Jungs Hero:

The Form of Heroism in the New Era

In this overpoweringly humdrum existence, alas, there is little out of the ordinary that is healthy, and not
much room for conspicuous heroism. Not that heroic demands are never put to us: on the contraryand
this is just what is so irritating and irksomethe banal everyday makes banal demands upon our patience,
our devotion, our perseverance, self-sacrifice; and for us to fulfill these demands (as we must) humbly and
without courting applause through heroic gestures, a heroism is needed that cannot be seen from the
outside. It does not glitter, is not belauded, and it always seeks concealment in everyday attire.

Carl Jung (1943)1

The modern hero-deed must be that of questing to bring to light again the lost Atlantis of the co-ordinated
soul. And this is not a work that consciousness itself can achieve. The whole thing is being worked out
on another level, through what is bound to be a long and very frightening process, not only in the depths of
every living psyche in the modern world, but also on those titanic battlefields into which the whole planet
has lately been converted. Not the animal world, not the plant world, not the miracle of the spheres, but
man himself is now the crucial mystery. The modern hero, the modern individual who dares to heed the
call and seek the mansion of that presence with whom it is our whole destiny to be atoned, cannot, indeed
must not, wait for his community to cast off its slough of pride, fear, rationalized avarice, and sanctified
misunderstanding. It is not society that is to guide and save the creative hero, but precisely the reverse.
And so every one of us shares the supreme ordealcarries the cross of the redeemernot in the bright
moments of his tribes great victories, but in the silences of his personal despair.

Joseph Campbell (1949)2

We can do no great things, only small things with great love.

Mother Teresa3
Recently, in both a course I was teaching and in a one-on-one session with a
student I noted how the journey of the soul is a heros journey. This elicited surprise, and
these two experiences made me realize that I have begun to use the term hero in Jungs
sense of the term. What society has meant by the term and how Jung, Campbell, and
others of spiritual insight, like Mother Teresa, think of hero are very different. This
essay examines this difference and how heroism appears for those on the spiritual
journey.
Some Definitions
Our English word hero comes from the Greek hero, which meant hero, but in
the sense of warrior. To the ancient Greeks a true hero was the man (always a man)
who was successful in battle. Such figures were venerated, so hero came to mean an
object of worship, one of the special breed of men who founded cities and came to be
revered as something akin to local deities. 4

On the Psychology of the Unconscious, Collected Works, 7, 72. As has been the convention in these
blog essays, Collected Works will hereafter be abbreviated CW.
2
Campbell (1949), 388-391.
3
Cited by Carol Mulvihill, Mother Teresas Wisdom; at the Internet site:
http://www.pitt.edu/~cjm6/mteresa.html
4
Liddell & Scott (1978), 355.
1

Modern dictionaries define hero as a person admired for his/her bravery, great
deeds, or noble qualities.5 Central to this definition is its externality: brave acts, deeds
others see and regard as extraordinary, qualities that the society considers noble. When
we hear someone described as a hero we think of
the soldier who, under heavy enemy fire, saved the lives of his whole platoon, 6 or
the firefighters who went into a burning building to save the lives of those trapped
inside,7 or
the man who jumped on to the subway tracks as a train approached, to pull a
person to safety8
All of these are brave persons doing visibly heroic deeds. We appreciate their courage
and reward their actions with Congressional Medals of Honor, citations for bravery, even
television appearances and rewards from the Mayor. In the circumstances of war, natural
disasters and times of crisis, we applaud the heroes who find the strength to do
remarkable acts of bravery and courage.
The Nature of Our Time
But Jung and Campbell recognize that there is another type of hero, a type for our
time, now evolving in response to current crisescrises that are not so obvious as
earthquakes, tsunamis, or other disasters. These crises are cultural and are reflected in
what Joseph Campbell has called the collapse of the timeless universe of symbols. 9 It is
in response to this grave situation that a new form of hero is emerging.
A previous essay10 on this blog site spoke of the crucial role played by symbols,
and how our world is now jeopardized by the loss of the symbolic life. 11 We live in a
society that no longer supports the gods, with social units no longer centered around
religion but around economic and political organizations. 12 Our focus now, as a global
culture, is on competition for material supremacy and resources, 13 and this materialistic
focus has led to the decay of the arts, morality and ritual. 14
In such an environment, the individual person faces some serious dilemmas. With
the lines of communication between conscious mind and the unconscious having been
World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary, I, 926.
E.g. Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, the most recent recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, presented
by President Barack Obama on November 16, 2010; for details, go to: www.cmohs.org/recipientdetail/3471/giunta-salvatore-a.php
7
The most stellar example of firefighter bravery was during the attacks on the World Trade Center on
September 11, 2001, when hundreds of firefighters, wearing 70 pounds of gear, headed into the Towers,
prepared to walk up over 100 flights of stairs to rescue those trapped on the highest floors. Over 300
hundred of New Yorks Bravest were lost that day.
8
E.g. Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker, who saved a man who had had a seizure and had
fallen on to the tracks of a New York subway; Autrey jumped on to the tracks and put his body over the
mans body as the train rolled over them both. Autrey later was feted by the Mayor for his bravery; he told
reporters he didnt think of himself as a hero! See Buckley (2007).
9
Campbell (1949), 387.
10
See A Way into Mystery, A Way Out of Catastrophe: Jung on Symbols and the Symbolic Life.
11
This is the title of volume 18 of Jungs Collected Works, and also his term for the reality of centuries past,
when symbols still had power and value in the Western world.
12
Campbell (1949), 387.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid., 388.
5
6

