This volume represents a significant collection of previously unreleased work by Joseph Campbell, including uncollected articles, notes, letters, diaries, and recorded lectures. It's part of a larger effort by the Joseph Campbell Foundation to preserve and perpetuate his work. **Campbell's Core Interest: Universal Myths and Symbols** Campbell dedicated his life to exploring what he called "Mankind’s one great story" – the complex web of universal myths and symbols that appear across different cultures and times. He saw art as a crucial channel for this, often stating, “Art is the funnel through which spirit is poured into life”. **The Power of Art and Mythology** A central idea here is Campbell's belief that art, much like mythology, can open the modern individual mind to a direct experience of timeless, transcendent wisdom. This wisdom, he suggests, is rooted in the body and surfaces in our dreams. The artist's role is to create "significant forms" that resonate with the "fractured psyche" of the modern person, offering something aesthetically pleasing on the surface while also stirring "undertones in the unconscious". This is a fundamental concept to explore: how do forms in art connect with deeper psychological or spiritual realities? **Influences on Campbell's Philosophy** Campbell's thinking on art was profoundly shaped by his time in Europe from 1924 to 1929. During this period, he encountered major figures in literature (James Joyce, Thomas Mann), painting (Cézanne, Picasso, Paul Klee), sculpture (Antoine Bourdelle), and psychology (Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung). These diverse influences led him to believe that artists need to understand the psychological effects of their craft's devices and connect these devices to elements of myth. **"Proper Art" and Its Characteristics** Following James Joyce, Campbell referred to certain art as "proper art". This is art that manages to quiet the "chattering mind" and, through its sense of wholeness and harmonic rhythm, illuminates the focused mind with a quality he called "radiance". This idea of art achieving a state of "aesthetic arrest" through harmony and form is something worth considering further. **A Special Focus: Dance** While Campbell inspired many artists across different disciplines, he had a particular passion for choreographers and dancers. His initial, possibly life-altering, glimpse of potential spiritual depth in movement came from seeing a Native American dancer at Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as a child. Later, he may have seen African American tap dancers and chorus lines, and was himself a good musician and social dancer, though the sources don't confirm formal dance training or viewing classical ballet early on. **The Turning Point: Jean Erdman** A pivotal moment in Campbell's understanding of dance occurred in 1937 when he met Jean Erdman, a young woman studying at Sarah Lawrence College where he taught comparative literature. Erdman had a diverse background, including Hawaiian hula, Isadora Duncan style, and the techniques of modern dance pioneer Martha Graham. She sought a tutorial with Campbell on aesthetics and philosophy, leading to discussions that included readings from Schopenhauer, Kant, and Nietzsche. Seeing Erdman perform at the Bennington Dance Festival was a revelation for Campbell. He witnessed not just her talent, but an evolving art form exploring the possibilities of the human body. He saw this field as fertile ground for his developing theories on the relationship between myth, aesthetic form, and psychological structures. This encounter marked the beginning of a deep connection with Erdman, one that would influence his work profoundly. **Collaboration and Mutual Influence** Campbell and Erdman's relationship evolved into marriage and a lifelong intellectual and artistic partnership. Their dialogue, initially through correspondence as Jean traveled the world, was intense and mutually nourishing. Campbell often read his writing aloud to Jean, receiving her feedback on content, rhythm, and flow. Jean, in turn, would explore physical movements in her studio, and Joe would offer mythological associations, sometimes suggesting names for her dances. Jean Erdman developed her own approach to dance technique, aiming to create a "completely articulate instrument" in the dancer, drawing on comparative studies of Western and traditional dance forms she had encountered globally. Their most direct collaboration mentioned is the transformation of James Joyce's _Finnegans Wake_ into an avant-garde dance theater piece called _The Coach with the Six Insides_. This piece, focusing on the female character Anna Livia Plurabelle, was highly successful, running for many performances and touring internationally. In 1972, Campbell and Erdman co-founded the Theater of the Open Eye, intended as a space for mythopoetic, dance-based theater incorporating arts from around the world. The Open Eye became a home for a wide variety of traditional and experimental dance and theater works, and also hosted Campbell's popular weekend lecture series. **Campbell's Writings on Dance** The first part of the "Ecstasy of Being" volume collects articles and lectures Campbell published between 1944 and 1978. Several