Mortose: Open Record

The Hero's Journey: Part 1: Questions

1. Ignoring the definitions above for a moment, what does the word "Adventure" mean to you? How about "Hero"? Are you a hero?

Answer 1: An adventure means an exciting journey full of challenges.
Answer 2: A hero is someone who has the strength to protect or save people from danger.

2. Read the definition of 'adventure' above, and your own answer to question 1. What are some of the things you consider "adventures" in your own life? Are you on one right now? What were the "calls" which began these adventures

Answer 1:
a. My recent move across country.
b. One move prior to my most recent.
c. The "haunted" house I was in for three weeks.
d. My study and practice of the occult.

Answer 2: I am.

Answer 3: There were no calls to begin a - c.


3. What do you think the relationship between being ready to answer the call to adventure is to becoming a hero? Do you feel ready to give a "hearty yes" when adventure comes calling? Jedi are ordinary people, without superpowers unlike our fictional inspiration, often without the kinds of famed achievements or renowned victories usually associated with heroes. Many of us live ordinary and fairly conventional lives. Why do you think the study of heroes and adventures is relevant to our path? Is it?


Answer 1: Becoming a hero would occur during the process of the adventure.
Answer 2: No.
Answer 3: The Hero's Journey can apply in a lesser way in this reality than it does in fictional variants.

Refusal of the Call - The Hero's Journey Part 2


The hero may reject the call to adventure for the following reasons:


▲ Self Doubt
I do not have what it takes.

▲ Cowardice
I am afraid of what might happen.

▲ Arrogance
I am better than this.
What do I get out of it? (Reward)

▲ Duty
I have other obligations.

▲ Devotion
I do not want to leave people behind.

▲ Learning from Experience
I already tried this and it was a bad experience.

Refusal of the Call: The Hero's Journey Part 2: Answers

Have you ever refused the call? Do you regret it? Can you think of a time where you refused the call and it turned out to be the right decision?
What are the most common reasons people "refuse" adventure in their lives, and why? Try and think of two reasons in addition to the ones listed above that someone might refuse the call, ideally one negative reason, and one positive reason. Do you think they are good reasons? Think of our doctrine . Are there any reasons one might refuse the call based on something listed there? If so what, and why?


Answer 1: Yes.
Answer 2: No.
Answer 3: Yes.
Answer 4: Fear of change. Fear of loss. Fear of humiliation.
Answer 5A: They could not be bothered. (Arrogance).
Answer 5B:. They are concerned about leaving friends or family behind.
Answer 6: If the call to adventure involved harming others. Jedi strive to defend and preserve life, not cause undue suffering.

The Villain's Journey: Part 1: The Call to Adventure: Ordinary World (With Extraordinary Flaws)

1. This step is similar to that of the hero, but for the villain, the ordinary world shouldn’t be ordinary. He or she sees that state as a flaw. Walter White certainly did. He was a grossly overqualified high school chemistry teacher who’s run of bad luck and poor decisions put him in a horribly flawed situation. For a villain, that’s just untenable.

1. I have often felt the world is too ordinary, too mundane. It is frustrating at times because I know there is more.

Material source: https://jackfisherbooks.com/2017/01/26/the-heros-journey-vs-the-villains-journey/

The Villain's Journey: The Call: Part 2: Answering One’s Own Calling

2. This is where the villain starts to go in the opposite direction of the hero. For the hero, there’s a call that they must respond to. Whether it’s the murder of their parents or the destruction of their home world, something calls upon them to be heroes.
A villain decides to skip a couple steps. A villain answers their own call. Walter White didn’t need someone telling him to get into the meth business. He saw something he knew he could do and he did it. That’s all there was to it.

1. The villain answers their own call, rather than that of a Herald.

The Hero's Journey: Part 3: Supernatural Aid

▲ "Supernatural" need not mean "magical" or "spiritual".

▲ Generally "supernatural" aid comes at the exact moment when the call is refused and is from something which has not been part of the hero's world before.

▲ Example: Enchanted sword, guiding spirit or a wizard.
▲ Divine providence

▲ Another form of "supernatural" aid comes in the form of the mentor.
▲ The mentor can provide techniques, new tools, weapons or powers which will allow the hero to take up their call to adventure.
▲ The mentor can accompany the hero or arm them prior to their departure.
▲ Mentors often die at some stage during the hero's journey.
▲ The death of the mentor allows for the student to excel on their own.

