Joseph Campbell's Influence on Jungian Art Therapy

"Myths help you put your mind in touch with the experience of being alive." -Campbell

One of the most significant figures in the study of myths was the American writer and literary scholar Joseph Campbell. He worked extensively with myths and symbols and was greatly influenced by Jung. Campbell's ideas on universal myths provide a rich framework for understanding and utilizing these ancient stories in the therapeutic process.

I have used myths, stories and fairy tales in my Jungian art therapy groups, and have found them especially helpful in deepening the therapeutic process. I have seen these stories help clients enter a more soulful place within themselves and help them be able to immerse themselves in symbolic language which is so essential for the art therapy process to have a transformative effect on us. Ever since I read Campbell's  "Power of Myth ", his works have become very inspiring for me in my own process.

Campbell famously described myths as the "collective dreams" of humanity. This concept aligns with Jung's idea of the collective unconscious, which is based on the existence of universal, archetypal symbols common to all cultures. Both Campbell and Jung emphasized the importance of archetypes, the universal patterns that appear in myths, dreams, and art.

One of Campbell's most significant contributions is the concept of the Hero's Journey, a universal narrative structure found in myths around the world. This journey involves stages of departure, initiation, and return, symbolizing the process of personal growth and transformation. The Hero's Journey is an example of how myths can be seen as maps to the collective aspect of each individual's psyche.

In art therapy, we engage with archetypal material through images. While we don't aim to interpret this material explicitly, myths can provide context and containment for this content. Campbell's research into symbols offers a deeper understanding of their meanings and significance. By recognizing and exploring these archetypal images, the unconscious undergoes its own process towards self-awareness and personal growth.

A central goal of Jungian therapy is individuation, the process of integrating different parts and polarities of the psyche into a unified whole. We can view myths similarly to how we view dreams. While a myth is a collective dream, a dream is a personal myth. In both, the different elements and their relationships reflect the inner parts of the psyche.

By exploring mythological themes in art therapy, participants can confront and reconcile these various parts of their psyche. In my art therapy groups, we investigate how the relationships between the elements of the story reflect each individual's inner world using creative methods. The symbolic language of myths, as explained by Campbell, helps express and understand the unconscious layers of the psyche. This process, where the unconscious is brought to consciousness by making it visible through art, is central to Jungian art therapy.

Campbell's comparative mythology emphasizes universal themes and motifs found in different cultures. This perspective is particularly valuable in Jungian art therapy because it reinforces the importance of shared human experiences presented in myths. At the same time, it helps individuals find resonance in how some aspects of their work reflect their personal identity and uniqueness. This is especially emphasized in a group setting, as ultimately, each person expresses their unique self in the face of the same archetype, fostering a deeper connection to oneself.

Joseph Campbell's understanding of myths and their symbolic language has enriched Jungian art therapy. His work provides a framework for exploring the depths of the psyche through mythological themes and archetypes. The power of myth, as illuminated by Campbell, continues to be an essential tool in the therapeutic process, unlocking the healing potential of the human mind and imagination.

According to Joseph Campbell “what we have today is a demythologized world” (Campbell & Moyers 2011, p. 26) Myths are “stories about the wisdom of life”. In modern society we have forgotten about the importance of myth and “one of our problems today is that we are not well acquainted with the literature of the spirit”  Campbell’s interviewee Moyers adds to this, “society has provided them [children] no rituals by which they become members of the tribe, of the community” leading to a culture where children have to learn by themselves how to grow up. (Campbell & Moyers 2011, p. 26)

The cultural problematic of our time is that people are left without the spiritual guidelines which myths offer. Myths present a ritualistic container for the spirit: “Mythology has a great deal to do with the stages of life, the initiation ceremonies as you move from childhood to adult responsibilities, from the unmarried state into the married state. All of those rituals are mythological rites. They have to to do with your recognition of the new role that you’re in, the process of throwing off the old one and coming out in the new.”( Campbell & Moyers 2011, pp. 29-30)

This is the place where myths, Jungian psychology and art making meet. They all have the ability to bring us back to the ritualistic, symbolic way of being which is so primitive to us and so essential for the well-being of not only individuals but humanity as a whole. 

References:

Campbell, J & Moyers, B 2011, The Power of Myth, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, New York.

The book can be found on Amazon