Fiction

Joseph Campbell

Posted by Eden

Joseph Campbell was a professor of mythology, speaker and prolific writer, whose influence was so far-reaching that Newsweek, upon his death in 1987, called him “one of the rarest of intellectuals in American life: a serious thinker who has been embraced by the popular culture.”

Campbell applied Jungian theory to his study of mythology and added his own perspective in the realm of spirituality and human potential.

He believed that all religions, at their core, sought the same elemental life force from which everything came, within which everything currently exists, and into which everything will return. Although this cannot be expressed in words, spiritual rituals and stories refer to the force through the use of “metaphors”—these metaphors being the various stories, deities, and objects of spirituality we see in the world. For example, the Genesis myth in the Bible ought not be taken as a literal description of actual events, but rather its poetic, metaphorical meaning should be examined for clues concerning the fundamental truths of the world and our existence.

Accordingly, Campbell believed the religions of the world to be the various, culturally influenced “masks” of the same fundamental, transcendent truths.

In his own words: “People feel panicky at the thought that we might all have something in common, that they are giving up some exclusive hold on the truth. It is something like discovering that you are a Frenchman and a human being at the same time. That is exactly the challenge that the great religions face in the Space Age.”

Campbell was fascinated with what he viewed as basic, universal truths, expressed in different manifestations across different cultures. For example, in the preface to his book: “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, he said a goal of his was to demonstrate similarities between Eastern and Western religions. In his four-volume series of books “The Masks of God”, Campbell tried to summarize the main spiritual threads common throughout the world while examining their local manifestations.

Note – excerpts above taken from The Joseph Campbell Foundation site and Wikipedia

From “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell:

“We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us — the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.”

Vision Speak – Category Finalist

Posted by Eden

Eric Hoffer Awards - Finalist
Eric Hoffer Awards – Finalist

My novel, “Vision Speak“, has just been named a Category Finalist in the Eric Hoffer Awards for Independent Book Publishing.

 Because “Vision Speak” was originally published in 2010 and this is the first time I have submitted to these awards, I had to enter in the Legacy Fiction category as many of the books up for awards would have been published in the previous year.

From the Eric Hoffer Awards Site: “After our rigorous first round of judging, less than 10% of the titles become category finalists. We consider this a distinction of its own merit and, in 2008, began officially listing these titles on-line. Finalists are selected by category scoring. There are typically 1-6 books per category selected as a finalist. Finalists fall into approximately the upper 10% of all books that entered the contest.”

Vision Speak Pilot

Posted by Eden

A TV Bible and Pilot Script have been developed for Vision Speak.  The pilot script was submitted to the Screencraft Pilot Launch Script competition.

The quarter-finalists have been announced and “Vision Speak, the Series” made the first round!  For more about the novel or the series script, check out the vision-speak.com site.

Logline

A young woman’s emerging abilities propel her from shy art student to a catalyst for humanity’s transformation – or destruction – in a dangerous post-apocalyptic world.

Theme

Vision Speak is about exploring the balance between the brilliance of humanity and our destructive, dangerous tendencies and how we might rise above them.  Concepts involving the connectedness of all living beings and our untapped potential, especially with our “unconscious mind” and spiritual natures are explored.

Clifton Screening in York Region

Posted by Eden

A “Best of” collage from some of the Clifton short films, along with some new footage, was submitted to the Multimedia Film Festival of York Region (http://www.yorkregionfilmfestival.com/).  Selected films are shown at various venues around the region.

I just found out that on May 7th, “Clifton” has been selected to screen at the Aurora Cultural Centre along with 16 other short films.

I must confess to being a touch squeamish about this showing as, for the first time, I put myself on camera to pull the various stories together, playing Clifton’s frustrated neighbour “Janet”.  I have preferred to hide behind the camera up until now.  🙂

Here is the film that will be showing:

https://vimeo.com/85310688

Is Socialization Essential to our Survival?

Posted by Eden

I’ve always been fascinated by that time in our distant past when we shared this planet with another sentient species – the Neanderthals.  No doubt my initial interest was fueled by Jean M Auel’s incredible books, starting with the “The Clan of the Cave Bears”.

When I was working on my novel, “Vision Speak”,  I spent some time researching the evolution of man and the crossroads that our collective species faced at this time 40,000 years ago and what drove us to become an advanced species with mastery over the planet.  Early steps toward this seemed to be formed during that crucial period of time in Europe leading into the last ice age.  Jared Diamond’s book “Guns, Germs, and Steel” had some interesting information about the evolution of humans, in particular analyzing why some areas of the world progressed at a rapid technological pace while others remained relatively primitive.

