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The Call to Adventure
Bringing the Heros Journey to Daily
Life
by Paul Rebillot with Melissa Kay
Foreword by Stanislav Grof, M.D.
Harper San Francisco, 1993
Combining psychodrama, mythology, and
meditation into a powerful rite of passage for individuals and
groups, this transformative guide enables people struggling through
spiritual crises to find their lifes true direction.
To order: send US$14.00 + shipping ($5.00 U.S.; $10.00 air/$5.00
surface, Europe) to:
Paul Rebillot
116 Judson Avenue
San Francisco CA 94112
Available in German translation from Eagle Books:
Paul Rebillot mit Melissa Kay: Die Heldenreise. Das Abenteuer der kreativen Selbsterfahrung, Eagle Book, BoD Verlag Norderstedt, 272 Seiten, kartoniert,
ISBN-13: 978-3837047202
Die Heldenreise is available for
29.80 EUR from any bookstore
or visit:
www.heldenreise.de |
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE is a terrific guide to self-awareness
through dramatic play. I have used this book in several of my classes
as a community college teacher. It has been extremely useful in
teaching awareness and in breaking through emotional blocks with
my acting students. We have also used it to teach a learning community,
i.e. a multidisciplinary class in theater and mythology; it proved
invaluable in teaching the power of myth and mythic adventure.
I have also used it, in a less cohesive process, with small groups
in my church. It is a book that offers hope and helps individuals
successfully set goals for themselves and gain an understanding
of the ways they often stop themselves from achieving those goals.
It is a powerful spiritual journey which does not advocate any
religious position and does not move into any alternative spirituality.
The participant discovers a stronger connectedness with herself
and others through the experience of the adventure. Based on the
theoretical underpinnings of Joseph Campbell's work on heroic adventure,
Rebillot has constructed a playful journey through a fantasy in
which a Hero must challenge his or her Demon; must confront a Supreme
Ordeal; and then is rewarded on the Return from the Mysterium with
a gift that s/he must share with the world. The experience is powerful
and at the same time, it is playful and filled with grace.
My students and friends not only enjoyed the experience of the
adventure but found that it had a profound impact on their lives.
Many find that they are much more successful in accomplishing their
goals since the experience.
The book is in no way theoretical. There is absolutely no jargon,
no New Age hope in 'the stars' or 'magical' spirits, no intellectual
theorizing about the unconscious. The book is about taking action
in a safe setting to explore personal desires and fears. And the
adventure is pure play. |
This is a great way for small groups to develop
group cohesiveness and to heighten individual awareness. The book
guides you gently and clearly through the process. A group member
can read the meditations and leadership responsibilities can be
shared among group members.
I have attended workshops with Paul Rebillot and have loved the
way that he leads a group, but I have also found that I can facilitate
this structure and that without a strong leader, the group accepts
responsibility for one another in the journey. I would, however,
suggest that if you have not attended a workshop with Rebillot,
that you follow the easier choices that he offers in the book until
you are completely familiar with the pattern of the journey.
I have also been told that the book can be used as a guide for
individual adventures. I suppose this is true, but
I would suggest that a great deal of the fun in, and the rewards
of, the process come in playing together. The group members help
each other create their stories of heroic adventures and in the
process each group member learns compassion and discovers his or
her own ability to help others without preaching to them. I have
loved both the process and the book. I would recommend it and would
gladly assist others who are interested in trying this process
with their small groups. It is fun. It is challenging. It is insightful.
And it is personally rewarding.
Sir Thomas Brown said, We carry within us the wonders we
seek outside ourselves. THE CALL TO ADVENTURE is a playful
way in which we can find those wonders within ourselves.
Penny Owen is a drama teacher, theater director and actress currently living
and working in Connecticut.
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