The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell - Classic Mythology Book for Personal Growth & Spiritual Exploration | Perfect for Book Clubs, Gift Giving & Self-Discovery Journeys

Without their story, a culture has not future, or something like that. Joseph Campbell spent his life giving us our 'story'. Who are we, why did we come here and where are we going. We are all on a hero's journey to test if we are worthy of our home on the other side, or at least that's what Campbell found as he waded through the mass of confusing, and sometimes childlike myths that have followed us through the centuries.I love this particular book because it's an interview between to really gifted men who respect each other, and seem to have a wonderful time just talking about what they love. It's much easier to grasp some of Campbell's concepts because frankly, he can make your head spin with his theories and concepts. This book is like being a fly on the wall while two men talk over dinner. Most of it I can understand, but I have to admit, sometimes things get a little over my head.They were talking about life in general and Campbell says this: "I will participate in the game. It is a wonderful, wonderful opera--except that it hurts". page 81 I don't know how you can sum up life any better than that. Life is wonderful and it does hurt.Then Campbell talks about the 'hero' which everyone one of us is. "The hero is the one who comes to participate in life courageously and decently, in the way of nature, not in the way of personal rancor, disappointment, or revenge." page 82. There you have it. To do life right, you need to be the hero and you need to be courageous and decent. Campbell wrote the book Hero With A Thousand Faces, a compilation of the mythology of the world and this is what he came up with. Screen writers use Campbell's work to outline movies because it's journey we all recognize either on the surface or down in our subconscious, and we know that we are the hero of our own journey."So Jesus says, Judge not that you may not be judged. That is to say, put yourself back in the position of Paradise before you thought in terms of good and evil. You don't hear this much from the pulpits. But one of the great challenges of life is to say "yea" that that person or that act or that condition which in your mind is most abominable." page 32. What I grasp from this statement is that Campbell is trying to say that we need to look at things from a higher level. A poisonous snake is not evil it just is. When you kill it to save someone, you're saying no to the situation, you're not saying that the snake is evil.I love the genius of Joseph Campbell and this is an easy(comparatively) book to understand him and what he's trying to say without your head exploding. His opening up the world of myth makes him a hero in my book.