Inner Ogres
Joseph Campbell’s seminal work points to an underlying reality that myth and story speak to the human heart (or as Campbell would call it, the psyche). Through story we instruct, we connect, we inspire and persuade, and we even rejoice. It’s also how we deal with our imperfection, our brokenness. As Campbell says, “Modern literature is devoted, in great measure, to a courageous, open-eyed observation of the sickeningly broken figurations that abound before us, around us, and within.”(1)
As part of a culture’s mythology, rites and rituals have always spoken deeply to me. I feel most at home in the evangelical Anglican church we were sent out from. Participating in the liturgy (which I understand can become an empty ritual for many) ushers me into God’s presence in a whole-body, all-in kind of a way. For this reason, seasonal celebrations have become an important part of our family life. When the kids were little, we celebrated “Pancake Wednesday” and now we have dozens of rituals spread out throughout the weeks and the months. These may seem trivial, but for us they have become a beautiful trellis in our family life. They help us create memories and celebrate each moment instead of drowning in the routine of the ordinary. I appreciated Campbell connecting these ideas of myth, ritual and the depth of the human spirit.
However, there was another thread found throughout Campbell’s work that rang less true to me. Heavily influenced by the thinking of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, Campbell tied the idea of the monomyth to the content of our nightly dreams. In the section entitled From Psychology to Metaphysics, he puts it this way, “But if we are to grasp the full value of the materials, we must note that myths are not exactly comparable to dream. Their figures originate from the same sources — the unconscious wells of fantasy — and their grammar is the same, but they are not the spontaneous products of sleep. On the contrary, their patterns are consciously controlled. And their understood function is to serve as a powerful picture language for the communication of traditional wisdom.” While I agree that our imagination becomes fodder for our dreams, it seems a false assumption to say that the only stories one can imagine, and therefore dream about, come from Campbell’s monomyth.
To dig deeper into the Hero’s Journey we were asked to review the very helpful explanation of the framework as presented on the Grand Valley State University’s library website. The succinct explanations and clear wording helped me process Campbell’s work. But what really drew me in was the section on the Heroine’s Journey. (3) As opposed to the Hero’s Journey, the Heroine’s Journey is more inward focused. The dragons and ogres are often of her own making in the form of self-doubt and fear. I started reading this section and it felt like reading a page out of my own diary.
She often chooses her own path instead of the one set before her. Check.
She must overcome outward adversity, but ultimately, she must overcome herself. Check.
“The heroine finds a new strategy and reclaims her own value. With a new perspective she is able to continue forward.” Hopefully.
“By accepting both sides of her nature she has gained a new understanding of herself.” Working on it.
As is the same for many of you, this doctoral program represents a pivotal moment in my life. I’ve been part of a church-planting project for nearly 12 years. I’m not sure if that chapter of my life is going to draw to a close or simply going to run parallel to a future ministry to parents. I currently get very tongue-tied when people ask me what I do. “Um, well, I’m a church-planter, except, yeah, well we haven’t actually planted much of a church. So I’m maybe going to be a parenting coach, except, yeah, I’m really not that yet. So, I guess I don’t know.” Awkward.
I’m struck by the fact that both the Hero’s and the Heroine’s journey require great courage, something that I’ve never felt I had much of. But then I am reminded of Nelson Mandela, a courageous figure who I came to appreciate so much during our time in Cape Town. He said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” (4) If I can learn to keep putting one foot in front of the other, even when I feel afraid, then maybe I can keep journeying. If I can keep journeying forward, then maybe I can overcome both my outward and my inward ogres. If I can slay those monsters, what’s next?
“She must find the courage to be herself; limited.” (5)
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1. Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 3rd ed. Bollingen Series XVII. Novato, Calif: New World Library, 2008. (Tragedy and Comedy)
2. Ibid.
(Note: The ebook version of The Hero with a Thousand Faces that I read did not have page numbers, so instead I’ve noted which section I’ve referred to.)
3. https://libguides.gvsu.edu/c.php?g=948085&p=6857313
4. Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Reprint. London: Abacus, 2004.
