Joseph Campbell was one of the most preeminent scholars of our time, whose writings were very accessible to his audience. His approach to religion and mythology was clear and global, and he was able to synthesize many cultures, presenting them as singular visions of man's evolving understanding of the cosmos and of the universe in which he found himself.

As the book cover explains, Campbell saw all human mythology as "the confirmation of the thought I have long and faithfully entertained: of the unity of the race of man, not only in its biology but also in its spiritual history, which has everywhere unfolded in the manner of a single symphony, with its themes announced, developed, amplified and turned about, distorted, reasserted, and today, in a grand fortissimo of all sections sounding together, irresistibly advancing to some kind of mighty climax out of which the next great movement will emerge."

"Occidental", of course, means Western Civilization, whereas he has also written about Oriental Mythology (the Eastern cultural path) which is not pertinent to this review at this time. However, one of the most delightful, as I found it, discoveries in reading this scholarly overview is his very clear dissection of different religions' concepts of God, and how that then permeated every aspect of the society. While humanity in the Eastern regions of cultural expansion held to the notion that God was immanent in the world - which is to say, apparent or revealed in every aspect of nature and of humanity - the Western path saw a God figure who was outside of nature and humanity, was the creator of it, and was contrasted by the purity and perfection of itself to the corrupted and impure nature of its own creation. Campbell goes on to explain that this fundamental difference as it developed in the religions of each area of civilization provoked a kind of acceptance or even lethargy in the East based upon the fact that one found oneself as part of a perfected creation and therefore entrenched in a role that was just one's given lot (we could use the word karma here), whereas in the West, as Campbell makes clear over and over, individualism and the individual will became the important aspect either to seek a path to transcend the original corrupted nature and placate a punishing God or ascend to its purity, or in other fashion to suffer the guilt, the apathy, and the fear of a judgmental deity who exists beyond the world's level, never to be seen as part of it.

This latter concept has greatly colored Western religious thinking. I found myself moved by this long history of an approach towards one's myth of God that offered such an exclusive and hurtful relationship with the Divine.

Campbell moreover goes on to plainly explain additional differences in man's approach to God. For instance, polytheism, where many gods are recognized; and within that path, monalatry, wherein one god - one's own - is worshiped even while recognizing other gods, as was the case in Hinduism but also with the Romans. And then monotheism, a belief that there is but one god. Yet even in monotheism, as he clearly illustrates, there are two types: a single god that is inclusive and open, and brings all other concepts together under one banner, one definition; or a monotheistic god which is defined as closed, exclusive and ethnic. Ethnic monotheism believes that there is only one god, but that's the god that is being worshiped by one's own group while all others are false.

The difference between a universalist monotheism versus an exclusive monotheism can be seen in the current clash of ideologies between most of the West, whether that's Christian, Jewish, pagan or otherwise, versus religious extremism such as radical Islam. To my knowledge, nobody has put this difference more succinctly, but it explains a heck of a lot!

Another important point that Campbell makes is related to the gradual suppression of the feminine divine in favor of the male. And this is shown as happening early on in the traditions of Greece as well as India. He makes it clear that in societies that worship the feminine, there is more appreciation of the bounty of the Earth and the fertile beneficent nature of the universe, with a concomitant degree of peaceable civilization, whereas when the mythological religion track veered toward the elevation of the masculine divine, with the suppression of the feminine, civilization turned more warlike... but never quite was able to deny the power of the feminine lurking behind the scenes, changing that power instead to something frightening and demonic in the background as it were, or the underworld.

In our own age, of course, the feminine aspect of the divine (Yin) is rising, and the masculine is being subdued to create a more harmonious balance between the two forces which will ultimately result in a more peaceable kingdom. The aspect of the monotheistic god who exists outside of the world is being subtly and gradually transplanted by a concept of God that not only is immanent throughout all of nature but exists in the human consciousness itself. Campbell speaks of "the next great movement that will emerge". He summarizes his chapters by saying there will be a great eon of "432,000 years, terminating in a cosmic battle, dissolution, and renewal", which sounds a lot like End Times. And as part of the myths of Western civilization, and of the world, he also speaks of "the priestly knowers of that cosmic order... the priestly watchers of the sky", whom we could easily define as astrologers who use "celestial observations" to recognize the orders of human experience, and the realizations to which human nature need subscribe.

His chapters in this wonderful book include earliest myth and ritual, The Serpent's Bride, regarding the Mother Goddess, The Consort of the Bull (also part of the Age of the Goddess), and then chapters on the Age of Heroes: of the Levant and of the European West; and then the Age of the Great Classics: of the Persians, the Greeks, and Great Rome; and finally the Age of the Great Beliefs including The Cross & The Crescent, and Europe Resurgent.

As I read this not-new book, originally published in 1964, I had the feeling that it was speaking directly to us now, at this ending of a great age and this new beginning, with this epic struggle taking place between Western Civilization - not versus Eastern thought - but versus the two types of monotheism. And also the great clash that is right under our noses, between the resurrection of the Mother Goddess and the last gasps of resistance of the masculine God. We are on the verge of some new not-yet-defined amalgam of human mythology. And perhaps another scholar of the caliber of Joseph Campbell can someday write the description of the new universalized human mythology that will be part of the next cycle of evolution of The New Human. In the meantime, I would very much recommend this book, Occidental Mythology, part of his series The Masks of God, as uniquely capable of organizing thoughts on one of the vastest subjects there can be, religious mythology.

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In the beginning of the world, there are always tendrils or feelers of awareness. We do not speak of a world being created by molten and seismic forces, of clashes of matter, or of celestial energy bolts, but of worlds being created through awareness on what is called Inner Planes, for that is where consciousness is born and comes into being, and knows itself. And then spreads itself further, picking and choosing the nature of experience, and ultimately forming through thoughts impinging upon energies a structure.

This structure may contain planets, suns, and other heavenly objects. Or this structure can remain amorphous, with whirlpools and vortexes of energy pooling, coagulating, circulating, and moving away or returning hither, creating thus worlds known as energy realms or even as gas giants. It is up to the tendrils of awareness and the feelers they put forth to build a world. Knowing this, as you (humanity) are coming to do, means that you will soon realize that your world - the place you exist - is based upon choice.

Having chosen Earth - for here you are, reading this - you have chosen a perambulatory form that has sensitivities (sensory equipment) and feelings - that is to say, emotions - together which have come to be known as heart. You live on a world of form in which the role of heart is critical.

Examine yours. Yes, through echocardiogram, but what we mean is, detect its vibration. Is it open? Does it radiate? Does it allow others' energies to enter and affect it, or is it shielded, guarded, implacable, scarred or numb? This is your psyche. Your psyche is the place to transform your world.

When your psyche develops its strength and clarifies its understanding, it becomes as a beacon upon this dim world of solid form, and others can see your light, and moreover, can feel your essence. A wise lighted heart broadcasting love and understanding is a magnet, and draws others to you, which it can then embrace.

To speak of today's world, with its clashes, polarity, sharp contrasts, meager wisdom, and unhappy environment is to yearn for healing. And though some will be called on each of these direct levels, the true healing takes place in the psyche's relationship to its heart. That is why you chose Earth and not merely an energy world.

Be here now. Be brave. Be kind. Be the You who can and will transform the world - your world, Earth's world, everyone's world.