How we cite our quotes: (Page.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The unconscious sends all sorts of vapors, odd beings, terrors, and deluding images up into the mind—whether in dream, broad daylight, or insanity; for the human kingdom, beneath the floor of the comparatively neat little dwelling that we call our consciousness, goes down into unsuspected Aladdin caves. There not only jewels but also dangerous jinn abide: the inconvenient or resisted psychological powers that we have not thought or dared to integrate into our lives. (7.4)
There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, and we're not normally aware of them in our day-to-day lives. But the subconscious is, and through our dreams—and from the stories that come from dreams—we can start to understand the universe beyond our perceptions.
Quote #2
Modern literature is devoted, in great measure, to a courageous, open-eyed observation of the sickeningly broken figurations that abound before us, around us, and within. (25.3)
Campbell takes a big dig at the modern world here, in part because it cuts us off from real spirituality: a communing with the universe that needs to take place if we're going to truly understand what it is to be alive.
Quote #3
With that reliance for support, one endures the crisis—only to find, in the end, that the father and mother reflect each other, and are in essence the same. (120.1)
Spirituality in The Hero with a Thousand Faces is all about unity: realizing that we're not so different and that the "other" we keep demonizing and fighting is really just another part of ourselves. That goes for mom and dad too… even when mom and dad seem to be fighting.
Quote #4
The good news, which the World Redeemer brings and which so many have been glad to hear, zealous to preach, but reluctant, apparently, to demonstrate, is that God is love, that He can be, and is to be, loved, and that all without exception are his children. (146.1)
This is the central message, with a few modifications, of most religions in the world. It's a very simple equation, and yet so hard to achieve, in part because we're so obsessed with our differences and the surface details that drive us apart.
Quote #5
We and that protecting father are one. This is the redeeming insight. That protecting father is every man we meet. And so it must be known that, though this ignorant, limited, self-defending, suffering body may regard itself as threatened by some other—the enemy—that one too is the God. (148.2)
Campbell's not saying, "do what your dad says" here. But he comes from a Freudian school of thought and Freud was big on confronting the authoritarian figures that hold you down: symbolic fathers if not literal ones.
Quote #6
If the God is a tribal, racial, national, or sectarian archetype, we are the warriors of his cause; but if he is a lord of the universe itself, we then go forth as knowers to whom all men are brothers. And in either case, the childhood parent images and ideas of "good" and "evil' have been surpassed. (149.1)
Notice how Campbell eliminates the notion of conflict when it comes to spirituality. We can't fight those who are different; we have to understand them. (Of course, that means different people have to play by the same rules, but nobody said this process was painless.)
Quote #7
It is obvious that the infantile fantasies which we all cherish still in the unconscious play continually into myth, fairy tale, and the teachings of the church, as symbols of indestructible being. This is helpful, for the mind feels at home with the images, and seems to be remembering something already known. But the circumstance is obstructive too, for the feelings come to rest in the symbols and resist passionately every effort to go beyond. (164.1)
The Hero's Journey is spiritual in nature, but it can also block us. That's because it symbolizes this greater understanding, these truths about the universe, and while those symbols can help us on our way, we can't be deluded into thinking they're ends in and of themselves.
Quote #8
Humor is the touchstone of the truly mythological as distinct from the more literal-minded and sentimental theological mood. The gods as icons are not ends in themselves. (167.1)
Humor as a path of spirituality…what a great concept. Part of it comes from the understanding that we all want to be happy and that the universe has the means to make us happy…if only we let it. Remembering to laugh and take joy in life is a good way to do that.
Quote #9
Symbolic expression is given to the unconscious desires, fears, and tensions that underlie the conscious patterns of human behavior. (237.2)
It's all about symbols with Campbell, and spirituality depends both on identifying what the symbols are trying to tell us and understanding how that fits into our own lives. That's why we're the heroes of our own story.
Quote #10
And so, to grasp the full value of the mythological figures that have come down to us, we must understand that they are not only symptoms of the unconscious (as indeed are all human thoughts and acts) but also controlled and intended statements of certain spiritual principles, which have remained as constant throughout the course of human history as the form and nervous structure of the human physique itself. (239.1)
Our dreams, and the creativity that comes from our unconscious minds, are the way we have of interfacing with the fundamentals of the universe. Our bodies, the way our brains are physically put together, are the prefect way of collecting the signals from the great beyond and opening us up to what the world may hold for us.