Archetypal Image

Archetypal Image According to Carl Jung, the archetypal image is a representation of an underlying archetype.

The archetypal images symbolize and mediate to everyday consciousness the psychological power of the collective unconscious.

Through various modes of expression (e.g. works of art and architecture) mankind translates these hidden archetypal forces into the realm of human culture.

Some contemporary and ancient examples of archetypal images would be figures like Godzilla, the Klingons, The Cylons, Luke Skywalker, the Magician, the Witch, the Angel, Yahweh and the Devil.

Jung believes that the ancients did not always view the archetypal images as mere symbols, but as actual things in themselves. The Indian sun god, Surya, for instance, was not a symbol but a real deity, diurnally traveling across and lighting the heavens in a splendid chariot.

Likewise, many American Indian cultures firmly believe that their myths tell of actual ancient events and heroic ancestors.

Meanwhile, contemporary Catholics believe that the Eucharist is not a symbol but the real presence – in essence but not form – of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.†

On the topic of UFOs, Jung regarded the rounded saucers of the 1950s as archetypal images of the human self, not unlike the mandala. But Jung didn’t rule out the possibility of actual UFOs.

However, Jung was not quite so open-minded with regard to Christian religious truth-claims, choosing to adapt them into his own theoretical structures. At times he speaks of the crucifixion of Jesus, for instance, as producing a mere “skewed symbol of the self” (i.e. the crucifix) instead of seeing Jesus’ death as a saving sacrifice, as most Christians would believe. » Archetype

Image Source:

• Resized from “Benzaiten” by colodio at http://www.flickr.com/photos/colodio/1420007024/in/set-72157602055544339, Creative Commons License

—

†Belief alone does not necessarily render truth out of falsehood. But as Plato pointed out, a true belief does relate to an actual truth (if not knowledge of that truth).

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
by posting a comment

The Book of Job

William Blake’s illustration of Satan Smiting Job with Boils via Wikipedia

The Book of Job is part of the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its main character is Job, a suffering and blameless servant of God.

Christian apologists say that Job’s suffering points to the mysterious ways of God and highlights the need for faithful obedience in the absence of human understanding. Critics say that it depicts God as an immature, cruel tyrant. For instance, the Swiss psychiatrist C. G. Jung and some Jungians say that God “makes a bet” with Satan. In the story, Satan contends that Job will not remain faithful if God allows Satan to torment him.

In Jung’s Answer to Job, a short commentary about the Job’s plight,  Jung says the Biblical story reveals a dark, non-integrated aspect of God. Why would a perfect God, Jung argues, allow a blameless servant to be persecuted by the devil? When Job challenges God, asking why he suffers, God answers not on Job’s terms but by completely overwhelming him. God asks if Job is able to create the stars, the oceans and a sea monster.

Deutsch: Carl Gustav Jung (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jung sees this as indicating God’s immaturity. For Jung, God projects his own dark side onto Job. While this dynamic may occur in many people, to Jewish and Christian believers it’s misguided to suggest that God would behave this way (See Isaiah 55:8-9). As God implies to Job, could an allegedly immature consciousness create all of creation?

Biblical scholars debate whether the story of Job refers to an actual person or if it’s just a folktale outlining the general human problem of why do bad things happen to good people? The author of the book is not mentioned. Some traditional rabbis and early Christian theologians believed the author was Moses. Today, some scholars believe that parts of Job were written by at least one additional author.

But to return to Jung, he seems to overlook the folktale aspect by treating Job as a real person. Jung’s writings about Job have also been criticized by Fr. Victor White. White says that Jung confuses a narrative image of God with the actual God. In Jungian terms, White says Jung confuses the God-image (archetypal image) with God (archetype).

Indeed, it seems that Jung analyzes God from the perspective of his own, man-made psychological theories. In reducing God to Jung’s all too human ideas, might Jung, himself, exhibit the psychological mechanism of projection? Theological critics of Jung would certainly say that his commentary on Job suffers from presumption—that is, intellectual arrogance.

