The Hero Within

"Each of the archetypes carries with it a worldview, and with that different
life goals and theories about what gives life meaning. Orphans seek safety
and fear exploitation and abandonment. Martyrs want to be good, and see
the world as a conflict between good (care and responsibility) and bad
(selfishness and exploitation). Wanderers want independence and fear
conformity. Warriors strive to be strong, to have an impact upon the world,
and to avoid ineffectiveness and passivity. Magicians aim to be true to
their inner wisdom and to be in balance with the energies of the universe.
Conversely, they try to avoid the inauthentic and the superficial."
"There is a paradigm shift that occurs when people move from being
Warriors to being Magicians: their perception of reality actually
changes. They come to realize that seing the world as a place full of
danger, pain and isolation is not how the world is, but only their perception
of it during the formative parts of their journey."

Most self-help books tell you what is wrong with you, Pearson
notes in her Introduction, then try to tell you what you
should do about it. The Hero Within tries to show how you
can be more of who you already are, by seeing your life in terms of a
mythic story or journey.
Pearson describes her bestseller as "an operating manual for the psyche."
It grew out of a belief that individual and societal problems
would not be solved if people continued to see heroism as something
external to them. She has said that she wrote it for ordinary people
who feel that they could live extraordinary lives, and convincingly sets
out to show how harnessing the power of mythic archetypes (for example
the Warrior, the Altruist) is a key to personal transformation.
The Hero Within is no learned treatise, but its sheer accessibility has
made Jungian archetypal psychology understandable to a popular audience.
Apart from Jung, Pearson admits her large debt to Joseph
Campbell, the mythologist who made popular the idea of the "hero's
journey" (see The Power of Myth) and James Hillman (see The Soul's
Code).
What is an archetype?
Carl Jung pioneered the description of archetypes, patterns in the
human psyche that reveal themselves over time. They are permanent
imprints of possibility, yet we can't access them if we don't know about
them. For instance, the realization that we have spent our life being an
Altruist may be what we need to integrate more of the Wanderer into
our thought and behavior. Recognition of the Orphan or Innocent in us
may provoke a desire to awaken the Warrior.
The archetypes are not a progression from worse to better—each
represents an aspect of ourselves that comes to the fore in response to
situations, or that we must develop in different stages of our life.
The archetypes in a nutshell
Archetype Task Motto
Orphan Survive difficulty Life is suffering
Wanderer Find yourself Life is an adventure
Warrior Prove your worth Life is a battle
Altruist Show generosity Commitment to the greater good
Innocent Achieve happiness Life is joy
Magician Transform your life Creating the world I want
The Orphan
Ever felt betrayed, abandoned, victimized? Pearson tells us not to
despair, for such experiences are a "mythic event calling you to the
quest." In many myths and stories, the hero overcomes their background
to rise up and live a rich life. Cinderella has a wicked stepmother
and is treated as a servant, Oedipus as a newborn was left on a
hillside to die, and Dickens' Oliver Twist must escape the horrible
orphanage.
We are all born in innocence, but the job of the orphan is to face life
head on instead of becoming attached to the victim mindset and states
of dependency. You have integrated your Orphan when you stop craving
protection and security and are willing to let others be freer as well;
when you can balance wariness with hope, avoiding the conclusion that
"life is suffering." You know about pain, but you also assert that it is
not everything.
The Wanderer
The Wanderer becomes central when we feel misunderstood, alienated,
or are cast into an unknown situation. It is a call to move into another
life that is less restricting and more "us." The Wanderer sees life as an
adventure, symbolized by the knight, the explorer, the cowboy, or the
hippie who hits the road, but the impulse for new frontiers applies to
the mind and heart as well as the physical world.
The archetype may make itself known in adolescence, when we start
to look objectively at our place within the family and community, but
another key point is mid-life, when many people reject being "responsible
performance machines." Even if a person realizes that their sanctuary
has become their cage, the call to be a Wanderer may cause guilt feelings. If you choose no longer to take on the protector role, who
will?
The vital question for the Wanderer is whether they are simply
escaping from trouble or searching for a new self. The call to wander
may mean painful breaks and terrifying leaps into the unknown, but
without them we don't grow.
