Yes, Joseph Campbell died over twenty years ago, in 1987. I should have employed the past tense. Thank you, Farkel. I have edited my post accordingly.
Rapunzel
JoinedPosts by Rapunzel
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Joseph Campbell On Chronology
by Rapunzel insome of you undoubtedly have heard of joseph campbell, author of such books as the masks of god and the hero with a thousand faces, campbell was a world-famous scholar of mythology and comparative religions.
i am currently reading his book, myths to live by, which i find fascinating.. given the interest in the topic of chronology recently evidenced here, i thought that i might post some of campbell's findings on chronology.
i will quote campbell, who states on page 74 of myths to live by, in achapter entitled the separation of east and west, - "according to many of the mythologies still flourishing in the orient, a world flood occurs inevitably at the termination of every aeon.
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Is there any Religion WITHOUT a belief in an afterlife / reward?
by ThomasCovenant init's been interesting to read the various discussions that go on here particularly between those who 'believe' in a 'god' and those who don't.
in my opinion when all is said and done it seems to come down simply to.
versus .
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Rapunzel
In Myths To Live By, the great scholar of comparative religions, Joseph Campbell, writes: "...there has dawned [in the human brain] a realization unknown to the other primates. tt is that of the individual, conscious of himself as such, and aware that he, and all that he cares for, will one day die. This recognition of mortality - and the requirement to transcend it - is the first great impulse to mythology."
As far as I can detemine, for Campbell, the two terms - mythology and religion - are synonomous. So, to say that the recognition of mortality is the first great impulse to mythology is tantamount to saying that it is the first great impulse to, and basis for, religion. According to Campbell, the inevitability of death - and the desire/psychological imperative to transcend it - is the first great impulse toward mythology (religion). If one accepts this thesis, I believe that one would be hard-pressed to find a religion/mythology that did not have some conception of an after-life.
According to Campbell, there runs a second realization which provides an impulse toward mythology - namely the recognition on the part of an individual of the endurance of the social order into which he/she is born. That is to say that every person comes to the realization that the social group into which he/she has been born "was flourishing long before his/her own birth and will remain when he/she is gone."
In other words, every person must face the ultimate reality of death, he/she also confronts the necessity of adapting him/herself to whatever order of life may happen to be that of the community into which he/she has been born. Each person has a dual awareness - an awareness of him/herself as an organism, and an awareness of his/her community as a superorganism, a superorganism into which a person must allow him/herself to be absorbed, and through participation in which he/she will come to know the life that transcends death.
And finally, for Campbell, there is yet a third great impulse to mythology, "the, spectacle, namely, of the universe, the natural world in which [a person] finds himself, and the enigma of its relation to his own existence: its mgnitude, its changing forms, and yet, through these, an appearance of regularity."
I view Being itself as absolutely the greatest enigma of all. I am stupified and utterly confounded whenever I contemplate it. I am a finite being who opens onto infinity. I am an ephemeral being who opens onto eternity. I am a relative being who opens onto the absolute. Not only I am baffled be the idea of infinity, I am also baffled when I contemplate my own finitude. I am baffled both by the idea of eternity and the idea of my own ephemeralness. I am confounded and perplexed when I try to reconcile my relative existence with the idea of the absolute.
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Joseph Campbell On Chronology
by Rapunzel insome of you undoubtedly have heard of joseph campbell, author of such books as the masks of god and the hero with a thousand faces, campbell was a world-famous scholar of mythology and comparative religions.
i am currently reading his book, myths to live by, which i find fascinating.. given the interest in the topic of chronology recently evidenced here, i thought that i might post some of campbell's findings on chronology.
i will quote campbell, who states on page 74 of myths to live by, in achapter entitled the separation of east and west, - "according to many of the mythologies still flourishing in the orient, a world flood occurs inevitably at the termination of every aeon.
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Rapunzel
Some of you undoubtedly have heard of Joseph Campbell, author of such books as The Masks of God and The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell was a world-famous scholar of mythology and comparative religions. I am currently reading his book, Myths To Live By, which I find fascinating.
