Part 2: Chapter 1, Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 Summary and Analysis

These four sections examine the process of emergence (creation) from a mythic/symbolic perspective.

"Out of the Void - Space" Campbell suggests in this section that cultures, religions and societies throughout the world (cultures as diverse as the Maori from New Zealand, the Hebrews in the Middle East and the Chinese in the Far East) have all created mythologized explanations for the process of life/noise emerging from nothingness/silence. These, he says, are the stories of how the universal power, God's will, the Great Mystery, the Unmoved Mover (see "Important People"), the source of all things, manifests and/or incarnates as the world and its basic physical components (day / night, earth/water/fire/ metal/air, etc.).

"Within Space - Life" "The first effect of the cosmogonic emanations [of universal power]," Campbell says, "is the...