WILL LINN is a Philosopher-Storyteller with a Ph.D. in Mythology and Depth Psychology. He is the Founding Chair of the General Education Department at Hussian College -- a new film and performing arts school named by Variety as a top international film school in 2019 and 2020 -- where he teaches courses in myth, story and philosophy. Will participates in documentaries and series as a topic expert on myth and media. "Memory: Origins of Alien" premiered at Sundance before a nation-wide theatrical release in 2019. In 2020, he will be featured in a documentary on mythic landscapes and a series on great myths. Will has served as an editor and director for the Joseph Campbell Foundation as well as a creator and host for the Santa Barbara News-Press radio series, "Mythosophia." He has presented and taught across continents and California for communities like Esalen, Pacifica Graduate Institute, the Philosophical Research Society and Ojai Foundation.
Learn from William and panelists Darren Aronofsky, Jeffrey Kripal & Christopher Vogler for a celebration of Christopher's book The Writers’ Journey 25th Anniversary Edition on October 22nd at 5PM (PT). Michael Wiese Productions and the Myth Salon are honored to host this special event with MC and friend of the family, Corinne Bordeaux, who will lead our discussion on myth, story and Chris’s contributions.
Dave Watson: Congratulations on a great performance in the documentary Memory: The Origins of Alien. You’ve also started Mythosophia(.net). How did this begin?
William Linn: Thank you! Mythosophia.net began as a website for the radio show I was cohosting for the Santa Barbara Press—also called Mythosophia—and a Joseph Campbell Foundation Mythological RoundTable® group at The Ojai Foundation. At the time, I was living with between four-to-eight other PhD candidates in a home we affectionately called, The Mythouse.
After moving to LA and beginning to chair a department for a new film and performing arts college that, at the time, was partnered with Relativity Media, I teamed up with Dana White to begin hosting Myth Salons. A majority of this audience came from our close relationship with the Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association, which primarily consisted of mythologists and depth psychologists.
Along the way, I’d added a variety of other myth and media oriented projects and talks to the platform. And, by sheer luck, just before Covid hit, I renovated the site. Ready for the flood, our events then went online, which enabled our friends around the world to participate in the audience and on the panels. It’s been an incredibly rewarding sense of community. Chris Vogler just happened to be the next scheduled guest for Dana’s house. So he became our first online guest. The topic was on a “Covid Journey.” https://youtu.be/tNFR27nGWog
DW: It was a great one, this last spring. What is your background?
WL: Well, I’ was a philosophy major in college after seizures derailed my first life. And as a second semester college senior just looking for some post lunch story time, I took Greek Mythology. It was then I started seeing the major philosophical questions addressed in a symbolic language. For example, the mind-body problem to which we credit philosophers can be seen in the awakening of clay with fire or breath, which distinguished the body from its consciousness. Meanwhile, I had been writing stories since the night of my first seizure. This recognition revealed what was right in front of my face—the study of myth is the study of how to transpose philosophy into narrative. When I then found Campbell and the Pacifica Myth program, I quickly enrolled.
DW: You have a Ph.D. in mythology. Do you see this in mainstream cinema?
WL: Absolutely, and in two ways. One is in specific myths, with Hercules, fairy tales adapted to modern day. These are literal translations. The second way is through the symbolic imagery, archetypal characters and mythic structures of popular stories.
DW: You see it in, say, current events?
WL: Oh yes. With Trump and COVID, you see the Fisher King motif in which the king’s wound is the same as his land’s. Speaking of Trump, he won on the American myth of revolution vs. status quo tyranny: Pilgrims, the American Revolution, Civil War, WWII, Civil Rights, Women’s Suffrage and Trump vs. the “Status Quo Candidate.” What I’m saying is not about facts. It’s about the power of myth. And the American Myth is one that champions revolutionary change against the enforcer of its status quo.
DW: Who are some of the prominent writers and filmmakers who use mythology in ways you admire?
WL: Darren Aronofsky is a standout student of myth. With Noah, for example, he’s adapting and alchemizing a specific cultural myth. On the other side of the coin, he brings mythic motifs to a near-real world in Mother! The Fountain is a little bit of both. On one hand he is working with specific cultural mythologies—namely those of the Yucatán—at the same time, however, his story spans multiple realities that are all anchored around a common meta narrative. This is seen in his synthesis of a search for the city of gold with a journey to the fountain of youth and tree of life and a cure and enlightenment and immortality.
The Nolan brothers, Snyder’s, Wachowski’s and Terry Gilliam also deserve acknowledgement as incredibly mythic storytellers who engage the unconscious and archetypal imagery we see in our myths and dreams.
