Tag: Joseph Campbell

Quote of the Day – February 23 2012

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
— Joseph Campbell

What makes a hero? Someone who is willing to do the right thing no matter what the cost to himself? How do we find the hero within? Go deeper. Go deeper.
I grew up on myths and stories. From an early age I was a pretty voracious reader and what I loved to read most were myths and legends. I went through every book of those I could find and could never get enough. I also loved comic books particularly super-hero ones. Makes sense, what are they but modern mythology? When I discovered both the tarot with the Fool’s journey through the major arcana and then Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey I fell in love with both concepts. They both talk about the arc of the hero and how he leaves the familiar (parents, home) and enters the unknown, encounters several dangers, and returns home with something (possession, power, bride, wisdom) he did not have before. We’re all familiar with the arc. (If not, see Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Star Wars, Alice in Wonderland, The Hobbit and many others and note the similarities)

What makes the hero go on the journey in the first place? Once he does depart what keeps him on the path? Well I can only talk about what I know. So many times in my life I have left the familiar behind, doing such things as joining religious cults, hitch-hiking cross countries and travelling to a different country to get married that I became very familiar with what I called ‘rabbit-hole time’. When i reflect on those times, the biggest thing that stands out is that I was curious, Something caught my attention and I jumped for it. Somehow I believed that even if I was not happy with the outcome, the adventure would be worthwhile. Before today, I would have called that foolishness tho today it was brought to my attention what it really was. A leap of faith. I have had faith in the universe and in the guiding force behind the universe and it has never failed me. Even the hard lessons were not as hard as they could have been. Having the love and support of my family has helped a lot there as well.

To be continued…

Click on image to see full-size

Gazing at the Hero Within and Without by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – January 10 2012

“Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.”
— Joseph Campbell

I fully believe that we choose to be happy. Perhaps insanely, when life gets difficult as it tends. So often I see people who choose to wallow in what goes wrong in their lives, what gives them pain and when they can’t find something recent, they jump into their past to find reasons to be sad or mad. Do they feel they don’t deserve happiness? That’s bullshit. Why would we have this capacity for joy if we weren’t meant to use it? Even the pain in our lives can be enjoyed by the witness both for the experience and as something that expands our capacity for joy. Namaste

Click on image to see full-size

Reaching Out or In? by G A Rosenberg

Tempered by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – December 1 2011

‎“We’re so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.”

                                 –Joseph Campbell

In another quote Dr. Campbell talks about how every life stinks to some extent so life = stinking rapture or would that be a rapturous stink? Either way I like it

Tonight I listened to a brilliant keynote address by Norman Kunc talking about looking in the correct location for things like reasons, causes and solutions not the most obvious or brilliantly lit ones. He used the old joke about the man looking for his keys in a brightly lit area. When asked whether that was where he lost them, he said no and pointed to a darker area. It’s just easier to see over here.

I see application there to some of the economical, political, ecological and spiritual issues facing us today. There are many people shining lights saying “Look here, look here!!!” and some of those lights seem pretty attractive and yet we lost our way in that dark patch over there and only by looking there can we find a solution. Very often the bright lights are trained on external things sublimating our inner search.

Namaste, GAR

Click on image to see full-sized

Burning Shadow by G A Rosenberg

The Watcher by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – November 9 2011

“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 — not 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.”
–Joseph Campbell

To me, what Campbell called ‘following your bliss’ sounds a lot like Crowley’s ‘true will’. Living to the purpose of one’s soul. Can prem mean much more than that? What can be more important than the true expression of one’s very being? Dr Campbell in this quote has given a large signpost to discovering what one’s true will may be. Namaste
— G A Rosenberg

Click on image to see full-size

She Reflects by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – August 27 2011

“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.”
— Joseph Campbell

 

Click on image to see full-size

Woodsong by G A Rosenberg

Woodabstract by G A Rosenberg