My general area of study for this fall semester is comparative mythology and religion. Specifically, I would like to concentrate on bringing the hero experience into peoples individual lives by creating a modern equivalent to the ancient initiation ritual schools, which taught by whole environment, multi-sensory experience. 

I will begin my study by looking into the various views of the hero’s role, in order to establish a clear idea of what experience I am attempting to convey to people. Next I would like to concentrate on the stages of the ego’s growth from the unconscious mind from Neumann’s perspective, and its eventual urge towards balance with the unconscious, or individuation, as portrayed by Jung. I intend on then heading towards an analysis of ancient rituals, specifically looking into the meanings of symbolic action taken in rituals. Then I would like to look into the theories of the psychological effects of physical space, including how light and sound waves effect the human consciousness. Finally, I would like to make an attempt at formulating some clear specific rituals for people to enact as a way of summing up my work thus far. 

Hopefully by the end of this semester I will have some clear ideas of a few specific ritual experiences which I could at some later date experiment with using test subjects. 

packet descriptions: 

First Packet: A focus on the role of the hero from various points of view. Primary texts: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, The Female Hero by Pierson and Pope, and Shambala: The Way of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa. 

Second Packet: A focus on the growth of the ego out of the unconscious mind, and its eventual urge toward individuation. Primary texts: The Origin and History of Consciousness by Erich Neumann, the Sacred and the Profane by Mircea Eliade. 

Third Packet: A focus on analyzing and interpreting ritual action. Primary texts: Toys and Reason by Erik H. Erikson, Weaving the Vision by a bunch of cool chicks, and the Eranos Yearbooks vols. 1-6 edited by Joseph Campbell. 

Fourth Packet: A focus on the effects of physical space on the consciousness, including an analysis of how light and sound effect the psyche. Primary texts: Sacred Geometry by Robert Lawlor. 

Fifth Packet: A focus on summing up my previous work in an attempt to pull together the various subjects of my study into one cohesive work, with at least one complete theoretical ritual which can at a later date be enacted by test subjects. 

  
bibliography 

Campbell, Joseph. Hero with a Thousand Faces, Princeton University Press, 1990 

Campbell, Joseph (editor). Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks, 6 vols. Princeton University Press, 

Coffin, Teistram P. The Female Hero in folklore and Legend, Seabury Press, 1975 

Eliade, Mircea. Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, Peter Smith, 1983 

Erikson, Erik H. Toys and Reason: Stages in the Ritualization of Experience, Norton Press, 1977 

Lawlor, Robert. Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice, Thames and Hudson, 1989 

Trungpa, Chogyam. Shambala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Shambala Publications, 1988