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Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation Hardcover – October 26, 2004

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 577 ratings

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Joseph Campbell famously defined myth as “other people's religion.” But he also said that one of the basic functions of myth is to help each individual through the journey of life, providing a sort of travel guide or map to reach fulfillment — or, as he called it, bliss. For Campbell, many of the world's most powerful myths support the individual's heroic path toward bliss.

In
Pathways to Bliss, Campbell examines this personal, psychological side of myth. Like his classic best-selling books Myths to Live By and The Power of Myth, Pathways to Bliss draws from Campbell's popular lectures and dialogues, which highlight his remarkable storytelling and ability to apply the larger themes of world mythology to personal growth and the quest for transformation. Here he anchors mythology's symbolic wisdom to the individual, applying the most poetic mythical metaphors to the challenges of our daily lives.

Campbell dwells on life's important questions. Combining cross-cultural stories with the teachings of modern psychology, he examines the ways in which our myths shape and enrich our lives and shows how myth can help each of us truly identify and follow our bliss.
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Traces the evolution of the Feminine Divine from one Great Goddess to many. Outlines the Hero’s Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation. Outlines the Hero’s Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation. Shows how myth can help each of us truly identify and follow our bliss. A wide-ranging collection of insights from Joseph Campbell

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This ninth volume of Campbell's previously unpublished material deftly marries his sweeping grasp of myths with the needs of contemporary people looking for meaning and inspiration. Expert editor and seasoned Campbell authority David Kudler makes the mythic-stature-mythicist come alive again. Fans will recognize Campbell's comforting cadence and intimacy, conveyed by use of the second person and by his masterful storytelling. Campbell realized he was essentially saying the same things over more than two decades. As such, this volume breaks no new ground, but does give explicit directions for identifying and connecting oneself to a meaningful mythic overview, unbounded by specific cultures or historical facts. Campbell gives adequate coverage to the historical development of myth as it pertains to the individual, especially through the eyes of Jung. The final chapter, a distilled jewel of the hero's journey mono-myth that Campbell made famous, is followed by "Dialogue," several pages of conversation between Campbell and anonymous people, exploring the application of gender differences to the hero's journey. Campbell assesses life now as pathless: "We are in a sort of free fall into the future." He is, however, perennially hopeful that if we discover our own mythological underpinnings, carried on the wings of artists and poets, we can find our way to individual bliss. This is a fine volume for old friends and new followers.
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Review

If you followed the television series with Bill Moyers or have read any of Campbell's books, this book presents a new look at some of his ideas and a clearer picture of how to interpret myths for your own journey. --Bayswater Books

Wonderful insight into the essential Joseph Campbell... a guidebook for finding one's own inner hero or heroine, and for finding the guts to listen to one's own story. --Bloomsbury Review

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1577314719
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ New World Library (October 26, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781577314714
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1577314714
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 1 x 8.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 577 ratings

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4.7 out of 5 stars
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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful and practical, offering fresh perspectives on mythology. They describe it as an interesting read with easy-to-understand language. Readers appreciate the author's writing style and consider it a great collection of his works. Overall, they describe the book as a valuable purchase.

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33 customers mention "Insight"33 positive0 negative

Customers find the book offers practical insights and fresh perspectives on mythology. They say it carries lessons well into our day, provides valuable reading about cultural expectations and individual goals, and understands the transcendent power of storytelling. Readers also mention that the book covers most of Campbell's fascinating work in comparative religion in an accessible way. Overall, they describe it as an affirmative view of life.

"...Follow your bliss: that deep sense of being present, of doing what you absolutely must do to be yourself...." Read more

"...Pathways" offers practical observations for life based on Joseph Campbell's study of mythology. I find "Pathways" a delightful read...." Read more

"...I found the flow of the content easy to follow and the stories fascinating...." Read more

"...Pop psychology that’s out of date but still thought-provoking at times, and only a sprinkling of actual mythology. *..." Read more

28 customers mention "Readability"28 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and interesting. They say it's a worthwhile read for anyone disillusioned by religion.

"...I find "Pathways" a delightful read...." Read more

"...This is an easy, enjoyable read. I completed this book in just a few days and under a week...." Read more

"...There is good stuff still in here, and I still think it’s worth the read, but you need to know what you’re getting...." Read more

"...I'm a huge fan of his, and this book is the best one yet." Read more

13 customers mention "Ease of reading"13 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing accessible and natural. They appreciate the clear explanations of complex ideas, memorable language, and no muddling of words. The flow of the content is easy to follow, and the stories are fascinating.

