Anybody who doubts the power of myth should go down to San Diego’s Convention Center this weekend and watch an estimated one-hundred-fifty thousand people of all ages waiting for hours to get into the hall to see and buy iconic trinkets and costumes representing their favorite modern mythical characters. Many of them have come in costume. I saw at least a hundred versions of Luke Skywalker and as many Princess Leias, a dozen Harry Potters, and several of the comic-book characters I loved when I was a boy. Participants in the Comic Con Convention range from elementary school children to octogenarians. Some are serious devotees, and others were there as I was this morning for the spectacle. I had come down on my bicycle with no intention of going inside, but I must confess that I’d have liked to see what’s inside... at twenty dollars a pop, tickets were all sold out.

Once each week I participate with a group of close friends in philosophical discussions, and this summer we are reviewing the creation myths of several historical civilizations, some long gone from the earth and others persisting with full force into the present time. We are revisiting the PBS series, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers.