The Hero of Initiation Cycle
The Cycle of Initiation is
one of the elemental patterns of the archetypal hero. Typically, it includes
four stages: 1) the Separation, 2) the Departure, 3) the Transformation, and 4)
the Return (Guerin, Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature,
1969).
The Separation
Growing up in an isolated community, the Initiate (Hero) has no vision (and
understanding) of the larger world outside. In a moment often accompanied by
considerable shock and trauma, the Hero responds to a calling from beyond the
walls of the community and determines to venture forth.
The Departure
The Hero leaves the security and safety of the former community to explore the
outer world. At this point the Hero joins a fellow traveler, a
"priest-like" figure who is, in fact, the Hero's Mentor who knows the
journey and the ways of the world. Together, along the "journey of
life," the two encounter obstacles along the way that threaten the
completion of the sojourn. With each encounter, the Hero gains a fuller
appreciation of the
The Transformation
Sometimes characterized as a moment of spiritual illumination or
"epiphany," the Hero experiences an inward transformation, manifested
in his new self-discovery. He has learned all that can be learned from his
The Return
The Hero returns to his original (or another) community, carrying once more the
voice of the
It should be noted that not
all Heroes complete the cycle. In Irish Celtic mythology, after responding to
voices off the familiar path to join in a feast, the Hero finds himself the
main dish on the menu and is slain. His gleaming white bones, picked clean and
lying beside the road, warn others not to linger at the crossroads.
As an interesting sidebar,
you might be interested in comparing the cycles above to the research of William
Perry in his examination of American college students in the late 1960s (Forms
of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years, 1970). Perry
notes three distinctly discernible stages in the process of intellectual and
ethical development: 1) the dualistic stage, 2) the relativism stage, and 3)
the commitment stage. Through these stages, modern-day hero counterparts
experience the shift of "agency" (authority) from outside themselves
to a complete transference of "agency" to themselves. Like the
"Initiation" candidates passing along the Irish highway, not all
students complete the journey of transformation, some never moving from the
security of dualistic certainties.
Geoff Grimes
This page was last modified on February 10, 2006,
and is maintained by Dr. Geoffrey Grimes.
