Superstition of Invisible Hands

Posted by Lisa on: 04.02.2006 /

Welcome back from the weekend break.

A recent visitor to the First Timers page (comment #6) brought up this quote from Joseph Campbell during a conversation with Bill Moyers.

BILL MOYERS: Do you ever have the sense of… being helped by hidden hands?

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: All the time. It is miraculous. I even have a superstition that has grown on me as a result of invisible hands coming all the time - namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.

Lisa’s question:

*How do you feel about Campbell’s use of the word ‘superstition’ here?
*How do you, as an Atheist or Christian/follower of Jesus, feel about this quote?
*As an Atheist have you ever sensed this “superstition ..of invisible hands” ?

More on Joseph Campbell

9 Responses to "Superstition of Invisible Hands"

  • Comment by: Ir

    1 04/3/06 4:38 AM | Comment Link |

    Good questions, Lisa :)

    I’ve come across beliefs like Joseph Campbell’s - that there is some nebulous guiding force in the universe.

    I don’t ascribe to it myself. What I find is that sometimes I think - wow, if I did believe in God I would definitely be thanking God right now for how things have worked out. And maybe I even go beyond that and think for a moment “Hey maybe God does exist after all”. But then I think - yeah, whatever, and get on with my life without God. Because I’ve been down that thought path too many times already. I know what lies further down it: for me it’s a dead-end of unanswerable questions. And I’m trying to avoid dead-ends.

  • Comment by: Peter in Pennsylvania

    2 04/3/06 5:24 AM | Comment Link |

    I think if we all, Xian and non-Xian alike, really honestly evaluated ourselves, we’d see that we all have some superstitous tendencies, since we are all ignorant of a great many things. For instance… I have very little understanding of how my car works, because I generally pay a mechanic to fix things about it. I don’t really understand micro-biology… so, by definition, I might be somewhat superstitious about it.

    I think he meant “superstition” in a good way… somehow… but it falls flat for me.

    “Follow Your Bliss?” There are TOO many examples of people who have done this throughout history and it’s left horrible stains behind. I think Hitler was following his bliss. I think Chalres Manson probably was, Pol Pot was, and so many serial killers. If we were all balanced, healthy, and good to others, I guess that would work. But guess what… we’re not.

  • Comment by: Tom E

    3 04/3/06 11:16 PM | Comment Link |

    Campbell was clearly trying to describe something he found to be very profound and valuable in his life, something that he believed was, in a very real sense, available to others as well. Perhaps he used the word ’superstition’ precisely because he didn’t want to reify (make a ‘thing’ out of) the source of the experience and thereby provoke people to go off looking for ‘it’ or debate about whether or not ‘it’ exists. At the same time, he apparently did want to retain the poetic sense of the experience. In order for his idea to be taken seriously, does it have to be described in the most banal or abstract terms possible? In the context of that interview, Campbell was trying to describe what it’s like to both create/discover and make progress toward a truly life-fulfilling goal — and actually experience happiness in the process.

  • Comment by: Lisa W.

    4 04/4/06 12:12 PM | Comment Link |

    I agree with Tom E.s impressions of this quote.
    thanks Tom.
    I thought it was interesting that he paired this word ’superstition’ with the idea of a ‘helping hand’. The word superstition has always rung for me as a kind of flimsy notion. Yet, here he blends it with something poetic and substantive.
    I just thought it was very interesting.

  • Comment by: Lisa W.

    5 04/4/06 2:49 PM | Comment Link |

    Ir said,

    ..And maybe I even go beyond that and think for a moment “Hey maybe God does exist after all”. But then I think - yeah, whatever, and get on with my life without God. Because I’ve been down that thought path too many times already. I know what lies further down it: for me it’s a dead-end of unanswerable questions. And I’m trying to avoid dead-ends.

    I imagine that avoiding ‘unanswerable questions’ is a pretty human trait. Many people seem to find a way to settle into the mystery and allow the questions to just BE.

  • Comment by: TXatheist

    6 04/5/06 6:52 AM | Comment Link |

    I’m one of those guys who does not subscribe to the idea -what comes around goes around. I usually try to do something logical in order to fix a particular dilemma. I will sometimes lose the remote control but I don’t go looking for it out in the yard. I check the sofa cushions and near the refrigerator or any room I went into recently but I will admit sometimes I am baffled at how I left the tv remote near the tv. What’s the purpose of a remote then:)

  • Comment by: candy cane

    7 04/13/06 8:30 AM | Comment Link |

    Superstion- A practice irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature by faith in “magic” or “chance” but shhhhhhh don’t tell em . They get mad!!!

  • Comment by: candy cane

    8 04/13/06 8:31 AM | Comment Link |

    Superstition, (whoops)

  • Comment by: candy cane

    9 04/13/06 3:28 PM | Comment Link |

    Ir I know you will have me erased but I gotta say it . You are a cowardly wuss my friend . There is not an ounce of manly man in you . You are simply a wuss………….