The Hero’s Journey

1. Call to Adventure

  1. What stage of life is he or she in?
  2. What do you see coming next for this person?
  3. What would cause the person to leave this stage, to “leave home”?
  4. What is the person doing when the call comes? Is it an accident, a blunder, something planned, or hoped for? Is it anticipated or dreaded?

2. Refusal of the Call

  1. Does the hero refuse the call?
  2. If so, what motivates the refusal? Obligation and duty, fear, a sense of inadequacy to take on the quest, a dread or dislike of the task to be taken on?
  3. Is the person ready to leave home, to accept adult status? If not, why?

3. Supernatural Aid (assistance from someone)

  1. What special friends or helpers does the hero have?
  2. Does the hero receive some magical help, advice, or talisman from someone wise and benevelont?
  3. Is their someone who helps them prepare to leave on their journey?
  4. Is it a one time assistance, or will the helper (or helpers) appear throughout the journey?
  5. Is the helper an internal aspect of the hero?

4. Crossing of the 1st Threshold (enters a new world)

  1. What world is being left; what world is being entered?
  2. What or who is guarding the threshold?
  3. What obstacles must the hero overcome to truly begin the journey? -limits of home or society, limits of personality, limits of perception, physical limits?
  4. What events cause the person to cross the threshold?
  5. What is the threshold and how does the person cross it?

5. Belly of the Whale (transform into a new person-thrust into trauma)

  1. Is the person ready to transform? Does he or she enter the belly of the whale willingly, or is he or she thrust or captured in that place?
  2. What self is being left? The self of childhood? Of incomplete or unfulfilled adulthood? An outgrown self?
  3. What self is the person moving toward?
  4. What will symbolize this stage in the story?

6. The Road of Trial

  1. Given this person’s background and experience, what kinds of trials or ordeals make sense for him or her? What would be truly challenging for this person?
  2. What does the person fear and how will this fear be represented to him or her?
  3. What does the person consider to be obstacles to progress or growth?
  4. Does the person have some personality or character traits that will be mirrored back to him or her in a challenging way?
  5. What strategies, skills, insights, known or unknown strengths or talents, etc, does the person use or develop to survive or resolve these trials?
  6. What assistance, seen or unseen does the person have or receive to deal with these trials?

7. Meeting with the Goddess

  1. How will this step be represented in the story?
  2. Does the person have a soul mate, an other half? Does an all loving god or goddess, or non-gendered but supremely loving force make itself known to the person?
  3. Can the person accept and/or identify with the ultimate creative/destructive nature of the universe?
  4. Does the person begin to understand or experience the union of opposites, for example spiritual/material, good/bad, male/female, life/death, etc.

8. Woman as the Temptress

  1. Given this person’s background and experience, what kinds of temptations make sense for him or her?
  2. Is this person on a spiritual journey, will he or she experience the temptations of the flesh?
  3. Are there habitual patterns of thought or behavior that serve to undermine, or tempt the person from his or her path?

9. Atonement with the Father

  1. How does the person resolve him or herself with the sources of control and power in his or her life?
  2. What experiences mark the person as ready to take on the new roles of his or her transformed self?
  3. What behaviors, attitudes, relationships, dependencies, body parts, must be sacrificed to achieve this?

10. Apotheosis

  1. Given this person’s background and experience, what would heaven be for him or her?
  2. What does this person know or experience now that is beyond good and evil, male and female, life and death?
  3. Does the person give him or herself a moment to bask in the glow of what has been achieved?

11. The Ultimate Boon

  1. Given this person’s background and experience, what would be the goal of his or her quest? What is the ultimate boon for this person?
  2. Was there a stated goal of the quest? If so has it changed? Has the person learned more or less than he or she expected?
  3. What are the rewards of this person’s journey?
  4. What relationship does this person now have to his or her own immortality, gods, or god-like figures?

12. Refusal of the Return

  1. Does the person refuse to come back to everyday life?
  2. Is the person concerned that their message won’t be heard, or that their gifts will be unappreciated, or that the wisdom gained can not be communicated?

13. The Magic Flight

  1. Are there obstacles to the person’s returning to normal life?
  2. Given this person’s background and experience, what kink of obstacle would make sense or be especially difficult or suiting to his or her situation?
  3. Will these obstacles further enlighten us about either the person, their quest, or their boon?

14. Rescue from Without

  1. Must the person be rescued from their journey?
  2. Can their original guides and assistants still help them?

15. Crossing of the Return Threshold

  1. What marks the person’s return to normal life?
  2. What challenges does the person face in integrating the experience of the quest into his or her life?
  3. Can/does the person share his or her experiences and the wisdom gained from them with others?
  4. How do others receive the person upon the return?

16. Master of the Two Worlds

  1. Given this person’s background and experience, what would represent the two worlds in his or her life?
  2. Does this person demonstrate his or her mastery of both the spiritual and material, the inner and outer worlds?

17. Freedom to Live

  1. Does the person achieve the ability let go of the fear of death, to live in the moment, to neither anticipate the future nor regret the past?