were originally published in _Dance Observer_ magazine. - **Initial Critique:** In "Betwixt the Cup and the Lip" (1944), Campbell contrasts the ecstatic, revelatory experience of seeing a modern dance _technique demonstration_ – which suggested a boundless life force and a transcendence of physical limits – with the disappointment of a first _concert_. He felt the concert was too didactic, overly focused on illustrating literary themes or social commentary, losing the powerful "dynamisms" and "ineffable experiences" of pure movement. He questions if dance, perhaps the least suited art for subtle social criticism, should become a "Drum Majorette" for familiar philosophical or political ideas. He quotes James Joyce's _Finnegans Wake_: "Your genus its worldwide, your spacest sublime! / But, Holy Saltmartin, why can’t you beat time?" – asking for rhythm and presence over text. - **"Presentational" vs. "Discoursive":** Campbell clarifies this critique in "Text, or Idea?" (1944), distinguishing between the "presentational" principle in art (inherent power in form) and the "discoursive" (didactic, intellectual, non-visual). He argues that modern dancers were mistakenly applying a "discoursive" principle derived from literary or academic thinking, rather than developing the "presentational" elements of their craft through a logic inherent to dance itself. A "Creative Idea" for an artist isn't just a thought from a book, but a realization from full experience, touching the senses, feelings, and intuition, embodying a "form-giving principle". - **Embodying Significant Form:** The dancer, ideally, is not a "semaphorist" sending intellectual messages, but a work of art in the flesh, meant to embody "Significant Form". This form is described as the rhythm of life, the invisible pattern of the psyche projected in time and space, stemming from and addressed to the creative center where consciousness and the unconscious meet. - **Distinguishing Dance and Drama:** Campbell identifies another issue ("second slip") as failing to distinguish between the logic of dance and that of drama. When dance introduces strong characterization, narrative, or satire, it enters the literary realm and risks losing its unique power, potentially resulting in bathos or burlesque. While dance-drama exists, the formal principles must be understood as distinct for either form to thrive. - **The Problem of Text:** A further issue ("third slip") is composing dance parallel to text, like poetry or newspaper clippings. This can reduce dance to pantomime and verbal material can "short-circuit" the power of effective dance moments because words in everyday life are primarily for practical, "discoursive" communication. True art, Campbell suggests, presents the "wordless" – the "living structure-lines of the cosmos," revealing the proportions of our being and setting our minds in harmony. He contrasts this with being fed "journalism, sociology, patriotism, bathos, clownery, and amateur theatrics". This prompts reflection: how do artists use language or narrative without becoming purely illustrative? **Key Concepts Explored in the Excerpts** Several recurring concepts underpin Campbell's discussion of art and dance: - **Form as Content:** Drawing on Nietzsche, Campbell highlights the idea that for the true artist, "form is the content of a work of art". This contrasts with the layman's typical focus on subject matter alone. Great art lies in the manipulation of form itself. - **Mythological Archetypes and Psychology:** Campbell was deeply interested in Adolf Bastian's "elementary ideas" (universally recurrent myth motifs) and "ethnic ideas" (local cultural forms). He notes how Jung and Freud explored the psychological depths of these motifs. He connects this to Indian aesthetic theory, distinguishing _mārga_ (the universal "path" to the individual's inner depth) and _deśī_ (the local context). Artists can choose to emphasize either, but great art often uses the ethnic medium to reveal the elementary idea, helping the audience break from their own local perspective to a universal human import. - **The Unconscious and Creative Energy:** Mythological archetypes touch the "vital centers of the unconscious". An artist who understands these can potentially "conjure with the energies of the human soul". Campbell views heavens and hells as chambers of the unconscious. Proper art, like myth symbols, are "energy-evoking signs" that address the "inward centers of our nature’s creative energies," much like dreams. - **Rhythm and Psychological Implication:** Campbell emphasizes that the "essence of art is rhythm, nothing else". Every rhythmic structure carries a psychological implication. An artist's skill lies in finding the appropriate rhythm and form to express the psychological references of their material, whether mythic or otherwise. - **Myth and Dream:** Campbell states directly: "Myth and dream: these two realms are one. Myth is the common dream, and dream is the personal myth". This suggests art operating in a "completely mythic realm" can resonate with the unconscious experience of dreams. - **Play and Spontaneity:** Drawing on observations of chimpanzees by Dr. Köhler, Campbell explores the enigma of play. In a "temenos" or protected area (like