Standing Stones

Volume 1, Number 2 May-June, 2001

Joseph Campbell Mythology Group discussion page. Joseph Campbell Mythology Group Home Page. Mythology Calendar Message Thread Archive CHATS Regular Chat Every Saturday. 11:00 PM (US/Eastern Daylight Savings Time Specially Scheduled Chats None at present. This section updated as warranted. Click TimeandDate.com to find time in your area. TimeandDate.com Contents Regular Features New Members Under Discussion Coming Events Insight This Issue Member Snapshot The Bonny Swans: A personal study of a traditional folk song Poetry: Among Centaurs Series: Myth and Tradition - The Serpent Featured Images: Heavenly Love and Earthly Love The Stimatization of St. Francis	Featured Image Heavenly Love and Earthly Love, c. 1602 Giovanni Baglione, 1573 - 1644 Founder's Note Welcome to the second edition of Standing Stones, the group's bi-monthly journal and newsletter! Future editions are planned for August, October, and December this year. June 17 will mark the second anniversary of the Joseph Campbell Mythology Group on Yahoo. In that time, we have grown from a handful of members in the United States, to over 400 members from around the world, including Canada, Mexico, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Iran, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Estonia, and Rumania. We have begun regular and specially scheduled group chats that are global in scope. The group has maintained a level of creative discussion, intelligent thought, and civil dialog in which every member shares. Thank you all. Statement of Purpose: This journal/newsletter is intended to provide the members with a means of staying current with group activities, to share knowledge about our common interest in mythology and, in doing so, encourage a greater sense of community and participation. Other group resources include our website, which offers links to mythic sites around the web and a useful book list of suggested reading. Submissions: Group members are invited to submit the following to Standing Stones: Myth-related quotes, links, images; poems (20-30 lines), articles/essays (500-600 words); reviews of books, movies, songs; or notice of events such as seminars, lectures, exhibits, and workshops. Please, send submissions to ruhdwulf at heartofthesky@yahoo.com. Enjoy! kupina'i and ruhdwulf, Co-founders New Members New members from April and May include the following Yahoo IDs: aerial_flourish, agt_erle, anima46_2, a-serenity_goddess, bardomatrix, beautiful_malady, bruderles, capanellius, carlo44120, cinnamonaroo, criadakore, danabeeliever, daytrippin82, ecmythmaker, elgrey03, FionaFey, fire_eyes_of_asrai, gwynne_yap, hannibals_hamburger, hmicciche, imac_mafia, inan_al_barqa, janouche2003k, jeeves124, Jerry_Hawkins, lys_d_ro, manualotto, monalisamonoplane, phyrgiancadence, riiver_of_dreams, rubyhoney97402, s_kumar, Siderion, silver_wyche, sixthveil, skybreath_2000, speakeral, spiraldancer2000, sunowl_2001, thoth093, vandyche, wiccan_lady_98. Welcome to all. Under Discussion An alphabetic list of major discussion threads for April, 2001 through May, 2001. (Message number for start of thread in parentheses.) | A | Airmid and Miac (4491), Alexandria (4264), Alexandria mapped (4252), An interesting event (4262), Article - Religion and the Brain I (4448), Attention Los Angeles members (4321) | B | Beltane tomorrow (4427) | C | Christians and mythology (4192), The concept of world tree (4167), Contemporary Heroes & Hero's Journey (4210) | D | Dream work (4352) | E | | F | Female Tricksters & chat (4556), Flor de Muerto - Jung Mother archetypes (4492), For Monalisa, Mykene, and Ruhdwulf [Menstrual cycle and PMS] (4568), For thought - Campbell quote (4181), For thought - Jung on rebirth (4368), For thought - Monuments & Light (4570), From tribal memory to free will (4381) | G | Gangs (4336), Gangs and islands in the ocean (4340), Gangs and tribal memory I (4348 ) | H | Harry Potter and Carl Jung (4237), help (4470), Hemingway (4196), Heroes and this morning's chat (4168) | I | I'm Home (4196), Isis Site (4255) | J | Judaism and words, numbers, and rituals (4510), justa thought: [Bruce Lee] (4415), Justa thought: [Accomplishments/experiences] (4436) | K | | L | Lady Luck and PMS Jokes (4559), Language, symbols, and other mythologies (4404), Living Myth (4301) | M | Male Ritual gone wrong, part 1 (4579), Male Ritual gone wrong, part 2 (4580), Mars retro (4507), McVeigh and myth (4419), Men's Cycles vs Women's Cycles (4591), [Menstrual cycle and PMS] (4568), Mice (4335), My experience with JC ( 4293), Myth, beyond, within, and sufficient (4548), Mythology & Folklore