Is the Hero’s Journey the Spiritual Path for Everyone?
The Hero’s Journeyis one of a pair of myths. The Hero’s Journey is also commonly known as The Warrior’s Pathor The Journey of the King. In Jungian terms, it is the emergence and development of the inner feminine within the male psyche.
From a neurological viewpoint it is the opening and development of the creative centers of the brain in a person who, to this point in life, processed information mostly through the intellectual centers of the brain. Another way to say it is to say a left-brained person is working to develop the creative capacity in the right-brain.
On the quantum level of the bioelectrical field of the soul, the positive up flowing energy is being pushed to the top of the central pole so that it opens a way for negative energy to fall into the bioelectrical field. (In imaginative terms, the downward flow of the negative energy within the bioelectrical field is experienced as a downward moving stream (Tao) or “The Flood” (Biblical Christian theology).
This is all well and good if everyone was a left-brained intellectual. But, that is not the case. What is the myth for those who are right-brained and creative?
Joseph Campbell was asked if there was a myth for women. He stated that The Hero’s Journey is an experience. Since he was a man, he was unable to define the experience of individuation for a woman. He further went on to say that a woman, who had experienced individuation, would have to define the female path.
There is a standard myth for the creative, right-brained, personality. You will find it in just about every culture. From a neurological viewpoint, it is the opening and development of the intellectual centers of the brain within a person who has processed thinking mostly through the creative centers of the brain. In other words, this is a right-brained person who is working to develop the logical and intellectual capacity within the left-brain.
On the quantum level of the bioelectrical field of the soul, the negative energy is pushed down to the bottom of the central pole until it opens a way for the positive energy to flow upwards into the bioelectrical field. During this experience the energy is felt to conglomerate in the abdominal region of the body. (In imaginary language, this feeling is experienced/symbolized as a pregnancy.)
What is the myth that symbolizes the emergence of the masculine qualities within the feminine psyche? Christianity has the established and most defined version. It is The Nativity. Many cultures contain the myth of the divine male child that is born of a virgin. It is the reason for the cultural preference of the first-born male child because this symbolized the individuation of the female psyche. The name of this myth is commonly called The Grail Path. It is also known as The Virgin’s Path or the Path of the Queen.
This explains why the divine child is always male. It was not because of the patriarchal society. It relates to the emergence of the masculine qualities of logic and order within a creative or emotionally based person.
The Taoists and Buddhists share a well-defined myth that explains this path in alchemical terms. It is call “The Secret of the Golden Flower.”
There is no such thing as a monomyth in my opinion. It cannot be possible because there is not just one way all humans think and process information. Jung himself defined the multiple ways the mind can process information, which Meyers Briggs further defined into the 16 personality types.
Maybe we will later define the 16 different myths that relate to each of the personality types. For now, we have what the ancients would recognize as the twin paths of personal development, one for men and one for women.
Since not all women are creative and not all men are intellectual, I don’t like to assign mythical/spiritual paths by what body parts the person happens to have. I like to define the personality type or whether a person is right-brained or left-brained to assign the mystical/spiritual path.
