Mythic Tales, Lensography of Legends

Mythology is more than just the tales we have inherited from Homer, or the brilliant Sagas of the Norsemen. It is even something more than "other people's religion," as Joseph Campbell used to joke..

"A whole mythology is an organization of symbolic images and narratives, metaphorical of the possibilities of human experience and the fulfillment of a given culture at a given time" Joseph Campbell, Thou Art That: Transforming Religious Metaphor

Myths speak to somewhere deep in our unconscious mind and, if we are lucky, they will instinctively guide our development.

It's not so much that society will follow its mythology, the opposite can be seen in that most well known of Western Myth - the Greek.

The Greeks changed over time to accommodate the evolution of their own culture, we see this in their mythology.

The earlier inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula were an agricultural people who assigned a spirit to every aspect of nature. Eventually, these vague spirits assumed human shape and entered the local mythology as gods and goddesses.

When tribes from the north of the Balkan Peninsula invaded, they brought with them a new pantheon of gods, based on conquest, force, prowess in battle, and violent heroism. Stories of murder and rape are now common, symbolic of the overthrow of the earlier peoples... the older deities died, or were fused with those of the more powerful invaders.

10% of my income goes to continue the work of Fred Hollows in treating avoidable blindness and improving indigenous health.

Photo : Khim Rath, who can now see after a successful cataract operation, Kampong Chhnang province, Cambodia.

Blindness is a significant public health issue in Cambodia. Over 160,000 people are blind and an additional 20,000 become blind each year. The main cause of blindness is cataract, which can be treated by a simple 15 minute operation at an average cost of $25 (AUD$35).