Ancient Culture and Mythology # 12: A Demythologized Culture
-For the Uncensored!
Myth and ancient culture. It seems like a lost age when the world only cares about the present or future. But without the past, nothing the future will produce will ever maintain a pure aesthetic. It comes from a spoiled generation that endlessly trying to remake old stories to fit there narratives. In The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell said, “We live in a demythologized culture” as the famous teacher and mythology expert said in his interview in 1985 and 1986 at George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch” and the “Museum of Natural history of New York.” (iv.). He continues, “And as a result, the students I meet are very much interested in mythology because myths brings them messages. Now I can’t tell you what the messages are that the study of mythology is bringing to young people today. I know what it did for me. But is it doing something for them. When I go to a lecture at any college the room is bursting with students who have come to hear what I have to say.” (Pgs. 10-11)[i]. But he did share something interesting. “What we’re learning technologies, we’re getting information.” (p. 11)[ii]. But he did see the rise of science, as he said, “What we’re learning in our schools is not the wisdom of life. We’re learning technologies.”[iii]
What Joseph Campbell calls a “demythologized culture” is the clear indication of what a spoiled culture (my generation) are facing. It’s easier to hold a fact, but to create a myth, and a detailed world behind it, seems to be a lost art. Confusing fan fiction with genuine art is a common problem today, and Joseph Campbell devoted his entire life to studying ancient culture and putting it together in books that could help a generation of story tellers create new myths of their own.
A guideline for new writers to help them form there literary and artistic careers. But in that interview, collected in the book, “The Power of Myth”[v] proves that Joseph Campbell was seeing his life work as a fruitless endeavor.
Now, I don’t believe this to be the case, because anyone who created an entire guideline for writers, like myself, and others in different mediums, are now facing a new era. A generation of Artistic endeavors that fail to spark the future imagination. Ancient Culture, as Joseph Campbell understood, weaved within one another, but it’s harder to create a new myth when it’s made to be unimportant to a modern culture.[vi]
It’s hard for me to pretend or “get an erection” for a new artist that I barely even care about, but when I open the book and read it, I don’t say myself saying, “This is not for me,” but I say, “It sucks.”
A sci-fi world character but flawed innovation, like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaiden’s Tale, or an endless bloodbath of fantasy like George R.R. Martin, with character and grit, but no real innovation to the fantasy genre, in general.[vii] If people had the urge to be original, mythology wouldn’t have a place. But then, mythology is a set of fables, about a world that came before the modern era.
To put a bow on this subject: Art is a private conversation with a subject. Mythology is about finding your place in the world. When the author and the character create a world unlike what the world has already seen. Put it this way. If Mythology was never involved in the world, you have the modern cinema. Never once staying true to an original vision, or at least staying true to its roots. Video games can hold onto their legacy far longer than movies can. But mythology is the fertile crescent of our imagination. No wonder why Joseph Campbell called our future at its infancy.
If society can’t create their own myths, myth and modern culture will disappear into a one sided fantasy where the past is forgotten, and the future is a dead womb.
[i] Campbell. Joseph. “The Power of Myth.” Anchor Books. 1985 and 86. 1991 Anchor Books edition. Found December 8th 2021.
[ii] See source 1 for details. Found December 5th. 2021.
[iii] Same source as 1. See for details. Found December 5th, 2021.
[iv] It’s no secret that Star Wars pulled from Joseph Campbell, and no amount of denial can push that out of existence. But that’s for another article.
[v] I have my copy right on top of my Catholic bible. Everyone should have a copy. Link to buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Myth-Joseph-Campbell-ebook/dp/B004QZACH6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Power+of+Myth&qid=1638782157&sr=8-1.
[vi] There are countless artists out there that do fight for relevance everyday of the week online. It’s become a battle Royale of sorts.
[vii] Yes, titties and hardcore violence are great. I just think it was ruined when it became a popular miniseries on HBO (Home Box Office Entertainment).
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 19 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline (and the original text re-released in 2019), Apocalypse Soldier, The Data Chase, Selection: The First Book of the Life and Death Saga, and Blinking Eyes: The Second Book of the Life and Death Saga, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep, The City of Sand, To the Moon and Back, The Villain Lives and The Villain Lives: The Divided Pinpoint, Come Home, Young One. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Phoenix. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His next series, City of Sand is out now:https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/city-of-sand/hardcover/product-rke9jz.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. Subscribe as well so you can get my articles in your inbox every time. Every little bit helps in the war against Big Tech. Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to like and subscribe, and also get updates sent to your email, so you can tell substack what’s worthwile. Let me know too.