William Blake’s illustration of Job’s Sons and Daughters Overwhelmed by Satan via Wikipedia

Regarding the problem of evil, many theologians would maintain that God’s ways are usually way over our heads. Along these lines, we could hypothesize that God permits evil to torment Job for a greater good which, Job, Satan and Jung couldn’t hope to understand.

Jung’s (questionable) analysis aside, the story of Job has parallels in other cultures, most notably the ancient Egyptian Protests of the Eloquent Peasant.

Related articles

• Lessons from Job. (katherineannesmith.wordpress.com)
• Jung-jung (knittedart.wordpress.com)
• “Why Do the Righteous Suffer?”: Wisdom From the Book of Job (thomaslovesjesus.wordpress.com)
• Putting Satan in his place (reassuringquotes.wordpress.com)
• Nuanced Media is Proud to Present the Southern Arizona Friends of Jung Website (prweb.com)
• Murray Stein and Brigitte Egger Discuss the Power of Water and the Vital Impact it has on Earth. The Asheville Jung Center will host “Elixir of Life” on April 4th (prweb.com)
• A Love Affair With Carl Jung (jeanraffa.wordpress.com)
• Do you relate to the greatest story of suffering yet, faith? His name was job…Read on (pastormikesays.wordpress.com)
• When I was back there in seminary school… (mclark.wordpress.com)

Beowulf

“He knew his days upon this earth were past” Wiglaf speaking to Beowulf after his battle with the dragon. Beowulf is mortally wounded. Marshall, Henrietta Elizabeth (1908). Stories of Beowulf, 99. T.C. & E.C. Jack. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Beowulf is the hero and title of an Anglo-Saxon epic poem (1000 CE) of 3,000 lines, surviving on a single cotton manuscript and originating from an Old English folk tale (700 CE).

Beowulf is a Swedish leader who travels to the court of Heorot, which is presided over by his kinsman, the Dane King Hrothgar. Beowulf plans to help Hrothgar out by fighting a fierce monster, Grendel, which has been devouring the Dane King’s warriors by night.

The court is relieved to receive Beowulf’s help but, due to Grendel’s ferocity, doubt he’ll succeed in defeating the monster.

First Conquest

As night falls, Grendel appears. Beowulf grips him tightly. The monster manages to escape but at the high price of losing one of his arms, which Beowulf seizes with an iron grip. The loss of the arm eventually kills the monster. But the Danes’ merrymaking is short-lived, for that very night Grendel’s mother, a water-troll, appears to revenge her creepy son’s death.

Second Conquest

“They carried with them the hideous head of Grendel.” An illustration of 4 men carrying the head of Grendel. Marshall, Henrietta Elizabeth (1908). Stories of Beowulf, 63. T.C. & E.C. Jack. Stories of Beowulf-88.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After Grendel’s mother kills one of Hrothgar’s warriors, Beowulf follows her to an underwater cavern where he discovers a magic sword that he wields to destroy her. He returns with Grendel’s head to a delighted court. Beowulf then travels home to southern Sweden and reigns as king of the Geats for 50 years.

Christianized commentaries of the Beowulf myth suggest Grendel and his family are heirs of the Old Testament Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, who slayed his brother Abel.

Third Conquest

Beowulf’s third and final conquest involves a dragon that awakes from centuries of unconsciousness when a simple slave enters its lair and steals its favorite cup. The enraged dragon wreaks havoc throughout the land, so Beowulf arrives to slay it. All of his supporters desert him in the attempt but one, the noble Wiglaf. In the fierce battle Beowulf strikes the beast’s scales too vigorously, breaking his sword, which then gets caught in the dragon’s jaws. Wiglaf takes the opportunity to pierce the dragon’s throat with his sword. Beowulf, suspecting his own death is near, tells Wiglaf to seize the dragon’s gold.

Beowulf is challenged by a Danish coast guard, by Evelyn Paul (1911). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They manage to kill the beast, but Beowulf later dies from exposure to its poisonous breath. He lives just long enough to see that his actions have saved the people, and Wiglaf then becomes heir to the throne.

