"Ground breaking new material like that of Jung"
So, everyone’s life follows the hero’s journey as portrayed in wonder tales. This true hero’s journey begins on the day you were born. It is possible to pinpoint where you are in your journey and what you already mastered by looking at your age. This ancient way to chart your soul biography will guide you towards alignment with the natural rhythms and will change your entire way of looking at your life, because you suddenly get to experience the cosmic order and recognize the context of your own story. Then you see how your soul always knows the way forward.
THE TRUE HERO'S JOURNEY
Most people know of the hero’s journey. Joseph Campbell made it famous, when he discovered that mythological stories from all over the world have a similar inner build-up: There is always a hero in the story who leaves his regular life with a mission to change the status quo. After many adventures, trials and coming into contact with the divine, the hero returns home as a new person. There are mostly male heroes in those stories.
What most people DON’T realize is that the hero’s journey is much much older than the mythological stories found in the written classical mythology. It truly dates back to the Neolithic Age.
The true hero’s journey is found in wonder tales, a subgroup of the orally transmitted folklore
The older version found in the oral story tradition reveals a view on life that is closer to nature and features more details and also more female protagonists, because it stems from a matriarchal time. This true hero’s journey can be found in wonder tales, a subgroup of folklore, which were orally transmitted from generation to generation over the past millennia. It depicts the adventures of a person, who is exposed to the cosmic dynamics on planet earth. The true hero’s journey is therefore a human's (hero's) path through life, as he or she is exposed to the ever changing influence of the sun and the moon.
Stories containing the true hero’s journey must have been created around the time when societies began to change from a matriarchal to a patriarchal lifestyle, which would explain, why in the later classical mythologies certain elements in the hero’s journey went missing, got changed or were misunderstood.
This is why so many of us who identify with a hero or heroine on a journey feel that struggle is just a part of the deal going through life. However, when you can understand that in ancient times, life was viewed to be shaped by cosmic cycles and wonder tales were told to depict a human’s life under those natural rhythms, you get to see that your struggles always reflect a soul’s intention to move towards more harmony with the shape-giving cycles.
"The true hero’s journey is a much older version of the monomyth and is based on insights primarily gained from oral folklore. It is attuned to the cosmic cycles. Fairy tales contain a complete form of the hero’s journey, and show a calendrical alignment to the cosmic cycles of the Sun and the Moon."
Reviews
"... ground breaking new material like that of Jung ..."
"Your book, like that evening you've met the fairytales, is a treasure box. What a delightful reading! It really felt we were having a conversation and you were telling me your discoveries. It really touched my heart and helped me to understand what I'm going through now. Even my husband, who is not into anything, got amazed when I explained him the concept and we tried the table of ages and parts of the story in the end of the book! ...thank you so much for sharing all of this with the world, you are a star!" Poema Suhanko, Astrologer in Finland
"The true Hero takes you back to your mum´s womb. This is just the initial feeling... Yeah, go ahead, it is the journey!
It´s touching and at the same time expanding, that´s to say, it is versatile. It is a book which brings journeys you can both use as for your personal development as illustrating business cases.
Also, the fiction it approaches is unique as for European fairy tales standard.
I fully recommend it if you want to pick a discovery exciting journey to go on your own for yourself." Drica Menezes, Astrologer in São Paulo, Brazil
"This book takes us with you on your entire quest and reflections, very valuable and necessary with ground breaking new material like that of Jung.
Andrea Hofman spent years researching a possible correlation between the hero's quest of folk tales and the growth cycles of astrology. Her findings are astounding. As a spiritual astrologer since 1987, I warmly recommend this important book." Nina Bentzon-Ehlers, Astrologer in Copenhagen, Denmark
"It's very interesting and partly autobiographical, and I feel like I hear your voice reading.
I did not realize how much is in fairy tales and that they go back so far. Really exciting! I particularly like the interpretations of the fairy tales." Stefanie Gutwenger, Astrologer in Vienna, Austria
"This book is phenomenal. It is very well researched.” Barbara Martig, Musician, Switzerland
Now available online or in your local bookstore
- Learn about the original version of the hero’s journey and see how it is connected to the stone circles
- Adopt a new view on folk tales, as they are the wisdom stories of our ancestors
- Learn about the matriarchal worldview, which invites peace and abundance
- Detect your own heroic journey in your biography, and begin to understand how the inner and outer events of your life are related
- Discover how the heroes and heroines of fairytales find happiness and restore peace
See for yourself how this ancient wisdom gives your life a deeper meaning and guides you to more balance, peace, and happiness.
Hidden within fairy tales lies ancient instruction on how to lead a happier and more balanced life. More than 5,000 years old, fairy tales contain voices from a distant past—timeless matriarchal and astronomical messages that are as relevant today as they were five millennia ago. As a whole, fairy tales tell of a heroic journey that aligns with the cosmic cycles of the Sun and the Moon. Neolithic astronomers tracked this balanced soli-lunar calendar using stone circles such as the former Aubrey Circle at Stonehenge. However, with patriarchy on the rise, the Sun began to be favored over the Moon, and people’s awareness slowly shifted away from the original ancient calendar system. This exclusion of the Moon from time measurement had severe consequences. People lost an awareness of how everything was inter-connected, and even began to belittle, disempower, and even demonize the lunar and feminine. Following these unfortunate developments, Fairy tales served to remind people of the old calendar system and of the way that it had provided them with deep intuitions about life and meaning.
Even today, the original version of the hero’s journey can still provide us with vital instructions on how to get back in sync with the natural rhythms of the world we live in. This is especially relevant to those experiencing any imbalance or difficulties in their lives. All one needs to do to attain peace and well-being is to become aware of his or her own heroic journey and start to move back into alignment with the cosmic order, as is demonstrated in these ancient tales.
ISBN: 978-3-033-06973-2
Biography
Andrea Hofman - Astrologer, Folklorist, Storyteller, and Author
Andrea Hofman is a storyteller and researcher of folklore, as well as an experienced astrologer. From a very young age, she was intrigued by the magical world of fairy tales. In her favorite childhood tale, the heroine asks the Sun, Moon, and Stars for advice—and funnily enough, that is exactly what Andrea ended up doing when she grew up!
Andrea studied astrology and became fascinated with the stories that had been written by life itself. At one point in her studies, she compared fairy tales to real-life biographies and found that they shared the same rhythm. Fascinated, she began to conduct more research and wrote down her observations, not even dreaming that she was about to find the key to an ancient cosmic wisdom that described the biography of the soul - a person's true heroic journey through life.
She lives with her family, dog, and cat in the German part of Switzerland, near Fribourg. She writes, teaches, consults and works as a storyteller to make the world of fairy tales available to both children and adults. She frequently travels to Sweden to collaborate with the Land of Legends, the United Kingdom, and all other destinations, where remnants of the prehistoric ancestral culture can be found.
Her discoveries can be found in her recently published book "The True Hero's Journey in Fairy Tales and Stone Circles – Match the Hero’s Journey to your Age".