Hero's Journey #4

Once the call has been accepted, even through a simple shift in mindset, the Hero is ready to meet their supernatural aid, their mentor.

In this stage of the Hero’s Journey, while still uncertain and hesitant about accepting the “call,” a mentor appears—often not of this world—who embodies their destiny. This figure manifests to reassure, protect, and convince the Hero that, despite the journey seeming dark and uncertain, they will be able to face it and emerge transformed and enriched.

In a sense, the supernatural aid is the Hero’s initiator into the journey.

In Navajo tradition, there is an important figure called Spider Woman, who helps heroes navigate their destiny, as seen with the Twin War Gods, Monster Slayer and Born-for-Water, who embark on a quest to rid the world of monsters that terrorize their people. As in many legends, they cannot succeed alone but require wisdom and divine assistance to overcome the obstacles along their path.

This is where Spider Woman intervenes, warning them that their father, the Sun God, will test them with a series of trials before granting them the weapons necessary to defeat the enemy.

She provides them with spells and propitiatory rituals to equip them for battle against dark forces and protects them by giving them special feathers against dangers.

A bit like Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, who offers protection and guidance to Luke.

One has only to know and trust, and the ageless guardians will appear. Having responded to his own call and continuing to follow courageously as the consequences unfold, the hero finds all the forces of the unconscious at his side. Mother Nature herself supports the mighty task.

As the Hero’s Journey initially consists of an inward journey into the unconscious, the supernatural aid offers protection against the monsters soon to be discovered within.

These monsters of the psyche, deeply rooted in the unconscious, often terrify the uninitiated. This is why tools are essential if the Hero is to have any chance of moving forward. The first monsters encountered are dragons, trolls, ogres, Medusas and Harpies, Cyclopses; but also resentments, anger, jealousy, greed, and any dark part of oneself that first emerges. To face the inner monster is to face one’s Shadow, and our personal Shadow is the most frightening thing we can confront.

The Shadow is so terrifying because facing it means accepting that we are not the grand, magnificent beings we once imagined ourselves to be, but rather flawed humans like any other, capable of bringing great harm into the world through egocentric desires.

The supernatural aid, in whatever form it appears, gives us the confidence to take the journey, knowing that it is possible, that some light awaits us at the end of the dark corridors of our mind’s labyrinth.

See you in the next one.

M