The Avengers, Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen and the Star Wars crew are all new creations, but they're actually part of a way, way older tradition. The customs we engage in are the same way: weddings, graduations, funerals, all follow an established pattern that matches the same patterns people followed hundreds and thousands of years ago.
By understanding why ancient cultures told stories like ours, and why the traditions and customs they practice still endure, we can start to answer some of the big questions about life. It starts by studying the customs and the purpose they serve (boring), then connecting it to the way we practice them in our own lives (less boring) and looking for the common threads.
And that's pretty much what The Hero with a Thousand Faces is all about.
Questions About Tradition and Custom
- What kinds of traditions do we see in our various versions of the Hero's Journey? What purpose do they serve?
- Why is it important to understand the functions that older customs served in those societies?
- What kinds of symbols are in place with our customs? What do they represent?
- Is the formal blueprint for the Hero's Journey a kind of custom in and of itself? How does it benefit us to tell our stories with the same patterns?
Chew on This
Tradition and customs are symbols that help us the same way the symbols in the Hero's Journey do.
The Hero's Journey constitutes a tradition in and of itself, linking us spiritually to older cultures like the Greeks and Egyptians.