5. https://libguides.gvsu.edu/c.php?g=948085&p=6857313
About the Author
Kim Sanford
7 responses to “Inner Ogres”
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Hi Kim, I was wondering how the women in our class were going to respond the “different” journey for the heroine. Thanks for your insights.
I too enjoyed Grand Valley State University’s library website, it helped me set the framework for the reading of the book. I also went onto youtube and discovered 61 or more videos that had people talking with Campbell or moments with Campbell himself.
I am not sure if I was impressed. It appeared to me that Campbell was a Catholic/Animist. Willing to align different belief systems…Alarmingly I saw his thoughts as helping other academics/writers/students come to the place where all paths lead to God. Pick one. In one video he said Christ in us, was like the a similar practice with the Hindu worship of Shiva. He left the viewer thinking, that Christ was a myth…still processing this…thanks for your comments…shalom…Russ
Russ, I’m in the same boat. I was feeling like I resonated with some of what Campbell was saying but then his conclusion that all paths lead to God (or cake is sweet any way you slice it, to use his goofy metaphor) went way too far.
Let me first say that I love the way you approached this week’s blog. I identified with so many points that you made. This was like a page out of the ongoing internal monologue in my head,
“She often chooses her own path instead of the one set before her. Check. She must overcome outward adversity, but ultimately, she must overcome herself. Check. The heroine finds a new strategy and reclaims her own value. With a new perspective she is able to continue forward. Hopefully. By accepting both sides of her nature she has gained a new understanding of herself. Working on it.” I mean, really?!?! I love your honesty. You are courageous and amazing! Thank you for sharing.
Lots to respond to, here, Kim…
First: thank you for calling out the controversy in the dream interpretation component of Campbell’s work. I agree that it seemed arbitrary. In some of the critiques of his work, I read others who claimed that this whole premise was heavily impacted by his worldview. (Aren’t we all?) I am not sure that I am ready to throw the entire baby out with the bath water, but the dream interpretation component seemed heavily assumptive.
Second, I resonated with your reflection on how you describe your work to others. Is one of the things we can learn from our reading this week that our story’s don’t often make sense in the beginning, but make perfect sense at the end, when we are retelling it to others? Perhaps the quandaries you are feeling now are merely the context for your epic journey.
Kim, you mentioned the “awkward” explanation of church planting and future ministry to parents that awaits you. I kept wondering what it might look like to unpack the “why” behind the liturgy you and your family adhere to….as a part of the ministry you are developing. The trellis / “ritual” part of your lives…particularly the “why” behind these (sort of like the “why” that Campbell was after in the way he believed all adventures were told) might be instructive in your unfolding ministry — even coaching ministry — to parents? I’m wondering that in part because I just returned from a SoulCare retreat that focused a great deal on establishing a more robust Rule of Life, and I thought to myself: This would be super helpful for people who my wife and I encounter who are increasingly burned out, overwhelmed, and lacking meaningful rhythms. I’m thinking the rule-of-life approach that comes out of your Anglican tradition could be helpful in a coaching sense to overwhelmed parents. Just thinking aloud. There may be more “ordinary” needed to accompanied the frenetic/frenzied lives of parents.
Thanks for your honest reflections Kim. May you continue to have courage to live in the liminal space you find yourself in until you reach the other side! I think it would be fascinating to further unpack the journey that Campbell articulates for both males and females in light of the current gender conversations in the West. Will the distinction between the two journeys continue to be affirmed and taught or perceived as outdated ways of thinking? That’s a big can of worms to open and I have no intention of answering it! I will say however that I would not want to overly differentiate between the heroes external journey and the heroins internal journey. If we have learned anything over the last few years it’s that male leaders need to be more attentive to their inner life Their external work can be done from a healthy sense of self and for the good of the world.
Scott, you make a good point and I totally agree that male leaders need to do the inner work that leads to growth and wholeness. I didn’t read the terms “hero” vs “heroine’s journey” as necessarily meaning that each path is exclusive to one or the other gender. I took the terms in a more general way, kind of the way cultural researchers (Hofstede is the example that comes to mind) have labeled Swedish and Dutch cultures as “feminine”.