Mapping our personal myth.

Joseph Campbell believed that "...each of us has an individual myth that's driving us, which we may or may not know." This forum is for assistance and inspiration in the quest to find your own personal mythology.

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Eric Mosley
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Mapping our personal myth.

Post by Eric Mosley »

Hello All;

I am new to this forum and have read over many previous posts but may have missed this topic as embedded somewhere else. If so, please point me toward the appropriate discussion.

I recently finished my second read of "Pathways To Bliss" and am very interested in the project of determining my personal myth, a project that both Campbell and Jung embarked on. I'm wondering if anyone has developed a distillation of Campbell's ideas on how to go about this project and then put it into practice?

As I contemplate what Campbell said in "Pathways To Bliss" I think he is saying that the multi-cultural pervasiveness of the Hero's/Heroine's Journey myth means that this is the generic template for most (all?) people but there will be a specific Journey story and a particular set of images embedded in a person's psyche and it is that story and set of images we are looking for when we try to map our own personal myth. I'm wondering how others see and understand this?

em

Deborah Ward
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...hmm

Post by Deborah Ward »

me too, at being new here...however what you just stated made me want to read that very book next !...i have just become re-introduced with his works; having first watched his special on PBS in the 80's; then traveling a different path until now. My feelings will be forth coming~d

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Eric and Deborah;

Warm greetings to you both and welcome here. Our head moderator Clemsy should be by at some point and may have some suggestions regarding your questions but in the meantime have a leisurely stroll through the forum index as you probably already have been doing and if a particular subject catches your attention feel free to jump right in; that's the purpose; to explore your thoughts and most certainly ask more questions. The folks here are a most friendly and helpful bunch and usually more than happy to assist you. Since you have already started a thread with ( a very nice title ) in this particular forum you may wish to share some of your thoughts here.

I know when I first started I was a little apprehensive as to what to do next; but you are among others of like mind that are here for the same reasons so rest assured this is not a concern.

I'll add a couple of reading suggestions that might be helpful and also for the site to explore for perhaps some other material to look at. We have a bookstore of course which has many great books, DVDs and such on the homepage. And as you scroll through the various buttons you will also find other areas of the forums than the conversations here which may be of interest to give a view.

" Pathways to Bliss " is one of my personal favorites; along with Diane Osbon's: " Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion "; and " The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work ". This particular item has both a book and a companion DVD. All of these for starters compliment each other and are an excellent introduction to Joseph Campbell's themes and go quite well with " The Power of Myth which you first mentioned. You may also want to checkout the audio lectures at the top of the conversation's index page. If you are already acquainted with these there is certainly much more to look forward to like in the bookstore I mentioned as you progress further along; there are new works being released all the time so I can pretty much guarantee you will not be bored for lack of material to peruse as you will discover in your further pursuits here. Again welcome to the forums.

Best Wishes; James :)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

Deborah Ward
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Post by Deborah Ward »

Thank you for the nice welcome!
Last edited by Deborah Ward on Mon Sep 01, 2014 3:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Hey Deborah.

Thanks for mentioning this. Yes; the Michael Toms series is also a wonderful collection on Joseph. There is also a companion book of some of these conversations called " An Open Life ". Although not as well known as the Bill Moyers: " The Power of Myth " series it still provides some great introduction material in a warm congenial conversational format that really helps reveal who he was I think. Like you I think it's special as well.

You and Eric might like this as well that was recently rediscovered. It may be one of his last interviews and there is some discussion about it in the Wisdom forums.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6EZOtgxi_Y

Cheers :)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

Deborah Ward
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Post by Deborah Ward »

Thank you again, James N !

...will listen to it as well ~

Eric Mosley
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Post by Eric Mosley »

James, thank you for your welcome message and all the resources you mentioned. Deborah, thank your for your comments and resources as well. There is so much information available it is hard to know how and where to dig in!

I'm currently going back through "Pathways To Bliss" and trying to pull out specific comments about the process of discovering your own mythology. At the moment I'm not even very clear on what that looks like.

What I'm most wondering is: When Campbell talked about discovering our own myth, did he mean that we are all on a heroic journey but the journey plays itself out in a variety of motifs, or did he mean that there are other life journeys other than the hero's?

JamesN.
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Re: Mapping our personal myth.

Post by JamesN. »

Eric Mosley wrote:Hello All;

I am new to this forum and have read over many previous posts but may have missed this topic as embedded somewhere else. If so, please point me toward the appropriate discussion.

I recently finished my second read of "Pathways To Bliss" and am very interested in the project of determining my personal myth, a project that both Campbell and Jung embarked on. I'm wondering if anyone has developed a distillation of Campbell's ideas on how to go about this project and then put it into practice?