Belonging to the tradition of dragon-slayer myths, Beowulf from a Jungian perspective represents the psychological dangers involved if the hero takes on archetypal forces greater than him or herself. Wiglaf, the noble helper, represents a new psychological attitude that hopefully arises after of the death of the noble but slightly overconfident hero.

The Beowulf story was also made into a feature film in 2007.

Related articles

• The role of women in Beowulf (literaturessays.wordpress.com)
• Beowulf: A Thousand Years Of Baggage – review | Alex Needham (guardian.co.uk)
• Content Marketing Lessons from Beowulf – Yes, Beowulf (contently.com)
• Beowulf’s Last Battle (simplethingscan.wordpress.com)
• The Beowulf Poet and His Real Monsters Introduction (tedmorrissey.wordpress.com)
• The Death of Beowulf (simplethingscan.wordpress.com)
• Beowulf Makes His Bed (gagedmoments.wordpress.com)
• bonnie’s #CBR5 Review #14: Grendel by John Gardner (cannonballread5.wordpress.com)
• Wealtheow (2012introductiontowritingandenglishstudies.wordpress.com)
• Beowulf (2012introductiontowritingandenglishstudies.wordpress.com)

The Beatles

Image via Tumblr

The Beatles were a British pop group founded in Liverpool in 1960. The original members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best, replaced by Ringo Starr in 1962 (originally Richard Starkey).

“Love Me Do” was their first UK hit. This was followed by a string of hits, creating the international phenomenon of Beatlemania in 1964.

Most of the Beatles’ repertoire was officially penned by Lennon and McCartney, although their respective influence on individual songs varied considerably.

The band stopped giving public performances in 1966, turning its energy to the studio–specifically to the rock and roll classic, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band. Their producer at the time, George Martin, says he had a significant impact on the outcome of this record.

The group split, bitterly, around 1970. Their last studio album, Abbey Road, was recorded with separate sessions being held for each member of the band. This was unprecedented and, to fans, seemed to indicate growing tensions among band members. George Harrison once said that McCartney told him how to play his guitar, which the guitarist resented. And issues over the growing presence of Yoko Ono were splashed over the tabloids and rock media, as was Lennon and McCartney’s growing acrimony.

The Beatles were no doubt fantastic musicians. But was there more to their success? The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung developed a psychological classification system based on four main types. For Jung, the whole and healthy mind strove to integrate the four types of thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition. Could part of the Beatles’ unparalleled popularity be a result their collectively representing Jung’s four archetypal types? Following this idea, Lennon would be the thinking type, Paul McCartney the feeling type, George Harrison the intuition type and Ringo Starr the sensation type.

The Beatles’ contribution to music will be forever etched in the history of mankind. The so-called Fab Four combined Rock and Roll, simple blues and complex jazz, as well as ‘lounge lizard,’ orchestral and international music forms. Even begrudging or, perhaps, sarcastically tinged respect is implied, for instance, in “Afraid” from David Bowie’s record Heathen (2002):

I believe in Beatles
I believe my little soul has grown
And I’m still so afraid…

Image via Tumblr

After the Beatles’ breakup, Lennon released several records while residing in New York with his wife Yoko Ono. He continued to enjoy commercial success with songs like “Imagine,” “Mind Games,” “Whatever Gets you Through the Night,” “Give Peace a Chance,” “So this is Christmas,” and “Just Like Starting Over.” But Lennon became more than a mere rock star; he became an icon representing worldwide harmony and peace.

McCartney released a critically acclaimed solo album (where he played all the instruments) and formed the highly successful band Wings, continuing to be a prominent musical force in the 1970′s.

Harrison released the commercially successful All Things Must Pass in 1970 (including “My Sweet Lord” and “Isn’t it a Pity”) followed by several other albums. “Isn’t it a Pity” epitomizes the sense of loss over Beatles’ breakup and laments the end of an era. Sadly, pity turned into acrimony, as witnessed in Harrison’s 1973 tune, “Sue Me, Sue You Blues.” Starr has been in films and recorded singles and albums. His 1974 cover of the Sherman Brothers’ “You’re Sixteen” hit number one in the charts.

