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Location
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Document Type
Paper
Event Website
https://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-54.htm
Start Date
26-7-2026 2:30 PM
End Date
26-7-2026 3:20 PM
Description
What if there was an alternative to Joseph Campbell’s so-called ‘Monomyth’? What if we could dodge yet another rehash of the tired old trope of an oversimplified, Eurocentric ‘Hero’s Journey’? The monomyth is often considered the sine qua non of archetypal modern Western literature. We can easily pick out some of its described elements within both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Silmarillion, and in C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series—as well as within Petrine Christianity, which is the mythic structural basis of both the contemporary bible, and also the fabled worlds of Tolkien and Lewis.
But what if there was another, possibly more reasonable form of Christianity—a road not (yet) taken, so to speak—which simply awaits recognition and beneficial application in order to open up daring new literary journeys for us to boldly adventure? Through the conceptual lens of the ‘Heroine’s Journey,’ we will examine the Gospel of Mary—which describes a fascinatingly genderless, guiltless, and compassionate form of Christianity, dedicated far more to natural life than to death. By so doing, we potentially discover a new philosophical and spiritual tradition which offers fresh, innovative paths for our imaginations to travel in creating vibrant new mythic worlds. What literary journeys await us, once we take advantage of the beautifully symbolic, original gestalt of prophetic vision and jealous pragmatism that is the Gospel of Mary? What can we learn about the Heroine’s Journey from this wise and ancient myth?
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Included in
Today’s Christianity: Are We in the Mirror Universe? A Comparison of Petrine Christianity and the Gospel of Mary via the Heroine’s Journey
Weatherford, Oklahoma
What if there was an alternative to Joseph Campbell’s so-called ‘Monomyth’? What if we could dodge yet another rehash of the tired old trope of an oversimplified, Eurocentric ‘Hero’s Journey’? The monomyth is often considered the sine qua non of archetypal modern Western literature. We can easily pick out some of its described elements within both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Silmarillion, and in C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series—as well as within Petrine Christianity, which is the mythic structural basis of both the contemporary bible, and also the fabled worlds of Tolkien and Lewis.
But what if there was another, possibly more reasonable form of Christianity—a road not (yet) taken, so to speak—which simply awaits recognition and beneficial application in order to open up daring new literary journeys for us to boldly adventure? Through the conceptual lens of the ‘Heroine’s Journey,’ we will examine the Gospel of Mary—which describes a fascinatingly genderless, guiltless, and compassionate form of Christianity, dedicated far more to natural life than to death. By so doing, we potentially discover a new philosophical and spiritual tradition which offers fresh, innovative paths for our imaginations to travel in creating vibrant new mythic worlds. What literary journeys await us, once we take advantage of the beautifully symbolic, original gestalt of prophetic vision and jealous pragmatism that is the Gospel of Mary? What can we learn about the Heroine’s Journey from this wise and ancient myth?
https://dc.swosu.edu/mythcon/mc54/schedule/30
