3. JOSEPH CAMPBELL ON MYTH
• “…mythology must fulfill if it is to render life to modern lives is that of cleansing the doors
of perception to the wonder, at once terrible and fascinating, of ourselves and of the
universe of which we are the ears and eyes and the mind.”
• --Joseph Campbell, Myths to Live By (p. 257)
7. ARE THESE MYTHS?
• Can you name some TV shows, films, etc. about witches, vampires, or other beings
founded on myths?
8. MYTH & THE HERO’S JOURNEY
• Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces
• Departure
• Initiation
• Return
9.
10. WIZARD OF OZ
Call: Dorothy is
an unhappy
witch
Departure:
(leaves home
literally)
Initiation:
Series of trials
Return: “Home”
is redefined
11. SYMBOLISM OF THE JOURNEY
• Life is a journey towards enlightenment (“We’re off to see the Wizard…”)
• We must follow the right path (“Follow the yellow brick road...”)
• We WILL meet witches, demonic monkeys, and experience trials along the way
• Help comes from WITHIN an WITHOUT
12. HOW DO I MAKE A MYTH?
• Have you ever been to a magical place where time stood still, you could fly,
where someone close to you died, or where you had special powers, etc.?
Do secret powers exist?
How can you create a magical
world?
13. MYTHS ARE DREAMS::DREAMS ARE MYTHS
experience interpretation
art/myth dream
psyche
“Myths are public dreams; dreams are private myths.” – Joseph Campbell
conscious
unconscious
16. MINDFULNESS AND THE ART OF LIVING
• Learn to dream all of the time and be aware of the unconscious
• Christianity: Being conscious of the unconscious (“Consider the lilies of the field”)
• Buddhism: smrti स्मृति “mindfulness,” “awareness,” literal translation “memory”
• Be mindful of the symbols create your own mythology (don’t let the dreams sort this
out solely)
• When you create a myth, be sure that the character moves from the conscious to the
unconscious and back again (separation, initiation, return)
• CREATIVE PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO GO BACK AND FORTH EASILY
17. MYTHMAKERS – CREATIVITY
• Creativity is being in touch with the symbolic realm of the
imagination
• Separate yourself, initiate yourself, return and report
Personal
conscious
Collective
conscious
Separation
Initiation
Return
20. “You should have heard it man. I had it
written out. It was about going all these--
this land…these lands. This mythical.
Cause that’s what I like to do is write a
lot of mythical songs. You know the
history of the wars on Neptune and all
this mess, you know. And the reason why
the [] rings are there. Cause you know
how they got the Greek gods and that--
mythology? Well you can have your own
mythology scene, or write fiction.
Complete fiction though, you know. I
mean, anybody could say, “I was walking
down the street and I see[n] an elephant
floating through the sky.” Well it has no
meaning at all…
“…you can have your own mythology scene.”
21. ORPHEUS: EVOLUTION OF A MYTH
• Poet/Musician
• Descent into Underworld
• Deals with grief/loss
• Mental illness
22. ORPHIC RELIGIONS
• human souls as divine – potential for
reincarnation
• by prescribing an ascetic way of life
• That death can be a punishment for
sins committed during one’s lifetime
• Religions affected by (or upon) Orphic
religions: Christianity, Hinduism,
Buddhism, Gnosticism
