Home › Forums › The Works of Joseph Campbell › ‘A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living’ – Review
Tagged: Campbell criticism
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Marianne.
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November 18, 2020 at 4:02 pm #4275
What shall I say about Joseph Campbell? I consider him my spiritual guru. He was the one who gave a proper direction to my creative side, my right-brain, when it was wandering lost in the forest. His outlook on myth and the human psyche has informed my viewpoints ever since I discovered him in my early twenties.
But of late, I have been disturbed – because I found myself more and more in disagreement with Joe, and I didn’t like it at all! But deep down, I felt that this disagreement was somehow essential to our relationship.
Then came the pandemic and the lockdown, and all of us were left with a chance to reassess our life – and I suddenly found myself writing again. In the terms of Campbell’s Hero Journey, I had finally “heeded the call to adventure”. I was “following my bliss”.
Then, a fortnight back, I was diagnosed with hernia and needed a surgery. This made my withdrawal even more acute. In a world going to hell on a handcart, I needed some spiritual solace, and I came back to Joe. From across the gulf of years, my guru told me:
“When we talk about settling the world’s problems, we’re barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It’s a mess. It has always been a mess. We’re not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives.”
No, he is not advocating callous indifference – he is just telling us the only way to set the world right is to take that journey inward and find our own still centre, the place of Nirvana, where the Buddhahood awaits each and every one of us.
This book is a collection of his essential thoughts from across many books and lectures. For anyone not familiar with the person, it is good introduction. For a Campbell aficionado, it something to be dipped into at leisure, reading a bit here, a bit there.
And the biggest takeaway was – though I now disagreed with a lot of what he said, the creative flame lit in my mind was still by him. He was still my guru, because it is not the function of the teacher to pour things into the student, but draw his essence out.
“From the darkness of ignorance,
With the lodestone of truth,
He who has opened my eyes:
To him, my guru, I bow.”Joe says – “Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.”
Yes. I suddenly realised that over the years, I had lost the joy. Now to bring it back!
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November 18, 2020 at 5:09 pm #4276
Thank you Nandu. I watched Power of Myth and like listening to Joseph Campbell but don’t do much nonfiction. That’s why this is my favorite Campbell book. I love the little stories from his life. They really help me understand better.
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November 19, 2020 at 8:42 pm #4288
Nandu,
A wonderful review!
I tend to think of Joseph Campbell’s books as either “written Campbell” (books like The Hero with a Thousand Faces or the four volumes of the Masks of God tetralogy), or “spoken Campbell” (The Power of Myth, and many of his posthumous works drawn from lectures, like Pathways to Bliss or Goddesses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine). There is a different rhythm to the conversational works, which seem more accessible to a broader audience of readers.
A Joseph Campbell Companion is definitely “spoken Campbell” – easy to read and, as you point out, a good introduction.
But what stands out for me in your review is the following:
. . . of late, I have been disturbed – because I found myself more and more in disagreement with Joe, and I didn’t like it at all! But deep down, I felt that this disagreement was somehow essential to our relationship.”
This is indeed essential, Nandu, and I thank you for raising it. Indeed, I believe Joseph Campbell would appreciate your honest disagreement. The following excerpt, from a presentation by Campbell’s friend and colleague, David Miller, Ph.D., titled “The Fire Is In the Mind,” should affirm that point:
In fact, my experience of him [Joseph Campbell] with other scholars in the 60’s, when he was being scholarly, for example, at the meetings of the Society of the Arts, Religion and Culture three times a year in New York City, is that he delighted in catching these leaks and drips. He changed his view of the source of myths in spontaneous parallel development in relation to historical diffusion. He corrected his mistakes about neolithic dating in the 1969 edition of Primitive Mythology. And one day, while he was working on Creative Mythology, he seemed to take delight in telling me that he had been wrong about the Arthurian Grail material. With this insight he was able to go forward and finish the book.
It is odd to say, but to the extent a scholar is bold enough to be wrong, to that degree other scholars love (and, of course, also hate) their colleague, and this happens in the very moment they are showing him or her to have faulty plumbing. If others claim that a scholar’s work is “right” or “true,” it simply means that those others, though no less intellectual, are not scholars. If a scholar claims “truth” for his or her idea, it just means that that person is not for the moment being scholarly. Academic, perhaps; but not scholarly.
