Joseph Campbell's Ten Commandments
for Reading Mythology
1.
Read myths with the eyes
of wonder, the myths transparent to their universal meaning, their meaning
transparent to its mysterious source.
2.
Read myths in the present
tense. Eternity is now.
3.
Read myths in the first person plural:
the Gods and Goddesses of ancient mythology still live within you.
4.
Any
myth worth its salt exerts a powerful magnetism. Notice the images and stories
that you are drawn to and repelled by. Invetigate the field of associated images
and stories.
5.
Look for patterns; don't get lost in the details.
What is needed is not more specialized scholarship but more interdisciplinary
vision. Make connections: break old patterns of parochial thought.
6.
Resacralize
the secular; even a dollar bill reveals the imprint of Eternity.
7.
If
God is everywhere, then myths can be generated anywhere, anytime, by anything.
Don't let your romantic aversion to science blind you to the Buddha in the
computer chip.
8.
Know your tribe! Myths never arise in a vacuum;
they are the connective tissue of the social body which enjoys synergistic
relations with dreams (private myths) and rituals (the enactment of myth).
9.
Expand
your horizons! Any Mythology worth remembering will be global in scope. The
earth is our home and humankind is our family.
10.
Read between the
lines! Literalism kills; imagination quickens.