As I contemplate what Campbell said in "Pathways To Bliss" I think he is saying that the multi-cultural pervasiveness of the Hero's/Heroine's Journey myth means that this is the generic template for most (all?) people but there will be a specific Journey story and a particular set of images embedded in a person's psyche and it is that story and set of images we are looking for when we try to map our own personal myth. I'm wondering how others see and understand this?

em

Eric and Deborah you too of course; I might make a couple of suggestions that may be helpful in your desire to seek this out. One; I would think in terms of " your own individual story "; and start by asking yourself: " If I had my pen in my hand and was writing my own story; ( what would it be? ). Clemsy has a great approach to this in his high school class where he tries to help his students through writing come to realize they are the authors of their own life; and explores this idea through myth; if I understand his concept correctly. He should actually be the one to describe this to you so I'll just leave that to him.

And also I will mention a couple of other things that you might check out if they are of interest to you. One is a book by a friend of Joseph Campbell's named Sam Keen who put together a collection of writing and thought provoking approaches that evokes some of this same type of introspective exploration called: " You Mythic Journey; Finding Meaning in Your Life Through Writing and Storytelling ".

This leads me to another suggestion that again Clemsy has put together in a thread in the 1,000 Faces forum called interestingly enough: " The Story " which you might want to give a look at. The topic of one's " Personal Myth " is indeed a central lynchpin to the concept of the Hero's Journey or Monomyth " as it is sometimes referred to; but there really is no ( one ) way; and this I would say is ( a ) way. No one can tell you what yours is going to be and ( yes ) that " search " within itself is part of the process. But I would start by asking yourself: " What excites me; what is my greastest joy; what moves me deep deep inside; and start with that. There are indeed many threads within these forums that cover different aspects and are discussed in depth and at great length; such as Joe's thoughts on Carl Jung's work; much of which is central to many of his ideas. But I would take your time in exploring these ideas and kind of absorb some of this as it comes to you within your own experience; because that in itself is really important; your journey as you are finding it and how it reveals it's realizations to you. There are others who may have more advice that may better serve what you are seeking than just these ideas of course and certainly be just as helpful. So I will leave you with the link to the story thread and wish you well:


http://www.jcf.org/new/forum/viewtopic. ... sc&start=0

Oh yes; And I might also suggest a thread I put together called " Following the Marga " that be might be of some use here in this forum.

http://www.jcf.org/new/forum/viewtopic. ... 75&start=0

Concerning your questions Eric about Pathways to Bliss; chapters 4,5,and 6 are what have helped me the most; because they deal a lot with Carl Jung's ideas within this concept. But as I suggested; you might want to take your time so all of this material has a chance to organize itself; there is a lot to digest here. I myself go back over these pages quite often.

I hope this is helpful. :)
Last edited by JamesN. on Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

Deborah Ward
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Post by Deborah Ward »

Great answers!
Last edited by Deborah Ward on Tue Aug 19, 2014 2:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

Eric Mosley
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Post by Eric Mosley »

Yes James, your comments and links are very helpful. Thank you.

Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Hey guys and gals, welcome and nice to meet you.

In relation to discovering your own myth. You might wanna start reading myths since some of the themes of these myths might be relevant to your life. Here is a thread, listing the most "important" myths.

http://www.jcf.org/new/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2695

Njoy.
“To live is enough.” ― Shunryu Suzuki

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Hey folks; that is a superb suggestion that Andreas offered. Don't let it overwhelm you; and don't feel like this is some kind of " requirement ". ( We are all in this together right? See I told you these folks are cool. ) Think of the long haul and let the journey open out as you go along. But absolutely this is one of the things Joseph spent his life trying to show; ( how the myths inform us and speak to something inside. ) You may have a favorite or two; compare them with some of the others as you come to them; especially the religions. Comparative Mythology was the approach he tried to utilize. ( Great idea and a really helpful tool. ) 8)

Cheers :)
Last edited by JamesN. on Wed Aug 20, 2014 2:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

Deborah Ward
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Post by Deborah Ward »

..
Last edited by Deborah Ward on Mon Sep 01, 2014 3:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

Deborah Ward
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Post by Deborah Ward »

...final thought-

it is just good to know that i have landed in a place of like minds that are alive and breathing!

~d

Cindy B.
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Post by Cindy B. »

Hello, all.

James and Andreas, given that I've been away for a while, thank you so very much for welcoming Eric and Deborah. The two of you are the best!

Eric and Deborah, welcome! You're in good hands with James and Andreas. I'm looking forward to talking with you more as we go along. Take care!

Cindy
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s. --Jung

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