The Many Deaths of the Hero

     The hero's journey is a long path filled with many trials and setbacks, and while it may seem backwards, many steps forward require the death of the hero, and rebirth anew. The journey is one of self-abandonment and annihilation, tracked by 4 distinct steps of rebirth. The departure phase of the journey sets up for the hero's first rebirth, their first major change. The call to adventure, and it's refusal, shape the character into who they are at the start of the journey. It lays out what makes them normal, but also what makes them special. Upon meeting the supernatural aid, the hero is drawn more towards what makes them special, and is guided into a dangerous and unfamiliar world to find themselves, crossing the first threshold. Once in this new world, past the first threshold, they come to accept a transformation upon themselves. They abandon all that makes them normal, and embrace the journey in full, fostering and growing the hero inside. This death of the mundane, acceptance of supernatural, is symbolized by the belly of the whale, where according to Campbell, "Instead of passing outward, beyond the confines of the visible world, the hero goes inward, to be born again." 

    Following their first death, their first rebirth, they start down a road of trials, their failures and successes forming them as a person. Newly reborn, they struggle to find themselves, meeting the Goddess figure, they seek their guidance and love, amor fati. Yet still, material temptation draws in the hero, pulling them away from their journey, their path. After returning from this temptation, they must confront the power of their life, atone with it, and be born yet again. Atonement, as per Campbell, is the abandonment of ego, the superego and repressed id inside a person. The hero must believe that the power of their life is merciful, and accept such a mercy. Once again, they abandon a part of themself, submitting themself to the ultimate power. 

    Immediately after abandoning their ego, they face the last rebirth before achieving the ultimate goal of the journey, the final stage of initiation, and the acceptance of their supernatural self. Their apotheosis results in the abandonment of another major way, they lose their mortality, their body. They become a transcendent, deific spirit ascending all binaries and norms, to become something new, something higher. Thus ends the initiation of the hero in the new world, and opens them up to receiving the boon, no longer bound by mortality, normalcy, or ego. Only once they abandon all these essential parts of their being can they accept a greater understanding of the world, an understanding to help them finish their journey, and find what they're seeking.

    Upon receiving the ultimate boon, they have achieved their goal, and their journey is complete. The hero remains in their new world, refusing to return with their new power and understanding, changed, a fundamentally different person from where they started. They may face trials, a dangerous path with their boon, and must take the magic flight to return safely, facing consequences for their actions. On their perilous path they may become weak and with their refusal to return, they need help, a rescue from without. The hero needs a helping hand to return to their home and past life, even if they aren't their past self. Finally, they cross the return threshold, implementing their new understanding of the world with their past life, and starting to strike a balance with what once was and what is yet to be. This is where they must abandon one last part of themself, to pass between their two lives freely, and become the master of both. To truly encompass and master the two worlds, they must abandon personal limitations, hopes and fears, and accept the "self-annihilation that is prerequisite to rebirth in the realization of truth," according to Campbell. Only once they accept self annihilation, one last time, do they achieve mastery of two worlds and can enjoy the freedom to live on.