Discussion Group - 1 (4589), Mythology & Folklore Discussion Group - 2 (4590), Mythology visualizes "future" (4476), Myths and Brainwashing (4513), Myths and Dreams (4432) | N | Namah's Womb (4567), Numbers, symbols, and the Tarot (4514) | O | Off-topic [Parabola magazine] (4558) | P | Pattern from chaos (4378), Physics question (4186), Poetics (4500) | Q | Quote - Jung on Mother archetype (4465), Quote - Jung on Yahweh/Trickster (4526) | R | Radio show on Bible translation errors (4320), Real world weirdness I (4315), Real world weirdness II (4319), Reverse speech (4459) | S | Shamanic journey (4505), Squaring of the Circle (4158), Stages of ritual (4380), Storytelling (4403) | T | Taliban, Afghanistan, and Hindus (4530), Toxcatl - Dryness after rains (4442), Tribal Ritual (4549), Tribal ritual in corporate jungle? (4452) | U | US Mythic ages (4562) | V | Virus hoax reminder (4594) | W | Weekly quote - Jung on Trickster (4418) | X, Y, Z | Yahoo glitches & real world weirdness (4305), Yahoo transition (4277). >>> Message Thread Archive >>> >>> Top of Page >>> Insight "...[J]ust as in the past each civilization was the vehicle of its own mythology, developing in character as its myth became progressively interpreted, analyzed, and elucidated by its leading minds, so in this modern world -- where the application of science to the fields of practical life has now dissolved all cultural horizons, so that no separate civilization can ever develop again -- each individual is the center of a mythology of his own, of which his own intelligible character is the Incarnate God, so to say, whom his empirically questing consciousness is to find." Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God: Creative Mythology. p. 36 "The religious myth is one of man's greatest and most significant achievements, giving him the security and inner strength not to be crushed by the monstrousness of the universe. Considered from the standpoint of realism, the symbol is not of course an external truth, but it is psychologically true, for it was and is the bridge to all that is best in humanity." C.G. Jung, Symbols of Transformation, translated by R.F.C. Hull. p. 231 >>> Top of Page >>>
Co-Founders, Joseph Campbell Mythology Group: kupina'i, ruhdwulf Editors: kupian'i, ruhdwulf Contributing Editor: bodhibliss, isis1037 © 2001, Joseph Campbell Mythology Group. All rights for orignial material revert to the authors. Permission is granted for brief quotations from this web publication for research or review with proper attribution of the author and the source, otherwise this article may not be used in whole or part without the permission of the respective authors. Copyrighted material used herein is for brief purposes of quoting only and is attributed to its source. If you discover copyrighted material used without permission or attribution, please notify the editors so that the error may be corrected or the material removed. Send comments or suggestions to ruhdwulf at heartofthesky@yahoo.com	Coming Events The Association for the Study of Dreams Conference 2001: A Dream Odyssey. July 10-15, 2001. University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. Cost: $375 (member), $475 (non-member), $255 (student, member), $320 (student, non-member). Housing is available on campus for five nights from $420 - $495. Weekend Mini-Conference. Cost: $250 (member), $300 (non-member), $135 (student, member), $175 (student, non-member). Contact: 866-DREAM12 (toll-free), (925) 264-4255, ASD web site. C.G. Jung Foundation of New York, Summer Study Programs. Intensive Program 1: Archetypal Images in Dreams. July 8-13, 2001, New York, NY. Cost: $975 (plus $75 for non-members) Intensive Program 2: Archetypes and Their Relationship to the World. July 15-20, 2001. Cost: $975 (plus $75 for non-members) Contact: Janet M. Careswell, Executive Director, The C.G. Jung Foundation of New York, 28 East 39th Street, New York, NY 10016. Phone: (212) 697-6403. E-mail: cgjungny@aol.com >>> Top of Page >>> Member Snapshot - svourvoulias Real Name: Sabrina Vourvoulias Gender: Female Occupation: ): "Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. I'm freelancing, finishing a novel, and running to keep up with my 6-year-old daughter. Good thing you didn't actually ask about making a living..." Age: 40 Location: Pennsylvania Background: ): "I was born in Bangkok (Thailand), grew up in Guatemala, and moved to the U.S. just in time to go through that acid-bath known as high school. My B.A. is from Sarah Lawrence College, with concentrations (no majors at SLC) in creative writing and film. I recently completed an apprenticeship