Without inner transformation, the outer journey is only a plot. Looking at the Hero’s Journey, without the inner arc, a hero is liable to complete the journey with their hero complex intact. The Hero’s Journey is not the Hero Complex. Let me say it again. The Hero’s Journey is not the Hero Complex. A journey that respects the inner arc presented by Campbell requires an ego death, which is also the death of the hero complex. This is one of the most important nuances for a writer to understand, if influencing humanity in a positive way is a consideration.
DW: You see it in organizations.
WL: It’s been said that one of the most dangerous frames in the world is the one through which men see everything they do as a heroic act.
With Hero of a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell helps fill the void left by those no longer engaged by a single religion. As Jeffrey Kripal says, comparative mythology is for those on their third life. When you grow out of one system, it’s likely into a second; but when you grow out of a second, it can’t be into a third. Instead, it is at this point someone might recognize the value of comparing world religions and mythologies to explore what they share. By guiding people in this position, Campbell was a forerunner to what would become an industry of self help, which compensates for a growing disinterest in orthodox religion.
DW: And the self-help industry has thrived for decades You have an event coming up October 22nd. What is it?
WL: It’s a celebration of the twenty-fifth Edition of Christopher Vogler’s book, The Writer’s Journey. We’ll be bringing in mythologists and mythological filmmakers including Aronofsky, who’s been hugely influenced by Vogler’s work.
A second feature of the event is the work’s healing and transformative influence on people, which we will discuss with Jeffrey Kripal. Jeff is chairman of the board at Esalen Institute, the premier West Coast retreat center; and in joining us, he’ll bring a conversation about how we and our characters can claim authorship of our own stories.
DW: Chris had the sunniest outlook I knew when we talked right after the pandemic hit. It helped me a lot. What’s next for you?
WL: I will continue to lead the General Education Department at Hussian College, where I teach myth and storytelling to undergraduate filmmakers, dancers, musical theatre majors and actors. I’m also really excited about ow Mythosophia(.net) has been evolving since Covid hit. I’m also looking forward to a docuseries about Great Myths I recorded for German TV and the Esalen workshop I’ll co-lead with Chris Vogler in May.
DW: Finally, what is your favorite cinematic moment?
WL: It has to be Truman in The Truman Show when he leaves a room and walks through that door.
DW: You’re the first to mention that in my seven years of interviews, and we all remember the part from twenty-two years ago.
WL: Yes. It follows a fight with his maker to transcend his illusion. It’s about him walking away, and about liberating, transcending illusion. It’s more powerful than finding truth. It’s the crossing of the return threshold, and it’s one of the most individuate moments in film.
Clip: The Truman Show
Learn from William and panelists Darren Aronofsky, Jeffrey Kripal & Christopher Vogler for a celebration of Christopher's book The Writers’ Journey 25th Anniversary Edition on October 22nd at 5PM (PT). Michael Wiese Productions and the Myth Salon are honored to host this special event with MC and friend of the family, Corinne Bordeaux, who will lead our discussion on myth, story and Chris’s contributions.
Dave Watson: Congratulations on a great performance in the documentary Memory: The Origins of Alien. You’ve also started Mythosophia(.net). How did this begin?
William Linn: Thank you! Mythosophia.net began as a website for the radio show I was cohosting for the Santa Barbara Press—also called Mythosophia—and a Joseph Campbell Foundation Mythological RoundTable® group at The Ojai Foundation. At the time, I was living with between four-to-eight other PhD candidates in a home we affectionately called, The Mythouse.
After moving to LA and beginning to chair a department for a new film and performing arts college that, at the time, was partnered with Relativity Media, I teamed up with Dana White to begin hosting Myth Salons. A majority of this audience came from our close relationship with the Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association, which primarily consisted of mythologists and depth psychologists.
Along the way, I’d added a variety of other myth and media oriented projects and talks to the platform. And, by sheer luck, just before Covid hit, I renovated the site. Ready for the flood, our events then went online, which enabled our friends around the world to participate in the audience and on the panels. It’s been an incredibly rewarding sense of community. Chris Vogler just happened to be the next scheduled guest for Dana’s house. So he became our first online guest. The topic was on a “Covid Journey.” https://youtu.be/tNFR27nGWog
DW: It was a great one, this last spring. What is your background?
