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It seems to me, life on this planet displays a disturbing propensity for the powerful to further afflict the already afflicted. The personae non-grata, the sick, the powerless, the poor, are forced to live in...
Ramadan, celebrated this year between May 27th and June 24th by approximately a quarter of the world’s population, is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and commemorates the revelation of the Quran to...
JCF is proud to announce the release of the eBook edition of Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor. Woven from Joseph Campbell’s previously unpublished work, this volume explores Judeo-Christian symbols and metaphors — and their...
As we enter the month of June remember that this month, her birth month, is named for Juno, the Roman goddess married to Jupiter (who is also her brother), and who has traditionally been...
We’re delighted to announce the release of the final three lectures in Series II, volume 6 of the Joseph Campbell Audio Collection: Mythic Ideas and Modern Culture. Joseph Campbell presents mythic ideas and concepts with...
As I watch the renewing, generative energies of spring wrestle with the lingering insistence of winter in the mountains of Northern Arizona it might be apt to remember Freyja, the most familiar and powerful...
We’re excited to announce that we’ve released one of Joseph Campbell’s earliest, most influential articles as an eSingle! Campbell wrote “Bios & Mythos” for a collection of essays, Psychoanalysis and Culture, printed in 1951 to...
What is myth… and why should anybody care? What do you think? I ask this because that one of the most marvelous ways to play with mythology is to assess our own answers to this question. ...
In April, 1999, I was at a crossroads. I had just left a job that I loved running a theater school because it no longer served my family’s needs. I knew that I wanted...
¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that began to be celebrated in California in the 1860’s marking the Battle of Puebla. It is not, as it is commonly misunderstood to be, the...
American poet T.S. Eliot opens his masterpiece The Wasteland with a section titled “The Burial of the Dead”: APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull...
A few nights ago, spring returned. In the Catskill Mountains of New York state, where I live, it’s a distinct moment, at dusk on the night when the spring peepers erupt into song. If...
The most important and oldest date on the Christian calendar is the celebration of Easter, the death and resurrection of Christ. The whole of Christianity rests on this event and without it, Christian mythology...
April 1st, April Fool’s Day, is a day traditionally set aside for playing tricks on people or hoaxing. Pranks and hoaxes range from the very clever, like the BBC’s “spaghetti harvest” or an article...
We are excited to announce that New World Library has released The Mythic Dimension, the collection of Joseph Campbell’s essays, as a paperback in the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell series. The essays collected in The Mythic...
In the Zoroastrian religion Nowruz, the new day, is perhaps the most important day on the Zoroastrian calendar (it also marks the Persian new year) and is celebrated on, or near, the spring equinox. Much...
Why do we tell stories about quests? In traditional, warrior cultures, such tales make a certain practical sense: they’re a way to give a sense of purpose to young men who have nothing to...
A week ago, I found myself at that hard moment of freeing my eighteen-year-old cat from a body that was failing her. From the moment of her choosing me at a California animal rescue,...
In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, we read story after story of a human (or demi-human) encountering the gods and being literally transformed by the experience. The stories generally come in one of two flavors: the human is ready...
Shivaratri, The Great Night of Shiva, is celebrated this year on the 24th of February, the 6th night of the Phalgun, and devotees fast and maintain vigil all night. This, the largest of Shiva celebrations, centers on...
Joseph Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience. His philosophy is often summarized by his phrase: “Follow your bliss.” More…