with a master herbalist." Favorite mythology: "I haven't met a mythology I don't like. I guess my favorites are Greek, Quiche-Maya, Ojibway, Arthurian, Celtic and the colonial folklore of New Spain." Favorite myth: Psyche and Eros Favorite reference/source book(s): The White Goddess and The Greek Myths by Robert Graves; Popol Vuh (the Adrian Recinos/Sylvanus Morley translation); A Modern Herbal by M. Grieve (lots of plant and tree folklore); The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer; The Folklore of Birds by Laura Martin; Tarot Constellations by Mary Greer. Favorite book(s) with a mythic theme: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; The Flounder by Gunther Grass; any and all stories by Miguel Angel Asturias and Jorge Luis Borges; The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Earthsea Trilogy (plus Tehanu) by Ursula Le Guin; The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley; Grimm's Fairy Tales; The Wild Wood by Charles de Lint; and the poetry of Yeats, Blake, Eliot, Charles Williams, Seamus Heaney (and dozens of others). Favorite movie(s) with a mythic theme: Jean Cocteau's Orpheus and La Belle et le Bete; Theodore Dreyer's Vampyr and The Passion of Jeanne d'Arc; Murnau's Nosferatu; Robert Bresson's Lancelot du Lac; Cat People by Jacques Tourneur/Val Lewton; Brazil by Terry Gilliam; Bladerunner by Ridley Scott; The Matrix (can't remember the director's name); and Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola. Favorite myth or symbol web site: "Besides the club? [;)] I like the following two sites, though they aren't strictly about myth: www.dayofthedead.com and www.endicott-studio.com." How long have you been interested in myth and symbol? "Since I was a child." What first got you interested in myth and symbol? "My mother (Guatemalan) was a sculptor who introduced my brothers and me to all of the arts at a very early age. Her own work used Mayan stele and hieroglyphs as a springboard, and since archaeology was an avocation, she dragged all of us with her to the major (and minor, and very minor) Meso-American sites. Consequently, even before we could read we were conversant with pre-hispanic iconography and cosmologies. At the same time, since Guatemala has a lively oral teaching tradition, I was hearing all sorts of indigenous folklore about plants and animals, as well as the folktales and legends that date only as far back as the conquest (and meld Spanish and indigenous storytelling conventions in a deliciously entertaining way). "When I started reading, I gravitated to children's versions of the Greek myths (to my Greek-American father's delight) and was soon enamoured. We grew up without television (in those days Guatemalan TV operated four, non-contiguous hours a day) and I think of the books I read and the stories I heard with the same fondness and misty-eyed nostalgia others reserve for their favorite childhood programs. Over the years, I've developed an abiding love for mythopoeic literature, and for all of the highly-symbolic, visual "languages" I've explored: tarot, dreams, cinema. And there may be no surer way to pique my interest than to describe something as "mythic." " Quote: "Just to share my favorite Campbell quote: 'I think what we lack isn't science, but poetry that reveals what the heart is ready to recognize.' " >>> Top of Page >>>
	The Bonny Swans: A personal study of a traditional folk song by Danabeeliever The Bonny Swans A farmer there lived in the north country a hey ho bonny o And he had daughters one, two, three The swans swim so bonny o These daughters they walked by the river's brim a hey ho bonny o The eldest pushed the youngest in The swans swim so bonny o Oh sister, oh sister, pray lend me your hand with a hey ho a bonny o And I will give you house and land The swans swim so bonny o I'll give you neither hand nor glove Unless you give me your own true love The swans swim so bonny o Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam with a hey ho and a bonny o Until she came to a miller's dam the swans swim so bonny o The miller's daughter, dressed in red With a hey ho and a bonny o She went for some water to make some bread The swans swim so bonny o Oh father, oh daddy, here swims a swan with a hey ho and a bonny o It's very like a gentle woman the swans swim so bonny o They placed her on the bank to dry with a hey ho and a bonny o There came a harper passing by The swans swim so bonny o He made harp pins of her fingers fair with a hey ho and a bonny o He made harp strings of her golden hair The swans swim so bonny o He made a harp of her breast bone with a hey ho and a bonny o And