by Alan Barton, All News Pipeline:
In the middle of April last year ANP published a column of mine speaking of mythology and my views on portions of that very common concept; a recommended good practice would be to go back over that one to obtain some background on my mindset regarding myth and mythology. Our standard definitions source Merriam-Webster defines mythology as “an allegorical narrative” including the body of myths and mythos and “a popular belief or assumption that has grown up around someone or something”. A few synonyms include Folklore, Legend, Lore, Tradition and so forth. Wikipedia mentions on Myth that in a broader sense they refer to any “traditional story, popular misconception or imaginary entity”. While myth and folklore often overlap, they note that “In colloquial use, “myth” can also be used of a collectively held belief that has no basis in fact, or any false story. This usage, which is often pejorative, arose from labelling the religious myths and beliefs of other cultures as incorrect, but it has spread to cover non-religious beliefs as well.” There is obviously far more to it than that mentioned above, but will suffice for our usage in this column.
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Although highly associated with any given societies religious values and norms that may or may not be objectively true, we can also assume that they may be based on that societies historical record or understanding of their interpretation of that record often (almost always actually) modified over time through retelling, embellishment, fanciful renderings, inaccurate observations and so forth such as the stories of King Arthur and the knights of the Roundtable as a convenient example. If not overtly religious in nature such as describing some god and its dealings with lesser humans we can also plainly see that the more common ones in circulation now have risen to a religious fanaticism and associated fever pitch of defense and missionary like conversion actions or even military force to convert the unbelieving. Although it is not our intention to go over in this particular column the intricacies and details of those I want to eventually cover, we may mention simply and cover lightly some to help in our understanding of the thrust of today’s exercise.
In Britannica’s definition of Myth they bring out the idea that myth is “a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief.” They mention one thing that stood out to me initially as it differed from other narratives in that they suggest that myths are separate from symbolic behavior and objects such as ritual and idols even though they specifically state the symbolic nature of them; therefore I disagree with that comment as symbology is not only inherent but the very cause of many of those things. It is in the distinctions between myths that are “true” or just fiction rattled on about some idea, god, historical figure or event or whatever subjects the myth is directly supporting. Or perhaps non-directly supporting I should add as so many of today’s myths would fall into that category as irrational associations are inherent in the very fabric of so many of them.
The psychiatrist Carl Jung said that myth is a necessary portion of the human psyche because it helps to find meaning and order in the world when he wrote “The psyche, as a reflection of the world and man, is a thing of such infinite complexity that it can be observed and studied from a great many sides. It faces us with the same problem that the world does: because a systematic study of the world is beyond our powers, we have to content ourselves with mere rules of thumb and with aspects that particularly interest us. Everyone makes for himself his own segment of world and constructs his own private system, often with air-tight compartments, so that after a time it seems to him that he has grasped the meaning and structure of the whole. But the finite will never be able to grasp the infinite.” That is an astute, appropriate and even poignant concept to understand if we really want to somewhat grasp the nature and histories and attractions of the many and varied myths that flood our daily lives in this day and age. The very concept of something far greater and more powerful than we would tend to give direction or even protection in the very tumultuous world that we find ourselves locked in. The holy, the difficult to understand, the mysterious tend to be powerful protections to psychological reactions to the appearances that our current world gives us just as the reactions to the universe and environment that underlies all religion from the beginning of time.
And with all of this we should not forgo the usages of mythologies in our political systems along with so many of our other daily associations and systems. The more obvious to even a casual observer includes examples such as all democrats are communist revolutionaries simply because so many high ranking ones actually are, or that somehow anyone that appears to be driving evil in the world is mysteriously somehow a “Jew” or that all symbolism seems to be related to Masonic ones or that some Roman emperor that wanted to unite his empire took remnants of various religions including the Christian one (as an aside I note how closely that comment relates to Islam) that was so popular at that time and seemed to be undermining his authority to govern and created his own religion based on his distorted ideas (the source of the Nicene Creed) to remold God in his image in order to control that newly created religion. Very interesting that we just mentioned three religions (or four if the left is considered a religion, which I do) which seems to help confirm the idea that mythology is inherently religious in nature. That idea is rampant in the definitions read while researching this column, but if not originally religious in nature most myths do take on that mantel of association with godhood to embellish the acceptability factor immensely. Oh, and by the way, yes I am most defiantly Christian but do not hold the Nicene views as absolute which seems to be required by so many of today’s organizations and official dogmas. I prefer to study and try to understand the more original translations of the Bible and what was intended, not what was arbitrarily ordained to be THE understandings to be considered “Christian” by a non-Christian monarch as the world at large sees fit to demand. I believe that this clarification is required to perhaps better understand the positions that are presented in this and future columns dealing with mythologies and aberrations of them as my point of views are inherently imbedded as that is the only way I know to convey them. And we can use the above as an example of describing a current myth that is generally accepted as absolute even though if researched it is plainly myth and not unconditional truth. I suppose I should go hand myself in so that the judgments can be rendered and then relegate me to the outer fringes of acceptable and proscribed thought while banning me from cultural gatherings. Don’t worry; the full digital detailing of your life will do that regardless as has been witnessed in not only China and many other nations including this one and will only get far worse as systems are completed and implemented.
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