In 1995 the single “Free as a Bird” was released. This song was written and hastily recorded by Lennon in 1977. After Lennon’s passing McCartney asked Ono if the remaining Beatles could collectively add to any of Lennon’s unreleased material. Ono gave permission for this single but it arguably isn’t a true Beatles song because Lennon, himself, didn’t agree to its release.

More recently, many Beatles songs have been remixed and re-released, with debatable results. Myself, I prefer the original analog mixes sent to CD (AAD), although others might prefer the digital remixes (ADD).

Related articles

• The break-up of The Beatles: An event that called a halt to an epoch (woodstockremains.wordpress.com)
• Interview: Historian says there was no Brando link to naming of the Beatles (examiner.com)
• Ringo Starr To Finally Get That Museum Exhibit We’ve All Been Waiting For (beatcrave.com)
• 12 Questions Google Assumes You Have About The Beatles (wxrt.cbslocal.com)
• John Lennon (chasepage.net)
• 12 Questions Google Assumes You Have About The Beatles (wzlx.cbslocal.com)
• Songs by John Lennon and Yoko Ono go Downtown to new publisher (examiner.com)
• 12 Questions Google Assumes You Have About The Beatles (wcbsfm.cbslocal.com)
• Life of Beatle becomes subject of comic (bigpondnews.com)
• Former Beatles Frontman Dies At 72 (huffingtonpost.com)

Batman

Batman comic book cover via Tumblr

Batman first appeared in American culture as a comic book hero in Detective Comics #27 of May 1939. His creators Bob Kane (artist) and Bill Finger (writer) depicted him as a “The Caped Crusader” and “The Dark Knight.” Batman comics were extremely successful and spawned several movies and a hit TV show from 1966-68.

The TV show’s humorous, tongue-in-cheek approach attracted actors like Shelly Winters and Cesar Romero, who played archetypal villains. The most memorable of the Batman villains are probably The Joker, The Riddler, The Penguin, Cat Woman and Mr. Freeze.

It’s been suggested that the relationship between Batman and Robin, the “Boy Wonder,” has homosexual overtones, especially in the TV show depiction.

Batman also appeared in an animated TV series from 1992-1995.

Batman movies began in 1943. The more recent Batman film productions have leaned toward the dark and gloomy instead of the comical. Some say this is more in keeping with Batman’s original character. The most recent film, Dark Knight Rises, however, seems a bit lighter in tone, with some comical moments found in scenes between Batman and Cat Woman.

Related articles

• Batman’s mythology getting new boost from DC (seattletimes.com)
• Batman’s mythology getting new boost from DC (cnsnews.com)
• To Be The Batman (ninjaswordumbrella.wordpress.com)
• Batman’s mythology getting new boost from DC (metronews.ca)
• Spotlight on The Dark Knight: “The Smile on the Bat” (Graphic Novelties) (popmatters.com)
• A Letter To The Bruce Wayne Estate From His Progressive Agent (autoinsurancecenter.com)
• If Batman drove a Kia, it would look like this (reviews.cnet.com)
• Was Batman Gay? (neatorama.com)
• Always be Batman (adityaviyer.com)
• Batman’s villain admits cheque caper (bbc.co.uk)

Cupid

Cupid and Psyche (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cupid ((Latin Cupido, “desire”) comes under many guises. As the Roman god of Love, he’s the son of Venus.

The 2nd century Latin writer Apuleus portrays him in The Golden Ass as the lover of Psyche. But the timeless tale of Cupid and Pscyhe goes back at least to the 4th century BCE, where its depicted in Greek art.

Depth psychologists have much to say about the relationship between Cupid and Psyche. In Jungian archetypal psychology Psyche is taken as the cold, somewhat icy soul in need of a “shattering” or “melting” from the warm, sensitive Cupid. Cupid, on the other hand, risks utter destruction unless Psyche’s gaze is tempered with love.

