{"id":55141,"date":"2021-11-12T14:46:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T18:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=55141"},"modified":"2021-11-24T10:23:51","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T14:23:51","slug":"why-is-the-heros-journey-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-is-the-heros-journey-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is the Hero’s Journey Important and Relevant?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why is the hero\u2019s journey<\/a> important? How does the hero\u2019s journey apply in real life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you recognize that the hero symbolizes the godly potential within all of us, you will recognize why the hero\u2019s journey is important. All cultures and individuals make sense of the world they live in by telling stories. The hero\u2019s journey tells us who we are, and what destinies we are here to fulfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to fully discover why the hero\u2019s journey is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Importance of the Hero\u2019s Journey <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Hero With a Thousand Faces <\/em>is an exploration of the power of myth and storytelling, from the ancient world to modern times, and spanning every human culture across the world. When you recognize that all peoples, and indeed, all individuals, make sense of the world they live in and grapple with the experience of living by telling stories, you will see why the hero\u2019s journey is important<\/strong>. Myths are the foundation of all human physical and intellectual pursuits<\/a>, be they religious, economic, social, or cultural, and the hero\u2019s journey shows us that these myths <\/strong>tell us who we are and what destinies we are here to fulfill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Composite Hero<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The heroes of mythology, whether it\u2019s King Arthur, Odysseus<\/a>, the Buddha<\/a>, the Chinese emperor Huang Ti, or Moses, share similar characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are often figures who have unique talents or gifts and hold an exalted position within their society<\/strong>\u2014they are renowned scholars, warriors, or kings. But the opposite can also be true: the archetypal, or composite hero can also start out as an obscure figure of humble origins, on the fringes of society<\/strong>. But whether they start out as prince or pauper, they set out on their journey to address some sort of need, to fill some kind of spiritual void. In simple romance tales or fairy tales, this can be nothing more than obtaining a golden ring or the hand of the fair princess, while in myths with deeper theological undertones (like the story of Christ), the hero sets out to redeem and renew the spiritual life of the entire world and save it from falling into ruin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the hero returns with their newly obtained powers (earned through great physical and spiritual trial), we see that this spark of divinity was within the hero the whole time<\/strong>\u2014but it could only be discovered through the journey. We see this in tales where the hero is revealed to have been \u201cthe king’s son,\u201d and is now ready to assert his powers for the good of the kingdom. This speaks to the inherent reason why the hero\u2019s journey is important: the hero symbolizes the godly potential within all of us.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why is the hero\u2019s journey important? How does the hero\u2019s journey apply in real life? When you recognize that the hero symbolizes the godly potential within all of us, you will recognize why the hero\u2019s journey is important. All cultures and individuals make sense of the world they live in by telling stories. The hero\u2019s journey tells us who we are, and what destinies we are here to fulfill. Read on to fully discover why the hero\u2019s journey is important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":55146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,42,6],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-55141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-motivation","category-spiritual","tag-hero-with-a-thousand-faces","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Is the Hero's Journey Important and Relevant? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why is the hero\u2019s journey important? 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