Reading Guide: Joseph Campbell’s

The Power of Myth, Chapter 2

English 2110 / 18 & 30 K Prof. Hagin K Kennesaw State University K Fall 2007

Chapter 2: “The Journey Inward”

(44-50) Why do myths reflect what we know inside is true? Campbell explains that all
humans live through the same stages of life and they recognize universal images
(archetypes), such as the serpent and the bird. Myths help us to see the God inside the Man;
that universal truths exist inside our subconscious brains (dreams) that are interpreted in
terms of the individual experience. Individual dreams tend to reflect the public mythology;
when they don’t, only a hero can bring these two views into accord.

Theodore Roethke — a 20th century American poet

Christ — an ancient Indo-European term meaning “the anointed one” or “covered in oil”; related words
include “grime,” “grease,” and “cream”
Shiva — the Hindu god of destruction and part of the Hindu Triad: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva
Sigmund Freud — a 19th/20th century Austrian neurologist who established psychoanalysis (the study
of the interplay between the conscious and subconscious levels of the human brain)
Carl Jung — a 20th century Swiss psychiatrist, pioneer of dream analysis, and the founder of
analytical psychology (the study of the forces and motivations of human behavior)

1. Why does Campbell call myth “the public dream”?

2. According to Carl Jung, what are the two orders of dream and how do they differ?

(50-67) Why are the world’s creation stories so similar? Campbell explains that all
creation stories reflect a primordial mythical reality, and that many themes and archetypes
that appear in one tend to appear in many others as well (a darkness, a formless void, a
separation from the creator, etc). Campbell compares Genesis with tales from the Pima
Indians (Arizona), the Upanishads (India), and the Bassari tribes (West Africa) as examples.
Specific attention is devoted to the role of the serpent in these myths, a commonly
misunderstood archetype in the modern West. Campbell then unveils the Garden of Eden
stories from Genesis with mythological language to contrast myth from doctrine. Campbell
illustrates the concepts of duality, archetypes, and transcendence through this example as
well.
alimentary canal — the digestive tract through which food is absorbed and converted into waste,
from the mouth to the anus
Johannes Eckhart (a.k.a. Eckhart von Hochheim, or Meister Eckhart) — a 13th/14th century German
theologian and Christian mystic, tried in court as a heretic by Pope John XXII
William Blake — 18th/19th century British Romantic poet and painter whose work focused on the
themes of religious dualities (God/man, heaven/hell, innocence/experience, etc.)
Emmanuel Kant — 18th century German philosopher who argued a connection between two widely disputed
philosophical traditions: Rationalism (logic, intuition, and revelation) and Empiricism (observation
and experience), paving the way for nearly all philosophical study since the 19th century
Stanislav Grof — a 20th century Czechoslovakian researcher who established the field of
transpersonal psychology that delves into one’s fetal and neonatal experiences
Ramakrishna — a 19th century Hindu guru, revered by millions, who taught that the realization of
God and the suppression of maya (illusion) are the supreme goals of all living creatures
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki — a leading 19th/20th century Zen Buddhist scholar and linguist

3. What is the fundamental psychological purpose of all creation stories?

4. Why does Campbell suggest that the serpent is a symbol of life?

5. According to Campbell, how has the Biblical tradition rejected the mythical symbolism of
the serpent?

6. What are the three “oppositions” in the Garden of Eden story?

7. How does God transcend the dualities?

8. What is our first life experience?

(67-70) What is a metaphor and how does it operate in religion? Campbell discusses
how myths need to be read metaphorically, not literally. Myths are written in poetry, not
prose, which is intended to allow the reader access to the unknown — that which escapes
the confines of language. Campbell examines a few important Christian concepts through the
mythological perspective, which existed during the first few centuries of Christianity,
specifically with the Gnostics.