"...There is no mincing of words, either - Campbell makes very clear that ancient myths remain guideposts for our individual lives today - if we know..." Read more

"...The format of the book was near flawless. Footnotes were easily accessed and easily dismissed to continue with reading...." Read more

"...There is ringing and memorable language. There are sweeping generalizations. There are gaping errors of fact and theory...." Read more

"...110% recommend this book to all earnest seekers of knowledge and wisdom." Read more

12 customers mention "Author"12 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the author's works. They find this book a classic and a great collection of his works. Readers describe the author as amazing, brilliant, and their favorite audio book.

"Classic Joseph Campbell at his best...." Read more

"Another great collection of Campbell's works. The vast body of the world's mythology is focused on the areas of contemporary life...." Read more

"Joseph Campbell. An amazing man. He taught me many things about life and the world through stories of different peoples around the world...." Read more

"Brilliant, insightful writings on mythology which carries lessons well into our day." Read more

4 customers mention "Value for money"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a good value for money. They say it's amazing and brave.

"...the Truths are Absolutely An Awakening, Factual, Amazing, Brave and Priceless!!! He Can Help Further In Spirit Now, but He Left Us With Great..." Read more

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Never in my life has a book so inspired me ...
5 out of 5 stars
Never in my life has a book so inspired me ...
Never in my life has a book so inspired me. It has taken me months to get through this book because every page makes me stop and relate the passages to my own life. Do yourself a favor and get this book.The image I included is one of the many pages I've underlined. This book will be read and reread multiple times.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2012
    Classic Joseph Campbell at his best. Pathways to Bliss is a collection of lectures, interviews, and seminars that Campbell gave between 1962 and 1983. If you've read Joseph Campbell before, then this book may seem redundant at parts, but for those of us who could use a little reminding and repetition it's good to hear some of the same stories and points that Joseph Campbell is so well known for.

    Some of my favorite ideas I'll list below:

    A myth isn't a lie... a myth points past itself to something indescribable. A myth is a metaphor.

    Eternity is now. It is the transcendent dimension of the now to which myth refers.

    Follow your bliss: that deep sense of being present, of doing what you absolutely must do to be yourself. If you can hang on to that, you are on the edge of the transcendent already. Your bliss can guide you to that transcendent mystery, because bliss is the welling up of the energy of the transcendent wisdom within you.

    The only way to affirm life is to affirm it to the root, to the rotten, horrendous base.

    One can know God only when one knows that God far surpasses anything that can be said or thought about God.

    The real, important function of the Church is to present the symbol, to perform the rite, to let you behold this divine message in such a way that you are capable of experiencing it. Unfortunately, when you have a dogma telling you what kind of effect the symbol is supposed to have upon you, you're in trouble.

    Perfection is inhuman. Human beings are not perfect. What evokes our love --and I mean love, not lust-- is the imperfection of the human being. So, when the imperfection of the real person, compared to the ideal of your animus or anima, peeks through, say, This is a challenge to my compassion.

    It is a fashionable idiocy of youth to say the world has not come up to your expectations. "What? I was coming, and this is all they could prepare for me?" Throw it out. Have compassion for the world and those in it. Not only political life but all life stinks, and you must embrace that with compassion.

    The only way one can become a human being is through relationships to other human beings.

    Each of us has an individual myth that's driving us, which we may or may not know.

    Mythological images are the images by which the consciousness is put in touch with the unconscious. That's what they are.

    What is the great thing for which you would sacrifice your life? What makes you do what you do; what is the call of your life to you-- do you know it? The old traditions provided this mythic support for people; it held whole culture worlds together. Every great civilization has grown out of a mythic base.

    Maslow's five values are the values for which people live when they have nothing to live for. Nothing has seized them, nothing has caught them, nothing has driven them spiritually mad and made them worth talking to. These are the bores. - "A bore is one who deprives us of our solitude without providing companionship."

    That awakening of awe, that awakening of zeal, is the beginning, and, curiously enough, that's what pulls people together. People living for these five values (Maslow) are pushed apart. Two things pull people together; aspiration and terror.

    There is no aspiration that's been put in front of us to pull people together, nor any overwhelming fear to drive us together.

    Now, that's the big thing, to activate your imagination somehow. You can't do this by taking suggestions from somebody else. You must find that which your own unconscious wants to meditate on.

    The work of the artist is to present objects to you in such a way that they will shine. Through the rhythm of the artist's formation, the object that you have looked at with indifference will be radiant, and you will be fixed in esthetic arrest.

    What is it we are questing for? It is the fulfillment of that which is potential in each of us. Questing for it is not an ego trip; it is an adventure to bring into fulfillment your gift to the world, which is yourself. There's nothing you can do that's more important than being fulfilled. You become a sign, you become a signal, transparent to transcendence; in this way , you will find, live, and become a realization of your own personal myth.

