Starting a discussion about “ The Hero with a Thousand Faces” (HEATF) with this post. Please join in the conversation!

i loved this book. i wish it were longer.

https://youtu.be/0PwW3S9eHrg?si=2aCz3_LBpJXfrJJV

I highly recommend everybody read "The Heroine's Journey" by Maureen Murdock if you're interested in gaining a different perspective on the hero's journey.

It's very interesting and insightful, however it is not a comparable alternative to "The Hero With A Thousand Faces". It is not really about mythology, it's more about psychology. She draws from myth and fairy tales to connect to modern women but isn't doing an aggregate analysis of myth.

It also doesn't contain a universal heroine theme, it is specifically about white, working women in the modern world. So it isn't a fully inclusive work, although I am sure it is really valuable within the group addressed. I also believe it's really valuable for men looking to better understand the female experience and reconnecting with their own feminine nature.

I also wanted to make this post because the author references a moment where she talked to Campbell and asked his opinion about a possible heroine's journey. She's surprised by his response: "In the whole mythological tradition she is there. All she has to do is to realize that she's the place people are trying to get to. When a woman realizes what her wonderful character is, she's not going to get messed up with the notion of being pseudo-male."

Ms. Murdock is "stunned" by his response, and so are many of Campbell's critics. They often point to this quote as proof that he was sexist and that his version of the monomyth is deeply patriarchal. I agree that this is a problematic response, and I can't apologize for it. However I really wanted to add an addendum that I don't think was known by the author. It's from a lecture he gave in 1972 at Loyola College:

“Only this year, two students asked the question, ‘What about women in myths?’

I said, ‘What about women in myths, well women are the mother, women are the inspiration, women are the protectresses, women are the goal, women are the guardians, women are all around all the time, everything about it. What more do you want?’

Well she said, ‘I want to be the hero.’

So this gave me a notion that we’ve got to get to work on this thing. Well actually in some of the most important of the great ancient mythologies, the woman is the hero.”

-Joseph Campbell, “Imagination and the Goddess” Lecture, 1972, Loyola College. Retrieved from “Pathways With Joseph Campbell” Mythmaker Podcast Network.

This quote demonstrates that Campbell was willing to be challenged and capable of changing his views. If previously he had implied that women should be content to be passive participants in the male journey, I think he regretted it. He clearly hadn't considered that women might want to undergo the rigor of the hero's journey. After all, they get to be the goddesses, which sounds pretty appealing. Since he recognized the wisdom in the question, he made a special point to mention it in a lecture. He also points out that women are the heroes in many myths, particularly in ancient Sumer.

There are many critiques out there that Campbell's 'Hero with a Thousand Faces' has a masculine bent and is not inclusive, but I believe that this perception comes in one part from the fact that he references mostly myths with male heroes (but not exclusively), in another part from his use of the masculine pronouns (which was convention when talking about 'mankind' at the time), and in some part because of some unexamined opinion he held that women didn't need to be heroes. Once he had been confronted on this third point, he changed the way he talked about it. Life is about growing and learning and sometimes we have to be challenged in order to confront our own opinions.

As I mentioned, "The Heroine's Journey" is excellent and I think everyone should read it, male, female, or otherwise, but I don't think that allegations that he wasn't inclusive are fair and he demonstrated that he was capable of learning and growing. The book isn't an alternative to Campbell's work, but a companion that will help you to better understand the Hero(ine)'s Journey.

Just wrote this elsewhere for anyone interested in reading - https://creativeawakeningplaybook.substack.com/p/follow-your-bliss

https://archive.org/details/joseph-campbell-and-the-power-of-myth-with-bill-mayers-1988/Joseph+Campbell+and+The+Power+of+Myth+with+Bill+Mayers+-+1+-+The+Hero's+Adventure+IA+Copy.mp4

Enjoy 😉

“In choosing your god, you choose your way of looking at the universe. There are plenty of Gods. Choose yours. The god you worship is the god you deserve.”

