Several nights ago I had a nightmare. I was moving, but could only carry an armful of possessions if I meant to make it out of the apartment alive- because the apartment kept morphing as did the house in the House of Leaves. The part of the nightmare I found most interesting was that, on several occasions, my husband tried to telephone me. As I attempted to slide the bar on my iPhone to answer his call, the slider began to swirl and wriggle around on the screen. No matter how my finger chased it, the sliding bar kept eluding me, and I could not make contact with him.
If he were still alive, I think Joseph Campbell would have gotten a kick out of the way my subconscious brought together my modern, daily experience and mythic archetype.
The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell is a collection of interviews conducted toward the end of Campbell's life by Michael Toms. As Campbell, himself, points out, Toms does an excellent job of asking questions, of providing a springboard from which Campbell can really get to the essence of what he'd learned during a lifetime of studying mythology.
During the interviews Campbell explains why humans need mythology- that is, to provide a way to connect to the spiritual, to bring the spiritual in accord with nature, to bring the spiritual in accord with society, and to guide the individual through the stages of his life.
Campbell posits that the mythic link between the spiritual and society has been broken. Myths were once culture-specific, geographic-specific stories that defined an in-group and the way the individual related to his in-group. In our modern world in which the in-group is becoming the entire world, there is no universal mythology which binds all of humanity together- at least, not yet.
So the individual is left with two problems. First, he has to find some way to relate to his in-group. This identification can be accomplished by the old-fashioned method of defining an "us" and a "them," or it can be accomplished by a realization of spiritual unity, the idea that all of humanity is in the same boat. Campbell obviously believes that the latter method is the healthier, more indicative of maturity in human evolution. Even if the individual manages to identify with the vast and overwhelming everything and everyone, he is still left with the problem of finding a mythology- a symbolic link to the spiritual- that has meaning to him, personally, and can help guide him through the stages of his own life.
Much of Campbell's life work consisted of comparing and contrasting the different forms which different cultures assign to the same myths. During one interview, he discussed a Buddhist myth in which the future Buddha has an encounter with a monster called "Sticky Hair." As Campbell proceeds to tell the tale, it becomes clear that this ancient, oriental story is quite similar to Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby. Through study we can learn that the myths of many cultures tell one story, that they address the spiritual needs we all share. But if the individual is no longer tied to the stories of his tribe, his country, or his local religion, where will he find the symbols and stories that link him to the spiritual?
Campbell notes that occasionally an artist, such as Picasso, James Joyce, or T.S. Eliot can help the individual begin to forge those connections. Yet Campbell insists that the ultimate solution to finding a symbolic system of links to the spiritual, is for each individual to create a personal mythology, appropriate to himself, alone.
I find the juxtaposition of these seemingly disparate ideas- the need to identify with humanity as one community, one spirit- and at the same time, for each individual to create his own, unique mythology- a problem as sticky as the Tar Baby.
Campbell also mentions that, when established mythic symbols fail to define a connection to spirituality for the individual, and that individual has not yet built a link of his own, the result is frequently nightmares. In dream the subconscious tries to construct a mythology of its own.
This insight brought me back to my dream involving the slider bar on the iPhone. In the nightmare my subconscious started with mythic symbols established in the book House of Leaves (morphing architecture), then went on to feverishly invent its own version of a chasing myth using the iPhone.
There are lots of chasing myths involving lovers, in which a man smitten by love begins a fruitless chase for a woman. The most obvious example is Daphne's flight from Apollo. Countless other cultures have personified astronomical bodies, so that man chases woman, wronged, eternally across the sky. Even the story of Pecos Bill and Slue-foot Sue addresses this idea of one lover chasing the other (hopelessly) when Slue-foot Sue bounces endlessly from the earth to the moon, and back again. The fact that my subconscious recreated this myth, referencing iPhone touch screen technology instead of the natural world, indicates one way in which I might attempt to build my own, personal link to the spiritual.
Just as Michael Toms knew exactly what questions to ask Joseph Campbell during the interviews, Joseph Campbell knows just the questions to bring up in his listener's mind. Do you belong to a group? Who are they- what defines them? Do you have some way to connect to something greater than yourself? How do you forge that connection? What has influenced your symbolic links to the spiritual, and what can you do to make those symbolic links really mean something to you?