    You see, in my youth, in the days of the Depression, people who were what might be called counterculture had been kicked out of the society entirely. There was no room for them. That's different from the ones who leave out of resentment or with the intention to improve it.

    What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? There's always the possibility of a fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss.

    I think the world lives on crazy things. The economics will work themselves out later -- you can count on it. But it's the scope of the aspiration that really matters.

    Sometimes the drudgery itself can become part of the hero deed. The point is not to get stuck in the drudgery but to use it to free you.
    62 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2004
    I am drawn to Pathways to Bliss because it is very much "practical Campbell," focusing directly on the wisdom that myth presents pertaining to our individual lives. "Pathways" offers practical observations for life based on Joseph Campbell's study of mythology.

    I find "Pathways" a delightful read. Campbell's's voice is fresh, his words full of wit and wisdom - definitely has more of an intimate feel than some of his heavily referenced scholastic tomes. There is no mincing of words, either - Campbell makes very clear that ancient myths remain guideposts for our individual lives today - if we know how to read them ... as in the following passage:

    "Now all of these myths that you have heard and that resonate with you, those are the elements from round about that you are building into a form in your life. The thing worth considering is how they relate to each other in your context, not how they relate to something out there - how they were relevant on the North American praires or in the Asian jungles hundreds of years ago, but how they are relevant now - unless by contemplating their former meaning you can begin to amplify your own understanding of the role they play in your life."

    Here Campbell makes clear that his books aren't just for armchair scholars, as he brings mythology out of the Academy and into the street

    ... which is indeed unnerving for many in specialized disciplines. They might study myth, but to apply patterns discovered therein to one's own life carries the same stigma as an "objective" anthropologist "gone native."

    For Campbell, though, the same elements of story that power myth remain active in our lives today.

    Of course, another reason i enjoy Pathways is that David Kudler has done a wonderful job of stitching together these lectures into one seamless whole - far from easy to do. The result, though, should not only appeal to the Campbell afficionado, but will also serve as an excellent introduction for those new to the work of this original thinker.
    128 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2021
    I read this on an iPad, running the Kindle application. The format of the book was near flawless. Footnotes were easily accessed and easily dismissed to continue with reading.
    This is an easy, enjoyable read. I completed this book in just a few days and under a week.
    I found the flow of the content easy to follow and the stories fascinating. The Kindle app allowed me to highlight content that I will refer to later. I intend to use this book as a reference, going back to passages I will want to recall in future readings and thoughts.
    It should be known that I am a great admirer of Professor Joseph Campbell. I followed is lectures when they hit my local PBS in the early eighties.
    6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • L Hambleton
    5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2025
    It doesn't get much better than this, especially if you're a fan of Joseph Campbell.
  • justin
    5.0 out of 5 stars For those who seek better questions
    Reviewed in Canada on October 22, 2018
    I like how Campbell can incorporate so many different cultural mythologies and make them approachable for the reader. It’s not over analytical. It’s personal to him and that comes through in the writing.
  • Andrew Weekes
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ties the Threads
    Reviewed in Australia on December 6, 2020
    If the quality of a book is how much you highlight then this must be five stars. In 2020 we have a world in which our mythologies are all contested . In some ways the book is predictive. So much better to engage in myth as a personal experience. The old gods, goddesses and symbols connect us to the base of our nature and the highest spiritual virtues. There is great value if explored. New myths will be created. They will be reflections in the river of psychological precedent laid down over thousands of years. All this is set out in this book.
  • Conti Raffaella
    4.0 out of 5 stars Un libro che può essere utile a chi è interessato ad una trasformazione personale
    Reviewed in Italy on September 16, 2013
    Questo libro di Campbell è molto ben scritto e va molto a fondo nei meccanismi più profondi dell'inconscio collettivo e, quindi, del nostro inconscio.Ritengo che, in maniera che può, ovviamente e giustamente, essere molto personale, Pathways to bliss può fornire una chiave utile ed interessante alle nostre crisi personali, senza cercare di affermare delle verità assolute, ma basandosi sull'osservazione della presenza costante di particolari miti in società del tutto distanti e differenti fra loro in termini temporali e geografici. Non è, comunque, una lettura per tutti, in quanto, a mio avviso, richiede delle conoscenze di psicologia e una consapevolezza personale di un certo livello, sebbene Campbell possa essere considerato come un grande divulgatore, almeno nei paesi anglosassoni.
  • Brady Brown
    5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect
    Reviewed in Canada on September 6, 2020
    Arrived on time in perfect condition