Our intention at JCF, and here in Conversations of a Higher Order, is not to foster a “cult of Campbell,” but to provide a platform for discussing his mythological perspective. Authentic discussion includes raising honest disagreements and criticism, rather than just echoing hero worship (pun intended).
I would love to hear more about where you disagree with Joe – not to persuade you otherwise, but to add depth and dimension to the conversations here (and, I hope, encourage others to do the same). When you have the time and the inclination, feel free to start a topic on either specific areas where you find Campbell in error (or where you have moved beyond his viewpoint), or on Campbell criticism in general. You could do that in The Conversation with a Thousand Faces forum , or, if focused on a specific work of his, right here in this forum.
In the meantime, glad to hear you have rediscovered the joy of Joseph Campbell.
Namaste!
Stephen Gerringer
tie-dyed teller of tales -
January 22, 2021 at 5:57 pm #4680
I’m interested in learning what Campbell’s change of mind was about the Arthurian Grail material. I assume I am familiar with his revised concepts but would be interested in a synopsis of his earlier ideas to compare, and edify.
Thank You!
Peace,
matthew kesner -
February 21, 2021 at 4:41 am #4878
Hi Nandu,
I am happy for you that you are getting your joy back! I hope by now you are healed from your hernia too and that your writing is going well!
I agree with what you discuss here. Even if the world is a perfect mess, we can each try to handle our own mess and if we do that then we each help make the world a little less messy!
Best Wishes,
Marianne
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- 1. Respect Others You may certainly take issue with ideas, but please — no flaming / ranting, and no personal or ad hominem attacks. Should the opinion of another forum member spark your anger, please take a deep breath, and/or a break, before posting. Posts must be on topic – related to mythic themes.
- 2. Respect Others’ Opinions These are conversations, not conversions. “Conversation” comes from the Latin words con (“with”) and verso (“opposite”). We expect diverse opinions to be expressed in these forums, and welcome them – but just because you disagree with what someone has to say doesn’t mean they don’t get to say it.
- 3. Come Clear of Mind In addition to expanding the mind, certain substances (alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, LSD, etc.) have been known to impair good judgment. We recommend you keep a journal while under the influence and then later make more rational determinations regarding what is appropriate to share in this forum.
- 4. Respect This Space The Joseph Campbell Foundation, a US not-for-profit organization, offers this forum as part of our mission of continuing Mr. Campbell’s work of increasing the level of public awareness and public discourse with regards to comparative mythology.
- 5. Avoid Contemporary Politics Given the volatile nature of contemporary political discourse, we ask that members steer clear of candidates or current political controversies. Forum members come from across the political spectrum. There are other fora across the internet for discussing myth and politics.
- 6. Be Polite Forum members come from many different sets of cultural assumptions, and many different parts of the world. Please refrain from language whose only purpose is offense. If it helps, imagine your grandmother reading forum posts – as perhaps she may, since other folks’ grandmothers are.
- 7. Refrain from Sexually Explicit Posts Please do not make sexually explicit posts within these forums, unless they are absolutely germane to the discussion underway – and even in that case, please try to warn readers at the top of your post. Not all members have the same threshold when it comes to taking offense to language and pictures. NOTE: Under no circumstances will we condone the posting of links to sites that include child pornography, even inadvertently. We will request that such links be removed immediately, and will remove them ourselves if compliance is not forthcoming. Any Associate knowingly posting such links will be suspended immediately; we will forward a snapshot of the offending page, the web address and the associate’s contact information to the appropriate criminal authorities
- 8. Refrain from Self-Promotion Announcements linking to your new blog post, book, workshop, video clip, etc., will be deleted, unless they are demonstrably part of the greater conversation. The only exception is the Share-Your-Work Gallery, a subforum within The Conversation with a Thousand Faces. If you have art, poetry, writing, or links to music and other work you would like to share, do so here.
- 9. Search First If you’re thinking of starting a new topic, asking a question, etc., please take advantage of the search functionality of this forum! You can find the search field above the list of forums on the main page of the forums. Also, consider searching on the greater JCF website – this site is full of amazing resources on a wide variety of topics, all just a search away.
