• Read myths with the eyes of wonder:
    ... the myths transparent to their universal meaning ... their meaning transparent to its mysterious source.

 

  • Read myths in the present tense: Eternity is now.

 

  • Read myths in the first person plural ("we"): the Gods
    and Goddesses of ancient mythology still live within you.

 

  • Any myth worth its salt exerts a powerful magnetism. Notice the images and stories that you are drawn to
    and repelled by. Investigate the field of associated images and stories.

 

  • Look for patterns; don't get lost in the details. What is needed is not more specialized scholarship, but more interdisciplinary vision. Make connections;
    break old patterns of parochial thought.

 

  • Resacralize the secular: even a dollar bill reveals the imprint of Eternity.

 

  • If God is everywhere, then myths can be generated anywhere, anytime, by anything. Don't let your Romantic aversion to science blind you to the Buddha in the computer chip.

 

  • Know your tribe! Myths never arise in a vacuum; they
    are the connective tissue of the social body which
    enjoys synergistic relations with dreams (private myths) and rituals (the enactment of myth).

 

  • Expand your horizons! Any mythology worth remembering will be global in scope. The earth is our home and humankind is our family.

 

  • Read between the lines! Literalism kills; Imagination quickens.

    Recommended books:

     cover
    "Thou Art That" by Joseph Campbell
    This collection of essay, lectures and discussions will delight both avid Campbell disciples eager for more of
    his thoughts and newcomers to his work on comparative mythology and religion. It is also a quick refresher course on some of Campbell's ideas about the Judeo-Christian tradition for those who have encountered him in his well known "Hero of a Thousand Faces" book and television series with Bill Moyers.

     cover
    "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell
    This is a good book to start with if you wonder why
    myths are important and interesting to learn from.

      cover
    "Creative Mythology: The Masks of God" by Joseph Campbell
    This is part of a series of gods from mythologies around the world. This is the book about gods in the western tradition, including the resurrected gods.

     

    Also visit my TopTen on Ways to Read Myths


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