The Message of the Myth?

A screenshot of Episode 2 of 'The Power of Myth' series

I've been re-watching the series 'The Power of Myth' on Netflix this past week and it has really given me some food for thought having the hindsight of the almost 30 years since I last watched the series from around the time it first aired on Australian television.

When I saw Joseph Campbell surrounded by masks on the Netflix page, I couldn't help but think of the cover of Jacques Vallee's book 'Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers'.

And I found it ironic that on Joe's IMDB page it states he died on October 31st, 1987, which is Halloween, but at Wikipedia it states Campbell died the day before on October 30th, 1987.
So, one of those dates must be a myth:-)

Something else caught my attention while re-watching this series and that was that the year Campbell died Whitley Strieber's book 'Communion' came out, and so did Strieber, as someone who had contact with some alien presence, or so he says.

I couldn't help but think of Whitley Strieber when I watched this sequence above from 'The Power of Myth' series, especially from around the four-minute mark.

But let me spell it out for you with a series of shots from the show and see if it doesn't bring a smile to your face when you think of Strieber's tale of his reluctant romp with the alien.

Hmm?

And remember that Whitley Strieber's 'Communion' only came out a few months before Campbell passed away.
And then Bill Moyers asks Joe about the bar scene and Campbell says it was his favourite scene in 'Star Wars'.

Reminds me of Strieber's 'Wolfen' for some reason:-)

Childhood's End?

So, if you believe people like Strieber when they feel compelled to tell you their "real life" encounters, do they fall into Campbell's reluctant hero category?

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Anyway, all alien stuff aside, I highly recommend watching 'The Power of Myth' if you get the chance. 

I also like how in a lot of old paintings used on the show, that God is depicted in clouds (thought  clouds?) and what looks like coming out of a human brain.

Joseph Campbell passing away at the time of Halloween when the myth is the veil between worlds is the thinnest, I find ironic and rather fitting.