Given the interest in the topic of chronology recently evidenced here, I thought that I might post some of Campbell's findings on chronology. I will quote Campbell, who states on page 74 of Myths To Live By, in achapter entitled The Separation of East and West, - "According to many of the mythologies still flourishing in the Orient, a world flood occurs inevitably at the termination of every aeon. In India the number of years of an aeon, known as a day of Brahma, is reckoned as 4,320,000,000; after which there follows a Night of Brahma, when all lies dissolved in the cosmic sea for another 4,320,000,000 years, the sum total of years of an entire cosmic round thus being 8,640,000,000."
Campbell then speaks of Valhall, as it is described in the Icelandic eddas - "In the Icelandia eddas it is told that in Valhall there are 540 doors and that through each of these there will go, at the end of the world, 800 battle-ready warriors to join combat with the anti-gods. But 800 times 540 is 432,000 [800 x 540 = 432,000]."
Of course, 432,000 is a percentage of 4,320,000,000, therefore Campbell concludes - "So it seems that there is a common mythological background theme, here shared by pagan Europe [Iceland] with the ancient East [India]. In fact, I note, with a glance at my watch, each hour with 60 minutes and each minute with 60 seconds, that in our present day of 24 hours there will be 86,400 seconds; and in the course of this day, night will automaticall follow light, and, next morning, dawn will follow darkness. There is no question of punishment or guilt in a mythology of cosmic days and nights of this kind. Eerything is completely automatic and in the sweet nature of things.
But now, to press on a few steps further: according to a learned Chaldean priest, Berossos, who rendered in the early third century B.C. an account of Babylonian mythology, there elapsed 432,000 years between the crowning of the first Sumerian king and the coming of the Deluge, and there reigned during this period ten very long-lived kings. Then we observe that in the Bible it is reckoned that between the creation of Adam and coming of Noah's Flood there elapsed 1656 years, during which there lived ten very long-lived patriarchs. And if I may trust the finding of a distinguished Jewish Assyriologist of the last century, Julius Oppert (1825 - 1906), the number of seven-day weeks in 1656 years is 86,400.
Thus the early Mesopotamian model of mathematically ordered recurrent cycles of world manifestation and disappearance, with each round terminated by a deluge, can be recognized even in the Bible."
Campbell concludes by contrasting the biblical myth, with its focus on transgression and punishment, with the earlier account, with its "now hidden idea of a wholly impersonal cycle as innocent of guilt as the rounds of day and night or of the year."
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Thoughts on Planet X
by Perry inhttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=helb1voglc0 .
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u-3rlx_4y5y&nr=1 .
any thoughts on planet x ?.
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Rapunzel
Perry, my friend, I don't mean to be rude. Since you ask me a question directly, mere courtesy alone demand that I provide you with a response. In regard to the "purely hypothetical" scenario that you have posited, the one featuring the 10-foot alien - my response is: "No, I would not believe him/her/it. What I would do is check my own meds and commit myself into the nearest...ahem...'institute'". That would be my answer.
On a side note, I ave to say - "Damn!!! A 10-foot alien!!! And I thought that they were little green men!!! That shows you how naive I am!!! Or maybe it's a giant yellow and purple polka dotted people eater? Maybe I'm getting my aliens mixed up. Never was good at extra-terrestrial taxinomy.
Well, you have a good night. It's time for this little 'un to go beddy bye.
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Thoughts on Planet X
by Perry inhttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=helb1voglc0 .
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u-3rlx_4y5y&nr=1 .
any thoughts on planet x ?.
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Rapunzel
I just googled "Planet X" - a "hypothetical planet" [the King James version of the Bible has several hypotheses about "unicorns," talking snakes, and talking asses. As the old quip goes, throughout history many asses have spoken, and some have undoubtedly spoken in Hebrew!] which ties in with the year 2012, which ties in with ancient Mayan prophecy, which ties in with the "reptilian/lizard people, who are connected in some way with the Illuminati and Knights Templar...
