Applying the Hero's Journey to the Treasure Hunt

I was reading about the mythic structure of "Hero's Journey" so that I could apply it to the "Hunt for the Chakra Jewels" DVD to try and make the story behind the treasure hunt more compelling. I got a good guide about how to apply the archtypes and motivations from a book called "The Writer's Journey" with tips about putting the stages of the journey into 3 Acts and how to put the high points of the stages into dramatic plot points to sustain interest throughout the 3 Acts. That is a better framework to making the story more cohesive throughout all the stages of the Hunt. Also making the puzzles and clues relate better to the story if they are put into parts of the journey.



I figured I could use the archtype of the Herald as the representative of the Gamemaster and that would be a better name for character. So that the 1st Act would be the stage of "The Call to Adventure" and the hook to get the people that bought the DVD to identify with the cause of embarking on the quest and interested enough with the story to put some effort into solving the puzzles.



I can use the Angel of Death in the Tarot Card as a archtype of The Shadow to show the fears and hestitations to the Hero would have to take up the challenges to clarify the stakes of trying to transcend Death. The hazards of leaving the Ordinary World and entering the Special World with all the rewards to be earned making the effort worthwhile.



I could also use The Empress Tarot card as an archtype of the Ally to aid the Heroes that buy the DVD to impart gifts that help them on their quest and the Justice Tarot card as a Mentor to give them training in the rules of the Special World of the treasure hunt. That will help sustain the interest over the length of the hunt since it will maintain the dramatic tension over the 3 Acts because the hunt will include all the stages of the journey when I give all the characters and archtypes an arc of progress to follow



I can put the stages of Act I on the DVD, Act II in the search for the Keys and Act III opening the locks and finding the prizes. The DVD will include the stage "The Call to Adventure" then the webpage with the chakras clues will include "The Refusal of the Call" stage and buying the stuff at CafePress will be the "Crossing of the First Threshold" stage with the Temperance as the Shapeshifter and the Star Tarot card as the Trickster archtypes providing the roles of the Threshold Guardian as tests to show commitment to the quest



The book goes into some detail about the origin, purpose and value of cathersis that is what I think is important to give the treasure hunt a more compelling purpose than just winning the prizes