Quote:
Originally Posted by Dent
10. I Am You - Discussions on Open Individualism
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I highly suggest you look into the works of Joseph Campbell. I think you'd find them quite academically interesting --- he has spent his life working with comparative mythology (more than comparative religion, as myths were the protean forms of religion). He was an intellectual force to be reckoned with, able to delve into these topics while keeping an open mind and not ascribing to any particular religion throughout his life, which I greatly admire.
Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor: Joseph Campbell: 9781458757739: Amazon.com: Books
The Hero With a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell | Wikipedia
The Power of Myth: Lessons from Joseph Campbell (i just received this book yesterday, an ongoing dialogue with
Bill Moyers derived from a PBS documentary back in the day:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2201676017/
apologies for link dump, slightly hypocritical I know, but no rush on checking these out, and I'm always open for further discussion. Mythology has always interested me greatly, particularly what I now am starting to suspect is a more esoteric, hidden meaning of Greek mythology beyond the surface intepretation. I plan on incorporating lots of mythological motifs in my music.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Betty Sue Flowers, Editor of 'The Power of Myth'
...I recalled also when one of my colleagues had been asked by a friend about our collaboration with Campbell: "Why do you need all the mythology?" She held the familiar opinion that "all these Greek gods and stuff" are irrelevant to the human condition today. What she did not know -- what most do not know -- is that the remnants of all that "stuff" line the walls of our interior system of belief, like shards of broken pottery in an archaeological site. Rituals evoke it.
Consider the position of judges in our society, which Campbell saw in mythological, not sociological, terms. If this position were "just a role", the judge could wear a gray suit to court instead of the "magisterial black robe". For the law to hold authority beyond mere coersion, the power of the judge must be ritualized, mythologized. So must much of life today, Campbell said, from religion and war to love and death.
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