My Humanities final was an essay> Its posted and Im waiting for the grading ... The Heroic Journey Cycle and the LDS Plan of Salvation American writer and lecturer, Joseph Campbells concept of the monomyth (one myth) refers to his theory that all mythic heroic stories, from every culture, are variations of a single great story. Campbell’s observation was that “a common pattern exists beneath the narrative elements of most great myths, regardless of their origin …” (Campbell). The deep patterns in the rites performed in the ancient Egyptian temples, the Israelite Tabernacle under Moses, and the oldest Catholic cathedrals in Europe; along with the Latter-day Saint Temples have revealed many similarities to the monomyth concept. These have been identified by the psychologist Carl Jung as the archetypes of the most fundamental collective desires of humanity (Watkins). The Latter-day Saint doctrine called the Plan of Salvation can be divided into three main parts; the Premortal existence (compare to the monomyth Departure phase), the Mortal existence (compare to the monomyth Initiation phase) and the Postmortal existence (compare to the monomyth Return phase). Comparing the LDS Plan of Salvation side-by-side with elements of Departure, Initiation, and Return in the monomyth epic hero cycle, I propose to lead the reader to the conclusion that the common innate patterns recognized as a single great story, are actually the truths that we learned while we took part in the premortal councils in Heaven. I will focus on these three truths which are integral to God’s Plan: 1) Christ, as the pre-mortal Lord, Jehovah is the Creator of heaven and earth. Each of Heavenly Father’s children who accepted the Savior was given the opportunity to come to earth to pursue our own epic heroes’ journey. 2) Through Christ’s atoning sacrifice we find our only hope; for He is the only One who could offer Universal Redemption from death. 3) As the Only Begotten of the Father, only Jesus Christ had the power to lay down His life and take it up again. His resurrection opens the way to a Conditional Redemption from sin. When we meet the required conditions through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and then endure to the end of our earthly journey, we are made worthy to Return to our Father’s presence as new beings; and there dwell with Him in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom. (Intellectual Reserves). In the LDS temples, we are shown the Creation story. We learn that a personal God, who is our Father in Heaven proposed a plan whereby His children could eventually become like Him. Under the direction of the Father the universe was brought into order, the earth was created Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden; all as part of Heavenly Father’s very purposeful Creation Plan. Unlike the mythical gods who can be seen often as the unmoved movers described by Aristotle as a primary cause or mover of all the motion in the universe (Bodnar). After the Creation had been completed, a Call to Adventure was issued and accepted by two-thirds part of Heavenly Father’s children. A predetermined Departure time was set for each child to come to earth. However, some one-third part of Heavenly Father’s children exercised their agency and refused the Savior’s offer of Redemption; thereby refusing their call to adventure. For those who Refused the Call, their choice became for them, a very permanent Fall from grace. These would have no opportunity to complete an earthly heroic journey. While in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were presented with opposition in the personage of Satan. He is evil, dark and sinister. As Satan tempted Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and Adam saw that he must also partake, The Fall of Man was brought about, including the complications of sin, death and an imperfect, mortal world that would give Adam and Eve necessary experience. Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden. This represents one type of Crossing of a Threshold; and the beginning of the Initiation phase of the mythical heroes’ journey. Satan can be compared in the monomyth to the anti-hero character who takes advantage of the heroes’ naiveté and human weaknesses. The anti-hero provides many of the tests and trials the hero has to learn to overcome. In the monomyth, these conditions are often represented by horrible monsters, worlds of the dead and other supernatural barriers that the hero must experience, and learn to overcome while on his heroic journey. Redemption and deliverance from mortal strife is provided to Adam and Eve, and their posterity through the supernatural rescuing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The LDS temple endowment instructs us specifically in the ways in which the Savior’s Atonement overcomes death, sin and the human condition. There we learn that we are also placed on a path to Atonement with the Father when we give life to the gifts we receive in the temple endowment. These gifts of knowledge and power are reiterated as we return to the temple often, but we must use these gifts every day for them to have an impact in our life. When we do this, the gift of Redemption through Christ’s Atonement and the knowledge bestowed in the temple endowment give us a perspective shift. We learn that Christ is the bridge over which we overcome every barrier on our journey through mortality. His word is the rod along the path that provides direction, wisdom, strength and courage for the journey. In the monomyth, the hero is put through many supernatural tests, but he also receives supernatural help along the way. Think of Odysseus and the counsel he received from Circe on how to avoid the Sirens, the perils of the sea monster Scylla and, nearby, the whirlpool Charybdis. The god Hermes also gave Odysseus the drug Moly to protect him. These supernatural beings offer supernatural Rescue and Redemption along the mythical heroes’ journey. We can see the parallel with these mythical gifts and the gifts offered to us through Christ’s Atonement and the temple endowment. In Greek, the word telos means the end, the purpose or the goal. The obvious goal of any journey is to reach the desired destination. In the monomyth the goal is for the hero to Return in a transformed state; and with a new understanding of the purpose of life. Likewise, the purpose of Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation is similar to the telos of the heroic journey. However, the Plan of our Heavenly Father began with a covenant relationship as we accepted Jesus Christ as the Guarantor of the Plan in the Premortal existence. Likewise, “Both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon begin with covenant people undertaking physical journeys to claim the physical blessing of a promised land. The physical journey doubles as a spiritual journey to prepare the travelers for the spiritual blessing of the Lord’s covenant and gives a pattern to follow in our individual spiritual journeys” (Gardner). The three stage heroic journey – Departure, Initiation and Return – correspond exactly with the three-part Plan of Salvation. While cultures, cosmological and world views have changed throughout man’s time on earth, the one thing that has not changed is the human desire to find and follow archetypical patterns – for these lead us to know God. Time and time again, LDS missionaries have heard the same thing after teaching the Plan of Salvation to an investigator – “I feel as though I have heard this before … I knew that already ... It sounds so familiar.” This, I believe, is because each child of God was taught in the councils of Heaven to look for, and find the Ultimate Archetypical Hero; even our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Works Cited Bodnar, Istvan. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; Aristotles Natural Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Spring 2012. 8 April 2014 . Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 2nd ed. Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1972. Gardner, Victoria. Zion via the Wilderness: The Heros Journey in the Book of Mormon and Old Testament. Religious Education Student Symposium. Ed. Religious Studies Center. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, BYU, 2008, 2008. 62-76. Intellectual Reserves. True to the Faith. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004. Watkins, Elizabeth W. Mormon Dialogue and Discussion Board. 27 January 2013. 8 April 2014 .
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 03:05:36 +0000
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