The Hero's Journey: Part 3: Supernatural Aid: Questions


What does supernatural aid mean in the real world? Can you think of any examples from your life of being aided by the unexpected arrival of objects, people or events outside of your everyday experience?

▲ Answer 1: Aid which comes during the exact moment the call is refused.
▲ Answer 2: Yes.

Spirits are common sources of supernatural aid. Do you believe in ghosts? Are there examples in your own life of the thoughts, feelings or guidance of dead people impacting your journey?

▲ Answer 1: No.
▲ Answer 2: No.

Think about some mentors in your own life. Have you ever had someone you consider a mentor? What was it about the way they behaved that made them a mentor? Consider their demeanour, the way they communicated with you, and their own life experiences in your answer.

▲ Answer 1: Yes.
▲ Answer 2: They were charismatic, learned and we shared a psychic connection.

We operate a Master-Apprentice approach to training at TOTJO. How does this tie in with the idea of a Mentor allowing the hero to "skip ahead"?

▲ Answer 1: Yes and no. Yes, if the meeting and teaching relationship is unexpected. No, if the meeting and teaching relationship is expected.

The Villain's Journey: Part 3: Gaining Minions


Since the villain is the one making the call, there’s no refusal. There may be reluctance, but the villain doesn’t refuse their ambition, nor do they temper it. It’s a step they don’t have to take when compared to the hero. It’s a shortcut of sorts.

That shortcut gets even shorter once minions get involved. By minions, I don’t mean the kind of throw-away thugs that ever James Bond villain employs. I mean partners that the villain can use, manipulate, or persuade in aid to his goal. For Walter White, he found a minion in Jesse Pinkman. This partnership, while productive, wasn’t always healthy and Jesse certainly suffered at times.

▲ The villain seeks out those who will assist them to fulfill their ambition.
▲ The villain does not refuse the call, since they called themselves.

The Hero's Journey: Part 4: Crossing the Threshold

▲ The hero crosses a psychological or physical barrier.

▲ Once the threshold is crossed, the hero can not return until the quest is completed. (Their world is changed forever by taking this step).

▲ Homeostasis: self supporting system.

▲ Cultural disassociation: removing someone from their original culture.
▲ The sense of self is often challenged by this.
▲ Values can be questioned.

▲ The "Threshold Guardian" is a person (or creature) which must be overcome, generally at great cost to the hero. This guardian is not always an enemy.

▲ The guardian will cost the hero greatly.
▲ The hero may lose something during this time which was thought to be a key asset.

The Hero's Journey: Part 4: Crossing the Threshold: Answers

Consider the phrase "Point of no return". Say it aloud. How does it make you feel? Have you ever had to make a decision in your life which caused you to feel you were crossing a "point of no return"?

Answer 1: Heaviness, certainty and calm.
Answer 2: I have.

A key aspect of this stage is the hero stepping outside of their ordinary culture, and into a different world, with different rules. Describe the biggest "culture shock" you've ever experienced. What was so strange about it? How did it make you feel?

Answer 1: Where I currently moved.
Answer 2: Displaced.

Read this article on homeostasis in the human body . This is a picture of a certain system. It describes 6 elements which must be controlled. Pick any one of these elements. What do you think would happen if this element was halved? What about if the same element was doubled? How would that affect the system? If possible, please relate your answers to the idea of homeostasis in the Hero's Journey, described in this topic.

Answer 1: Urea cut by half: less poison in the body to be regulated. Urea doubled: more poison in the body. Likely this would kill the body.

Answer 1.2: If the the hero loses a key asset, such as their guide or ally, it may put their quest at risk. If the hero gains more allys, it might may their journey too easy and they will not grow as strong.

There are a number of thresholds at TOTJO. An obvious one is joining the Temple and making your first post. Describe your experience of starting out here. How did you feel? What were you major concerns? Can you think of further thresholds here at TOTJO?

Answer 1: I joined in order to gain inspiration and fraternity.
Answer 2: A sense of cold which was aloof and unwelcoming.
Answer 3: Being removed without due cause.
Answer 4: Yes.