In the language of symbols, the successful union of Cupid and Psyche represents a fruitful togetherness, not unlike the Yin and the Yang, love and knowledge or affection and wisdom.

In art Cupid is usually depicted naked. He’s often winged with bow and arrow, wearing a boyish or cherub-like countenance.

In folklore, Cupid, like the Indian kama, afflicts human beings with a proverbial “dart to the heart.” His marks invariably fall in love or become filled with desire for another person. His chief mythic parallel is the Greek god Eros.

Related Posts » Hephaestus, Vulcan

Related articles

• Cupid and Psyche in Clay (janestreetclayworks.com)
• Cute carbon Cupid is this year’s tiniest valentine (mnn.com)
• Flower Delivery Express Provides Cupid The Right Arrow On Valentine’s Day (prnewswire.com)
• Love Symbols of the Regency (regencyredingote.wordpress.com)
• February 2013 Writing Contest Finalists (mistressofthedarkpath.wordpress.com)
• Digital Cupid Reveals Your True Valentine (adrants.com)
• Photos: Cupid’s Undie Run (photos.denverpost.com)
• Cupid’s Corner at Longview (longviewcurrent.org)
• Cupids Undie Run (fox2now.com)

Culture Hero

A modern day trickster via Tumblr

A culture hero is a prominent figure within a given society, often taking the form of a mythical person or animal with roots in ancient or proto-history.

In some instances the culture hero is a trickster, using wiles and well-intentioned disguises to save the community from some grave peril.

The culture hero may also be a real person inspiring a stagnant or perhaps ethically corrupted society, such as a rock star, a film star, an inventor, a discoverer, an admired politician or monarch, and so on.

Related Posts » Diana, Princess of Wales

Related articles

• Psychic Encyclopedia: The Trickster (thesensiblepsychic.wordpress.com)
• Old Man Coyote and the Three Beats (coyotero2112.wordpress.com)
• Trickster Thoughts (patcegan.wordpress.com)
• Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst (sagelikethespice.wordpress.com)
• Heyokah, that trickster (forkinriver.com)
• Trickster Tricks (poetessofthedark.wordpress.com)
• The Hero’s Archetypal Journey (collaborativewriter.wordpress.com)
• Review – The Trickster and the Paranormal (Hardcover Book) (epages.wordpress.com)
• Archetypes (writerswritedaily.wordpress.com)
• The Trickster Has Been Tricked (apropheticwalk.wordpress.com)

Collective Unconscious

collective unconscious (Photo credit: noneck via Flickr)

The idea of the collective unconscious refers to Carl Jung‘s belief that humanity shares an underlying, biologically inherited storehouse of collective experience and knowledge.

From his considerable study of world myth and religion, Jung came to the conclusion that this collective data is cross-cultural. In fact, he didn’t just see the collective unconscious in myth and religion. He saw universally recognizable motifs among dreams, myth, religion, the arts and architecture. One leading example he provides is the mandala. For Jung,  the circular shape of the mandala represents the potentially limitless self.

Jung calls these hypothesized patterns of human existence archetypes.¹ Existing in a larger time frame than most people’s daily awareness, the archetypes of the collective unconscious apparently connect the past, present and future.

Jung speaks to the arbitrary nature of the term collective unconscious. Towards the end of his career he writes that he rendered essentially spiritual ideas in scientific-sounding language for the sake of professional and societal legitimacy. So this, in a sense, makes him something of a postmodern thinker way before the term became popular.

Because he was, in part, doing a sell job, his insistence on the bio-genetic base of the collective unconscious seems confusing to some, especially when he says:

The unconscious has no time. There is no trouble about time in the unconscious. Part of our psyche is not in time and not in space. They are only an illusion, time and space, and so in a certain part of our psyche, time does not exist at all.²

Could a timeless psyche be entirely biological? Perhaps Jung was saying that, although grounded in the body, the archetypes exhibit or resonate with a spiritual component. That is, a bio-genetic ground is necessary for the interplay of body and spirit.

