Myths of the Underworld
2.) A. Based on Campbell's chapter, May's chapter, and Alan Watts' videos, reflect on your own attitudes towards death. Do you agree with Watts that “we live in a culture where it has been rubbed into us, in every conceivable way, that to die is a terrible thing” and that we live in a culture in which “death is swept under the carpet”?
“Somebody has to die in order for life to emerge.” (p 131, Campbell). It wasn’t until after going through all the videos, articles, and reading that I finally was able to let go of my fear towards death. Does the idea of death make me anxious, a bit, and I believe that that is a result of absorbing the Western cultural belief that death is tragic, horrible, and should be avoided at all costs. I completely agree with what Watts said concerning our thanatophobic culture. However, after watching and listening to what he had to say, and how clear he was on why fearing death is “absurd”, I now realize where all my fears originated. I have only ever been exposed to horrific, painful, tragic deaths via the television and the news. My mind automatically associated death with killing, and since killing is highly shunned, death must be too.
B. What detrimental effects might we experience if we are not able to see death as a natural part of life?
We will continue to fail to see the true meaning of …show more content…
Out of this comes the dynamic of human creativity.” (May, 274) The fact that the image and perception of the devil has changed throughout the centuries is testimony to the link between the devil and creativity. Imagination was used to create the concept of the devil, including his many forms, and formed the bridge between today’s mysterious human like devil and yesteryear’s monsterous demon. Many works of art and creativity come from analyzing the story and personality assigned to the devil and manipulating it to create something unique,inspiring, and
2.) A. Based on Campbell's chapter, May's chapter, and Alan Watts' videos, reflect on your own attitudes towards death. Do you agree with Watts that “we live in a culture where it has been rubbed into us, in every conceivable way, that to die is a terrible thing” and that we live in a culture in which “death is swept under the carpet”?
“Somebody has to die in order for life to emerge.” (p 131, Campbell). It wasn’t until after going through all the videos, articles, and reading that I finally was able to let go of my fear towards death. Does the idea of death make me anxious, a bit, and I believe that that is a result of absorbing the Western cultural belief that death is tragic, horrible, and should be avoided at all costs. I completely agree with what Watts said concerning our thanatophobic culture. However, after watching and listening to what he had to say, and how clear he was on why fearing death is “absurd”, I now realize where all my fears originated. I have only ever been exposed to horrific, painful, tragic deaths via the television and the news. My mind automatically associated death with killing, and since killing is highly shunned, death must be too.
B. What detrimental effects might we experience if we are not able to see death as a natural part of life?
We will continue to fail to see the true meaning of …show more content…
Out of this comes the dynamic of human creativity.” (May, 274) The fact that the image and perception of the devil has changed throughout the centuries is testimony to the link between the devil and creativity. Imagination was used to create the concept of the devil, including his many forms, and formed the bridge between today’s mysterious human like devil and yesteryear’s monsterous demon. Many works of art and creativity come from analyzing the story and personality assigned to the devil and manipulating it to create something unique,inspiring, and