an error in the basic premise. See if you can discern it. (It will help if you’ve read Chapters 7 and 11 of Unveiling: The Inner Journey.)

More to be revealed in coming posts.

To your health, and the success of your journeys!

Alay’nya

P.S. There’s a clue – and it’s in the title of this post. What’s the role of the Hierophant? How does the Hierophant relate to our Heroic Quest (if at all)? See if you can figure this out before my next posting!