Cultural Mythology: Myth, culture, and consciousness

Freedom

An interesting interview with James Hillman appeared in Huffington Post last month. In "America and the Shift in Ages," Hillman talks about the decay of American mythologies like the myth of American exceptionalism, futurism, and Christianity. The mighty efforts underway to preserve these myths (ie, fundamentalist thinking) is proof, Hillman says, of their lack of vitality.

Hillman is a stimulating thinker and important source for my own work and I encourage you to check out the whole interview. But I want to pull out this one bit on freedom because it relates to our current conversation about earned character.

Hillman: One would have to think about what needs to die in this culture; what attachments need to slip away, such as white supremacy, male supremacy, and the sense that we are the really "good people." America has a certain hubris about its virtue. Another thing would be our "unanalyzed" understanding of the word freedom. Probably one of the striking things in the dying of your father was his dependence on help, like nursing homes and nurses and crutches -- yet out of his lack of freedom arose another kind of freedom.

(Interviewer) Pythia: My father was particularly stubbornly American in that regard. He wouldn't even go into a hospital because then he wouldn't be "free" to smoke or drink. But you seem to be saying that as we lose one kind of freedom, there arises the possibility of another kind of freedom.

Hillman: I'm saying that we haven't thought about the idea of freedom enough. It needs to be internalized as an inner freedom from "demand" itself: the kind of freedom that comes when you're free from those compulsions to have and to own and to be someone. For example, think of the kind of freedom that (South African president) Nelson Mandela must have experienced when he was imprisoned. He completely lost his freedom in the outer world, yet he found freedom within. That's an example that broadens our current limited idea of freedom: that I can do any goddamn thing I want on my property; that I am my own boss and don't want government interference; that I don't want anybody telling me what I can and can't do; that we've had too much regulation, and so on. This is the freedom of a teenage boy.

Our definition of freedom is at the heart of our political divisions. The Tea Partyer's, for example, have merely thrown the issue into sharper relief. Feedom is also the central challenge and opportunity in the quest for earned character. The freedom that you grant yourself is connected to your self-definition and way of living; it reflects your highest values. Sometimes willingly obligating oneself is the path to personal freedom. More on this in the next post...

Reverse Engineering the Holy Grail

“Our dominant mythologies are fueling the destruction of the world and the human race. We need new cultural narratives and that means creative, heartfelt participation from a wide range of people alive in this cultural moment.” -- Catherine Svehla

Check out the rest of my recent interview about myth and contemporary life at planetshifter. Planetshifter magazine, created by Willi Paul, is dedicated to creativity, innovation, and sustainability, or the alchemical permaculture of a new mythos. He's interviewed many interesting thinkers in the general field of myth, consciousness, and sustainability-- you can find links to these on the website-- and I enjoyed our conversation.

High Desert Mythological RoundTable (R) Group

Tuesday, March 29th, 7-9PM at Red Arrow Gallery, Joshua Tree

"Blisters on the Way to Bliss: An Evening of Personal Storytelling"

Please join our circle for an evening of storytelling and conversation about the relationships between myth and life. If you are interested in telling a true story from your life, please contact Catherine by March 22nd. All stories must be told (not read) in ten minutes or less, and relate to the theme of the evening.

Free. Donations greatly appreciated. Cookies and other goodies gladly shared. The High Desert Mythological Round Table meets the last Tuesday of every month at the Red Arrow Gallery. The Red Arrow Gallery is at 61597 29 Palms Hwy (Hwy 62) in downtown Joshua Tree.

The best facts

I was recently reminded of just how crucial it is that we develop, as individuals and as a culture, the facility for (and appreciation of) a mythic perspective. We have so many important things to talk about, issues at the heart of our survival, topics that open and expand our humanness, and opportunities for illumination. We often talk past each other and argue points beside the point because we don't know the proper stance or perspective to adopt. For far too many of us there is only one option-- the literal-- and well practiced that becomes dogmatic and that, my friends, is the end of the conversation.

To look at something from a mythic perspective involves finding and understanding metaphors. In the Blackfoot myth of the buffalo dance, for example, we're told that that a young woman promised to marry a buffalo in exchange for the willing sacrifice of some of the herd. When they jumped over the cliff, she had to take the lead buffalo as a husband. Marry a buffalo? What might this signify?

