Dionysus Forums Archives - The Vision of Black Elk

04-18-2004, 10:14 AM

The Vision of Black Elk

Excerpt from Joseph Campbell's, The Power of Myth ...

Quote:

The vision of Black Elk ...

He says, "I saw myself on the central mountain of the world, the highest place, and I had a vision because I was seeing in the sacred manner of the world." And the sacred central mountain was Harney Peak in South Dakota. And then he says, "But the central mountain is everywhere."

That is a real mythological realization. It distinguishes between the local cult image, Harney Peak, and its connotation as the center of the world. The center of the world is the axis mundi, the central point, the pole around which all revolves. The central point of the world is the point where stillness and movement are together. Movement is time, but stillness is eternity. Realizing how this moment of your life is actually a moment of eternity, and experiencing the eternal aspect of what you're doing in the temporal experience -- this is the mythological experience.

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So when the body dies, and consciousness departs, where do "we" go? ... Off to define another "reality" perhaps?

05-07-2004, 04:32 PM

Amen. I love Joseph Campbell's books. As Mircea Eliade said in his book "The Sacred and the Profane", the axis mundi is also our spinal cord. When we're centered, we're at home anywhere, because the Center is everywhere.

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Once you find your way, you're there.

05-07-2004, 10:18 PM

The Campbell library is now located in Carpenteria, California and it is possible to gain access.

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There are some things that travel faster than the speed of light; the thoughts of an imbicile (To paraphrase Gabriel Voisin, automotive and aero engineer, 1934)

Perhaps "TRUTH" lies in the middle of what appears to be a paradox (ME)

05-07-2004, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dretceterini

The Campbell library is now located in Carpenteria, California and it is possible to gain access.

Do they by any chance have a website? Or, is it strictly a formal library setting?

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So when the body dies, and consciousness departs, where do "we" go? ... Off to define another "reality" perhaps?

05-08-2004, 01:27 AM

It is at the Pacificia Institute. Here is the link...

http://www.online.pacifica.edu/cgl/

05-08-2004, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dretceterini

It is at the Pacificia Institute. Here is the link...

http://www.online.pacifica.edu/cgl/

That's good, thanks. It looks like a good site. In fact that gives me an idea, I think I might start up a resource page and get feedback from people as to which links I should include? It seems like it would be good to have someplace on the forum anyway.

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So when the body dies, and consciousness departs, where do "we" go? ... Off to define another "reality" perhaps?

Last edited by Iacchus32 : 05-08-2004 at 01:47 AM.