If any of these questions interest you, I highly recommend listening to "The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell."
If he were still alive, I think Joseph Campbell would have gotten a kick out of the way my subconscious brought together my modern, daily experience and mythic archetype.
The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell is a collection of interviews conducted toward the end of Campbell's life by Michael Toms. As Campbell, himself, points out, Toms does an excellent job of asking questions, of providing a springboard from which Campbell can really get to the essence of what he'd learned during a lifetime of studying mythology.
During the interviews Campbell explains why humans need mythology- that is, to provide a way to connect to the spiritual, to bring the spiritual in accord with nature, to bring the spiritual in accord with society, and to guide the individual through the stages of his life.
Campbell posits that the mythic link between the spiritual and society has been broken. Myths were once culture-specific, geographic-specific stories that defined an in-group and the way the individual related to his in-group. In our modern world in which the in-group is becoming the entire world, there is no universal mythology which binds all of humanity together- at least, not yet.
So the individual is left with two problems. First, he has to find some way to relate to his in-group. This identification can be accomplished by the old-fashioned method of defining an "us" and a "them," or it can be accomplished by a realization of spiritual unity, the idea that all of humanity is in the same boat. Campbell obviously believes that the latter method is the healthier, more indicative of maturity in human evolution. Even if the individual manages to identify with the vast and overwhelming everything and everyone, he is still left with the problem of finding a mythology- a symbolic link to the spiritual- that has meaning to him, personally, and can help guide him through the stages of his own life.
Much of Campbell's life work consisted of comparing and contrasting the different forms which different cultures assign to the same myths. During one interview, he discussed a Buddhist myth in which the future Buddha has an encounter with a monster called "Sticky Hair." As Campbell proceeds to tell the tale, it becomes clear that this ancient, oriental story is quite similar to Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby. Through study we can learn that the myths of many cultures tell one story, that they address the spiritual needs we all share. But if the individual is no longer tied to the stories of his tribe, his country, or his local religion, where will he find the symbols and stories that link him to the spiritual?
Campbell notes that occasionally an artist, such as Picasso, James Joyce, or T.S. Eliot can help the individual begin to forge those connections. Yet Campbell insists that the ultimate solution to finding a symbolic system of links to the spiritual, is for each individual to create a personal mythology, appropriate to himself, alone.
I find the juxtaposition of these seemingly disparate ideas- the need to identify with humanity as one community, one spirit- and at the same time, for each individual to create his own, unique mythology- a problem as sticky as the Tar Baby.
Campbell also mentions that, when established mythic symbols fail to define a connection to spirituality for the individual, and that individual has not yet built a link of his own, the result is frequently nightmares. In dream the subconscious tries to construct a mythology of its own.
This insight brought me back to my dream involving the slider bar on the iPhone. In the nightmare my subconscious started with mythic symbols established in the book House of Leaves (morphing architecture), then went on to feverishly invent its own version of a chasing myth using the iPhone.
There are lots of chasing myths involving lovers, in which a man smitten by love begins a fruitless chase for a woman. The most obvious example is Daphne's flight from Apollo. Countless other cultures have personified astronomical bodies, so that man chases woman, wronged, eternally across the sky. Even the story of Pecos Bill and Slue-foot Sue addresses this idea of one lover chasing the other (hopelessly) when Slue-foot Sue bounces endlessly from the earth to the moon, and back again. The fact that my subconscious recreated this myth, referencing iPhone touch screen technology instead of the natural world, indicates one way in which I might attempt to build my own, personal link to the spiritual.
Just as Michael Toms knew exactly what questions to ask Joseph Campbell during the interviews, Joseph Campbell knows just the questions to bring up in his listener's mind. Do you belong to a group? Who are they- what defines them? Do you have some way to connect to something greater than yourself? How do you forge that connection? What has influenced your symbolic links to the spiritual, and what can you do to make those symbolic links really mean something to you?
If any of these questions interest you, I highly recommend listening to "The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell."
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