This "marriage" is a metaphor for a kind of relationship. Marriage is an intimate union that creates a shared fate, and historically brought together different people, different families, and even different countries. A marriage in the traditional sense creates allies; it forces the two parties and the folks attached to them to envison common bonds and interests.

If we think about a marriage between a young woman and a buffalo in literal terms it is just inconceivable, bizarre, and the story is merely a cultural artifact. From this literal stance one can easily bandy about opinions about "those people" and what they believed, and argue over who knows the most about Native Americans and has the best facts, and the credentials to prove it. But that's not what we're up to here.

"Marriage" as a metaphor for the relationship between people and buffalos allows us to understand something about the order of the Blackfoot cosmos and our own situation. The young woman's offer to marry concretized, in a sense, the context for the story: The people's surivival depended on the killing of the buffalo.The myth is a story about the profound nature of that relationship, the need to recognize it, and the protocols that would protect its sacredness.

The absolute connection between eating and killing has not changed since this story was first told. Maybe you, like me,are married to a carrot and a soybean, but nonetheless, she who eats today will be eaten tomorow. The shared fate of the hunter and the prey---death---and our inability to precisely determine when we will fall, this has not changed either. Many of us have a different story, different metaphors, and a different awareness. But I do not think that we're better for it. In devaluing the lives of other species, we've devalued our own.

If you were married to your food, would that change your manner of eating? Can this story help you think about that? Does it give you an image to hang onto, a concept to contemplate, and a place to start a different kind of conversation?

 

"Blisters on the Way to Bliss"- a story-based exploration of bliss and the hero's journey

In 2009, I was privileged to receive a New Mythos grant from OPUS Archives for "Blisters on the Way to Bliss," a project in the Joseph Campbell collection. My plan was to dig through some of Campbell's unpublished work, especially his many audio taped lectures, to find out what he taught about bliss and the hero's journey. These two ideas are quite powerful and evocative and it's hard for me to imagine a new mythos or cultural narrative that doesn't incorporate them somehow. But I wonder if they haven't become somewhat glossy and simple in the last thirty years. The profound requires reflection, some quiet time of contemplation, and this can be hard to come by. In my ideal world, bliss and the hero’s journey would be appreciated for their complexity, not reduced to another talking point in the rhetoric of optimistic, hyper-individualism. Contributing to this ideal is my goal.

I approached Campbell and his ideas with these questions in mind:

• If a hero serves something larger than herself, what does she serve?
• What did Campbell mean by “bliss?”
• What is the relationship between bliss, which seems to be a purely personal phenomenon, and the Hero’s Journey, which culminates in a boon brought back to the community?
• Where is the shadow, the rejected, repressed, and unconscious, in the seeker, the hero, the quest, and in these notions of “bliss” and heroism?
• Finally, what does any of this have to do with the quest for a new, shared narrative?

The time that I've spent with Campbell continues to impact my thinking in ways that I didn't imagine and my own appreciation for bliss and the hero's journey continues to deepen. Honestly, I thought I pretty much knew what Campbell was talking about when I started my research, but now I think I know why he talked about these things for decades without losing his passion-- they keep unfolding.

That said, I want to share the immediate fruits of my research with you."Blisters on the Way to Bliss," is a four part, story-based exploration of Campbell's ideas. You can download a pdf of the project on this site for your personal use or to share with a group. I put these materials together with the JCF Mythological RoundTable (R) Group program in mind and we have been using them here in the high desert. The discussions and stories that I have been posting here on this blog for the last few months-- The Frog Prince, Percival and the Fisher King, and (soon) the Blackfoot myth of the Buffalo Dance-- are taken from "Blisters on the Way to Bliss." So if you are a roundtable group member, please try these stories and give me your feedback! Ditto if you are thinking of such an enterprise, or are inspired to get some friends together for a night or two and experiment with this kind of conversation.

Materials for the first three gatherings/discussions are comprised of a story, suggested discussion questions, and additional pieces from Campbell’s work that amplify the themes. The series culminates in an evening of personal storytelling. Although they were designed as a series, each story works independently and can be used to illustrate many other topics.

I can share this project so freely because the Joseph Campbell Foundation has generously granted me permission to use the materials that I found in the archives.  Please respect the copyrights, which belong to me and the JCF respectively, and do not reproduce any of this material without  proper attribution. Thank you, and please contact me with your thoughts and reactions to the project, which is a work in progress and a snapshot of my process, complete with both blisters and some moments of bliss.

