We are wired to understand the world through stories and myths.
During millions of years of evolution, we didn’t have writing, books, or the internet. Our ancestors would gather around the fire and tell stories, speaking in symbols and archetypes.
This is how knowledge has been passed down for tens of thousands of years.
That’s how we are real study.
So why do we approach a symbolic topic like astrology through abstract, non-mythical concepts?
What if we didn’t think of the natal chart as an abstract structure, but as a story with a beginning, middle, and end?
We can think of the Ascendant and everything that unfolds from it as a theory rather than as isolated keywords. travel: The journey of a planet around the sun.
Astrology is based on planetary movements. As they orbit the sun, planets separate, apply, reach their peak, and then return.
A natal chart—a snapshot of the planetary positions at birth—shows the planets at specific stages in their relationships, like freeze-frames in a longer movie.
But if we give life to this painting, if we animate it, we start to see the larger story behind it.
All stories—including our natal chart stories—follow the same journey, going through the same stages and in the same order, like the stages of a cycle.
Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey
Joseph Campbell, inspired by Carl Jung’s concept of individuation, noticed that the stories humans tell tend to follow similar structure.
he calls it hero’s journey, A template for understanding the world.
There is a reason fairy tales, booksor Blockbuster Follow the Hero’s Journey model – as it captures the universal process of transformation.
Every story—every natal chart, every planetary cycle—begins with the end of something: the completion of the previous chapter.
In Tarot, it’s the “Hanged Man.” In the natal chart, the twelfth house is the house of endings.
At some point, this suspended energy start movingand something from the outside world Summon heroes to advancemarking the transition from the Hanged Man to the Fool, from the twelfth house to the Ascendant, and a new beginning.
At first, the hero often refuses to take the call—uncertain or afraid.
But the moment the hero sets out on his journey, help appears. Mentors arrive, signs appear along the way, or unexpected allies intervene.
Eventually, the hero crosses the threshold and faces an impossible challenge—overcomes it, and ultimately comes back, changed.
You can recognize these patterns everywhere. From books and stories to your own life.
All stories begin with the hero facing a new challenge – whether it’s breaking a spell, rescuing a princess, or embarking on a dangerous mission.
In a modern context, this might mean getting a job, building a relationship, or kicking an addiction, and then following the heroic steps to overcome that challenge.
The Hero’s Journey framework is so universal, so timeless, that it resonates with every one of us, no matter where or how it’s applied.
The Hero’s Journey – 12 Stages of Personalization
In Campbell’s framework, the hero’s journey consists of 12 stages. These stages – from “Call to adventure” arrive”solve” – corresponds to 12 Universal Archetypes for Journeys.
In the natal chart we find a similar structure: 12 signs, 12 housesand 12 symbol-based aspects Planets form according to their cycles.
initial stage is a conjunction – one Finish A chapter in life, through design, opens the door to another world new. In the conjunction state of potential, anything is possible.
In astrology, a conjunction marks the beginning of a new cycle between the two planets involved. In the lunar cycle, this is the new moon phase. In the Hero’s Journey framework, it corresponds to Call to adventure.
The faster moving planet then moves far enough to create semisextileintroducing new energy into the cycle—moments of hesitation, which Campbell calls “moments of hesitation.” Reject call.
Soon after, the hero accepts the journey and is helped – what Campbell calls “the stage”supernatural aid‘, corresponding to sextile aspect.
In mythology this is a mentor, an ally, a tool, a sign. In real life, it could be a conversation, a book, a chance encounter, an opportunity that arises just before you move.
After the sextile, we have square. Just then, on the hero’s journey, real test Beginning – The square is the threshold for the hero to enter the special world from the ordinary world.
After the first square, the planets continue to move in their cycles and the story continues to unfold in a predictable sequence.
Heroes face trials, face hardships, and emerge anew—a universal process of growth that we experience throughout our lives.
The Hero’s Journey and Planetary Aspects
If we adopt Campbell’s The 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journeywe can naturally map them to 12 sign-based aspects in planetary cyclesfrom conjunction, semisextile, to opposition, and then back to the final semisextile.
Through the lens of the Hero’s Journey, planets and aspects are no longer just keywords and definitions. they become Steps in the Development Arc – Specific moments in the hero’s journey.
When we understand the world by looking at the planets and the aspects they create through Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey template, everything falls into place:
Sextiles are no longer “soft aspects”; sign asking to reada signal of wanting to be Next are the breadcrumbs pointing in the direction forward.
A square is no longer just a “hard aspect” – it’s a beginning, a cross the threshold Actions that require us to leave the comfort of the “ordinary world” and enter the “special world.”
Open and closed aspects
also, Not all sextiles, and not all squares are equal.
We have two sextiles in a cycle or hero’s journey, the sextile we introduce is – supernatural help – has a very different purpose than what we say “has a very different purpose”closed sextile” This happens at the end of the loop after the hero has completed his goal.
The first square is called open square (similar to the first quadrant of the lunar cycle) vs. closed squarewhose archetype is similar to the third quadrant in the lunar cycle.
This logic can be applied to any aspect in the chart.
If you have a trine, that can be Either the opening trine – occurs early in the cycle – or closed trine. Different purpose, different energy.
When we look at aspects this way, they suddenly make more sense. Each aspect ceases to have an isolated meaning and becomes part of a natural sequence of development.
Aspects and the Hero’s Journey Webinar
On March 22, 2026, Caro from Astro Butterfly School will host a live webinar, “Aspects and the Hero’s Journey”, she outlines the exact reading logic Understand each aspect through the lens of the hero’s journey.
In the webinar we will also provide an overview of fascinating and little-known topics Opening and closing And how they nuance chart explanations.
You can learn more about the webinar and RSVPs via this link:
[WEBINAR] Aspects and the Hero’s Journey – March 22, 2026
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