WL: Well, I’ was a philosophy major in college after seizures derailed my first life. And as a second semester college senior just looking for some post lunch story time, I took Greek Mythology. It was then I started seeing the major philosophical questions addressed in a symbolic language. For example, the mind-body problem to which we credit philosophers can be seen in the awakening of clay with fire or breath, which distinguished the body from its consciousness. Meanwhile, I had been writing stories since the night of my first seizure. This recognition revealed what was right in front of my face—the study of myth is the study of how to transpose philosophy into narrative. When I then found Campbell and the Pacifica Myth program, I quickly enrolled.
DW: You have a Ph.D. in mythology. Do you see this in mainstream cinema?
WL: Absolutely, and in two ways. One is in specific myths, with Hercules, fairy tales adapted to modern day. These are literal translations. The second way is through the symbolic imagery, archetypal characters and mythic structures of popular stories.
DW: You see it in, say, current events?
WL: Oh yes. With Trump and COVID, you see the Fisher King motif in which the king’s wound is the same as his land’s. Speaking of Trump, he won on the American myth of revolution vs. status quo tyranny: Pilgrims, the American Revolution, Civil War, WWII, Civil Rights, Women’s Suffrage and Trump vs. the “Status Quo Candidate.” What I’m saying is not about facts. It’s about the power of myth. And the American Myth is one that champions revolutionary change against the enforcer of its status quo.
DW: Who are some of the prominent writers and filmmakers who use mythology in ways you admire?
WL: Darren Aronofsky is a standout student of myth. With Noah, for example, he’s adapting and alchemizing a specific cultural myth. On the other side of the coin, he brings mythic motifs to a near-real world in Mother! The Fountain is a little bit of both. On one hand he is working with specific cultural mythologies—namely those of the Yucatán—at the same time, however, his story spans multiple realities that are all anchored around a common meta narrative. This is seen in his synthesis of a search for the city of gold with a journey to the fountain of youth and tree of life and a cure and enlightenment and immortality.
The Nolan brothers, Snyder’s, Wachowski’s and Terry Gilliam also deserve acknowledgement as incredibly mythic storytellers who engage the unconscious and archetypal imagery we see in our myths and dreams.
Without inner transformation, the outer journey is only a plot. Looking at the Hero’s Journey, without the inner arc, a hero is liable to complete the journey with their hero complex intact. The Hero’s Journey is not the Hero Complex. Let me say it again. The Hero’s Journey is not the Hero Complex. A journey that respects the inner arc presented by Campbell requires an ego death, which is also the death of the hero complex. This is one of the most important nuances for a writer to understand, if influencing humanity in a positive way is a consideration.
DW: You see it in organizations.
WL: It’s been said that one of the most dangerous frames in the world is the one through which men see everything they do as a heroic act.
With Hero of a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell helps fill the void left by those no longer engaged by a single religion. As Jeffrey Kripal says, comparative mythology is for those on their third life. When you grow out of one system, it’s likely into a second; but when you grow out of a second, it can’t be into a third. Instead, it is at this point someone might recognize the value of comparing world religions and mythologies to explore what they share. By guiding people in this position, Campbell was a forerunner to what would become an industry of self help, which compensates for a growing disinterest in orthodox religion.
DW: And the self-help industry has thrived for decades You have an event coming up October 22nd. What is it?
WL: It’s a celebration of the twenty-fifth Edition of Christopher Vogler’s book, The Writer’s Journey. We’ll be bringing in mythologists and mythological filmmakers including Aronofsky, who’s been hugely influenced by Vogler’s work.
A second feature of the event is the work’s healing and transformative influence on people, which we will discuss with Jeffrey Kripal. Jeff is chairman of the board at Esalen Institute, the premier West Coast retreat center; and in joining us, he’ll bring a conversation about how we and our characters can claim authorship of our own stories.
DW: Chris had the sunniest outlook I knew when we talked right after the pandemic hit. It helped me a lot. What’s next for you?
WL: I will continue to lead the General Education Department at Hussian College, where I teach myth and storytelling to undergraduate filmmakers, dancers, musical theatre majors and actors. I’m also really excited about ow Mythosophia(.net) has been evolving since Covid hit. I’m also looking forward to a docuseries about Great Myths I recorded for German TV and the Esalen workshop I’ll co-lead with Chris Vogler in May.
DW: Finally, what is your favorite cinematic moment?
WL: It has to be Truman in The Truman Show when he leaves a room and walks through that door.
DW: You’re the first to mention that in my seven years of interviews, and we all remember the part from twenty-two years ago.
WL: Yes. It follows a fight with his maker to transcend his illusion. It’s about him walking away, and about liberating, transcending illusion. It’s more powerful than finding truth. It’s the crossing of the return threshold, and it’s one of the most individuate moments in film.
Clip: The Truman Show
