Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987) was known as a mythologist, writer & lecturer. He spent the majority of his life writing on comparative myths from around the world and how they relate to the development of human culture. He concluded that all myths were but a variation of a single narrative.

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Campbell was influenced by many profound thinkers and artists, such as James Joyce, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Pablo Picasso. Carl Jung was also a great influence on Campbell as reflected in his works in the area of the archetypes and the human psyche. Campbell’s ideas about myth were influenced by Jung’s insights gathered from The Tibetan Book of the Dead (also known as the Bardo Thodo).

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Many of Joseph Campbells’ writings have shaped modern artistic expression. For example, his well-known book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (about the archetypal hero's journey), is said to have influenced George Lucas and his Star Wars series.

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Books by Joseph Campbell you may be interested in reading are:

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• The Masks of God

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• The Hero’s Journey

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• The Power of Myth

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• The Hero with a Thousand Faces

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• The Way of the Seeded Earth (a three-part book series) which includes:

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1. Book 1:  The Sacrifice

2. Book II:  Mythologies of the Primitive Planters: The Northern Americas

3. Book III: Mythologies of the primitive planters: the Middle and Southern Americas

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