Novalis (Georg Philipp Friedrich, or also Freiherr von Hardenberg) — an 18th century Romantic author
and philosopher who sought to describe the process by which man can establish harmony
with Nature
Gospel of Thomas — one of many Christian Apocryphal texts that were excluded from the Bible when
it was assembled by Pope Damasus at the Roman Council in 382 CE; these Apocrypa were
often rejected by Roman bishops because they revealed Jesus more as man than God, as well
as a mystic whose teachings were more in accord with mythology and the concepts of the
sacred feminine
Gnosticism — Gnostics were early Christians who believed in “gnosis,” or the awareness of God
through personal experience, as well as a dualistic divinity (light and dark divine forces in
conflict with each other); they were persecuted and discredited by the early Roman Church
purgatory — a state/place between heaven and hell where the soul is purged of its sins in order to
ascend into heaven; a main setting of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio,
Paradiso); there is no mention of purgatory in the Bible, and the Catholic Church recently has
backed away from this concept

9. How does metaphor assist one with the “journey inward”? [opinion]

(70-79) How do myths help us to connect to the spiritual world? Campbell discusses
several ways that people can seek the God within themselves and how cultures are grounded
in the myths that provide this transcendental instruction. Since Campbell argues that the
myths connect people to God, he concludes that poets are doing this well today, but is
critical of the literalist approaches of the Western churches that have ignored the messages
of the myth and fail to share the rich symbolism upon which their religions were originally
based. Campbell argues that religious experiences are the best means of knowing God, but
symbols (especially words) must be available to substitute as a guide for those who lack the
experience. Campbell completes this lesson with a retelling of “The Myth of the Proud
Indras,” from the Hindu Upanishads.

transcend — to travel beyond a boundary (physical, psychological, spiritual, etc.)

shaman — an intermediary between the earthly world and the spiritual realm, often transcending
these worlds to acquire sacred knowledge through trances, meditation, or drug-induced
rituals
rishi — a sage, saint, or prophet in Hinduism who has heard the Vedas (early Hindu scriptural hymns)
directly from Brahman (the Supreme universal force)
Muse — the nine goddesses in Greek mythology who assisted human artists with their inspiration:
Calliope (epic poetry), Euterpe (music/lyric poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyrics/love poetry),
Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (sacred poetry and geometry), Terpsichore (dancing), Thalia
(comedy), Urania (astronomy and astrology)
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel — a 19th century German philosopher who rationalized how one can
understand unity through the vehicle of difference and negation
Upanishads — sacred Hindu texts that followed the Vedas, focusing on the spiritual realizations of
students who were guided by their yogis (teachers)
Indra — an early Hindu god of war and thunderbolts from the Vedic tradition who constantly battled
demons to preserve the cosmic order
Brahma — the Hindu god of creation who is the agent of Brahman, the Supreme Universal Being
Vishnu — the Hindu god of preservation who incarnated himself ten times to preserve the order in the
universe by thwarting the demons
Shiva — the Hindu god of destruction who often sacrifices himself to protect the world, such as when
he held the poison in his throat in “The Churning of the Milk Ocean”

10. What is the difference between a priest and a shaman?

11. What does the god Indra learn in “The Myth of the Proud Indras”?

(80-85) Why is good and evil promoted in mythology? Campbell discusses the Santa
Claus myth and how it operates to form relationships between parents and children. But the
adult world ponders evil as well as good, so myths provide spiritual guidance for us to
accept the dualities of life — both the bad with the good. We contribute and receive good
and evil by participating in the game of life. Therefore, we must come to understand how
our world of dualities operates, and to learn to avoid judging the world based on our bias of
one duality over another. Myths teach us that. Campbell relates some tales from the Hindu
Rig Veda and The Upanishads, high spiritual works.

Thanatos — The Greek personification of death (Roman Mors). He was the son of Night and the
brother of Sleep, and his presence was fearsome. The Romans depicted him as a cherub.
Freud’s theory of the Death instinct hypothesized that humans have two primal drives in
opposition: Eros (lust, desire for pleasure) and Thanatos (the drive to end the struggle of life
and to pass quietly into the grave).

12. What is the metaphor of Santa Claus?

13. Why do myths teach us to not judge against evil?

14. What was the question that Campbell posed to the Hindu guru, and what was the
answer?