The word mythology literally means the (oral) retelling of myths –
stories that a particular culture believes to be true
and that use supernatural events or characters
to explain the nature of the universe and humanity.
In modern usage, mythology is either the body of myths from
a particular culture or religion (as in Greek mythology,
Egyptian mythology or Norse mythology)
or the branch of knowledge dealing with the collection,
study and interpretation of myths.
In common usage, myth means a falsehood — a story
which many believe to be based on fact but which is not true.
The field of mythology does not use this definition.
Myths are narratives about divine or heroic beings,
arranged in a coherent system, passed down traditionally,
and linked to the spiritual or religious life of a community,
endorsed by rulers or priests.
Once this link to the spiritual leadership of society is broken,
they lose their mythological qualities and become folktales or fairy
tales.
Not every religious narrative is a myth however; unless it is deeply
rooted in tradition,
it may also be trivial pious anecdote or legend.
Myths are often intended to explain the universal and local beginnings
("creation myths" and "founding myths"),
natural phenomena, inexplicable cultural conventions,
and anything else for which no simple explanation presents itself.
In folkloristics, which is concerned with the study of
both secular and sacred narratives,
a myth also derives some of its power from being believed
and deeply held as true.
In the study of folklore, all sacred traditions have myths,
and there is nothing pejorative or dismissive intended
in the use of the term, as there often is in common usage.
This broader truth runs deeper than the advent of critical history
which may, or may not, exist as in an authoritative written form
which becomes "the story"
However, as Lucien Lévy-Bruhl puts it,
"The primitive mentality is a condition of the human mind,
and not a stage in its historical development."
Most often the term refers specifically to ancient tales from very
old cultures,
such as Greek mythology or Roman mythology.
Some myths descended originally as part of an oral tradition
and were only later written down, and many of them exist in multiple
versions.
According to F. W. J. Schelling in the eighth chapter of
Introduction to Philosophy and Mythology,
"Mythological representations have been
neither invented nor freely accepted.
The products of a process independent of thought and will, they were,
for the consciousness which underwent them,
of an irrefutable and incontestable reality.
Peoples and individuals are only the instruments of this process,
which goes beyond their horizon and which they serve without understanding."
Joseph
Campbell Quotes
"A
hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger
than oneself."
“We must let go of
the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting
for us.”
“Your life is the
fruit of your own doing. You have no one to blame but yourself.”
“The adventure of the hero is the
adventure of being alive”
“Marriage
is not a love affair.
A love affair is a totally different thing.
A marriage is a commitment to that which you are.
That person is literally your other half. And you and the other
are one.
A love affair isn’t that.
That is a relationship of pleasure, and when it gets to be unpleasurable
, it’s off.
But a marriage is a life commitment, and a life commitment means
the prime concern of your life.
If marriage is not the prime concern, you are not married.”
“The way to find
out about happiness is to keep your mind
on those moments when you feel most happy,
when you are really happy —
not excited, not just thrilled, but deeply happy.
This requires a little bit of self-analysis.
What is it that makes you happy?
Stay with it, no matter what people tell you.
This is what is called following
your bliss.”
“Love is a friendship
set to music.”
“Follow your bliss
and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls”
“The goal of life
is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match
your nature with Nature.”
“It is by going down
into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you
stumble, there lies your treasure.”
“Find a place inside where there's joy,
and the joy will burn out the pain.”
