I’ve been a follower of Joseph Campbell for many years. He has forever changed how I view the world and its many religions. I am deeply grateful for his brilliance, his enthusiasm and his dedication to teaching. So, I thought I would share some video snippets and hope that you will find some of his thoughts as enlightening as I have.

Joseph Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. He was arguably the world’s foremost expert on religion and mythological interpretations.

Just to quickly throw another 2 cents out there: Any serious talk on religion must reference Mr. Campbell. To not be familiar with his teachings, is to not truly understand religion.

These videos are excerpts from interviews filmed with Joseph Campbell shortly before his death in 1987.

Enjoy!

The Dynamic of Life: Demonic or dynamic – tricksters and the disordering principle:

Sun and Moon Symbology: Animals traditionally associated with solar and lunar principles, and what these mythic motifs portend:

The Birth of Mathematical Mythologies: A totally new idea in the importance of recording observations of the heavens:

Mythology of the First City States: Agriculture and the domestication of animals 10,000 years ago in the Near East creates larger communities and new cultural organization – from herders to warriors:

There is no other teacher who can melt away religious misunderstanding the way Mr. Campbell can. He is, in every sense of the phrase, a true “gift from the Gods”!

Thanks for reading,

Recommendations:

• Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
• Hero with a Thousand Faces
• Transformations of Myth Through Time
• The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion