Saturday, June 26, 2010
The Power of Myth
Please take a moment to watch the video posted at the top of this page. It catalogs the thoughts and ideas of one of the most important figures in the study of myth. Joseph Campbell has changed the way people think about mythology and is one of the main reasons i took an interest in it in the first place. His book Her With A Thousand Faces explores the universal elements of myth and translates them to the personal. His work allows all of us to see our selves among the pantheon of the Greeks, Egyptians, Hindus, Christians or any other tradition. Ultimately that is what I want this course to bring to you: The fact that you are a part of something bigger and more exciting than you could have imagined and that the drama of existence played out in myth is the story of all us. We are Gods, Goddesses and the Heroes of the ages. We all are united by our common troubles and trials and how we face them, and/or avoid them will determine whether we are a Hercules, Medea, Jason or Theseus. Please keep an open mind as we move forward this semester as the course material is likely to challenge traditional notions regarding the nature of existence. I hope you enjoy the video and look forward to your responses. In your first post please state your name so I can connect the screen name with your real name. This will help me get to know you in addition to keeping things organized.
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Please comment on how Campbell makes the topic of Mythology a personal topic for anyone to address.
ReplyDeleteKenneth Wright's Comment:
ReplyDeleteMr. Bells concept that everything is opposite holds true value. Up and down, right and wrong, left and right, in and out, almost everything has an opposite. This is how we think naturally, between right and wrong. This has caused us as a human race to look at ourselves and say anything other than us is wrong. Myth and religion have carved out a path of what is considered just and what is unjust. Unfortunately this concept of justice is relative. Most cultures have a form of legal system, but what is considered to be fair punishment for stealing in the Iran is not the same in Germany. Cultures have mixed their religious beliefs and myths into their governmental organization which often leads to disputes among religious leaders and those that are elected or appointed. I think that myth and religion are great as a way to experience life and to relate to older cultures. All the major religions share the same story, yet all claim to be the one true religion. I don't understand how all of these wise men who study for enlightenment are blind to the fact they are sharing the same core beliefs as the various other religions which they don't subscribe to. This is going to be a fun and enjoyable class!
Everyone is looking for an experience of being alive so that the situations we go through have some meaning. Myths are the tales that have been created to show the search by mankind, over the ages, for some sort of meaning for this life that we live. Some myths are truer than others.
ReplyDeleteDifferent societies have different myths, religions and beliefs. Most people tend to identify with the ‘good’ things in life and go against ‘evil.’ In some different societies, the beauty of nature and the coordination between nature and god is a form of mythology. In some societies you are unable to see a difference between nature and religion, where there seems to be no end and no beginning.
Society, as a whole, seems to want a way to experience the world and feel alive. We want some way to find in our environment a way to figure out the mysteries of life.
The most interesting part of the video for me was when they spoke about how in India the serpent is the next thing to the Buddha, because the serpent represents the power of life and throwing off death. Mr. Campbell speaks of a Burmese preistist who had to bring rain to her people by kissing a king cobra on its nose three times. The serpent is known as a positive thing in this situation for this society of people, but in some cultures the serpent is seen as a sinful creature. This is an odd concept, that in every different culture or religion there are different meanings for different creatures or symbols. This could be why different religions and cultural groups have different myths for their people.
Campbells’ discussion on how mythology is an important part of religion and society as a whole gave me a new perspective on what mythology truly was and it’s importance. Everyone is effected by or a follower of a certain religion, culture or societal trend, and mythology is associated with all of these. To truly live a healthy and happy life is to learn and understand the influence of mythology. This video has led me to the conclusion that I have a lot to learn about mythology!
-Courtney Trainer
Great observations Courtney! Yes, these different ways of seeing god in the world are also what have traditionally led to conflicts between people. As you noted, the Christians have a different perspective of snakes and go so far as to eradicate them because of their association with temptation and sin. This would be considered an unjust an unwarranted action by Hindus or Buddhists who value any form of life highly and the snake especially. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteAfter I watched this video I took some time to reflect on Mr. Bell's great knowledge of mythology and religion astounds me. He spoke about how myths are our own personal clues for life experiences we encounter. He is very right in this. We take a lot of myths and bring them into our own personal experiences. One cannot just believe he or she is just an existence but people want to search for a large being besides themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn seeing the great mask of eternity this seemed to click to me. The two faces being good and evil, light and dark, and god in between. We heed to always find the middle ground.
When Mr. Bell spoke about the story of creation in different cultures it is so strange in each culture they are so similar even involving snakes or serpents. i never thought that a snake may represent anything but evl and that they could represent new life because they shed their skin.
The last item that amazed me was the story of Indras who chose to live life rather than hide away. This is a great way for one to live life to cease the day - live life to the fullest because we all are immortal. This is how I live my life because you never know when your time is up on earth.
Thank you for the enjoyable almost spiritual video. It's been a long time since I've reconnected spiritually and I'm sure I am going to enjoy this class.
I really enjoyed the following video due the simple fact that Bell challenged every bit of knowledge we learned in high school about the creation of what is. I think that everyone would agree with me about the "boring" big bang theory. I always believed that we had to come from something else, something more that just at tiny particle. Even though I was baptised under the religion of Catholicism, I have always took joy in believeing something more. I believe that throughout time, people have always created stories to make sense of what and who surrounds them. As Bell spoke of how similar the stories of creation are through different culture, I was astounded. Much of the same symbolism was used, such as an item of temptation and an instigator if you will. An example of this is the apple from the tale of Eden, or the infamous Pandora's box. Often times in the stories of these creations, the serpent/snake is used to symbolize as the instigator. He tempts those to try what is forbidden so that a new cycle of life may begin (similar to how they shed their skin) After many college classes, I had come to the realization that many societies are diverse to one another, we may do things that are found grotesque in others and vise versa however, when it comes to our own creation-divere cultures are found to be freakishly similar. Another part of the video that I enjoyed along with Courtney was also the clip of the burmese preistess. I could not believe my eyes as she bobbed and weaved in front of the cobra and simply kissed it not once, not twice, but three times. It was beleived had she accomplished such a task, she would be able to bring her people rain which would lead to fruitful crops.
ReplyDeleteI also took a liking to the Tale of the Indras. The Indras were known to take life into their own hands and live to the fullest. After much illness in my family and seeing relatives pass for some years now, I have found great comfort in the philosophy of the Indras. I do not want to duck down from the world and do nothing for fear that I am sinning, it seems that in catholicism, everything you do is a sin. I want to livelife to the fullest, laugh as much as possible and take nothing for granted. You only get one ride, make it rough.
I found Mr. Bells views to be very interesting. His view that reason humans create myth is to try to experience being alive was fascinating. Myth is not just the search for the meaning of life, but the search for life itself. I also found it interesting how he views religion and God. He sees all the myths connected with religion as metaphors. He sees these metaphors as an attempt by humans to explain things that can not be known for certain. He also believes that we are somewhat mistaken when we take these metaphors to seriously. I believe he is correct in seeing many of these myths as a metaphor, and in stating that they are true as such. His view on the creation myth was also interesting. I liked how they compared Gensis with an African creation myth, and how they were very similar. I think that humans naturally need some way to explain why and how we are here, because without that, life seems meaningless. I also liked how he believes that we need to search for our own meaning and purpose in life. The way that he describes eternity as being here and now also struck me, because it is so true. If we live our lives striving for an eternity that may not even exist, we risk completely missing the true meaning of life and missing all the experiences that life has to offer.
ReplyDeleteGood posts here all. Thanks for the insights you have shared. Please try and keep current with my posting.
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