What About Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious?

Freud and Jung’s views about the unconscious differ, but not so much as many believe. Some pop psychologists and New Age gurus quickly dismiss Freud’s ideas, unaware that his model of the unconscious also contains collective elements.

As we’ve seen in the above, Jung describes the archetype as a component of mankind’s psychological substratum—the collective unconscious. Freud similarly spoke of phylogenetic “schemata” and “prototypes.” And borrowing from ancient Greek and Jewish literature, Freud also devised the “Oedipus complex,” a “primal father” and likened the shadowy contents of the unconscious to archaeological ruins.

In addition, late in his career Freud revised his libido theory to include the general ideas of eros (life instinct) and thanatos (death instinct). Because Freud maintained that the fundamental aspects of the unconscious are universal, aspects of his model of the self, like Jung’s, point to a collective unconscious.³ And not only that. Freud, himself, said that Jung introduced nothing new with the idea of the collective unconscious.  He wrote that the “content of the unconscious is collective anyhow.”⁴

—

¹ Jung’s notion of the archetypes borrows from ideas previously found in anthropology, sociology, philosophy, religion and theology. The term archetype is traceable to St. Augustine, 354-430 CE.

² C. G. Jung Collected Works vol. 18, para. 684, cited in  “Time and Space” at http://www.fundacion-jung.com.ar/ingles/citas.htm.

³ Michael V. Adams illustrates this point in The Cambridge Companion to Jung, (ed.) Polly Young-Eisendrath and Terence Dawson, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 101.

⁴ Sigmund Freud, Moses and Monotheism, p. 209, cited in R. J. Lifton with Eric Olson (eds.), Explorations in Psychohistory: The Wellfleet Papers, New York: Simon and Shuster, 1974 p. 90.

Related Posts » Archetypal images, Sheldrake (Rupert), Synchronicity

Related articles

• Living in a world of symbolism (themysteryofchrist.wordpress.com)
• The quest for individuation: a Jungian looks at Matthew Arnold’s “The Buried Life” (brimmings.com)
• Jung today: An interview with Dr. John Ryan Haule (humanisticpaganism.com)
• Asheville Jung Center Works to Advance the Psychology of Carl Jung (virtual-strategy.com)
• Psychoanalytical Theory – Sigmund Freud (lcdcexamreview.wordpress.com)
• DVD Review – Archetype of the UFO (epages.wordpress.com)
• The Self – God’s window between pantheistic Taoism and Catholic personal god (stottilien.wordpress.com)
• Carl Jung quotes to ponder: (stephencmonahan.wordpress.com)
• The Creative Psyche: Carl Jung and the Unconscious Mind (songsandwordsandthoughts.wordpress.com)

Castor and Pollux

Castor and Pollux by tiseb via Flickr

Also known as the Dioscuri, the Greek Kastor and Polydeuces figure in classical myth. The Roman Castor and Pollux are believed to have intervened in the battle of Regillus in 484 BCE , and recent temple excavations support this claim.¹

As the twin sons of Leda, they are often honored among the pagan gods at Sparta and Rome,² and represented on horseback. As Zeus‘ child, Pollux was immortal and an outstanding boxer.

Castor was the offspring of Tyndareus, mortal and an excellent horseman. At Castor’s death, Pollux beseeched Zeus to grant Castor immortality as he could not bear the thought of separation.

Zeus transformed them both into the constellation Gemini (the Twins). They appear as St. Elmo’s Fire to aid seafarers, and appeared in the New Testament as the image on a grain ship that carried Paul from Malta to Puteoli ³ (Acts 28:11).

And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux.⁴

Perhaps because of the archetypal idea of the twins, Castor and Pollux appear through the arts and literature, as attested to here.

—

¹ Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1999, p. 303.

² Maas, Georgia S.. “Castor and Pollux.” Oxford Reference. Oxford University Press. . n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195170726.001.0001/acref-9780195170726-e-217.

³ Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, 1987, p. 1024.

⁴ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2028:11;&version=KJV;

Related articles

• Moon, twin stars, two planets greet early morning risers (earthsky.org)
• Castor and Pollux (themirrorobscura.com)
• Castor and Pollux at ENO (intermezzo.typepad.com)
• At last – massive online discounts for ENO Castor & Pollux (intermezzo.typepad.com)

Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell, late 1970 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) was an influential American scholar and educator in world religions and mythology.

Campbell’s books and PBS videos (hosted by Bill Moyers) have enjoyed worldwide acclaim. With other innovators like Mircea Eliade, Otto Rank, and Carl Jung, Campbell championed the syncretic study of psychology, myth and spirituality.

Campbell was ahead of many of his peers by seeing the film Star Wars as a contemporary variant, par excellence, of the age-old hero myth.¹ Campbell’s interest in the hero archetype can be traced to the works of Rank and Jung.

Campbell learned several original languages, and had an impressive knowledge of textual data from a wide variety of interconnected fields.

Pedantic and dogmatic critics, however, still entirely dismiss his pioneering attempts. His critics that say his opinions are simplistic. But it’s possible that he’s dumbing things down for a general audience not familiar with the specifics of world myth and religion.

A more serious charge could be that, and contrary to Campbell’s dictum of “follow your bliss,” every once in a while he seems a bit autocratic, particularly in reference to his beliefs about orthodox Catholicism. This isn’t just a problem with Campbell. Many Gnostic,  Fundamentalist, Protestant, New Age, Humanistic, scientific and even environmental thinkers arguably lump “The Church” into one big personal projection of The Big Bad Wolf (as if the Catholic Church is supposed to be perfect here on Earth, which is entirely unreasonable).

Campbell, himself, was a fallen away Catholic, which may have had some bearing on his somewhat negative treatment of Catholicism. He does seem to highlight the Catholic Church’s past mistakes without fully appreciating its positive aspects—e.g. how the Eucharist enriches the lives of present-day believers.²

Another difficulty in Campbells’ analyses of world religions echoes difficulties found in Jung’s work. At times Campbell seems to say that the various paths in world mysticism evoke identical mystical experiences and lead to the same afterlife abode.

This may be a politically correct view and, for all we know, could be true. But ultimate claims about the afterlife cannot be made with any certainty (unless you believe you have a pipeline to God, as so many zealots do).

These shortcomings aside, Campbell’s contribution to the study of myth, religion and culture is noteworthy (some might say remarkable). His popular PBS lectures, taped just months before his unfortunate death due to cancer, reveal that, in his own dignified way he was just as heroic as a Heracles or Luke Skywalker.

It’s not surprising that his name has become almost archetypal among students of world myth and religion.

Related Posts » Mythic Dissociation, Mythic Eternalization, Mythic Identification, Mythic Inflation, Mythic Subordination

—

¹ Star Wars creator George Lucas says Campbell’s work was influential for the mythic structure of the film. Lucas had the insight to realize that his sci-fi story would work better if it had an authentic mythic feel. By adapting Campbell’s ideas, Lucas hoped that the Star Wars epic would resonate with the masses, which, of course, it did.

² Creative thinkers like Campbell are rarely one-dimensional, however. He also says that one of his peak experiences came when entering Chartres Cathedral in France.

Related articles

• Excellent Wikipedia entry that summarizes some of Campbell’s leading ideas (en.wikipedia.org)
• Exploring Mythology with the Great Storyteller: ‘Joseph Campbell: Mythos – The Complete Series’ (Review) (popmatters.com)
• Gary Hart: Myth and Its Dangers (huffingtonpost.com)
• Follow Your Bliss…Doors Will Open (whisperdownthewritealley.wordpress.com)
• Now Available – The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion, 2nd Edition (routledge.com)
• So, what about those mythologies? {Joseph Campbell} (hedgeconfessions.wordpress.com)