Tag Archives: Joseph Campbell

A dropout without portfolio

In my last post I got talking about education–my own education—and how this has been something very different from a formal education, and has been a major shaping factor in my life. Nay more: it seems to be my primary … Continue reading

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They call me Mister Vitols

I don’t write every day, but I do read every day. The reading and processing of books is the central activity of my life. I am a student before I am anything else. I say this not from a sense … Continue reading

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forwarding address: Utopia

As I type these words it is 5:36 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time here in North Vancouver. I watch the characters appearing crisply on my new Samsung flat-screen monitor. Out my office window to the left the light from the cloudy … Continue reading

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creating characters, part 4: story archetypes

In part 3 I described how to start building a character by snapping together 2 different kinds of archetype: a heroic archetype, using the book The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes by Tami D. Cowden, … Continue reading

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how astrology works, part 3: don’t do your own thing

In my last post I said that it was my study of the art of storytelling that eventually brought me to an understanding of why astrology works. Science might be able to show that astrology works—this is what Carl Jung attempted in … Continue reading

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the walking dead

A couple of weeks ago Kimmie and I watched season 1 of the HBO series The Walking Dead about a zombie apocalypse. The show had been recommended to me; otherwise I would not have tried it, having been so disappointed … Continue reading

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the artist and his doubts

In my life I have struggled to come to terms with the role and value of the writer—the creative artist generally—in the world. I’ve always had a strong creative urge that demanded expression, but when I got to be a … Continue reading

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a day’s reading

I suppose that my reading, like my philosophy, is eclectic. At first I was going to say that it’s not eclectic, but when I looked up eclectic I changed my mind: 1: selecting what appears to be best in various … Continue reading

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The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell My rating: 5 of 5 stars One of the most important books of the 20th century, Campbell’s breakout text transformed the word myth from denoting something antique, primitive, and false into … Continue reading

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