My herbal friends will easily recognize the story of the seed: unless it grabs onto the fur of a passing dog or deer, or it flies on the wind, it generally falls to the earth. Here, it nestles down into the dirt and spends the winter in the darkness. Come spring, it warms up and sprouts into the sunshine.

It’s a classic tale of descent-and-resurrection and it’s hardly more than a gardening metaphor. But it is real, and we’ve crafted hundreds of stories across literature to take this image and expand upon it so that we can support ourselves through some of our most challenging crises–in fact, it is the oldest story we’ve ever told (aside from creation myths) and it shows up in theaters every week. It’s the Hero’s Journey.

Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey

Joseph Campbell was a wonderful speaker and mythologist whose innovative work and personable style influenced an entire generation. He was a professor at Sarah Lawrence College and taught literature and especially how the myths of the world are really related and similar. Until he showed this, most of us understood world mythology to be place-based, in other words specific to a culture or region of the world, and distinct from other myths in symbol and meaning.

But Campbell brought them all together into a symphony of imagery and common purpose and united the world’s stories in such a way that inspired, as he called it, the path to bliss.

Campbell also developed the concept of the Hero’s Journey, which has become the basis for many novels and films since he popularized the concept in the 1980s. Star Wars director George Lucas directly modeled his film and character development on Campell’s Hero’s Journey, which served as a process of step-by-step challenge and growth that a character needed in order to mature.

I’ve loved Campbell’s books and his philosophies, and I easily see the relationship to the seed. His characters grow after being kicked out, falling down, facing challenges in the dark or from a beast, and finally rising up (resurrecting) into the light as a stronger and more capable person.

Once Upon A Place

There’s also more that can be gleaned from these tales across time: the place. In my book Once Upon A Place: Forests, Caverns, and Other Places of Transformation in Myths, Fairy Tales and Film, I share the five key locations where the action happens. If Campbell’s philosophy was a process (the HOW), my book shares the WHERE, guiding you through dozens of stories of quests, adventures and obstacles in which the location influences the character and the plot.

It’s a fun and meaningful way to look at stories we’ve heard since childhood and shines a new light on the simple phrase “into the woods.” Because the woods – the Forest – is a concept of chaos and void wherein we can easily get lost if we aren’t careful. On the other hand, if we can create our own paths–our own structure–and overcome the challenges (just like in real life), we will grow.

Like a sapling. From a seed.

Once Upon A Place: Forests, Caverns and Other Place of Transformation in Myths, Fairy Tales and Film is available for pre-order now! Purchase from your favorite bookstores or order from Amazon, Llewellyn, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere you get your favorite books. Go here for more info about Once Upon A Place.