The following excerpt is included here because of its deep relevance for myself and the overall theme and purpose of this web-site. It is Joseph Campbell [1904-1987] in The Power of Myth, in conversation with journalist Bill Moyers:
_________________________
Moyers: Why is a myth different from a dream?
Campbell: Oh, because a dream is a personal experience of that deep, dark ground that is the support of our conscious lives, and a myth is the society's dream. The myth is the public dream and the dream is the private myth. If your private myth, your dream, happens to coincide with that of the society, you are in good accord with your group. If it isn't, you've got an adventure in the dark forest ahead of you.
Moyers: So if my private dreams are in accord with the public mythology, I'm more likely to live healthily in that society. But if my private dreams are out of step with the public--
Campbell: --you'll be in trouble. If you're forced to live in that system, you'll be a neurotic.
Moyers: But aren't many visionaries and even leaders and heroes close to the edge of neuroticism?
Campbell: Yes, they are.
Moyers: How do you explain that?
Campbell: They've moved out of the society that would have protected them, and into the dark forest, into the world of fire, of original experience. Original experience has not been interpreted for you, and so you've got to work out your life for yourself. Either you can take it or you can't. You don't have to go far off the interpreted path to find yourself in very difficult situations. The courage to face the trials and to bring a whole new body of possibilities into the field of interpreted experience for other people to experience--that is the hero's deed. ...
[pages 40-41]
_________________________
Editorial commentary by T.J. White:
What Campbell was referring to here (the visionary human being who, being forced to live in a society which either does not accept him or his radically-different view of the world, or vastly undervalues or discounts the same, is thus forced to become neurotic in the expression of his central, core being) was already discussed by both Nietzsche and Fromm--in excerpts already included in this very web-site. For reference, these originals can be found at "Twilight of the Idols", 45, [for the Nietzsche; also, less directly, at "Beyond Good and Evil", 212, and "The Antichrist", preface, "Revaluation of All Values"], and "Escape From Freedom" [for the Fromm].
Suffice it for me to say that I know very well, from personal experience, exactly what Campbell, Nietzsche, and Fromm were referring to. I am just such a person as the type they were discussing (for better or worse).
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The Apollo Belvedere, Youthful Horsemen from the Parthenon Frieze.
Youthful Male Beauty at its Finest
The Apollo Belvedere, Youthful Horsemen from the Parthenon Frieze.
The Non-Conformist's Bible
A collection of writings by T. J. White (who is the sole author and proprietor of this website), together with excerpts of writings by other authors and thinkers who have most profoundly shaped the course of his life and thinking.
Nothing in this site is intended to encourge the breaking of any laws. The author and proprietor also does not condone the intentional harming of any human being, and insists that the rights of all people must be respected. All those who violate those rights, and the laws of society, should be properly punished. Laws, however, can be changed, and there should be nothing wrong with advocating reasonable changes in society's laws.
The excerpts from other writers (and some photographs) included in this site may perhaps be under copyright. Their inclusion here is not for purposes of profit or gain, but rather are solely for the education and inspiration of others (and to make others more aware of their existence).
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information, for research and education purposes. Neither "The Non-Conformist's Bible" nor its author has any affiliation whatsoever with the originators of these articles, nor is "The Non-Conformist's Bible" or its author in any way endorsed or sponsored by the said originators.
The author of this site has diligently tried, where possible, to direct his readers to the actual other sites he has occasionally drawn from; indeed, he is indebted to their authors, and expresses his profoundest admiration and gratitude for them and their work.
A collection of writings by T. J. White (who is the sole author and proprietor of this website), together with excerpts of writings by other authors and thinkers who have most profoundly shaped the course of his life and thinking.
Nothing in this site is intended to encourge the breaking of any laws. The author and proprietor also does not condone the intentional harming of any human being, and insists that the rights of all people must be respected. All those who violate those rights, and the laws of society, should be properly punished. Laws, however, can be changed, and there should be nothing wrong with advocating reasonable changes in society's laws.
The excerpts from other writers (and some photographs) included in this site may perhaps be under copyright. Their inclusion here is not for purposes of profit or gain, but rather are solely for the education and inspiration of others (and to make others more aware of their existence).
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information, for research and education purposes. Neither "The Non-Conformist's Bible" nor its author has any affiliation whatsoever with the originators of these articles, nor is "The Non-Conformist's Bible" or its author in any way endorsed or sponsored by the said originators.
The author of this site has diligently tried, where possible, to direct his readers to the actual other sites he has occasionally drawn from; indeed, he is indebted to their authors, and expresses his profoundest admiration and gratitude for them and their work.