Group research

Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience. His philosophy is often summarized by his phrase: "Follow your bliss."










What does it mean to follow your bliss

 -to do those things that bring you joy - follow what brings you joy.

Joseph Campbell's "Monomyth" from his book The hero with a thousand faces

-Campbell describes a number of stages or steps along this journey. The first section of the story is aobut the separation of the hero from the normal world. Separation has symbolic echo of infant transition away from the mother and so has a scary feel to it. In the main part of the story the hero is intiated into true heroic stature by various trials and rites. Through daring and battle, the true character emerges. After initiation the hero can cleansed and return in triumph to deserved recognition, although this in itself may not be without its trials and tribulations. As with other frameworks, Campbell receives his fair share of criticism, typically that not all stories are like this. His much-admired and much-copied pattern has also been criticized as leading to 'safe' movie-making, in which writers use his structure as a template, thus leading to 'boring' repeats, albeit in different clothers. The same has been said about Shakespeare, of course, as well as other classic writers.

Myth= deep symbolic truth that crosses between consciousness and uncounsciousness

Caril Jung's Theory of archetypes

Archetypes= An innate tendency which molds and transform the individual consciousness. A fact defined more through a drive than through specific inherited contents, images etc.

The archetype concpet - derives from the often repeated observation that myths and universal literature stories contain well defined themes wchich appear every time and everywhere.

Stages of the Hero's Journy

There are twelve steps to the hero's journey. According to the Oracle Education Foundation Library,those steps are as follows.

1. Ordinary World : This step refers to the hero's normal life at the start of the story, before the adventure begins.

2. Call to Adventure : The hero is faced with something that makes him begin his adventure. This might be a problem or a challenge he needs to overcome.

3. Refusal of the Call: The hero attempts to refuse the adventure because he is afraid. 

4. Meeting with the Mentor: The hero encounters someone who can give him advice and ready him for the journey ahead.  

5. Crossing the First Threshold: The hero leaves his ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure.  

6. Tests, Allies, Enemies: The hero learns the rules of his new world. During this time, he endures tests of strength of will, meets friends, and comes face to face with foes.

7. Approach: Setbacks occur, sometimes causing the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas. 

8. Ordeal: The hero experiences a major hurdle or obstacle, such as a life or death crisis. 

9. Reward: After surviving death, the hero earns his reward or accomplishes his goal. 

10.The Road Back: The hero begins his journey back to his ordinary life.

11. Resurrection Hero - The hero faces a final test where everything is at stake and he must use everything he has learned.  

12.Return with Elixir:  The hero brings his knowledge or the "elixir" back to the ordinary world, where he applies it to help all who remain there.  

How does the the shift from a hunter-gathering economy to an agricultural change human society?

The earliest humans probably lived primarily on scavenging, not actual hunting. By the late Paleolithic, human groups practiced mixed hunting and gathering. The surviving technology of this period consists of stone tools, the earliest of which date back more than two million years. Later Paleolithic human culture also featured artistic elements. The most impressive early works of art were cave paintings that may have had religious significance. It is also possible that these early works of art were primitive calendars or counting systems. This specialization of work also involved creating specialized tools like fishing nets and hooks and bone harpoons. While most human societies at the end of the Paleolithic period migrated in pursuit of game, some groups were more sedentary. More stable groups harvested wild grains that grew in profusion near their settlements, and some of these societies progressed to true farming by domesticating plants and animals. Some of these groups subsequently reverted to hunting and gathering, suggesting that humans developed different strategies that produced sufficient quantities of food. Only those groups that adopted agriculture proved capable of producing civilizations. Hunting and gathering groups were limited to about 30 people and required extensive amounts of territory to support themselves. Migratory groups tended to live in the open rather than in caves and probably developed a sense of territoriality over the lands that produced their food. Labor was organized by gender males were responsible for hunting and protection of the group, while females gathered food from plants. As the number and size of agricultural societies increased, they expanded into lands traditionally used by hunter-gatherers. While no one knows for certain what conditions caused the shift from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture, changes in the climate may have been significant factors. It 
is also probable that increases in human population prompted changes in food production.

What does it means about daily life?

Daily life mean all the things that happen or that you do regularly.

Many hunter-gatherers consciously manipulate the landscape through cutting or burning undesirable plants while encouraging desirable ones, some even going to the extent of slash-and-burn to create habitat for game animals. These activities are on an entirely different scale than those associated with agriculture, but they are nevertheless domestication on some level. Today, almost all hunter-gatherers depend to some extent upon domesticated food sources either produced part-time or traded for products acquired in the wild.