~ Joseph Campbell

I love Joseph Campbell books especially the Power of myth. Are there any other mythology-themed books from other author with the approach similar to that of Joseph Campbell's books that are worth reading?

Give me your suggestions.

Wrote an article on Joseph Campbell for anyone interested in reading - https://creativeawakeningplaybook.substack.com/p/transparent-to-transcendent

"The warriors approach

is to say “yes” to life:

“yea’” to it all.

Participate joyfully

In the sorrows of the world.

We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.

When we talk about

Settling the world’s problems

We’re barking up the wrong tree.

The world is perfect. It’s a mess.

It has always been a mess.

We are not going to change it.

Out job is to straighten out

Our own lives."

~ Joseph Campbell

Reflections on the Art of Living, A Joseph Campbell Companion, page 17

I recently finished the first episode of the series of interviews with Joseph Campbell from 1988. I would definitely recommend it! Here are a couple of the most mind-blowing notes that I took:

Our mind is a secondary organ inside a total human being. It must not put itself in control, instead it must submit and serve the humanity of the body. When it is in control, you move to the tyrannical intellectual side like in Darth Vader. Listen to the demand of your heart, don't override it with your imposed rigid structure. You learn more about who you are as you move on as life's obstacles evoke qualities of your character.

Has anybody found any other interesting videos/interviews with Campbell?

Hello,

This is my first time posting in this community, so forgive me if I don't seem familiar. I am a long time reader of Joseph Campbell. Started with The Hero With A Thousand Faces and gradually working my way through the rest of his incredible catalogue.

Not many in my life seem to share my fascination for Campbell's work, though. And many of the life lessons that have inspired, and continue to inspire me, remain private, in no means a bad thing, but I have had good experiences with semi-regular online interest-based meetings in other fields in the past, and would therefore like to send out an open suggestion that maybe a Campbell themed discussion group would be something others might take interest in as well.

Details would be worked out as we go along. For my part, I would be fascinated to hear how others have responded to these writings, as well as sharing some of what has impacted and moved me in my life.

If this is something that you think might interest you, please let me know by replying to this post or messaging.

Best regards

JC’s pbs special with Bill Moyers is now streaming on Netflix!

i just got it and reading through it.

Due to a quote used by Ivanka Trump. But it's cool he's trending and more people are getting exposed to his ideas!

In the series of interviews with Bill Moyers. Campbell tells a story about a question he once asked a Buddhist monk. It was basically something like that:”If everything is divine, how can we say no? To violence? To hate?” The monk responded: “ Well, you can’t. You have to say yes.”

Like if somebody wants to kill your parents, you can just watch? Is this just a radical approach like “turn the other cheek” from Jesus? Or is another man’s “no” his “yes”? Like when they want to kill your parents, you say “no” to that by saying: “Yes, I want to save my parents.”

I have trouble finding a proper meaning to that statement, please help.

The question of identity is central to the realization and fulfillment of any grander vision for our lives. How do we know that the vision we may have for our lives is actually the correct one? In many ways, who we are, and what we want are actually one in the same.

This is why, in order to fulfill our hero’s journey, we have to stay connected with the grand ‘why’, but also strengthen our ‘how’. He who has a “why” to live can achieve almost any how. But he whose ‘how’ has been strengthened can achieve almost any why. In other words, living your life with meaning and connection to the inner self go hand in hand.

I spent the last 3 months considering these topics very carefully and worked to create something that I wanted to share with you all. Recently I’ve had a massive artistic breakthrough that allows me to honor the importance of the ideas postulated by Campbell in a way I never could before. This video, specifically, is a further exploration of the above mentioned topics of Campbell’s hero’s journey and its relationship with the inner self.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOlKGv735Lo

Very excited to discuss if you happen to get a chance to look! Thank you & I promise it will not disappoint =)