The Hero's Journey didn't begin with a story. It began with a practice — the ancient ritual of initiation, enacted in darkness and ordeal across every human culture. Van Gennep named the structure. Turner revealed its depths. The body knew first.

The first in our series of essays on the historical framework of the Hero's Journey in literature and philosophy.

Before Campbell named it, four disciplines had already found it. This series traces the Hero's Journey across 3,000 years of philosophy, ritual, literature, and psychology — back to its origins before anyone knew what to call it.