Activity

This passage from Joseph Campbell kind of made sense to me vis-a-vis the idea of Affektenlerhe:
“Dr. John W. Perry has characterized the living mythological symbol as an “affect image.” It is an image that hits one where it counts. It is not addressed first to the brain, to be there interpreted and appreciated. On the contrary, if that is where it has to be read, the symbol is already dead. An “affect image” talks directly to the feeling system and immediately elicits a response, after which the brain may come along with its interesting comments. There is some kind of throb of resonance within, responding to the image shown without, like the answer of a musical string to another equally tuned. (Myths to Live By (NY, Viking Penguin,1972 — pp.89-90)