David, in respect to the very dynamic combination of campbell's views on
mythos, jung's collective unconscious, and pirsig's MOQ Levels, i would like
to draw some parallels and ask some questions if i may.
Campbell called myths "messages in a bottle arriving from a distant shore"
and rituals "the reenactment of the Myth which reaches the place that
transcends temporality where all life comes from...the collective
unconscious". Both myths and rituals are the glue that hold a society
together. although, myths arise from the collective unconscious they are
shaped by the intellect in order to allow us to make sense of them. Myths
and dreams come from the same place...only a dream appears incoherent and
needs piecing together afterwards in order for the intellect to analyze it.
Myths harmonize the mind with the body. this would parallel your assertion
of the mythos emerging from the collective unconscious...to sort out basic
biological issues. the acting out of the myth in ritual would be society's
way of preserving it in a static fashion. that is why ritual seems so
methodical and structured, perhaps?
it is interesting to note that mythology functions to relate to an invisible
plane supporting the visible world in mythological societies. isnt that the
same function Science has in our society today? i was reviewing the Nobel
Prizes in Science yesterday and came across the one on Chemistry:
"Conventional calculation of the properties of molecules is based on a
description of the motion of individual electrons. For this reason, such
methods are mathematically very complicated. Walter Kohn showed that it is
not necessary to consider the motion of each individual electron: it
suffices to know the average number of electrons located at any one point in
space. "
http://www.nobel.se/announcement-98/chemistry98.html
This is intellect at its best examining the mythos out of which it arose.
Campbell also says that the concept of the hero evolves as the culture
evolves. if we associate the ego with the hero in the myths, Campbell,
also, makes a distinction between serendipitous adventures which are
adventures that the hero is ready for but does not seek out purposely and
those on which he embarks determinedly. Could these serendipitous
adventures arise from the collective unconscious bypassing the social and
emerging from the biological level direct unto our consciousness?
you say:
<the price the intellectual level pays for this freedom is loss of direct
contact with Dynamic Quality...
could dreams, myths and symbols be a way of bypassing the intellects'
alienation from nature and getting in touch with Dynamic Quality? as you
say:
<the collective unconscious, as a product of dynamic quality, guides the
intellect's quest for reconciliation of the two sensations and is the source
of all intuitions, mystical visions and other non-rational knowing.
are we the consciousness of the earth?
Lithien
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