 The Hero's Journey, a baseball odyssey. A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder. Fabulous forces are there encountered, and a decisive victory is won. The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons to his fellow man. Joseph Campbell, the hero with a thousand faces. A batter shall leave home and embark upon an adventure. Along the way, hostile opponents will attempt to kill him. The path of his journey includes three bases and a return to home. Each base has its own guardian. Each base has its unique trials and lessons. He may encounter momentary safety on a base, but he cannot rest for long. His journey continues until he is called out or left stranded as his team is retired. If he is successful, he will return home scoring a run. To step to the plate, home plate ruled by the sign of cancer. The batter steps up to the plate. He rises from the safety and security of the dugout. The dugout, also ruled by the sign of cancer. A place of family, a nest, a bosom of safety and comfort, but also a place of stagnancy, also a place of controlling mothers. The batter attempts to sever himself from the regenerative pull of the mother. He must also resist the stagnancy and comfort of remaining at home. The batter stands at home plate, a symbol of hearth, safety and comfort. With every ounce of his courage, he attempts to leave it. To do so, he must confront the hostile presence of the pitcher. The pitcher stands on a mound. The pitcher is taller and more authoritative than the batter. The pitcher is akin to a parent or teacher who puts down an adolescent, criticizing him and challenging his competence to act on his tone, act on his own. Each pitch thrown at the batter is an attack on his adulthood. It is the challenge of youth to find confidence, to gain a sense of self-illusion and to leave home. In parallel, it is the batter's mission to respond to the slings and taunts of the pitcher in a manner that will enable him to commence his journey. If he strikes out, grounds out, flies out or cannot otherwise reach home, his response to the parent or teacher is inadequate. The batter returns to the dugout. He is unable to begin his journey and must stay home. But if he answers the pitcher's challenges with a hit, he successfully leaves home and the adventure has begun. First base, governed by the sign of Pisces and the planet Neptune. First base is a place of oceans, the unconscious realms, those places we reach in sleep, dreams, and mystic states. Those rooms hidden in our psyche would share the amniotic fluid of creation. On first base, the hero becomes submerged. The journey begins by water. Water is the necessary element in the story of Jonah. Jonah is called to Nineveh, but does not wish to travel there. Instead, he flees from his mission and boards a ship to Tarshish. While Jonah is asleep in the bottom of the ship, a violent storm threatens its safety. The ship's crew draws lots to detect who has brought the plague upon them. When they discover it is Jonah, the crew tosses him into the sea. Soon a large whale comes and swallows him. Jonah spends three days and nights inside the belly of the whale. Only then does Jonah face the necessity of his mission. Finally, he heeds that he is called to Nineveh. Then the whale spits Jonah onto dry land. First base is a place of solitude. First base is an isolation tank of water where one listens to oneself. On first base, one hears the call of one's personal mission. The challenge is to hear one's unique call and to answer it. Second base, governed by the sign of Libra and the planet Venus. The hero approaching second base will encounter its goddess. He falls in love with her. If he succeeds at courting her, he is safe at second. The lessons of second base are to love and to join with the world. Second base is a wonderful place, but the hero will have to return to the road. If he can take his bride with him, leaving second base will be easy. But she may not understand the thrill and necessity of his journey. If she is unwilling or unable to leave her native land, the hero will experience a difficult conflict. If his bride is not willing to travel, she will not want him to leave. Leaving second base can mean more difficult than arriving there. Ulysses ships wrecks on Calypso's island. Calypso nourishes him, restores his health, and becomes his lover. But when Ulysses is ready to leave her island and continue the Odyssey, she does not let him go. Only with the intervention of the gods is Calypso persuaded to allow Ulysses's freedom. The hero cannot bring his bride with him as he continues the journey, but he brings the lessons he learned from her to love and to join with the world. Third base, ruled by the sign of Scorpio and the planet Pluto. The majority of batters are out long before they reach third base and its challenges. The hero resting on third base is 90 feet from home. The distance between third and home is the most treacherous crossing in the journey. The hero on third base must confront death. Death has been a hazard all along the journey, but now its challenge is intensified. The lessons of third base include the mysteries of life and death and the power of will. Third base is Hades. On third base, the hero descends to the underworld. The Mayan twins of the Popol Vu endure several ordeals in the underworld. Their trials include matches of the sacred ballgame against the lords of the underworld. The hero daringly crosses the river sticks and eludes the three-headed dog that guards the entrance. In Hades, the hero finds what he needs and attempts to escape. But the greatest difficulty is leaving. Aeneas visited the underworld where he spoke to his dead father who gave him the prophecy of the founding of Rome. Aeneas' guide, the Sibyl, knew the way back from the underworld. Throughout these difficult ordeals, the hero must maintain his determination and will to survive. Exhausted and depleted, yet refusing to surrender, determined to persevere, the hero taps resources dormant or unknown. Like the marathon runner who hits the wall and continues on, the hero locates reserves of strength and will. To make it the final 90 feet is an act of extraordinary power. The hero on third base breaks for the plate on a shallow fly or he performs the most daring act in baseball. The steel of home. Coming home, the hero crosses the plate and scores a run. Safe at home, the hero's journey is complete. His mission accomplished. He is greeted and welcome with cheers and applause. To home from which he took such pains to leave, he now triumphantly returns. The hero returns. He brings a life-restoring gift to his family and his city. His gains become the gains of the community. Jason and the Argonauts return to Greece with the Golden Fleece. Moses returns from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments. Tripitaka returns home to China with the Buddhist scriptures of India. Olympic athletes return home with medals. The homecoming of the hero fills the community with the new life, enhancing energy. Life is renewed. Faith is restored. The renewal comes not only from the knowledge and the gifts that the hero bestows, but from the very act of his return. A hero is triumphed in a fantastic adventure. The greatness of his deed is shared by all. His story will be told and retold, a story that affirms the triumph of the spirit. Thank you.