A Psychological Analysis of Vocation and Demand and Their Role in the Initiation of the Hero

One ofthe important stages in the journey of the heroes in myths, legends or folk and fairy tales, according to Joseph Campbell, is separation. The separation usually happens with a secret call, a vocation or a dream, which includes some archetypal symbols. The summon or requestof a Prophet, a master or a father, or falling in love with an image of a beautiful girl who sometimes happens to be a fairy, along with yearning for wealth or power are oftenthe reasons of this ritualistic journey of the hero in the stories.In this article, besides surveying the different “callings”in the stories their psychologicalcauses are discussed.According to Sigmund Freud and his student Bruno Bettelheim, some defects or desires make the hero to start the journey and on passing this stage he has the honor to reach the stage of initiation. Freud and Rank believe this development happens in the first period of the individual’s life, whereas the unity of the conscious and the unconscious for Jung belongs to the second stage of the hero’s life, which is also confirmed by Campbell.