TAROT AND THE JOURNEY OF THE HERO

what follows is the powerpoint slideshow that was presented to yesterday's myth, dream, and symbol class by professor david van nuys, ph.d.

Tarot and the Journey of the Hero
(based on Joseph Campbell's The Hero With A Thousand Faces)
David Van Nuys, Ph.D.
Sonoma State University

The Cycle

Departure

Initiation

Return

Departure: The Call to Adventure

Hero ventures from every day world into unknown

Herald often ugly, loathsome, terrifying, or a beast

Signifies destiny has called hero from some kind of death & rebirth

Departure: Refusal of The Call

Refusal converts the adventure into its negative

Trapped by boredom, hard work, or "culture"

Subject loses power of affirmative action

Life becomes meaningless

e.g. Death of A Salesman

Departure: Supernatural Aid

Protective Figure

Often a little old crone or wise old man

Think "Yoda"

Represents benign protecting power of destiny

We follow the guide "to the peril of all our rational ends"

Departure: Crossing of The First Threshold

Often a guardian at the threshold

E.g. Temple Fu dogs or lions outside public buildings

Purpose to warn off those not ready for the journey

Protective though terrifying

Guardian must be passed by if the adventure is to continue

Departure: The Belly of The Whale

Worldwide womb image of being swallowed by a whale

Jonah

Pinnochio

The journey is down, into the darkness

Represents death and rebirth

In a kind of self-annihilation, the hero goes inward to be born again

Initiation: The Road of Trials

After passing the threshold, hero must pass succession of trials

Fairytales

Don Quixote

Jack Kerouac: On The Road

World literature of miraculous tests and ordeals

Hero aided by advice, amulets, helpers

Supported by unseen powers: "The Force"

Symbolically, the journey into the unconscious

Initiation: The Meeting with The Goddess

The ultimate adventure when the barriers and ogres have been overcome represented by...

"the mystical marriage of the triumphant hero-soul with the Queen Goddess of the world"

Initiation: Woman as Temptress

Dual aspect of woman: terrible and benign

Good Mother/Bad Mother images

The virgin and the whore

Represents projections of those parts the hero has not accepted in himself

Initiation: Atonement with The Father

At-one-ment with the father (God) happens when the ego lets go of superego & id and dies to itself

The hero's pride needs to be broken

Initiation: The Ultimate Boon

Boon= blessing, benefit, or gift

Scaled to the stature of the hero

Too often, hero wishes for something material or trivial rather than perfect illumination

The Return

Sometimes hero blisses out and refuses return

Challenge of The Return is to bring back the boon to the world

Challenge is to bring the contents of the Ucs. or spiritual insight for the benefit of others

Rip Van Winkle

Ideally, the hero returns as the master of two worlds

The inner and the outer

The spiritual and the material

The temporal and the eternal

-Departure

The Call to Adventure

Refusal of The Call

Supernatural Aid

Crossing the First Threshold

The Belly of The Whale
-Initiation

The Road of Trials

The Meeting with The Goddess

Woman as Temptress

Atonement with The Father

The Ultimate Boon
-Return