If you read The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell....?

Question

did it revolutionize your thoughts on religion? Why or why not? Thank you for sharing.

Answer 1

I can't say that it "revolutionized" my thinking, but Campbell put what I had been mulling over into such clear language that I was thrilled.

One of the results of reading that book (and others by him) is that I notice the mythological themes in movies immediately, now.

Like the "Hero's Journey" theme in "Happy Feet".

Answer 2

I won't go so far as to say that Campbell revolutionized my way of thinking about religion, but his books (including _The Hero with a Thousand Faces_) certainly helped me understand the commonalities shared by most religious traditions. Ditto to angk's Jung and Frazer, which were very important sources in my religious education.

Answer 3

I was blown away and still remember the feeling I had when I watched him on Bill Moyers. I was going through a rejection of my faith and a major searching and was overwhelmed in a positive way when I realized what he was getting at: that categorizing myth as some made-up fairy tale misses the point just as much as treating the myth as literal truth does. Instead, myth is meant to be taken as a roadmap, as a way to symbolically/poetically express things that are inexpressible (e.g. non-dualistic nature of things) and, more fundamentally, things that need to be directly realized by people. Myth then is a powerful mechanism where it points to the reality but doesn't describe it with concepts because that would take away the fundamental element of the person needing to experience it directly.

Answer 4

I find Campbell pretty superficial. He tries to think myths can have an enduring impact on how we feel about ourselves, but if we don't believe in the truth of the story there's no reason a pretty tale should make us change our lives.

I prefer G.K. Chesterton's The Everlasting Man, or Tolkien's talk about the "true myth."

Answer 5

Not so much, but by the time I hit that I'd read Jung and Frazer's The Golden Bough, both of which were very much precursors to Campbell--and both of which certainly did.

Answer 6

No, the psychics will come over right here to invite why atheists are lively in the religion and Spirituality section. somebody has to maintain the custom alive. Edit: Citizen, have you ever universal a psychic to no longer ask ten questions of you earlier finally answering one among yours? Curious. A cynic might say they have been pumping for information, yet i will demur.

Answer 7

just confirmed what I had started believing years ago just in a slightly different form.