The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
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Book Reviews of The Power of Myth
Book Review: Still love it...
Summary: 5 Stars
Love it. This is one of those books that knocked me out of my shell. I don't necessarily agree with everything he says (who does?) but his views and interpretations opened my mind up to the fact that it is o.k. to have different views and interpretations. At the very least, he got me to actually look at the stories and symbols in the world and to search deeper for meaning. After all, we are all looking for meaning and it is right in front of us. We really don't have to look too far.
Whether or not you agree with his views, you will never look at the world the same way again. If we all looked at the world the same way, what would we have to talk about?
(FYI: This is an old review under an old email address.
Update: This book radically changed my life and I still revisit it from time to time.
One critique: Campbell notes, almost in passing, that he knows nothing of the Christian faith as practiced in much of the Deep South (i.e. the 'Holy Rollers'). This is a magnificent, vibrant and living faith and Campbell addresses it almost as a footnote. Just goes to show, we can't know everything.
I will say that Campbell may be considered the equivalent of C.S. Lewis in the mythological realm (although Campbell seems to cling a little more tightly to the intellect). Just as with Lewis, certain 'red flags' will appear as you traverse territory unknown, so too will Campbell's works present 'red flags' as you journey. Whether this can be written off as New Age or the perfect type of theology/mythology for the elitist (i.e. understanding without commitment), Campbell's book broadens the scope of our understanding of the power, and signifiance, of myths in our lives)
Book Review: A "slow-burning rapture"
Summary: 5 Stars
Five stars seem inadequate to rate a book that changed my life so profoundly. It gave me the courage to do the things I always dreamed of doing, but dared not do, as they were contrary to what society considers success.
"Go where your body and soul want to go." Campbell urged. "When you have the feeling, stay with it, and don't let anyone throw you off."
His words spurred me on. As did these,
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. To refuse the call means stagnation."
(Stagnation! Who wants that? A stinky, smelly swamp of a life.)
I worried that the life I wanted held no hope for financial security. But Campbell said not to pity people who have no visible means of support, rather those who have no invisible means of support, nothing to sustain them from within. Furthermore, he added:
"If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you . . . you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. . . . doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. It's miraculous! Invisible hands will guide you the entire way. "
I found this to be true with amazing accuracy. Everything he writes has been true for me.
Finally, Campbell suggests,
"Read the right books by the right people. Your mind is brought onto that level, and you have a nice, mild, slow-burning rapture all the time."
This is one of those books. Start here.
Book Review: Symbology light
Summary: 5 Stars
This book, The Power of Myth, is a slightly expanded and re-edited version of the Moyers/Campbell interviews, now nicely illustrated and organized more or less by general topic or concept. It is not exhaustive, but does give one a taste of what Campbell's life work was all about.
What was it all about? Man's short span on earth, consumed by a search for self-meaning, has generated innumerable stories, myths, symbols and subcontexts, archetypes familiar and unfamiliar, all pointing in generally the same direction, often strikingly similar in nature and tone. Campbell's work in comparitive religion and mythology contrasted and compiled and amazing variety of these, and through his many books charted the course of our search for ourselves, and meaning in the universe. Along the way he discarded more popular notions of organized religion in favor of a more individual path, neatly summarizable as, "Follow your bliss."
The book itself is organized by concept, i.e. the Mother Goddess, the Hero, Love & Marriage, the Journey Inward, and so on, but again and again, through culture after culture, the message resonates the same. These conversations are often insightful, always wide-ranging, and from time to time deeply personal, but always interesting. While by itself this book will teach few people much, they may well steer them to Campbell's much deeper examination of the various topics he here touches upon, and in that sense the book is well worth reading if only to whet the neophytes appetites in that way.
A well done and nicely illustrated volume with plenty to think about and consider.
Book Review: So Many Stars, One Sky.
Summary: 5 Stars
No library is complete without a copy of this great work. Joseph Campbell is a hero of mine. The power of his mind was mythic, pun intended. He was a humble genius with an infectious sense of humor. His message of myth and meaning came straight from his heart, from his whole being. His agenda for his students and readers alike was to spread his wonder and joy. The wonder and joy of being human. To follow your bliss as he would put it. He was that most unique of modern sages, full of wisdom without being full of himself. He was a mischievous elf that enjoyed teasing our cultural foibles at nearly every turn, but always with a light touch. I like my lessons about the mystery of life delivered with a wink. I like to feel that I am in on the joke. Not that I don't take life seriously, I do. I just try not to take it too seriously, neither did Mr. Campbell. Mr. Campbell believed, as do I, that to rightly study the mystery of life a large serving of humility with a dash of humor is requirred. God does not reveal his truths to a haughty heart. Dogmatic certainty in such matters as cultural myths can all too easily turn into hubris. Religious Crusades and Jihads come to mind. Mr. Campbell was a very wise man that recognized much as did the great Christian Mystic Meister Eckhart that God is like a great underground river. That each of our world's great myths and religions are the product of different cultures digging sacred wells into the same unseen source. If you want a greater understanding of the world's great myths then read this book.Book Review: In My Top 10 Books
Summary: 5 Stars
This piece of literary treasure is a launching pad for all of Joseph Campbell's groundbreaking philosophical and anthropological work. First of all a myth is not a lie; rather it is a way for explaining life through symbols and stories. There are basic mythologies that are similar in every civilization - even ones - that have no history or chance of being connected. The Virgin Birth, Puberty, and Death. In some special civilizations there is a fourth - the Wise Man - loosely defined as someone of middle age, who can see their life as a book, with chapters sure to be added, but with an epilogue pretty much written in stone.
The book takes no position, or more preciously is agnostic, to organized religions. Campbell opines that we evolved into a superior species because we recognized that there was a God and the only way to explain this myth is that God is literally and philosophically in our genes. In this way he is probably more aligned to an Eastern way of thinking of religion than a Western One. As I am a Roman Catholic, he does not attack or defend the "Church". Counter-intuitively he explains why this religion lost its way after Vatican II. The Priest having his back to the clergy, the candles and incense, the communal kneeling in groups for communion, the use of Latin, the organs and bells, and formal clothing gave us a powerful transcendental experience that is only vaguely replicated in Christmas Midnight Mass.
If you have one book to give to your children this should be the one.