This morning, I was all out of audiobooks for my ride to the 'northern plains'. I finished Silas Marner and needed to hit the library for my next fix. BTW, I really loved this last one — Eppie refused to give up her adoptive father when her natural father finally spilled the beans to his wife — of course that's not the real suspense at the end of this 18 year mystery. And it had sex (circa 1860's), drugs (with due recompense) and rock (quarry).

I scanned my radio for something suitable as I had not brought my iPod for the ride. I came across KKFI Blues  morning broadcast and truly enjoyed the mix of local and national blues talent.  The only ads were for their upcoming sponsored blues festival and even these were relatively infrequent.  It was like a 'Shuffle' blues playlist with music I don't own.  Very nice hour — unfortunately, they didn't broadcast this afternoon for the ride home.

So what do the Blues have to do with mythology?  As I read it, the purpose is the same.  The principle of blues music is catharsis for suffering in the world.  By recognizing the inevitability of that suffering, we can move beyond it to experience the miracles and beauty despite our suffering.

There is no doubt that suffering is a part of the human experience — there is no philosopher's stone that can stop death in its tracks.  Of course, that doesn't stop us from hoping, dreaming and loving. In coming to the realization that we can't stop the inevitability of life (which is death), we mature into the recognition that each moment of every life is priceless.

Unhappily, many never complete that maturation process and we all must deal with the karmic result. 

Blues is a metaphor for life. Mythology is a metaphor for life...and I guess the blues is a metaphor for mythology as well. Get into some blues and ease on down, ease on down the road.

So much to do – I didn’t get Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince until 4PM on Saturday (Amazon delivery) and finished the book last night before fixing dinner after work – as usual, the ending was tremendously suspenseful.

I know I will be updating Meeting with the Goddess and Atonement with the Father – you see… the major death had to occur in the sequence of events. I just wasn’t sure if Harry’s independence would start in Book 6 or Book 7, and so hesitated developing this aspect of the myth analysis. 

Without going further, I leave you with a favorite quote on each of us following the hero’s path – Joe himself reads this illuminating passage as an introduction to The Hero’s Adventure episode of the PBS Power of Myth series.

This series is a modern world mythology in every sense.

This past week, our family has been watching videos of Carl Gustav Jung taken late in his life (He died very near the time I was born – truth comes out…) and on the subsequent research pursued by the Jung Institute. Jung was a psychiatrist that gained fame in several areas of his professional study – he defined the basis for most personality tests used today. Anyone who has taken a Myers-Briggs test or similar would be familiar with the terminology crafted by Jung — e.g., extrovert/ introvert/ sensing/ intuition/ thinking/ feeling. He directed one of his patients to seek recovery from alcoholism in spiritual reconciliation. This patient’s success was an inspiration to Bob Smith and Bill Wilson in the forming of Alcoholics Anonymous — from which sprang many modern-day 12-step self-help programs. Jung was one of the first to associate psychological needs with mythological narratives — a linkage of spirituality with a physical human need.

But more generally, Carl Jung is known for his analysis of dreams and hypothesis of the collective unconscious. Dreams are a means, in psychological terms, for our personal unconscious to deliver messages, in chunks we can handle, to conscious thought. These dreams are comprised of "little dreams" that help us work through personal problems, and of "big dreams" that invoke symbolism that transcends cultural limitations, and introduces us to the lexicon of the human psyche.

It is from Jung that Joseph Campbell learned how to interpret myths through application of Jungian archetypes. Jung identified the hero archetype itself. So, if you can’t tell by the intro to this entry, I find Carl Jung fascinating. The videos show him traveling the world, interviewing diverse and isolated populations about their dreams. Of note were interviews with African tribesman and Taos Pueblo Indians who described how Jung honored them with his attentiveness and continued friendship. He was truly interested in the relationships between all people — that in some way, we all are connected.

I had what I think was a little dream last night, but I have smiled several times today in remembrance. I dreamt I overslept — a typical dream of mine tied to a most definite personal reality. But this time, I was back in my childhood home as an adult. I stood in front of a mirror getting ready for work, brushing my teeth and putting earrings on, and kept glancing at my watch. I was talking to my mother and my grandmother as I prepared. Every time I looked at the watch, I lost great amounts of time so that instead of 7 AM, it was after 10 AM and I was ready to give up on getting to work. I paused and looked directly at my grandmother, saying "you know I’ve missed you," and she answered, "Oh, honey, I know you have," expressed such joy and inner sparkle and gave me a hug so intense and welcome I can’t express. I woke up shortly after, about 4AM and had to re-orient my reality…my grandmother passed away over five years ago.

I remember staying up late with her the night before her 100^th birthday party, with her telling me stories about the various pictures I was arranging. Her eyes were lit up like the mischievous 20-year-old telling of the bathtub gin during prohibition and how they would flirt with boys in cars.

She would talk of parties and friends, and I lived her memory again. That was last night and she truly pulled me out of time and space to say hello. I’m sure Carl would have something more eloquent to say, but I truly enjoyed being with my best friend still.

As mentioned in prior entries, I am in the midst of my own renaissance. In pursuing, or rather re-pursuing, literature, philosophy, music and art, I am reminded of my first introduction to the great books…

It was my junior year in high school, taking the class "Recurring Themes of American Literature." Bettie Brakebill navigated our way through Salinger, Hemingway, Nathaniel Hawthorne, George Orwell and Arthur Miller… this was my first serious evaluation of American authors and their noted works. She taught me the essence of the essay – a technique further crafted the following year where I had to write impromptu 1-hour analyses on more ‘great works’ in the appropriately named class ‘Challenge English’. That was Dr. Page’s lesser legacy. By my junior year, I was already a poet/lyricist, but Bettie B. was the first adult with whom I shared my works and ideas. Besides that endearment, she challenged me to think about my loved books in new light – to consider the larger ideas that great works pursue.

In her southern drawl, with bright eyes and lively smile, she would direct the question to each student as needed for effect: Now, Lynne…Are you well read?

That statement has multiple meanings. To the sixteen-year old, it meant I better be up on the material and ready for the class discussion. Now, it means so much more.

Around age 15, I hit my "Age of Reason." I began to think about my own spirituality, the progression of ideas and the inter-relatedness of many disciplines. I longed to be doctor, minister and research scientist – and was heavily influenced by both "Miz" Brakebill and my biology teacher Dr. Melba James. I admired both these ladies, and recognized their influence on my thinking immediately. These were my ‘break-through’ teachers, not to mention academic role models.

In the literature realm, I imagined the lists of books I wanted to read, and those that I had already pursued. My English folder had doodles of stacks of books with microscopic titles written on the spines – mostly of books I wanted to read in my parents collection, but I would gradually fill in blank spines with those we read in class or new ones I heard about.

I’m not quite sure why I was interested in keeping some type of inventory or progress report on those books, but I’ve always had a queue of 5-10 in the wings (at least 3 in-progress) – even during my business cult period. Lately, I have found myself drawn back to the inventories and spent several hours rebuilding my book "database." At this point, I think I am worried that I’ll miss important ideas that will help me piece together this mystery of life. I have new tools to evaluate the books I have read, and take forward to the as-yet-undiscovered ones. Indeed, I do find recurring themes in apparently disparate works and unexpected places. I believe that I am on the cusp of recognizing human wisdom (although still far from possessing the genuine article).

I know Bettie B. tried to awaken me to this wisdom back then. I just need to remember the lessons more fully now.