Once and Future Myths: The Power of Ancient Stories in Modern Times

by Phil Cousineau

Book Overview

Phil Cousineau illustrates how myths are the stories of real life whether people are conscious of them as myths or not. He shows readers how, by becoming aware of myths in both their historical and present form, they can read the world better, with a deeper understanding of work, love, creativity, and spirituality. The book retells classic myths such as Eros and Psyche and provides new accounts of more contemporary mythmakers such as Jim Morrison...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573241466
• ISBN13: 9781573241465
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: Conari Press
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Are you living a myth or a life?

This book changed my life. The chapter on Sisyphus alone (a metaphor for the creative struggle) was worth the price of admission. Phil Cousineau weaves endearing personal stories throughout the sharp scholarship as a means to ease us into feeling comfortable with the many complex (yet surprising) ideas about myth (classical, world, modern, popular) he shares with us. It's not about him though, it's really about finding our own stories, our own personal myths. And figuring out what is truly meaningful for us no matter where we are in our lives. Through stories about relationships, travel, sports, music, time, and countless other ways and associations, he clues us in to what deeper issues lie under the surface of things. It's not a breezy read; Cousineau has an amazing way of linking diverse subjects and finding correspondences amongst odd topics that may meander but are always delightful. A world-traveler, tortured writer, devoted father, sports fan, and humble wise man rolled up in one, Cousineau inspires us to reach for more. Highly recommended.

Not what I expected

I enjoyed this book because of its wide-ranging subjects...the way he related baseball to Paris to philosophy to food to Easter Island to...etc. I thought his first chapter on the myth of Sisyphus worked the best. I was expecting each chapter to be related to some Greek or other classic myth, and how that myth resonates in our modern lives, but this is not what he did, except for that 1st chapter. Nevertheless, a good, thought-provoking book, not overly New-Agey.

Speaks directly to the human need to find meaning

In Once And Future Myths: The Power Of Ancient Stories In Modern Times, author Phil Cousinaeu, (a longtime student and colleague of Joseph Campbell) views mythology as a living phenomenon with immediate impact in daily human life. Through understanding the nature of mythical stories, Cousinaeu explains, we are better able to understand what drives us to work, love, create, and dream. Integrating psychology, history, and mythology into a unified gem of insight, Once And Future Myths includes such topics as "How the Myth of Time that we are living determines our quality of life" and "How the Myth of Creative Struggle teaches us to embrace failure as a learning experience." Once And Future Myths speaks directly to the human need to find meaning to our lives.

What are your personal myths, what's your story?

Read this book to find insight into your own life story. And to Phil Cousineau, "myth" is "story." An independent scholar and veteran traveler, Cousineau has written 14 books, made 12 documentary films, and has studied and taught with many great thinkers of our times -- including his mentor, mythologist Joseph Campbell. All this learning and creating has poised Cousineau to be able to reflect on life and its mythic dimensions for people today. He shows how myth is the "overpowering story" that explains different aspects of our lives (we usually have more than one going on at a time), which has the potential to be creative or destructive. He asks himself, and challenges readers to ask "What myth is at work here and now?" "What sacred story is driving me to do what I do, believe what I do, go where I go?" It's filled with poignant personal stories, anecdotes, and insights from ancient classical myths--from Sisyphus to Sinatra! You'll be thoroughly absorbed by this book. Read on!