The Mythic Imagination: The Quest for Meaning Through Personal Mythology by Larsen Ph.D., Stephen (1996) Paperback

by Stephen Larsen

In the footsteps of his teacher Joseph Campbell, psychotherapist Stephen Larsen guides us on a journey through our psyche. He shows that we all create personal mythologies that reflect larger myths and also our own deepest desires and aspirations. THE MYTHIC IMAGINATION is a quest for the ancient source of vision and meaning in the realm of dream, myth, and archetype.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Mythology, Spirituality, Philosophy

Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

H. Stephen Larsen is a psychologist and author who, with Robin Larsen his wife, was on the founding board of advisors of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, and also founded the Center for Symbolic Studies, to carry on with the work of Joseph Campbell. He is best known for his work in Mythology, and for being a pioneer in the field of Neurofeedback.

Reviews

[Kim Sasso · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 1998 notebook shows I read at least some of this book back then. The quotes I recorded make me want to revisit it. But I am a little disenchanted by Jung and the reviews here are not promising. We'll see.

[Alexandra A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sine qua non publication about mythology being the universal tongue of the human mind, and how the cultivation of one's mythic imagination leads to self-discovery, growth, and healing. Larsen was the student of Joseph Campbell but they parted ways, ideologically, and I find Larsen's take more palatable and useful than Campbell's. Larsen's is a call to awaken to the presence of mythic structures and themes in our everday existence, in order to spark the transformative power of wonder in our own lives.

[Oliver Ho · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It just didn’t connect with me. Maybe another time it might. It was too derivative (in a shallow-seeming way) of Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade, and too in love with Jung. It kept hovering around the line of new age, mystical mumbo-jumbo, and crossed over it a few times. Much of it felt dated. It was interesting enough to keep me going, but overall it was disappointing.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Larsen's Mythic Imagination guides the reader in discovering the presence and power of myth in their everyday lives, from the unhealthy stereotypical myths of society to the healthy and empowering myths that brings one's soul closer to the spiritual realm of universal connection. Using dreams, expressive therapy and creative-play techniques, he explains that by embodying mythological and archetypal powers in a serious yet playful `as-if' attitude, one can increase their level of self-knowledge and further their spiritual journey. Larsen leaves the reader with a collection of exercises that enable one to invite mythic archetypes into a more conscious role in their lives through guided visualizations, journaling, clowning, and mask making.

The most profound realizations came from seeing Larsen's combination of the mythological, psychological, and therapeutic elements at play toward individuation. I have had the notion that when we are in the presence of something transcendent, we feel and experience it on a much deeper level. Larsen connects the role of the "dark prehuman" automatic nervous system to the healing process through images and experiences that resonate with primary meaning. For me, this reinforces the concept of the collective unconscious and of the archetypal energies that inspire the mythic imagination in us all.

[Ilze · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dorian Haarhoff once mentioned that this book would be interesting to read. When I found it at a little second-hand bookshop in Gordon's Bay, I couldn't resist buying it (thinking, wow, the books he refers to really exist!). The problem is that I fell asleep on it every time I tried to read it and eventually gave up. Maybe I'll read it one day and understand what it's trying to say, especially since my thesis was on Jungian mythology.

[May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great exploration of how myth and creativity are a formative part of the human experience