Download "Blisters on the Way to Bliss"

 

Who knows what will happen next?

I've been hung up for awhile now, trying to bring my research on Joseph Campbell's bliss and the Hero's Journey to some conclusion. They're infinitely rich and relevant topics. Campbell wrote and spoke about them extensively. So have many other people, people whose words breathe an air of certainty, people that seem to completely understand what Campbell meant by "bliss" and how to find it, or can plot, step by step, the moves of their own, inner hero.

I however, have questions. I go over and over the concepts, riffle through my notes, and continue to uneasily grope around for I know not what. And I'm supposed to be an expert, right? My big question is this: what connects bliss and the hero's journey? Is there a connection? On the one hand, we have "Follow your bliss." Your bliss. Personal realization of unique individuality. Full expression of that which you were born to do. On the other hand (the hero's hand), we find "A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself." The hero's journey is a quest for whatever will bring healing and wholeness to a particular individual and community. The contribution to community is a distinguishing characteristic.

We often juxtapose personal needs and public service, but it seems likely that the hero on the journey discovers or learns something about bliss along the way. Maybe the journey is the process and bliss is one possible outcome? Or is bliss essentially communal also? Interestingly, Campbell often talked about the sorrows of the world and loyalty to one's imperfections and compassion, when he spoke about bliss. Personal happiness is a clue that you are on the bliss trail, but it's not the sum total of bliss. Not even close. But to claim that bliss always involves service, well, that would be a neat prescription but...

This line of thinking might seem a little arcane and abstract, even peripheral to the serious business of life in this world of war and unemployment and global warming and breathless change. I know I have plenty to do and think about, even holidays to celebrate! But setting these ideas side by side makes me uneasy because the relationship between individual fulfillment and collective needs is very tense today, and that concern is behind my question. Maybe you feel uneasy too.

What is the correct relationship between the individual and the community? Where is the line properly drawn between the personal and the social? What do I have "a right" to claim and what should I be expected to give? This is the question of our time, of this time, and I don't have an answer. But these words of Nancy Mairs feel appropriate to my quest and my question. "One can't be an expert in process. By it's very nature process can't be mastered. Because it's not finished. And who knows what will happen next?"

 

 

Gaia festival speakers: Karen Tate

I'm excited about the Gaia Festival in Santa Barbara, November 13-14th for a number of reasons: the opportunity to work with a new story, to celebrate the growing strength of myth-conscious community, to see old friends, and to make new ones. I also relish the opportunity to learn from co-collaborators (which includes everyone at a gathering like this) who put a different spin on familiar topics. Karen Tate, for example, is a writer and scholar of comparative religions, archeology, and goddess spirituality who is a founding mother of the Gaia Festival. What is the relationship between the sacred feminine and a sustainable future, she asks?

Ms. Tate hosts "Voices of the Sacred Feminine" every Wednesday between 6-8PM PST on BlogTalk Radio. Upcoming guests include Starhawk, Charlene Spretnak, and Riane Eisler. For more information about her books, scheduled talks, radio show, and guided tours of sacred sites (Turkey is the destination for 2011), visit Karen Tate.

For festival registration and complete schedule information, visit Gaia Festival 2010. Dance, drum, heal, celebrate. I hope to see you there!

Gaia Festival special offer

I'm happy to be able to extend this special offer to my subscribers and visitors. Until 9/25/10, full festival passes are $175 by going to this form: Gaia Festival Friends and Family Sale. A full festival pass includes all meals and events. Please check out the full festival schedule below and make plans for Santa Barbara. . . mention Cultural Mythology when you buy your pass!

There are also spots available for vending and advertising - see the Gaia Festival website for more information.


SATURDAY, 11/13/10

9:00 Breakfast
10:00 Opening Circle - Vince Chafin to provide his shamanic flute playing as we connect to the heart of Gaia and reconnect with each other.
10:30 Panzumo – “Archetypal Rhythm, Song and Dance”
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Healers give mini-healings and readings to participants
1:30 Karen Tate – “Sacred Feminine for a Sustainable Future”
2:40 Tyr Jung-Hall – “The Labyrinth Project”
3:45 Stephen Gerringer – “FROM HADES TO HEAVEN: A Labyrinthine Legend of Love & Loss”
5:15 Beach Ritual - Panzumo to provide ritual songs to Iemanja, Oxum and the Nine Morgans
6:30 Dinner
7:30 Raffle/Community Announcements (open mic)
8:00 Freya – “Bliss Bath: A Sound and Intuitive Movement Experience”
9:00 Evening Circle

