"..it is simply an incontrovertible fact that, with the rise of modern science, the entire cosmological structure of the Bible and the Church has been destroyed and not the cosmological only but the historical as well." This quotation will probably not cause any of the readers of this review to run out and get a copy of The Flight Of The Wild Gander by Joseph Campbell. In fact, I assume that most of you consider this statement to be virtually an a priori statement. However, I do believe that many will find the works of Joseph Campbell and this book in particular intellectually stimulating.

The premise of the book is that there are a limited number of Myths, metaphysical events or stories, which are inherently believed or known to be true by all of us. This is a human condition that is inherited just as surely as hair or eye color. These ideas and concepts arise from an inborn need to have "heroes" coupled with a desire and an inability to explain the unknown.

It is incredible to see how various cultures throughout history have always used the same symbols and ideas (Tree of Life, Serpent, Virgin Birth, etc,). To be sure various ethnic groups have used twists in the telling and interpreting of the tales, but basically it is the same story with the same players over and over again.

Dr. Campbell makes the very interesting point that a fundamental change took place 8,000-10,000 years ago when humans moved from the root gathering and primitive hunting groups into cities. This led to the high bronze and Iron Age civilizations. At that time deities were changed from female or hermaphroditic figures into males. This change is echoed in the Bible. The first story of creation describes how God made male and female in his own image, presumably as equals. This legend is then followed by the more recent rendition of God creating man who becomes lonely. Woman is then created from the rib of Adam and is therefore subservient to the will of the first created, dominant male.

I was very sorry to miss the discussion of the possibility of developing a religion of Humanism. It seems to me that any such organization must take Dr. Campbell's ideas into account to be successful. He believes that development of a new religion is inevitable and indeed has already begun. He states that the first effort was perhaps Copericus' De revolutionibus orium coelestium (1543) and then Darwin's Origin of the Species in 1853.

Dr. Campbell writes:

"...not all, even today, are of that supine sort that must have their life values given them, cried at them from the pulpits and other mass media of the day. For there is, in fact, in quiet places, a great deal of deep spiritual quest and finding now in progress in this world, outside the sanctified social centers, beyond their purview and control: in small groups, here and there, and more often, more typically (as anyone who looks about may learn), by ones and twos, there entering the forest (the Waste Land condition of the Middle Ages troubadors) at those points which they themselves have chosen, where they see it to be most dark, and there is no beaten way or path."

The discussion in the newsletter recognized the importance of celebrating life's rites of passage and sign posts. The question is, it seams to me, would these ceremonies have a metaphysical flavor? From Dr. Campbell's work there is ample empirical data to suggest that humans always have had and presumably always will need a common link with the Myths and Heroes of the past.

--Wayne Wilson