Mythos — Season 1, Episode 2: The Spirit Land: How myths awakened American Indians to the mystery of life

Episode synopsis

"The Spirit Land" initiates us in to the world of the American Indian. He begins by looking at modern society and the cycle of life that we all travel through. Campbell asks us difficult questions such as "Are you the vehicle of consciousness or are you the consciousness?" These themes are especially evident through the letter of Chief Seattle to the President. The psyche of the American Indian is completely different to that of the European Americans. It is from here that one can understand better the concept of what myth means to a culture.

About Mythos

Mythos is a three-part documentary that consists of a series of lectures given by Joseph Campbell. Campbell conceived of the original lectures, filmed over the last six years of his life, as a summation of what he had learned about the human mythic impulse, in terms of psychology, ethnology and comparative mythology—what he called "the one great story of mankind."

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Psyche & Symbol: The psychological impulse for and response to myth
• E3On Being Human: The emergence of myth in early hunter-gatherer societies
• E4From Goddesses to God: The gradual shift from the Goddess to male, warlike deities
• E5The Mystical Life: Non-biblical mythic strains that helped shape the Western spirit