- 10. Report Violations If you witness or experience behavior that you feel is contrary to the letter or spirit of these guidelines, please report it rather than attacking other members. Do this by choosing the Report button (next to “Reply”) at the top of the post, and select a reason from the dropdown menu (Spam, Advertising, Harassment, or Inappropriate Content). The moderation team will be notified. Depending on the degree of bad behavior, further posts might require approval, or the user could be blocked from posting and even banned.
- 11. Private Messages Forum guidelines apply to all onsite private communications between members. Moderators do not have access to private exchanges, so if you receive messages from another member with inappropriate or hostile content, send a private message (with screenshots) to Stephen Gerringer and/or Michael Lambert.
Visit the Contact the Foundation page, select Technical Support, and fill out the contact form.
The Conversations of a Higher Order (COHO) consists of ten public forums loosely focused on a central theme. The forums are listed, with a brief description, on the COHO home page (each forum listed on that page also appears in the same order in the menu in the lefthand column – that menu stays with you as you move about the forums). This also shows who created the last post in each forum, and when.
When you visit a specific forum you will see the list of topics people have posted so far in that forum. Click on one to read that post and any replies. Feel free to add a reply if you have something to share, or just enjoy following the conversation. You can return to the COHO home page by clicking the "Home>Forums" breadcrumb at the top of the page – or move directly to a different forum by clicking on one of the listings from the forum menu in the lefthand column of the page.
If there’s anything you want to introduce – a question, an observation, or anything related to Campbell, myth, or one of his many related interests – create a topic in the forum you feel comes closest to including the subject you want to discuss. Most forums include in their description a link to a corresponding part of the website. For example, The Work of Joseph Campbell description has a link to all his published works: you can of course focus on a specific book or lecture, but also any topic related to the ideas arising out of his work is welcome in that forum.
When posting a new topic or a reply to an existing conversation, check the “Notify me of follow-up replies via email” box (conversations unfold at a leisurely pace: someone might need a few days to let what you write simmer in the back of their brain – this is how you find out someone has replied), and then click Submit. You can also click "Favorite" (top of the page on the right when reading forum threads) to be notified of all responses in a discussion.
Click on the Profile link under your user name in the upper left corner above the forum menu. Then select Edit and follow the prompts to upload an image file from your computer.
When you finish your post, before clicking the Submit button check the box at the bottom of your post that reads, “Notify me of follow-up replies via email.” You can also click on “Subscribe” (in the upper right corner of a thread) to follow the complete conversation (often a comment on someone else’s post might inspire a response from you).
We ask that when linking to web pages, please avoid posting the raw URL address in your text. Highlight the relevant text you'd like to link in your post, then select the link icon in your formatting bar above your post (immediately to the left of the picture icon, this looks like a diagonal paperclip). This opens a small field:
Paste the URL of the page you are linking to into the field provided. Then click on the gear icon to the right of that field, and check the box that says “Open link in a new tab” (so readers can see your link without having to navigate back to the forums), before clicking the green “Add Link” button.
To add an image to your post, click on the image icon in the menu at the top of your post (it's the icon on the far right):
In the Source field of the pop-up form, click on the camera icon on the far right. This should give you access to the files on your PC / laptop, or the photo library on your mobile device. Select the image, and add a brief description (e.g., "Minoan Goddess") in the appropriate field.
In the dimensions field, you only need enter the first number (240 is a good size for starters; if too small click the edit icon and increase that number). Then select OK.
Click on the name of the person you want to contact (under their avatar in a any of their posts). This link will take you to that member’s profile page. Then click on “Send a Message,” and compose.
If you witness or experience behavior that you feel is contrary to the letter or spirit of these guidelines, please report it rather than attacking other members. Do this by choosing the Report button (next to “Reply”) at the top of the post, and select a reason from the dropdown menu (Spam, Advertising, Harassment, or Inappropriate Content). The moderation team will be notified. Depending on the degree of bad behavior, further posts might require approval, or the user could be blocked from posting and even banned.
Visit the Contact the Foundation page, select Community and Social Media, and fill out the contact form.