cut, the modern person has been split, cut in two. 15 Living in a spiritual darkness, he/she
has little impetus16 and few goals beyond getting ahead, making a living and getting to
a retirement that may not actually ever materialize (given the bankruptcy of both the
nation and our societal values). Lacking a deep sense of meaning in life, unaware of the
true meaning of life, modern people find it hard to get past the local threshold
guardians17 that serve to divide use.g. nationality, patriotism, and sectarianism. Mired
deeply in the materialism that is the driving force of our time, the average person has
little awareness of, much less interest in working with the unconscious and mining its
resources to enrich his/her life.
The New Form of Heroism
But the hero for our time does have this interest. He or she responds to our crises,
but does so in a new, more interior form. The table below lays out the differences
between our current sense of hero and Jungs hero.
The Old Hero
has physical courage
has an external orientation

The New Hero

has moral courage
has an internal orientation that has an impact on
both the inner and outer life
confronts inner fearsome realities: the shadow,
complexes, the daimon (his/her creative force),
the Self, the inner darkness
typical activities:
enduring psychic hardship (e.g. feeling inept,
anguished, confused); holding steady to
connect with inner energies; holding the
tension of opposites; dream work
(remembering, recording and working with
dreams); active imagination; meditation; noting
synchronicities in outer life
these activities are often not noticed by others;
if noticed (e.g. by family or friends) they often
are criticized or ridiculed
expends psychic energy in working in the
unconscious, resulting in initial fatigue but
greater energy later, as repression lessens and
the energy that went into repressing
unconscious contents is freed up for living
results: moves toward individuation, opens life
up, makes living more fulfilling, joyous and
successful; creates more consciousness; affects
others, not always in ways they appreciate; can
make people uncomfortable, as the hero
perturbs the field within which others
(especially family and close friends) live

confronts physical danger(s): fire, guns, falling

buildings etc.
typical activities:
enduring physical hardship, fighting, rescuing,
giving first aid, spontaneous acts that put
his/her life in danger

these activities are noted by others and often

rewarded
expends physical energy in the heroic act
resulting in the need for R&R

results: saves a life or lives

Ibid.
Ibid.
17
Ibid., 389.
15
16

preserves the status quo, or operates with no

thought of changing the status quo
does not contribute to raising the level of our
collective consciousness

recognizes the problems in our current reality

and works for change
contributes to raising the level of our collective
consciousness