Recently, I came across a fascinating BBC series, called “The Human Journey” on this very topic, which I highly recommend.  This is available on youtube with the particular episode about humans and Neandertals in Europe at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfIv76FrHDUHomo neanderthalensis, or the Neanderthals, are a distant cousin on the evolution chain to our species, Homo Sapiens.  There is evidence that they arrived in Europe around 800,000 years ago.  The earliest Homo Sapiens appeared on the scene in Africa around 160,000 to 200,000 years ago.

The 40,000 year old mystery that anthropologists have been investigating involves the survival of the human race during this time in our history when we co-habited Europe with the other sentient species.  When our homo sapien ancestors immigrated to Europe out of Africa, the Neanderthals were already well established there.  There is no evidence of warfare between our two species and yet the Neanderthals, who rivaled humans in the areas of brain power and physical strength, eventually became extinct while humanity evolved and prospered.  Why?  Experts have speculated that a key factor was our wider social networks, as evidenced by spiritual practices and gatherings, icons and artwork, as opposed to the more isolated grouping of Neanderthal populations.

So, our species’ ability to share ideas and connect beyond our immediate social group may have been what allowed us to evolve and thrive even in the face of scarce resources during an ice age.

Yet many have questioned the viability of our species in the centuries to come.  Certainly, we’ve all feared where we may be going when we consider the effects of war and oppression, after viewing evidence of human carnage, cruelty, and torture, when we come to understand our growing populations and the effect of our progress on our planet’s diminishing resources.

Perhaps our growing world community enabled by social networking can provide a key to our survival from these dangers.

Upcoming Events and Announcements

Posted by Eden

This coming Friday, December 2nd, come to the Book Launch and Book Fair at the York Simcoe Literacy Council in Newmarket.  For more information, visit author Heather Lambert’s site at http://cassiusvampire.com/news-and-events

I will be onsite to sell my novel, “Vision Speak” (www.vision-speak.com), along with other local authors.  As this is Heather’s book launch, she will do a reading from Cassius Blood Rights, her new vampire novel, at 6pm

======================================================================================

The Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts (www.bmfa.on.ca) in Collingwood is a juried show featuring creative work by local artists and artisans.  “Vision Speak” is available for sale at this show during November and December of 2011.

WINTERS GIFT

November 3 to December 31st –  The Arts Centre

The Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts presents Winters Gift, a fine art and craft show and sale. Opening on November 3 and running until December 31, 2011 the show includes the work of over 30 of the regions talented artists and artisans. Pottery, jewellery, woodworking, glass, painting and more will be beautifully presented in the historic Arts Centre building adjacent to the Gayety Theatre. Support local arts while taking home an exquisite one of a kind gift.

The Arts Centre will be open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 – 5 pm and Sundays 1- 4 pm.

========================================================================================

Check out the beautiful photographs of water at http://chasingthelight.photoshelter.com/gallery/WATER-WATER-EVERYWHERE-WINNERS/G0000yjGgxOuAi8c/  I was delighted to discover that my photo Apple Rapids was a runner up in this competition amongst so many amazing pictures.. 

The Future Starts ToDAY

Posted by Eden

In previous posts, I’ve shared a little bit about the ups and downs over the past year of first releasing my novel, “Vision Speak”, with a publisher that didn’t work out and ultimately making the decision that I needed to move on.  Since then, I got my rights back and last month, re-released “Vision Speak” via “Future Day Publications” (my company), printed by Ardith.  The beautiful new cover for the book was designed by my sister, Rebecca Marsden. 

As I am very busy with my job in the software industry and have slowed down promotional activities for the moment, I’ve been experimenting with a new medium for sharing my work – Youtube,  I’ve created a Youtube channel called “Future Day Productions” which will have a mix of personal videos, “Vision Speak” related videos and video-blogs (vlogs).  I’ve included a couple of the first videos I’ve recently produced below.  These are a novice effort but fun to do and I’m excited by the possibilities.  Perhaps I’m having too much fun mixing in a variety of pictures and video clips.  You’ll have to let me know if you have some suggestions..

Introduction to “Vision Speak”:

 Dreams and Wizardry on Silver Creek: