000-1The call to adventure (placed next to Princess Leia’s costume)

In mythology the hero’s journey begins with the ‘call to adventure’. Destiny’s herald is usually someone or something fairly ordinary – a frog, a deer in the forest, or in this case, a humble droid – that carries an important message for the one who is prepared to receive it.

As the Star Wars story begins, a battle in space rages between the evil power of darkness (the Galactic Empire) and the forces of good (the Rebel Alliance). Princess Leia sends a plea for help to Jedi Knight Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi on the planet of Tatooine. The hand of Fate, in the form of Jawa traders, brings her message to Luke Skywalker, a young farmboy. When Luke sees the message hologram, he is draw into a quest to rescue the Princess and ultimately to save the galaxy.

001-1The wise and helpful guide (next to Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi’s costume)

A hero first must encounter ‘threshold guardians’, being who block the way to the adventure, Luke face threshold guardians when he is attacked by the Tusken Raiders. He is rescued by Ben.

Often, the inexperienced hero finds that he cannot proceed without supernatural aid, in the form of a ‘wise and helpful guide’ who provides advice and amulets to further the quest. Ben serves as such a guide and gives Luck a special token: a lightsaber that once belonged to Luke’s father.

Ben also interprets the Princess’ message and tells Luke about the spiritual power known as the Force. Luke resists the call to adventure, but when he finds his home burned and his family killed, he joins Ben on the journey to Mos Eisley spaceport to obtain transportation to the planet Alderaan, the home of Princess Leia.

002-1The threshold

The hero must leave his familiar life behind to begin a journey from childhood to adulthood and a life-transformation. The Mos Eisley spaceport is Luke’s threshold to the adventure. Here he encounters danger, but he also finds a hero-partner in the form of Han Solo, a pirate and smuggler. Han’s faithful first mate is the enormous Wookiee, Chewbacca. Helpful animals often appear in myths and fairy tales, symbolizing the power of the hero’s instinctive nature.

As they trowel from Tatooine to Alderaan in the Millennium Falcon, Ben begins to train Luke in the ways of the Force

003-1Into the labyrinth

A labyrinth has always symbolized a difficult journey into the unknown, and in one way or another, it is often incorporated into tales of the hero’s journey.

When the heroes arrive in the vicinity of Alderaan, they find that the planet has been destroys by the Death Star, a gigantic Imperial space station. The Death Star is a technological labyrinth: a maze of hallways, passages, dead ends and bottomless trenches.

Like traditional knights, Han and Luke don armour to accomplish their first hero deed: the ‘princess rescue’

004-1Hero deeds

The next step in the hero quest is a challenge to mortal combat. The heroes experienced an initial rite of passage in the Death Star and accomplished the ‘princess rescue’. Now Leia leads Han and Luke to the Rebel base to plan an attack on the Death Star. Luke joins the fighter pilots of the Rebellion. As he puts on is uniform, he casts aside his youthful identity and assumes a new role: that of a heroic pilot, ready to sacrifice his life for his cause.

In the end, good triumphs over evil and the heroes are recognized for their deeds of valor. This moment is the end of one adventure, but it is also represents the start of the next stage: further initiation on the ‘road of trials’.