As the opening quote from Jung indicates, the new form of heroism occurs amid
the banalities of life, and as such, it is not very obvious: chopping wood and carrying
water have little glamour, but when done while wrestling with ones inner demons such
simple activities make severe demands on the hero to be patient, devoted, persevering
and self-sacrificing. The new heroism does not shine. It does not get praise. It requires
humility and spurns public acknowledgement, which is a good thing, because rarely is
this form of heroism even visible, and when it is, few people recognize it as heroism: they
are more likely to think of it as weird, perhaps even incomprehensible. Why wrestle
with inner demons? people are likely to ask. Or they may reply as one of my cousins did
to me, when she learned I worked with my dreams: Thats the stupidest thing I ever
heard of!
Stupid. Incomprehensible to those oriented to contemporary culture, because--as
the above quote from Joseph Campbell indicatesthis form of heroism is working at a
different level from consciousness.18 It is not active on the outer level of the ego and the
conscious mind, but works in the unconscious, in the depths of ones humanity, as the
person undertakes the spiritual journey toward individuation. Jungs hero lives on two
levels simultaneously: the interior level of soul and unconscious, and the outer level of
ego consciousness, the level that is set in our collective reality, with all the challenges of
our world. As I noted above, this new form of heroism is closely tied to the crises of our
time, and is evolving in response to them. Specifically, the new hero is transmuting the
whole social order,19 by working on him/herself. By becoming conscious of the
unconscious, by facing his/her shadow, by discovering the inner city that lies within, by
encountering the Self and then enduring the defeats that are an inevitable consequence
of this confrontation,20 the hero steps out of the mainstream and takes on the heros
mantle. And in ways that our disempowering society finds hard to believe, these nearlyinvisible acts of heroism can change the world. How so?
Discovery of ones inner city leads to the recognition of the many different
energies that make up our humanity. 21 This sparks a deeper appreciation of diversity in
the outer world, fostering greater tolerance and the desire to transform the divisive
institutions of our collective past. The new hero of our day, and even more the hero of the
future, champions bio-integrity, ecological health, global unity, and social, economic and
cultural organizations that bring people together. The modern hero rises above sectarian
divisions to promote peace and harmony. 22
The new hero helps to make our world spiritually significant. 23 This has little to
do with religiosity, and much more to do with the personal experience of the Divine, via
Ibid.
Ibid.
20
Jung reminds us that the experience of the self is always a defeat for the ego. CW 14, 778; italics in
the original.
21
Campbell (1949), 389-390.
22
Ibid., 390.
23
Ibid., 388.
18
19

the confrontations with the Self noted above. Rather than through religions, sects and
other divisive groups, the modern hero finds significance and purpose in life through
contact with the Self and then through unity with others. 24 Heroic actions promote unity.
Such actions also bring to conscious awareness what Joseph Campbell calls the
vitalizing image of the universal god-man. 25 This is a universal symbol in that it
transcends cultures. As god-man, it represents all that a human being can be, and so is
inspiring, a worthy goal for anyone. It is vitalizing in that it helps the hero to reclaim
vitality and enthusiasm and then, in turn, to infuse that in his/her environment.
Finally, the new hero is brave, but not in the sense of the firemen or soldiers under
fire. Far more subtle, but no less arduous, is the bravery of the souls journey into the
mystery that is man.26 The modern hero is not fearful of mystery, does not fear his/her
inner depths, does not shrink back from entering into the unconscious. He/she has grown
past the egos need to shine, to take center stage, to be validated by external figures by
achieving great deeds, to court applause. 27 This is what Mother Teresa meant when she
spoke of doing small things with great love. Derring-do is not necessary. Great ambitions
to achieve power and prestige are not heroic. The key to modern heroism is not the
what so much as the how: small acts, often not even noticed by most people, deeds
set amid the banalities of life, but done with great love, the selfless love of the Self
these acts are the stuff of modern heroism.
When I encounter students at the Jungian Center for the first time, most of them
have begun to get interested in personal growth. Some might even be well along on this
path, but few of them really understand what I mean when I say that, for the spiritual
journey, only heroes need apply. And I use the word apply advisedly, because the
spiritual army is staffed only by volunteers: no one is ever drafted. Our new heroes freely
choose the spiritual path. Their courage is moral, rather than physical courage. Their
bravery is the toughness that can endure agonies of soul, rather than body. Their
commitment is the determination to create more consciousness in the world.
Jungs hero does not reflect our cultures image of the hero. Jungs hero is not
oriented as much to the outer world as to the world within, to bring forth from his/her
inner city the resources needed to turn banality into meaning, darkness into
enlightenment, and personal despair into enthusiasm for living. With such enthusiasm the
new hero plays a vital role in saving the world.
Bibliography
Buckley, Cara (2007), Wesley Autrey, Hero, The New York Times (January 3, 2007).
Campbell, Joseph (1949), The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New York: Meridian Books.
Jung, C.G. (1966), Two Essays on Analytical Psychology, CW 7. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
Liddell & Scott (1978), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: The Clarendon
Press.
In my experience some of the major consequences of contact with the Self are a sense of oneness with all
life, compassion for others, and an appreciation of diversity.
25
Campbell (1949), 389.
26
Ibid., 391.
27
CW 7, 72.
24