by Richard Stromer | Sep 21, 2018 | Depth Psychology, Joseph Campbell, Personal Mythology, Religious Function of Myth, The Sacred
Of all of the figures who can be said to have played seminal roles in the development of the concept of personal mythology, Joseph Campbell is probably the individual most commonly associated with this idea. Moreover, regarding the idea of personal mythology as...
by Richard Stromer | Aug 31, 2018 | Biblical Myths, Joseph Campbell, Judaism, Midrash, Soul
As I observed in an earlier post, Joseph Campbell was consistently critical of the tendency of the monotheistic religions to confuse myth and history, to literalize the stories found in their scripture rather than understand them in mythological terms. That said, of...
by Richard Stromer | Jul 13, 2018 | Mystery, Mysticism, Spiritual Development, The Sacred
I believe the experience of Mystery to be the most powerful, most precious encounters we humans can have. That said, when we use the word “mystery,” it’s important to bear in mind that there are two kinds. The first, more common variety of mystery is...
by Richard Stromer | Jun 30, 2018 | Hero's Journey, Joseph Campbell, Movies
Anyone acquainted with the life and work of Joseph Campbell will be familiar with the archetypal pattern of transformation he named the “Hero’s Journey.” It was this concept, — originally presented in 1949 in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces — that...
by Richard Stromer | Jun 16, 2018 | Spirituality
In the past — and not far back in time — religion was mostly a fixed feature of people’s lives. By and large, we tended to practice the same faith tradition as our parents and relatively few people questioned what they had been taught to believe....