As a philosopher once said, the world will end - with a yawn.
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Thoughts on Planet X
by Perry inhttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=helb1voglc0 .
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u-3rlx_4y5y&nr=1 .
any thoughts on planet x ?.
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Rapunzel
Perry - I would only believe it if I could talk to the seventh daughter of the seventh son. Then I would believe it. Bobby Dylan and I would both believe it - out on Highway 61.
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Thoughts on Planet X
by Perry inhttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=helb1voglc0 .
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u-3rlx_4y5y&nr=1 .
any thoughts on planet x ?.
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Rapunzel
As they say, it must be a full moon tonight. People are acting very strangely indeed. I feel as though I have entered either a time warp or an insane asylum.
I cannot believe that, in the twenty-first century, there are people who believe one iota in such nonsense as "Planet X" [by the way, wasn't that the title of a song written by the group, "The Talking Heads"?]. It's like something that Ron L. Hubbard would have written after dropping some acid [L.S.D.]. Either that, or the loonies are now running the asylum.
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Apostolic Succession ?
by a Christian injames c,.
you wrote: the belief of apostolic succession is not a distinctly roman one.
the orthodox as well as the anglicans hold to it.
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Rapunzel
Hi Narkissos! I just want to say that I agree with you; your scholarship and intelligence are flawless. I am sincere in my words, no irony at all! I learn so much from reading your posts.
I do want to point out one tiny matter, though, which only proves how attentively I read your posts. In your last post, you write: "(a criterium that both Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias did meet, not Paul)." The -um endling would make it a Latin singular noun. I believe that the Greek singular noun for which you are looking is criterion, from the Greek kriterion, itself derived from the Greek verb krinein ["to judge," "to decide"].
Interestingly enough, there exists the Latiin word criterium. However, this word refers to a very short bicycle race [less than 5 km.].
I really hope that you take no offense in my pointing this out. Again, this only proves how attentively I read your posts. I sincerely put great stock in your opinions and ideas.
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The mark of the beast
by Lady Zombie insince the rev book is being studied currently, one particular newish, but 100% believing (i assume) witness expressed her anxiety about revelation 13:16-17.. 16: "and it puts under compulsion all persons, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they should give these a mark in their right hand or upon their forehead,..".
17: "and that nobody might be able to buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name.".
anyway, after the book study was over and the chit-chatting started, the sister scooted up to the conductor and asked, .
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Rapunzel
Terry, your term, narcissistic conceit, is an excellent one. Just as Narcissus gazed in awe and wonder at the reflection of himself in the pool of water, so it seems that every generation, living in every era after the first century C.E., has "peered into" the book of Revelations only to see itself. I suppose that this is a trait inherent to humans.
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The mark of the beast
by Lady Zombie insince the rev book is being studied currently, one particular newish, but 100% believing (i assume) witness expressed her anxiety about revelation 13:16-17.. 16: "and it puts under compulsion all persons, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they should give these a mark in their right hand or upon their forehead,..".
17: "and that nobody might be able to buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name.".
anyway, after the book study was over and the chit-chatting started, the sister scooted up to the conductor and asked, .
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Rapunzel
Since ancient times, the letters in various alphabets have been used to represent or replace numbers in a sort of code or encryption. For example, A=1, B=2, C=3, etc. This was the case in the classical world. We see a remnant of this idea in Roman numerals: i = 1; v = 5; x = 10; l = 50; c =100; d = 500; m = 1000. The Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans all shared a similar system of ciphering.by assigning a numeric value to letters in their respective alphabets.
The Hebrew spelling of "Nero Caesar" [Neron Kaiser] adds up to exactly 666.
There is a textual variant in Revelation 13:18 with the number 616, no doubt the Latin equivalent of Nero Caesar.
As has been pointed out, there is a long and not very venerable tradition in Christianity of considering the book of Revelation as prophecy, as if it described future events. This is not the case. Whoever wrote the Apocalypse penned it with a view to people living in the first century of our common era, not the twenty-first century.