The Mythic Imagination: The Quest for Meaning Through Personal Mythology

by Larsen, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780892815746
• ISBN10: 0892815744
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-03-01
• Publisher: Inner Traditions

Summary

Mythology is the universal tongue of human imagination. As a tool for self-discovery, mythology is also a way of gaining access to the secrets of the psyche. The Mythic Imagination is a quest for the ancient source of vision and meaning in the world of dream, myth, and archetype. In the footsteps of Joseph Campbell, Stephen Larsen guides the reader on a journey through the mythic landscape of the psyche. His insight is that all of us, at one time or another, are engaged in creating personal mythologies that reflect the larger myths of the culture and our own deepest desires and aspirations. This book is a guide for bringing the deeper mythic structures of experience into awareness, for learning to recognize the archetypal content embedded in our dreams and daydreams, feelings, beliefs, relationships, conscious creations, and behavior.A 

Student and authorized biographer of Joseph Campbell, Larsen teaches us how to bring myth into our lives.

Reissue of the Bantam bestseller.

Author Biography

<br /><em>List of Illustrations<br />Acknowledgments<br /><br /><strong>Foreword</strong> by Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.<br /><br /></em><strong>Introduction: The Mythic Imagination</strong><br /><br /><b>Part One: Psychology, Myths, and Maps<br /></b>1. The Roots of Personal Mythology<br />2. The Relevance of Myth to Everyday Life<br />3. Seeing Through the Imagination<br />4. The Living Landscape<br />5. Depth Maps of the Psyche<br /><br /><b>Part Two: Dismembering, Dreaming, Remembering<br /></b>6. Into the Shadowlands<br />7. Beasts and Birds of the Mind<br />8. The Inner Cast of Characters<br />9. The Inner Guide<br /><br /><b>Part Three: Conscious Mythmaking<br /></b>10. Creative Mythology<br />11. Symbolic Play<br />12. Creative Mythology Exercises<br /><br /><strong><em>Epilogue<br /></em></strong><br /><em>Notes<br />Bibliography<br />Index</em>

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Foreword by Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.

Introduction: The Mythic Imagination

Part One: Psychology, Myths, and Maps
1. The Roots of Personal Mythology
2. The Relevance of Myth to Everyday Life
3. Seeing Through the Imagination
4. The Living Landscape
5. Depth Maps of the Psyche

Part Two: Dismembering, Dreaming, Remembering
6. Into the Shadowlands
7. Beasts and Birds of the Mind
8. The Inner Cast of Characters
9. The Inner Guide

Part Three: Conscious Mythmaking
10. Creative Mythology
11. Symbolic Play
12. Creative Mythology Exercises

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index