Joseph Campbell on the Importance of Mythology

how much i enjoyed this series—i have never forgotten some of the insights that can to me listening to Joseph Campbell’s carful, lucid, amiable explanations.
hats off to PBS for re airing this

Democracy is alive. We are living in a democratic republic with a capitalist economy that allows anyone with vision, ideas, hard word and persistence to succeed.
One thing Joe always said is that he loved life. This is the perfect Buhha world, and if you choose not to see it that way, that’s your choice, but don’t wreck it for everyone else.
Joe, in response to Bill Moyers question about how bad the world is, said: “It’s great the way it is!” What’s good for one person, is evil for another.

still have all the Videos…but not a video player anymore….I don;t think I can get PBS in my region…is there any live streaming online? any other way to re visit my beloved Heroes and Mystical stories series?

Much love and gratitude,

Angelika
The Freedom Whisperer

Joseph Campbell’s suggestion that the myths are “clues” offers a world-changing insight. The “truth” of the religious stories that have come down to us is not in the stories, but in the meaning we derive from them. The story of the Resurrection of Jesus–to use the pervasive myth in Western society as example–is not dependent on an event in history which may or may not have happened (and probably didn’t, ’cause things like that don’t happen). The story is about how we human beings survive hardships, how our work goes on after us, how we needn’t fear death; life is bigger than us. The myths are not about God and the gods, they are about human consciousness. That was Campbell’s idea that he called “how to read a myth”: the main character is always you!

I was most fortunate to have been part of the crew that worked at most of Campbell’s talks during the 1970s in the San Francisco Bay Area; I got to know Joe personally, so that he was the “wise old man” of my spiritual journey. The comparative religions approach he demonstrated helps make sense of religion–especially in the ways religion conflicts with modern science and common knowledge. It certainly assists people in getting over the “crazy” and “nutty” stuff in religion–like sexual guilt and neurosis and homophobia. (I only half tongue-in-cheek call myself “Joe Campbell’s apostle to the gay community”; I have written several books about how to understand homosexuality and gay consciousness from such an enlightened perspective.)

What Joe was talking about as “the myths are clues” is, in fact, I think, what he also talked about as “the new myth.” How do we understand what myth and religion is? How can we make sense of our–sometimes seemingly innate–religiousness, and at the same time maintain our modernity and good sense? How do we account for all the conflict and contradictions in religion? How can ALL the myths be true? They are all true as clues to the nature and dynamics of human consciousness. This is the “new” way to understand religion–and it is so liberating!. Toby Johnson

Netflix has The Power of Myth on instant view along with a few other Campbell series

Thanks, Tommader…I will check it out. I remember a time when Netflix did not allow access to their movies if you lived outside of the US…Hopefully they have changed that. Thanks for the tip:-)

The BBC broadcast a slightly edited version of the series with the actor Paul Scolfield reading an introduction. I still watch them frequently and find an eager audience from friends drawn from around the globe. Hardly a week has passed along these 25 years when I haven’t listened to, or read some thing from this lucid and liberating teacher. My debt of gratitude is paid off daily by a life lived out the insights he furnishes.

Thanks Toby You’ve struck the Gold!

WOW, WELL SAID!!!

i LOVE IT!!! It makes a heap of great sense!!!

Actually out of body experiences the death and back to life thing does happen. I suspect in those days of old, death was a an appearance of “not aliveness.”.Anyway as religions skewered myths for their own purposes and power it is hard to unravel the story from the distort However the long oral tradition was probably based on an idea of working together to form a better togetherness. The Takers stole the show (Ishmael book) and we have been struggling in that bully empire ever since.