The word mythology literally means the (oral) retelling of myths –
stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use
supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the universe
and humanity. In modern usage, mythology is either the body of myths
from a particular culture or religion (as in Greek mythology, Egyptian
mythology or Norse mythology) or the branch of knowledge dealing with
the collection, study and interpretation of myths.
In common usage, myth means a falsehood — a story which many
believe to be based on fact but which is not true.
The field of mythology does not use this definition.
Myths are narratives about divine or heroic beings, arranged in a
coherent system, passed down traditionally, and linked to the spiritual
or religious life of a community, endorsed by rulers or priests. Once
this link to the spiritual leadership of society is broken, they lose
their mythological qualities and become folktales or fairy tales.[1]
Not every religious narrative is a myth however; unless it is deeply
rooted in tradition, it may also be trivial pious anecdote or legend.
Myths are often intended to explain the universal and local beginnings
("creation myths" and "founding myths"), natural
phenomena, inexplicable cultural conventions, and anything else for
which no simple explanation presents itself.
In folkloristics, which is concerned with the study of both secular
and sacred narratives, a myth also derives some of its power from
being believed and deeply held as true. In the study of folklore,
all sacred traditions have myths, and there is nothing pejorative
or dismissive intended in the use of the term, as there often is in
common usage.
This broader truth runs deeper than the advent of critical history
which may, or may not, exist as in an authoritative written form which
becomes "the story" (Preliterate oral traditions may vanish
as the written word becomes "the story" and the literate
become "the authority"). However, as Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
puts it, "The primitive mentality is a condition of the human
mind, and not a stage in its historical development."[2] Most
often the term refers specifically to ancient tales from very old
cultures, such as Greek mythology or Roman mythology. Some myths descended
originally as part of an oral tradition and were only later written
down, and many of them exist in multiple versions.
According to F. W. J. Schelling in the eighth chapter of Introduction
to Philosophy and Mythology, "Mythological representations have
been neither invented nor freely accepted. The products of a process
independent of thought and will, they were, for the consciousness
which underwent them, of an irrefutable and incontestable reality.
Peoples and individuals are only the instruments of this process,
which goes beyond their horizon and which they serve without understanding.
Joseph Campbell Quotes
"A hero is someone
who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself."
“We must let go of the life we have planned,
so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”
“Your life is the fruit of your own doing.
You have no one to blame but yourself.”
“The adventure of the hero is the
adventure of being alive”
“Marriage
is not a love affair.
A love affair is a totally different thing.
A marriage is a commitment to that which you are.
That person is literally your other half. And you and the other
are one.
A love affair isn’t that.
That is a relationship of pleasure, and when it gets to be unpleasurable
, it’s off.
But a marriage is a life commitment, and a life commitment means
the prime concern of your life.
If marriage is not the prime concern, you are not married.”
“The way to find out about happiness is
to keep your mind on those moments when you feel most happy, when
you are really happy — no
t excited, not just thrilled, but deeply happy. This requires a
little bit of self-analysis. What is it that makes you happy? Stay
with it, no matter what people tell you.
This is what is called following
your bliss.”
“Love is a friendship set to music.”
“Follow your bliss and the universe will
open doors for you where there were only walls”
“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat
match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”
“It is by going down into the abyss that
we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies
your treasure.”
“Find a place inside where there's joy,
and the joy will burn out the pain.”