the stage for art), the laws of survival are suspended, allowing for spontaneous exuberance and "regular motion patterns" that resemble primitive dances. This "animal exuberance" is seen as very close to the "basic impulse of genius in the arts". Great art, through this spirit of play, purges us of everyday anxieties (fear, appetite) and allows for a joyful participation in a "disinterested harmonization". This playfulness is what is "most human in the animals" and "most godlike in man," exemplified by the Indian image of Shiva, the Cosmic Dancer, who creates the universe in divine spontaneity, not out of necessity. This is an interesting parallel to explore: the link between creative freedom, play, and transcendent experience. - **Totem and Taboo in Art:** Oswald Spengler's distinction between "Totem" (innate, inherited, related to life current, physiognomy, common feeling) and "Taboo" (learnable, acquired, related to waking consciousness, system, language) is applied to art. In dance, these relate to "dynamics" (Totem) and "shape" (Taboo). Both are necessary, and a style is a union of the two. Isadora Duncan's art is described as "all Totem," starting from inward rapture and rejecting outward structuring. The introduction of Michio Ito and Louis Horst to American modern dance brought a greater appreciation for the structuring, "Taboo" side. This offers a framework for analyzing artistic styles – are they primarily driven by innate impulse or learned structure? - **Inward vs. Outward:** Underlying much of the discussion is a philosophical tradition (from Eckhart to German Romantics and American Transcendentals) that posits a "primal ground beyond yet indwelling all phenomenal forms". The intellect can become overwhelmed by the outward world, losing connection to this inward reality. Mythology and art serve to provide a vision of the way back to the inward life. Cézanne's idea "Art is a harmony parallel to nature" fits here, suggesting art mirrors nature's underlying order, not just its surface. This connects to the idea of the artist seeking the "inmost meaning" or "heart" of the model, not just reproducing appearances. - **The Artist as Re-creator:** The artist is called a "magician of re-creation". Their role is not simply to imitate or analyze reality, but to bring forth the underlying structure or spirit, making the "Word resound behind words" as Hauptmann put it. This act of presentation reveals proportions of being and harmonizes the mind. - **Total Theater:** The development of "Total Theater" (Craig's term, exemplified by Reinhardt and already present in Japanese Noh/Kabuki) aimed to unify multiple arts (acting, music, dance, design) under a single vision to create a unified aesthetic effect and lift the audience experience beyond mere fact to "rapture". Jean Erdman's work, particularly _The Coach with the Six Insides_, is highlighted as an example of bringing together dance, drama, music, and design, creating a complex fusion. This form can reintroduce the classical principle of the chorus (representing the mythic, Dionysian ground) in counterpoint with the individual action (representing the formal, Apollonian). **Areas for Further Exploration** These excerpts offer many avenues to explore: 1. **The tension between didacticism and artistic expression:** Campbell's early critique of modern dance being too "literary" versus his later appreciation for works like Graham's myth plays and Erdman's complex dance theater. How can narrative or social themes be integrated without sacrificing the unique power of a form like dance? 2. **The role of rhythm and form:** Campbell argues rhythm is the essence of art and has psychological implications. How do specific rhythms and forms in different arts evoke particular psychological states or connect to mythic ideas? 3. **Mythology as a resource for modern art:** Explore how artists like Graham, Hawkins, Cunningham, and Erdman drew on different mythological traditions (Greek, Native American, Polynesian, Celtic, Oriental) and psychological theories (Freud, Jung) to structure their work and achieve deeper resonance. 4. **The concept of the artist as a conduit:** Isadora Duncan describes dancers who become a "luminous fluidity," manifesting something "out of another, a profounder world". Campbell describes himself as a "magnetic center" conveying the orchestra's emotion. Wigman describes battling an elemental force to bring it into form. What is the nature of this creative "possession" or channeling? 5. **The fusion of different art forms:** The idea of "Total Theater" and the challenge of bringing performers with specialized training (actors vs. dancers) together is discussed. How do artists today approach synthesizing multiple disciplines to create a unified aesthetic and narrative experience? 6. **The application of psychological concepts:** Campbell explicitly connects art forms and myth to Freudian and Jungian psychology. How have later artists and critics engaged with these connections, or alternative psychological frameworks? 7. **The enduring power of archetypes:** Despite vast cultural changes, Campbell suggests the "elementary ideas" and mythic archetypes remain potent. Why do these symbols continue to resonate with audiences across time and culture?