Fantastic Introduction to Joseph Campbell

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	• Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation Joseph Campbell New World Library, 2004 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Western Myth, Indeed

I read 'Hero With a Thousand Faces' by Joseph Campbell first, and although I found it to be insightful, I thought it was a bit sterile, scholarly, and downright technical for my taste. My prejudice was, science should be cold and sterile while myth should be warm and lively.

With this publication of 'Pathways to Bliss', I decided to give Mr. Campbell another read.

I am glad I did.

This book, in contrast to 'Hero', I found to be warm, friendly and engaging. The overall style of the book, in my view, matched the subject matter.

In it, Campbell defines myth as 'other people's religion' and provides a lively history of our religious symbols through time, how they effect us as a society, and finally how myth impacts us personally and today. His mythology is rooted in existential causes i.e. tropical societies noticed fruits fell to the ground, died, and produced more fruit thus offering a glimpse into the necessity of death where a rebirth is required, while land based societies looked upon the animals they killed as kin, and thus came up with rituals to offer the animals rebirth by pouring their blood out onto the ground, an agreement between hunter and hunted that life would continue for the animal.

But Campbell also realizes there is something perhaps more significant at play where myth is concerned than purely environmental causes, and offers the viewpoints of C.G. Jung and Sigmund Freud concerning the unconscious, the psyche and the self, and the role they may have played in developing the stories that have shaped our lives so profoundly.

It is amazing to me that a comet thousands of miles away is more predictable than my next door neighbor, but Joseph Campbell helps me understand myself, and perhaps my fellow man, just a little bit better with this wonderful little book.

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One of my favorite Joe Campbell "books"

Over the past few years I've become an avid Joseph Campbell fan, my only regret is that I didn't have the honor to attend one of his lectures. His scholarly works, such as Primitive Mythology, Occidental Mythology, etc. delve more deeply into the actual interpretation of specific myth, and I love these books. But I find so much wisdom in those "books" that are actually a compilation of interviews and or lectures. Joe Campbell has a unique ability to dish out life-changing nuggets of wisdom in a sentence and that comes across clearly in his conversations and lectures. Of these conversational books, this is one of my favorites. As some of the other reviewers have stated, its a great introduction to Campbell's ability to translate mythic archetypes and metaphors into meaningful dictives about life and our own personal journeys. My book is adorned with bright yellow ribbons of highlighting on nearly every page. Inspiring in every sense of the word!

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Fantastic Introduction to Joseph Campbell

I used to recommend people start with Myths to Live By, but now I think people should start with Pathways To Bliss. It's just a fantastic overview of the ideas that Joseph Campbell expands on and reiterates throughout his other books.

I started reading this book and my wife was joking with me, saying all you have to do is read the last paragraph to get the gist of the book. So as a joke I turned to the last paragraph and read it out loud to her. It was so moving, well, that was it, we both read the book cover to cover together.

It's just an amazingly affirmative view of life and nobody explains the mysteries of the cosmos better than Joseph Campbell. I'm a huge fan of his, and this book is the best one yet.

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Fantastic Campbell

This book is wonderful for everyone! Whether you are a long-time fan of Joseph Campbell or new to his teachings, it is great.
I am a long-time fan and it is nice to see his philosophy presented so clearly and conscisely in one easy-to-read volume.
Buy and read it today!

Absolutely Perfect

This book was in perfect condition for a second hander, it was soo reasonably priced and it's just one of those diamonds in the rough. Joseph Campbell is such a unique individual who has such insight. He's like an academic spiritual writer, who speaks from the heart about myth and it's place in the world so we can better understand ourselves. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

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