by Chris McGowan
(first published in 1989)

Before PBS aired Joseph Campbell And The Power Of Myth with Bill Moyers in June of 1988, the mythologist/professor from Sarah Lawrence College was like a treasured secret, little known outside the academic and artistic worlds. A captivating raconteur and formidable scholar, Campbell wrote books such as “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” “The Masks of God” and “The Mythic Image” that revealed the common themes in legends and tales from around the world, from the search for the Holy Grail to the Upanishads to Eskimo fairy tales to Star Wars. He showed how myths echo our deepest needs and dreams, guide us through life’s experiences, and symbolize the spiritual potentialities within us all.

For those lucky enough to attend his classes, one former student described how Campbell’s “cyclone of energy blew across all the intellectual possibilities in the classroom.” When the PBS series -- consisting of six one-hour talks between Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers -- similarly enraptured a national audience and generated an unprecedented response, it was clear that the profound appeal of Campbell’s message reached far beyond the lecture halls of Sarah Lawrence.

More than 35 million viewers viewed Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth on public television in 1988 and ‘89. Its Doubleday Power Of Myth companion book was on the New York Times nonfiction paperback best-seller list for more than a year. In video form, Power of Myth was released in October of 1988 by Mystic Fire Video, a small and highly respected arts video label. The program’s success brought a wide audience to Campbell's work, and one of his sayings, “follow your bliss,” became a pop catchphrase.

Veteran journalist Bill Moyers (“Now”) created and hosted The Power of Myth series. “I had done two hours with Joseph Campbell for ‘Bill Moyers’ Journal‘ back in 1981, and the response was so enthusiastic, the impact so pervasive,” recalls Moyers. “Over 14,000 people wrote in for the transcript of the programs. I felt that Campbell was a wonderful teacher who had so much more to share that I decided to come back at him and do a more extended series.”

In his career up to that point, Moyers had been a speechwriter and chief of staff for President Lyndon Johnson, then moved into broadcast journalism, where he was an executive editor and host of such acclaimed series as “Bill Moyers’ World of Ideas,” “In Search of the Constitution,” and “The Secret Government.” How did he prepare for this leap into Hopi Indian myths, Buddhist scriptures, and the garden of Eden?

“I sent five years at the seminary; I have my degree in theology. And I was an English and history major at the university,” Moyers says. And, he adds, “The series was about life, and it’s a lifetime of experience you draw upon.”

Another of Campbell’s big fans is filmmaker George Lucas. “Lucas credits Campbell’s work as a major source and inspiration for this own work with the Star Wars movies,” comments Moyers. “And when he heard from Joseph Campbell that we wre going to do the series, he called up and offered me his ranch. We did the interviews there in the summers of ‘85 and ‘86. We would do the interviews during the day and then at night sit around and watch the Star Wars trilogy. Campbell delighted in watching it and really felt that Lucas had tapped the modern metaphor.”

Many scholars consider Campbell one of the great intellectual figures of the 20th century. “There’s no question. He integrated so many fields of knowledge -- science, archaeology, anthropology, religion, the arts,” says Moyers. “He was truly a Renaissance man. They don’t make them like that anymore because we’ve become so specialized; we’re so fragmented in our profundity that it’s difficult to build bridges across the disciplines. He could draw on Joyce one moment, the Bhagavad Gita the next, invoke Pindar the Greek poet one point, Confucius on another, and it all came naturally to him. It was not programmed. He lived his learning and learning was his life.

“We all love a good teacher and millions of us are looking for new insights into our lives in this frenetic time. Joseph Campbell integrated a lifetime of learning, thinking, and experience. The result is like what we experience in college when we encountered that gifted teacher who could touch the deepest spring of our being.”

Did the success of the series surprise Moyers? “I knew he had an important message and that it would be popular with some people, but I had no idea it would become the phenomenon it was. It illustrates the power of television as a classroom for a great teacher. It was a simple production; we visually illustrated some ideas at pertinent points, but we never wallpapered the discussion. We let the man’s eyes and mind and face be the instrument of communication. That wouldn’t work with everyone, because not everyone is that inspirational a teacher.”

Campbell died on October 30, 1987, at the age of 83, and he never got to see the Power of Myth reach television. It was his last great lecture series, full of the wisdom of a vigorous man who lived long and well and had also -- in this eighties -- faced mortality. “When we finished shooting at Lucas’ ranch, I think Campbell had an inarticulated premonition that he would not be around for very long,” says Moyers.

Fortunately for the millions who have now viewed the Power of Myth series or read the companion book, Moyers was in the right place at the right time. “I think it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he concludes.

Continue: Joseph Campbell And The Power Of Myth (Review)

"The Myth Is The Message " was originally published in the September, 1989 issue of Tower Pulse! magazine. © Chris McGowan 1989 / 2007.  All rights reserved.  Top photo (Bali architectural detail) by Chris McGowan.

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