CL Pauwels at Large

In contrast to my last two WIR posts on books which were recent award winners, I’m going back to a 1988 publication: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers – no awards, but well worth the read…and re-read!

I can’t recall when I first came across this book, but however it appeared, armchair philosopher that I am, it’s remained on my bookshelf to be re-read and referenced time and time again. Most recently, Hubby and I shared the contents when the C.G. Jung Association of the Miami Valley held a bi-weekly discussion group at our local Senior Center. We watched the video interviews the book is drawn from, with many of us also reading the text on our own, and shared thoughts and insights when we were together.

Journalist Bill Moyers interviewed Joseph Campbell in 1985-86 – at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch no less! – and transcripts of the PBS-aired video were later compiled into this volume. I highly recommend reading the book and watching the interviews for a fuller picture of Campbell’s incredible knowledge on the origins of myth.

Why bother taking in such esoteric topics as “Myth and the Modern World,” “Sacrifice and Bliss,” or “The Gift of the Goddess”? Because, as Moyers answered when a colleague asked about his work with Campbell, “Remnants of all that [‘Greek gods and stuff’] line the walls of our our interior system of belief, like shards of broken pottery in an archaeological site” (xii-xiii).

You’ll be surprised at some of the connections Campbell reveals in this fascinating look at the myths that build our cultural beliefs. I was – and am, with each re-reading.