Joseph Campbell's myth of marriage and spiritual consciousness

Myths

Myth of Marriage and Children

Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth is a book that can potentially transform the reader's consciousness. Beyond being informative, Campbell's analysis of cultural myths is profound; it provokes genuine introspection. The author refers to the spiritual in whatever he speaks about, and yet he never lapses into religious diatribe or dogma. Subjects like marriage are elevated beyond the social to the psycho-spiritual. For example, he calls marriage "primarily a spiritual exercise, and the society is supposed to help us have the realization. Man should not be in service to society, society should be in the service of man," (8).

In light of modern society, Campbell's words hold new meaning. In America, we have few true rituals because we have turned our attention outward instead of inward. The wisdom of life is being denigrated through a preoccupation with technology and material goods. There is little sense of the spiritual or the mystical, and religions have become shadows of their original selves. I believe that the spiritual soul or the artistic soul struggles in this society, as these people tend to operate outside the norm.

In regard to children, Campbell speaks about young people who don't know how to behave in society because they have yet to be introduced to norms or customs. Children in modern, Western society also have few rituals with which to orient themselves in the world. I particularly appreciate the following line, on page 19, "But how are you going to communicate spiritual consciousness to the children if you don't have it yourself? How do you get that? What the myths are for is to bring us into a level of consciousness that is spiritual." These lessons have nothing to do with God or religion; they spiritual truths that emerge from the human experience.

2. Topic on Heroes

In the book The Power Myth, Campbell states, "The place to find, is within yourself... there's a center of quietness within which has to be known and held. If you loose that center, you are in tension and begin to fall apart."

As I thought about this finding of inner peace and about the nature of true heroes, I thought about Helen Keller. As a woman who was both blind and deaf, she must have felt sorrow in her realm of darkness, yet simultaneously a feeling of comfort, as this was the only place she knew. Her teacher Anne assisted Helen to move from darkness into illumination. Helen must have felt tremendous fear as she pressed on to meet her true self, discovered in the absence of two major sense organs. As Helen continued her journey, she underwent a personal transformation, and her whole demeanor changed.

From her memoirs, Helen describes her first experience when she began to understand her own mystery. "We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honey-suckle with which it was covered. Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand, she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten, a thrill of returning thought, and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. To me, this is an example of the glimpse of the mystery Campbell talks about deep within us as the hero is made. This is going "beyond the rim, to what can be known but not told."

3. Topic on the Modern Shaman

I agree that Oprah is the sort of person in our society that represents a modern shaman. Oprah. On her own, or with her huge staff, Oprah has developed story lines that can to bring us back to our center. Her Angel's network rewards people who have sacrificed to help others, and have found their bliss doing so. She has the influence to make people look at things from a different perspective.

As for other modern shamans, the Dalai Lama would be an obvious choice. What sets him aside from other religious leaders is that he appeals to all people, regardless of religious affiliation or inclination.

Perhaps another modern shaman may be Iyanla Vansant. Perhaps she has had the psychological experience that has given her the right to speak on issues of "self," "spirit," "peace," and even "bliss." Ms. Vanzant was a welfare mom trying to raise children in a terrible neighborhood, without an education. Today she is a best selling author who put herself through college, kept her family together, and overcame the obstacles of judgment, poverty, and complacency.

Other than these three, I think that there are a few writers that I might consider to be "shaman-like," such as Maya Angelou, or Audre Lorde.

4. Subject: Following Bliss

Campbell's allegory about following bliss is particularly compelling. He mentions a young boy who does not want to drink his tomato juice and his father tells him that he must. When the wife intervenes, the father says, "He can't go through life doing what he wants to do. If he does only what he wants to do, he'll be dead. Look at me...." This made an impact on me because I feel that I have always been stopped from doing what I really wanted to do because it was not about what my desire may have been, but what was "right" in the opinion of others. Campbell's writing has also helped me discover and follow my own bliss.

As I read Campbell's discussion of following his own bliss, I realized that so few of us do follow our bliss. We worry about the expectations imposed upon us by our peers and society in general. I was raised not to do things just because I wanted to but instead do what is acceptable in society. No matter how I fought against conforming, I found that it was a continuing battle for happiness. After many years of doing what was considered "acceptable," I have found personal bliss and am continuing to follow it. Campbell is quite insightful because since following my heart, my life has become calmer and extremely satisfying.

6. Subject: The Myth of Travel

Phil Cousineau states, "I dread the thought that the reason I travel so much is that scales form over my eyes at home and I have to leave again and again to learn see once more. In this way I am living out one of the myths of my times, that the road will save me, infuse my life with more meaning. Many times it has, but only when I meet it halfway, on a spiritually challenging journey."

This is a wonderful way to describe the feelings some of us have felt on our travels. There is great mystery in travel: the feelings of awe, surprise, and wonder. I can easily see the power in the myth of travel. Phil Cousineau points out that we take a journey in hope that a change will take place inside our souls; we hope for the healing touch of art and history, or the spiritual forces of a sacred place to heal us.

Topic The Myth of Travel

7. Subject: Flight of the Spirit

On page 183 of Once and Future Myths, Cousineau writes: "Flight. It is the perfect metaphor for the longing of the spirit for independence from the body, the land, even time itself. I experience this sensation each time I gaze at ancient stones or monuments. Last August, I visited the ruins of Corinth in Greece. My daughters were busy taking funny photos of themselves draped over the various statues and engraved stones, and fellow tourists walked through the ruins in a hurry to escape the heat. Yet I could only stand mesmerized by the ancient inscriptions, contemplating the fact that St. Paul had once preached here. I completely forgot the heat as I looked at the old stones; I also thought about the spirituality connected with this important place of historical and religious import. I have visited ancient sites in China that glorify the Buddha. I have seen ancient Aboriginal paintings in Australia, which speak of the lifestyle and spirit of the ancient Aboriginal people. All of these sacred ancient sites do lift me out of my mortal life to something that lightens my spirit and gives me a feeling a hope and meaning. It is a connection with the same spirit and immortal, invisible energy that has inspired so many in the past to do great things.

8. Subject: Experience of Life

Myths are clues to the spiritual potential of human life. Campbell states, "We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purpose of outer value that we forget that inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about." I have learned through these readings that life is more than mundane, material existence. Myths help place life in context.

9. Subject: On Perfection

Bill Moyers states, "I love people for imperfections. Perfection would be a bore, wouldn't it?"

Joseph Campbell replies, "It would have to be. It would be inhuman. The umbilical point, the humanity, the thing that makes you human and not supernatural and immortal -- that's what's lovable. That is why some people have a very hard time loving God, because there's no imperfection there. You can be awe, but that would not be real love. It's Christ on the cross that becomes lovable."

This conversation helps me overcome my own tendencies to expect perfection from myself and others. The beauty of life is indeed found within its flaws.

10. Subject: The beginning of religion

Campbell states to Moyers, "The Shaman may translate some of his visions into ritual performances for his people. That's bringing the inner experience into outer life of the people themselves.

Moyers asks, "This was the beginning of religion?"

Campbell: Personally, I think that's how religion began. But that a guess. We don't really know."

I appreciate Campell's exploration of the origin of world religions. He also discusses the virgin birth, which entered into the Christian tradition by way of the Greeks. The Gospel According to Luke is the only gospel that contains some reference to a virgin birth; Luke was a Greek. Moreover, Campbell and Moyers discuss the symbolic meaning of the virgin birth, rather than arguing about its physical reality.