Heroes, Buddha, and How to Read a Myth
07/07/20 • 41 min
Cultural and personal transformation begins with conscious evaluation of value systems and the stories that express and perpetuate them. In the West, this includes the idea of the hero, and the mythic pattern of the hero's journey delineated by Joseph Campbell.
A close critique of Western heroes and heroism is long overdue in my opinion, and yet the incredible popularity of this image of the individual and the road to fulfillment signals the need for careful, nuanced reflection. In truth, I am often inspired by the courage, feeling, vision, and stamina of heroes, past and present. At the same time, I'm very frustrated by the hegemony of the heroic perspective, which excludes people and experiences and most importantly, colonizes the imagination.
Campbell didn't create the mythologies that he studied and yet, he did conceive the monomyth of the hero's' journey. I recently returned to "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" and I was struck by Campbell's use of Siddhartha's journey to enlightenment. It's a good story, one that can help you think about the nature of heroism and the change our times demand.
Buddhism and other major philosophical and religious systems appeared during a time called "The Axial Age." This isn't the first time that people have felt the need for a new story, although I don't think the longing has been expressed in these terms before. Something profound is underway. You can feel it. But I wonder how much can change, how human civilization can be retooled, if people don't learn how to read a myth, how to live the symbolic life and see through metaphor...
The nature of Siddhartha's story offers me a way to talk about that too.
I hope that you're doing okay and find something helpful in this podcast.
Email Catherine at [email protected]
Post a positive review on apple podcasts!
Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com
Buy me a coffee. Thank you!
Cultural and personal transformation begins with conscious evaluation of value systems and the stories that express and perpetuate them. In the West, this includes the idea of the hero, and the mythic pattern of the hero's journey delineated by Joseph Campbell.
A close critique of Western heroes and heroism is long overdue in my opinion, and yet the incredible popularity of this image of the individual and the road to fulfillment signals the need for careful, nuanced reflection. In truth, I am often inspired by the courage, feeling, vision, and stamina of heroes, past and present. At the same time, I'm very frustrated by the hegemony of the heroic perspective, which excludes people and experiences and most importantly, colonizes the imagination.
Campbell didn't create the mythologies that he studied and yet, he did conceive the monomyth of the hero's' journey. I recently returned to "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" and I was struck by Campbell's use of Siddhartha's journey to enlightenment. It's a good story, one that can help you think about the nature of heroism and the change our times demand.
Buddhism and other major philosophical and religious systems appeared during a time called "The Axial Age." This isn't the first time that people have felt the need for a new story, although I don't think the longing has been expressed in these terms before. Something profound is underway. You can feel it. But I wonder how much can change, how human civilization can be retooled, if people don't learn how to read a myth, how to live the symbolic life and see through metaphor...
The nature of Siddhartha's story offers me a way to talk about that too.
I hope that you're doing okay and find something helpful in this podcast.
Email Catherine at [email protected]
Post a positive review on apple podcasts!
Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com
Buy me a coffee. Thank you!
Previous Episode
Allies: Being One and Finding Them Through Soul
The old forms are dissolving. I find myself thinking about allies--how to be an ally, and also, where are my allies? These questions are important in my "outer life" as a citizen, and a human being making my way through the day-to-day.
I can find some answers in movies and books and my community... but can these take me far enough, deep enough, into the desired transformation? How can depth psychology and the soul life help me grapple with the challenge of allyship, alliances, and support today?
Email Catherine at [email protected]
Post a positive review on apple podcasts!
Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com
Buy me a coffee. Thank you!
Next Episode
Women, Power, and the Right to Speak Out
"We moms are often underestimated. But we're stronger than we're given credit for. So what do you say, will you stand with me?" Bev Barnum, catalyst for the Wall of Moms protest in Portland, OR USA
In 411 BCE, Aristophanes' comedy the “Lysistrata” was performed in Athens. Athens was embroiled in the Peloponnesian War, and the play was a dream of peace in which women played a significant role.
In this podcast, I give a gloss of the plot of this play and consider some connections between the ancient Greek world of Aristophanes, and the growing presence of women in public life today. Women are taking the lead, speaking out, and showing up in greater and greater numbers. They are not uniformly welcome.
A look at the classical Greek roots of Western culture sheds some light on the cultural tensions that surround women and power and the right to speak out.
“We have to be more reflective about what power is, what it is for, and how it is measured. To put it another way, if women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of power, surely it is power that we need to redefine rather than women?”
― Mary Beard, Women & Power: A Manifesto
Visit the Mythic Mojo & Myth Matters website--- http://www.mythicmojo.com --- for links to related resources that you might find helpful.
Thank you for listening and keep the mystery in your life alive....
Email Catherine at [email protected]
Post a positive review on apple podcasts!
Learn how you can work with Catherine at https://mythicmojo.com
Buy me a coffee. Thank you!
Myth Matters - Heroes, Buddha, and How to Read a Myth
Transcript
Well, I recently revisited a classic in comparative mythology, that is Joseph Campbell's book, "The Hero With a Thousand Faces." In "The Hero With a Thousand Faces," Campbell outlines his monomyth, that is the uni
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