tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post9165894789715208151..comments2024-03-23T12:05:23.537-05:00Comments on The Wild Reed: In the Footsteps of SpringMichael J. Baylyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03087458490602152648noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-40669292994799289792008-05-14T13:29:00.000-05:002008-05-14T13:29:00.000-05:00Your thesis sounds very interesting - thanks for p...Your thesis sounds very interesting - thanks for posting part of it :) I've used Campbell's idea of the hero too in writing fiction stories.crystalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05681674503952991492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-13693017136016912152008-05-14T00:58:00.000-05:002008-05-14T00:58:00.000-05:00Yes, Crystal, Joseph Campbell does talk about the ...Yes, Crystal, Joseph Campbell does talk about the hero’s journey.<BR/><BR/>In chapter two of my thesis, I identified and discussed the hero’s journey as the mythological framework for perceiving the coming out process as a spiritual journey.<BR/><BR/>Here’s the first bit of this chapter . . .<BR/><BR/>The employment of sacramental theology so as to define the coming out process as spiritual journey [chapter one of my thesis] builds upon a mythological framework, that being the myth of the hero’s journey.<BR/><BR/>Throughout human history, the physical act of journeying has been used as a metaphor for the development of the inner life – regardless of whether such a development is understood spiritually, religiously, or psychologically. This metaphor stems from the myth of the hero’s journey, or similar myths whereby transformation occurs as a result of the undertaking of a quest, journey or adventure.<BR/><BR/>Joseph Campbell notes that “the standard path of the mythological adventure of the hero is a magnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage: separation-initiation-return: A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” Many of these rites relate to sexual development, as many are carried out at the time of puberty.<BR/><BR/>Campbell refers to the three stages of the hero’s journey as the Call to Adventure, the Road of Trials, and the Return. Different cultures employ different symbols and metaphors to denote the hero’s experience of these stages. Thus the myth of the hero’s journey resonates throughout time and across all cultures.<BR/><BR/>In fact Campbell acknowledges the universality of the myth of the hero’s journey, in all its manifestations, by terming it “the monomyth.” The true hero is every human being. Although in his writings Campbell refers exclusively to the male as hero, the quest that the hero undertakes is one in which all humanity is called to participate: “The whole sense of the ubiquitous myth of the hero’s passage is that it shall serve as a general pattern for men and women.”<BR/><BR/>In <EM>The Hero With a Thousand Faces</EM>, Campbell analyzes and compares numerous hero myths from around the world and contends that all hero myths have the same plot and accordingly the same meaning. This uniform meaning of all hero myths is both psychological and metaphysical: “Hero myths describe not the outward, physical adventures of legendary or historical figures but the inward, mental adventures of adherents to the myths. Rather than the discovery of a lost continent by some famous figure, a hero myth actually describes the rediscovery of a lost part both of the human personality and of the cosmos.” Thus hero myths originate in encounters with the lost dimensions of the mind and the world. Their function is to encourage and enable others to encounter these same dimensions for themselves.<BR/><BR/>The shared psychological meaning of hero myths enables them to be read symbolically. Whereas literally the myths have the hero discover a strange external world, symbolically he discovers a strange internal one. Whereas literally the hero discovers that there is more to the world than the physical/temporal plane, symbolically he discovers that there is more to him than his consciousness. Whereas literally the hero discovers the ultimate nature of the world, symbolically he discovers his own ultimate nature, his true identity.<BR/><BR/>Literally, the hero brings back to his country the boons of his quest. Jason, for instance, returned with the Golden Fleece. On the symbolic level, the hero is able to share with others the fruits of self-knowledge and, in so doing, encourage others not to mimic his thoughts and actions, but to undertake their own journeys of self-discovery, discover their true identity, and thus articulate their own self-authenticated thoughts and actions.<BR/><BR/>Peace,<BR/><BR/>MichaelMichael J. Baylyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03087458490602152648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-20946732822159401992008-05-13T15:35:00.000-05:002008-05-13T15:35:00.000-05:00Nice post. Good discussion. Healing and Affirmin...Nice post. Good discussion. Healing and Affirming.kevin57https://www.blogger.com/profile/01681985465980196347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-54641614941292763962008-05-13T14:27:00.000-05:002008-05-13T14:27:00.000-05:00Nice post. I'd liken coming-out to that transforma...Nice post. I'd liken coming-out to that transformative life event, while each encounter with another opens the possibility to a sacramental experience. Having made these religious analogies, however, I hasten to withdraw them.<BR/><BR/>The "coming-out" is more a process than a singular event, which culminates most often in self-disclosure and disclosure to others, and/or in the first homoerotic encounter. In my experience, the unexpected homoerotic encounter was and remains a life-changing event, while disclosure to others seemed suitable to the situations, rather than a single event.<BR/><BR/><BR/>After "coming-out," most men undergo "coming-to-terms," in which they try to integrate themselves, their values, their eroticism, their desires for intimacy, the craving for variety, the exploration of "more than a phallic fixation," and so forth. In many aspects, "coming-to-terms" is the more difficult of the two processes, since few "ideal role types" exist, and even if they did, we might be unprepared to understand or accept them. And that fact is also good, if one has the courage of his convictions, the self-worth beyond one aspect of himself, and the curiosity to find where those convictions, worth, erotic desires, all "fit" in some unique and distinctive way.<BR/><BR/>Our creative language, which explores our ineffable experiences through analogies, helps us to understand ourselves, may help others to see a perspective, it may help two individuals to find common ground, but while creative language and poetic license articulate in the ineffable, we are not ineffable, we are concrete human organisms in search of our homeostasis, and that requires a lifetime of searching.<BR/><BR/>Nice poetic approach, Michael.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-84719885110039480092008-05-13T14:25:00.000-05:002008-05-13T14:25:00.000-05:00The hero's journey - Joseph Campbell?The hero's journey - Joseph Campbell?crystalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05681674503952991492noreply@blogger.com