The Warrior
Pearson says that it is possible to tap into the "intense aliveness" and
force of this archetype without becoming a mindless aggressor. Perhaps
because of its negative image, many will have avoided taking on aspects
of the Warrior. Nevertheless, without it we are weakened. The Orphan
or the Innocent may fear the Warrior archetype and the changes it may
wreak in them, but sometimes it becomes clear that we have to take a
stand and in these situations only the Warrior will do. By embracing it
we don't become a monster, but in fact open up to "the dance of life,"
as Pearson phrases it.
Archetypal poet Robert Bly (see Iron John) perfectly sums up the
worth of the archetype: "Each time we use the warrior well, we are not
so much fighting battles as awakening the King."
The Warrior of today is less in competition with enemies than they
are with themselves, aiming to vanquish personal limitations and
achieve excellence. Instead of advantage over others, the new Warrior
seeks better and more creative solutions.
The Altruist
In a Warrior culture achievement is everything, yet we all like to be valued
as people, separate to our achievements. Subtract the people in
society who work for nothing, who give out love and care without
expectation of getting it back, and it would not be much of a society.
We need to have a larger meaning to guide our actions, so that they do
not come simply from a desire for personal power or money—this is
the worth of the Altruist.
The negative side of the archetype is unnecessary sacrifice. Many
people will go through their lives giving up their own ambitions and
desires for the sake of others, yet sacrifice often goes unrewarded and
can be taken for granted. The Altruist symbolizes giving and abundance, but only that type of giving about which you are passionate,
not what you think the world expects of you.
The Innocent
Though we are born innocent, part of us continues to look for Utopian
possibilities, despite all the contrary "reality" we come across. We can
return to this place, Pearson says, but only after we have taken our
own heroic journeys. In Paulo Coelho's fable The Alchemist, for
instance, the character Santiago finds his treasure chest only after a
series of life-enriching adventures. The sense of trust in the universe
that we had as infants can be regained by reawakening the Innocent.
While the Warrior learns that "life is all up to me," the Innocent
lives on a cushion of faith and belief in the essential abundance of the
universe. The Warrior believes that life is a race against time, in competition
with others for limited resources, but the Innocent believes that
synchronicity will provide whatever is needed.
The Magician
The Magician sees life in a similar way to the Innocent, but claims
more power. While the Innocent will trust the universe to make things
happen, the Magician will be a more active change maker. Magicians
are willing to take a stand, even if it is risky or revolutionary. Yet
unlike the Warrior they also give up the illusion of total control over
their lives, and in doing so take on an ability to read the flow and move
with greater effect. This is why they can appear to do "magical" things.
In their personal journeys, Magicians have allowed themselves to be
transformed and the reward is power. Famous Magicians include
Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
Final comments
Pearson's most interesting observation is that we are moving from a
Warrior to a Magician culture. The former is characterized by the ethos
of "getting ahead," even if what we get ceases to mean much or do us
much good. The Magician culture is more open to change and transformation,
less set in its ways, and instead of trying to be a winner in the
existing, less than perfect world, is willing to create a new world.Where Warriors strategize, using will and tenacity to make change,
the Magician envisions, believing that the power of the vision will
create its own momentum. Which is better? To the extent that Magicians
are enlisting forces greater than themselves, Magicianship would
ultimately seem more powerful. Most people would prefer to produce
magic than fight battles.
The Hero Within was first published in 1986. Later editions show
how readers can adapt and integrate the archetypes into their everyday
lives and have contemporary references, but if you can only find the
original edition don't worry—the essential part of the book is appreciating
the archetypes, which are not subject to much change.
Carol Pearson
Pearson grew up in a fundamentalist Christian family in the American
South. In college, reading Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand
Faces changed her life. Taking up the book's suggestion to "follow your
bliss," she immersed herself in writings on mythology and archetypal
psychology, and eventually turned her knowledge in these areas into a
career. Pearson wrote The Hero Within while on sabbatical from the
University of Maryland, where she taught in the Women's Studies
Program.
A long-time corporate consultant, Pearson also wrote Magic at
Work: Camelot, Creative Leadership and Everyday Miracles (with
Sharon Seivert, 1995) and founded the Center for Archetypal Studies
and Applications in Washington DC. Her most recent books are The
Hero and the Outlaw (2001), the first major study of how firms can use
archetypes in corporate image and branding, and Mapping the Organizational
Psyche (2002).