SUNDAY, 11/14/10

9:00 Breakfast
9:30 Morning Circle
10:00 Paul Cronshaw – “Save the Bees: Observe a Hive and Learn How You Can Help”
10:50 Elisa Robles – “Benefits of Vermicomposting”
12:00 Lunch/Raffle/Community Announcements (open mic)
12:30 Healers give mini-healings and readings to participants
1:30 Catherine Svehla – “Birthing, Breathing, Thinking, Weaving: Gaia and Grandmother Spider”
2:15 Julie James – “Flora Erotica”
3:00 Sara Munro – “Step into the Sacred Geometry of the Spinning Hoop!”
3:45 Miranda Rondeau – “Transformative Power of Vocalization and the Frame Drum”
5:00 Closing Ceremony w/Miranda Rondeau & the Gaia Priestess Drummers

What's at the core of the earth?

Joseph Campbell used to tell a story about a conversation he overhead, between a young boy and his mother. The boy had written a paper about evolution for class. His teacher told him that evolution was wrong and that Adam and Eve were the first human beings. His mother actually agreed with the teacher, and when the boy pressed on and said that his paper was scientific, his mother got angry. Science, she said, was just a bunch of theories. To which her son replied, yes, but this theory has facts; scientists have found the bones.

Campbell told this story thirty years ago. At the time many people, Campbell included, thought that science would be the final nail in the coffin of widespread Christian belief. Not because science was "true" and Christianity was "false," but because our mythologies should be compatible with the science of the times and Christianity was not compatible. At least, not the way that it was commonly read and interpreted. Read as history, as "fact," Christianity doesn't make much sense. Metaphorically, taken as a mythology, it's quite rich. But for reasons that are beyond me, the idea that Jesus really lived has proven more popular than pursuit of the Christ-like dimension in each of us.

Campbell thought the misplaced insistence on historical, literal truth would dry up the last little drops of spiritual and psychological juice. But unfortunately, we're experiencing more and more heated and ridiculous arguments like the one the young boy had with his mother thirty years ago, and the hardening, the blind determination to literalize and factualize our beliefs and theories has infected scientists as well as theologians. It's touched many of us. Living with ambiguity is tough.

The symbols and the metaphors that we use to point to the ineffable can and should change as the cultural, historical, scientific context changes, so that they remain fluid and relevant. To truly operate as vehicles for religious (or mystical or mythical) experience, the concrete expression of belief must open out to something bigger. The whole has to be bigger than the sum of the parts.  "The tao that can be spoken is not the Tao; the tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao," says the Tao te Ching. Rigid dogmas and creeds can become ends in themselves. When you mistake the statue for the god so to speak, you've lost the experience of the god.

Image courtesy of the UK Space Agency.

Science, as an intellectual enterprise based in uncertainty and fueled by hypotheses, has the potential to provide us with metaphors and images that inspire the kind of wonder and awe necessary to mystical or religious experience. Contemplate the fires burning at the core of the earth, for example, and how little we know about them. What I am slowly learning about the earth is blowing my mind. After years of avoidance, science has become another way to probe the mystery that surrounds and permeates me. I hope to get more articulate on the subject.

Campbell thought that the image of the Earth, seen from outer space, could inspire a new mythology of global unity. It's an intriguing idea and I'm also inspired by the prospect of one human family and a planet-wide community of beings. Can such an image, one result of the quest for scientific knowledge, provide some raw material for a new mythology or ecopoetry? Maybe, if the inquiry is open-ended and the minds stay open, and if we are alert to the cultural myths that influence our questions and the answers that we accept.

JT Music festival and ICC Aesthetics of Change

Two upcoming events that I encourage you to attend, both guaranteed to provide community and food for the soul!

This weekend, May 14-16th, here in Joshua Tree, CA, the Joshua Tree Music festival, produced by a family of friends and funsters convinced that music is the soul of life, and that art enriches and saves lives. Outdoors, camping available.

Next weekend, the Aesthetic Nature of Change , a three day conference organized by the Institute for Cultural Change May 21-23, 2010 in Ojai, CA. Organizer Lori Pye has assembled a fascinating group of speakers---so the schedule posted at the link above.

"Every day I wake up wanting to change the world and have a hell of a good time. This makes planning the day difficult."--E.B. White