The first stages is the call to adventure where the hero is brought to something that forces them to act. In class we looked at The Odyssey and Odysseus journey through the seas. The next stages are the departure then the refusal where the hero does not want to have to go away from his familiar. The hero has been accustomed to feeling secure in their personal world and not all of a sudden they are being asked to play another role. The next step is an encounter with a supernatural aid which helps the hero along the way. Odysseus supernatural aid was Athena and she helped him get back on track. Then there is the crossing of the first threshold which can be the move from a place of comfort to a new place. In Watership Down it was the move from the warren to creating their own safe heaven. The belly of the whale comes right after and this is summed up as the time when it looks the task is impossible to complete. However once complete you the hero emerges seemingly as a new person. Then the meeting with the Goddess and Temptress comes where the Goddess helps the hero along with his journey and the Temptress attempts to pull the hero from the path. Temptation from the path is the last stage before atonement. My understanding of atonement is the final break down of hostile barriers between the father figure and the hero. This is the feeling of vulnerability that the hero allows them selves to feel to the father figure.
