Our logo is based on Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey with a core methodology at its center. Our logo is meant to represent the “anatomy of adventure”. What adventure looks like, how to execute adventure, and how to repeat adventuring to bring about increased awareness and happiness in our lives. Our logo represents a paradigm and methodology that establishes a map to navigate life, allowing a sense of awe to reach you, yet keeping you firmly grounded through all stages of maturity from birth to grave. Our logo is a map and methodology enabling you to become and then express your greatest self.
What is The Hero’s Journey?
The Hero’s Journey is also known as the monomyth. After years of study and teaching about mythologies throughout the world, Joseph Campbell concluded that they are basically all variations of the same story. The one-story, the monomyth, is about historical spiritual heroes and the journeys they underwent. “The labyrinth is thoroughly known” per Joseph Campbell. We think of The Hero’s Journey as a map and we can follow it without having to get lost in the labyrinth of life.
The Hero’s Journey is, therefore, a template of the collective spiritual messages from myths and religions around the world as to how we should conduct our lives. The story resonates with us all because it is a manifestation of the energies that work interior to us all. Many popular movies, such as The Matrix, Star Wars, Harry Potter and others have used or mimicked The Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s Journey resonates with people because it is inside everyone. When watching these movies, we resonate with them, and we feel good.
The importance of being familiar with The Hero’s Journey:
It can help you because it is a map of the treasure you are seeking in your life. It is actively being used against you as well. The Hero’s Journey is the one story for us all and marketing takes advantage of this by indicating you have a problem, they have a product to fix the problem, and you are going to fail without their product. As Alan Watts once said, “If you can be fooled, you deserve to be fooled.” It is also a bit malicious as well. Advertising and marketing are actively working to manipulate you from becoming your greatest, best self.
Key Elements of The Hero’s Journey:
The Hero’s Journey is the total sum of key elements of all mythologies, containing universal patterns, and can be complicated, with multiple variants. It is well documented. “…A good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called into the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons…” (Pathways to Bliss. pg 122, Collective Works of Joseph Campbell). We like a simplified version as follows below.
- The Known World
- There is a call to adventure: the universe taps you on the shoulder inviting you to adventure and it is time to leave the existing place behind.
- Saying no leads to purification, a drying up of life occurs.
- Saying yes requires courage.
- Sometimes there is a mentor: one who is the source of the adventure.
- There is a call to adventure: the universe taps you on the shoulder inviting you to adventure and it is time to leave the existing place behind.
- The Threshold Crossing
- Two cherubs block the entrance to the unknown and are frightening, but will not stop you if you do not let them. They are actually benign.
- These are also known as the “clashing rocks” or the symplegades.
- These represent the active mind that generates the world of opposites, i.e. fear and desire, right and wrong, black and white. We have to have the courage to go past these apparent obstacles and venture into the unknown world. We have to go beyond our comfort zone.
- These are also known as the “clashing rocks” or the symplegades.
- Two cherubs block the entrance to the unknown and are frightening, but will not stop you if you do not let them. They are actually benign.
- The Unknown World
- Trials and tribulations will test you.
- Magical aid will be there to help you if you are worthy.
- You will either:
- be killed and resurrected
- Motif from plant-based societies. Group, priestly view of the world.
- find treasure
- Motif from Hunting based societies. Individual, shamanistic view of the world.
- be killed and resurrected
- Escape and return to the known world where you are to and integrate your treasure into everyday life and share with others.
- Sometimes your treasure is accepted by others, sometimes rejected.
Our Logo is a simple representation of The Hero’s Journey, with a core added:
- The left triangle represents the “known world” and is brown to represent fertility.
- The two dots reflect the “clashing rocks” generated by mental thought.
- The right triangle represents the “unknown world”, is green and slightly larger than the “known world” to represent new growth.
- The red arrow through the middle represents a core that is meant to depict a sword bridge that is required to execute the adventure. Its cross-section is our Radiant, Prepped, and Frosty methodology. A methodology of bare essential skill set adjectives we should be able to describe ourselves with to be effective adventurers.
- Radiant is a spiritual message that represents what is inside us all and suggests we should lead with our strengths, mitigate our weaknesses, and have confidence in who and what we are. It is our source of energy, personal power, and courage.
- Prepped is using your active mind to strategically plan.
- Frosty is about taking tactical action.
- The bottom arrow represents the return of the adventure back into the known world, where the treasure found is to be integrated into a new plateau of awareness. It also represents a smile. It engulfs The Hero’s Journey in its entirety and hints that your happiness lies in executing this process. Adventuring is how we bring about happiness in our lives.
- The cyclical nature of the arrows indicates we are to repeat this process over and over.
Suggested Next Steps:
- Check out our core Radiant, Prepped and Frosty methodology we use to maximize adventuring in our life.
- We have our favorite Joseph Campbell books listed on our resource page for your consideration to read.
- “Finding Joe” is a great movie explaining The Hero’s Journey.
- The Power of Myth is an excellent introduction to Joseph Campbell’s collective work. It is a is PBS interview between Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell and is available as a book, a CD set, and on YouTube.
- You can find other Joseph Campbell works at the Joseph Campbell Foundation.
- Read our review of What Happy People Know by Dan Baker PhD.
- Read our review of Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales.
Prepped and Frosty 