Sunday, October 23, 2011

THE SAGA IN A PARAGRAPH

 


The Hero With a Thousand Faces 
Joseph Campbell  
Third Edition 
Page 5




The unconscious sends all sorts of vapors, odd beings,
terrors, and deluding images up into the mind -







whether in dream, broad daylight, or insanity;






for the human kingdom,






beneath the floor of the comparatively neat
little dwelling that we call our consciousness,


  




goes down into unsuspected Aladdin caves.






There not only jewels






but also dangerous jinn abide:







the inconvenient or resisted psychological powers that 
we have not thought or dared to integrate into our lives.








And they may remain unsuspected,








or, on the other hand, some chance word, 






the smell of a landscape, 







the taste of a cup of tea,







or the glance of an eye may 
touch a magic spring,






and then dangerous messengers 
begin to appear in the brain.








These are dangerous because they 
threaten the fabric of the security






into which we have built ourselves and our family.







But they are fiendishly fascinating 
too, for they carry keys





that open the whole realm of the 
desired and feared adventure of
the discovery of the self.




 Destruction of the world that we 
have built and in which we live,






and of ourselves within it;







but then a wonderful reconstruction






of the bolder, cleaner, more 
spacious, and fully human life -






that is the lure,







the promise






and the terror,






of these disturbing night visitants from the 
mythological realm that we carry within.




The End

8 comments:

  1. Simply fantastic! What a refreshing way of exploring the Campbellian tradition in such short, yet effective order!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad you guys enjoyed! Some of those lines just called out to me. The "dangerous jinn" for instance. And the "jewels" for Padme. "The
    desired and feared adventure of the discovery of the self" with Luke looking out at the twin suns ached to be together. Maybe the blue milk is a bit of a stretch, but I couldn't resist!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the paragraph! And it's even better with these pics! Much better. :) Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The pics ... the paragraph ... both living together for mutual advantage ... how symbiotic.

    Glad you enjoyed, sandspirit!

    ReplyDelete
  5. that's so neat. awesome job. i'm aalya by the way. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Why thanks, Aalya. Glad to meet you! I'm Paul, as you might have guessed. :-)

    ReplyDelete