straight it began to play alone The swans swim so bonny o He brought it to her father's hall with a hey ho and a bonny o And there was the court, assembled all The swans they swim so bonny o He laid the harp upon a stone with a hey ho and a bonny o And straight it began to play alone The swans swim so bonny o And there does sit my father the King with a hey ho and a bonny o And yonder sits my mother the Queen The swans swim so bonny o And there does sit my brother Hugh with a hey ho and a bonny o And by him William, sweet and true The swans swim so bonny o And there does sit my false sister, Anne with a hey ho and a bonny o Who drowned me for the sake of a man The swans swim so bonny o Traditional lyrics arranged and adapted by Loreena McKennitt copyright 1994, Quinlan Road Music From the CD The Mask and The Mirror, Loreena McKennitt Dana's Lesson Plan for The Bonny Swans by Loreena McKennitt Objectives: Increased appreciation of poetry, greater understanding of archetypal symbols in poetry. The Bonny Swans is a form of poetry known as lyric poetry. The artist, Loreena McKennitt, wrote it based on an old Scottish ballad known as The Twa Sisters. We will look at both to see how she expounded upon the ballad's basic theme to increase the song's meaning and depth. The archetypal symbols reach the reader at the subconscious level to work their healing message. The message contained within the poem is quite meaningful. The story underlying is one of transformation and betrayal. Let's examine more closely nine symbols contained here. Swan. Graceful movement, capable of transformation; able to both swim and fly. Lives in more than one domain. Miller's Daughter. She wears red. Red is the color of both sacrifice and death. The Death of one's preciously held illusions. It is also the color of vibrant new life. Secondly, the Miller's Daughter is one of the witnesses to what has happened to the drowned girl. Sink and Swim. The song mentions sinking and swimming. The drowned maiden obviously cannot do either on her own, but her lifeless body sinks and rises in the water. Sinking symbolizes descending deeper into life. Into the subconscious to figure things out. Swimming or rising is symbolic of bringing that new information back to the surface level and putting it to conscious use. Bones. The life of the individual is thought to continue in the bones after death. Many cultures have believed this from ancient times. The bones are a lingering witness to crimes committed or wrong doings. Fingers. The harper finds the girls bones and makes harp pins of her finger bones. The fingers are a what we use to grasp with, to lay hold of life. Breastbone. The covering of the heart. Protection of self and emotion. Harp. The harp is a new voice for the girl to tell her story. King and Queen. The girls parents and rulers. The King is a symbol of the internal father, of the psyche and an authority figure. Represents self government. The Queen is a symbol of the internal mother of the psyche, represents love for self, as well as an authority figure. Brothers. Helpers of the mind. The more logical, tougher side of the female psyche. Or, the stronger male counterpart in females. Hugh. Name of first brother means "Intelligence". Represents the maiden's wisdom. William. Name of the second brother means "determined guardian" and represents her self-preservation. Sister. Anne name of sister who drowned the maiden. Means two things: 1) Graceful and 2) False. The sister who represents the side of the maiden herself (her darker nature) who finds it important to be beautiful to men to be valued, thus betraying herself. Message: The underlying message is a warning of drowning or suppressing the true self in favor of being the someone else we perceive others want us to be. Be true to oneself. Young women are especially guilty of this, turn against themselves and other woment in favor of being pleasing to males in our still largely male dominated society. ©2001, Danabeeliever. Material used with the author's permission. Permission is granted for brief quotations from this article for research or review with proper attribution of the author and the source, otherwise this article may not be used in whole or part without the permission of the author. About the Author The group member with the Yahoo ID Danabeeliever is a nurse and mother of two children who lives in the Smoky Mountain region of the United States. An avid hiker and photographer, Danabeeliever is founder of the Yahoo group, Waterfall Wanderings, devoted to hiking and waterfalls worldwide. Dana plans to hike all of the waterfalls of the Smoky Mountains. >>> Top of Page >>> Featured Image The Stigmatization of St. Francis, c. 1596 Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), 1573 - 1610 Poetry Among Centaurs Sabrina Vourvoulias Among centaurs the arrows stay nocked. It is perpetual chase and the arm crossed over chest in defense. "This is my offering," I say, placing blood-soaked viscera on a platter. Among legends, the most ordinary of us will do foolish things to keep company. The table is set in the name of the moon, or a goddess, or those pale shades that flick in and out of our nights without permission. What primal stories we tell... "This is my heart," I say. At the feast, every table becomes a stone slick with sacrifice. The centaurs reach into their chests, pull out hearts still whole and pulsing. There may be a blessing more perilous, but I, for one, don’t know it. What carnage. We blame the wine or periodic lunacy, but truth is caught elsewhere. We are children of gods who bestow love piecemeal, if at all. Who survives the treacherous path to the chambers nested behind rib? Among centaurs sit heroes and gods who pass for human. The guests take turns at haruspicy. "Can you read this?" asks one, poking the mess slopped on plate. "What message is described in blood?" All of us are petrified. Cheiron, hanging between planets and stars, takes aim. His hands are medicine: the arrow teaches, the bow’s a witness. Myths are flawed, but they tutor us to hear the thunder of animal hooves that drive the human heart. Look at the grisly divination: I’m sorry that I have traded the dead for the living on this altar. But I’m grateful for the rest. © December, 2000, Sabrina Vourvoulias. Material used with the author's permission. Permission is granted for brief quotations from this article for research or review with proper attribution of the author and the source, otherwise this article may not be used in whole or part without the permission of the author. >>> Top of Page >>> Series: Myth and Traditions By Jane Richards Next issue: The Cauldron Some ancient myths and traditions have come down to the present and are still used. The Serpent One beast which has taken a firm grip on the human imagination is the serpent. It was thought to have found the secret of avoiding death, because it sloughs its' old skin and appears rejuvenated in a new one, and so in myths like the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh it steals the immortality which the gods had meant for man. This may have been its' original role in the story of Adam and Eve. The Eden story later gave the serpent its' connection with the Devil, a connection assisted by the snakes' shape which linked it with lust, and also with fertility Some snakes were seen to live in holes in the ground or to appear from crannies in rocks, which connected them with the earth, and fertility again, and with the underworld and the dead. In Mesopotamia, the Sumerian and Babylonian goddesses of the underworld were indentified as serpents. In Greece sacred snakes were one of the marks of an underground god or spirit; honey-cakes were offered to them. The Fijian god Ndengei is a giant snake who lives in a cave and when he moves the earth quakes. The cult of the house snake, offered milk and bread crumbs, and addressed as 'master of the house', is not entirely dead in Greece even yet. There are many shrines of snake gods in India and python gods were common in Africa until this century. The plumed serpent appears in ancient Mexican religions and snakes, especially rattlesnakes, in the myths and rituals of native North Americans. Egypt had its' own beliefs regarding the snake or cobra. The serpents' name was Netjer-ankh ["living god"], also named Ankh-netjer, and was associated with the goddess Neith. This goddess was one of the helpers to the dead while journeying through the chambers of the underworld to the after life, and can be traced into prehistoric, predynastic times. © 2000, Jane Richards. Material used with the author's permission. Permission is granted for brief quotations from this article for research or review with proper attribution of the author and the source, otherwise this article may not be used in whole or part without the permission of the author. For further reading, visit Isis' Web Site. About the Author Jane Richards (isis1037) was raised in southwest Oregon and now lives in a small community in eastern Oregon. She writes short, historically based, stories for children, is involved in the archeological, and historical community through the internet, clubs, and locally. Her academic studies span ancient history, archaeology, anthropology, and historic geology.