Musing about Myth - part I

I’ve been enjoying reading the late Joseph Campbell.  Campbell, who died in 1987 at age 83, was a leading expert in comparative mythology.  After studying mythology and religions from throughout the world his whole life, he had a gift for distilling seemingly big issues down to their essence.  In his book, “Pathways to Bliss,” he says this about the concept of God:

 “We personify the mystery of the universe as God.”

Some might question summing up such a big idea in 9 words, but my reaction on reading it was more like “Oh…. Duh.  Of course that’s right.”

As humans have expanded knowledge of the universe back in time to the Big Bang, out in space to the galaxies beyond ours, and down to the fundamental makings of matter far smaller than the atom, the nature of the mystery has changed.  But there is still much mystery to be personified, should one care to. 

Another observation of his that I found profound was his clear identification of elements of religious mythology, including things like the virgin birth and the resurrection (both of which occur in many other mythologies besides the Judeo-Christian), and his straightforward assessment that the error of many religions is to think that their myths are historic fact. 

I think that he believes that myth actually has more power and relevance if it is understood as such, and that insisting that people believe in a myth as if it was historic fact misses the main point of what people need from the myth.  In the worst case, when the historic fact is revealed as clearly false, the believers either cling to the faith and become disconnected from reality, or give up the religion and its mythology entirely because their faith depended on the events being historically true. 

Mythology is deep cultural knowledge that served to help people understand the world and their role in it, and in their specific society.  Of particular importance was its role in transitioning children into adult members of the society, and in helping people deal with the reality of death.

The premise of the book is that modern society has basically neutered the old myths – and that change happens so quickly now that there isn’t time for a new mythology to develop.  But he thinks we still need the kind of help that mythology provides, and he explores the idea of an individual exploring to find their own path – a personal, rather than cultural, mythology.