Myths express what happened in the past and what will happen in the future, told in the present. They bridge time between the past and today.
Myth as a Form of Symbolic Expression
There are several modern ways to approach myths. Myths explain enigmatic phenomena and the universe and provide a spiritual dimension where sacred history encounters the supernatural or unexplained. Myth helps people accept life with serenity rather than with horror. In this way, myths perform an interpretive function in society, allowing a sacred place in society for people to ask, “Why?” The response to the question is from a source of divine information contained in a myth.
Myths are symbolic expressions for people to interpret, similar to music, drama, and poetry. This aesthetic dimension of myth also incorporates creative energy, dreams, and emotions. Some dreams are believed to prophesy foretelling the future, while other dreams provide clarification of past events. Myths are a symbolic construction of the world and create rather than explain phenomena. The opposite of myths being interpreted as a symbolic expression is the hyper-rational perspective, which states that myths are literal misinformation and symbolic nonsense.
Myth as a Form of Psychology
Another popular way myth is interpreted is through psychoanalysis, based on the works of Sigmund Freud (1886-1939). Proposed by Freud and further developed by Carl Jung (1875-1961), this approach views myths as a projection of the subconscious through “wish-fulfillment.” Once dreams have been properly interpreted, they can be recognized by the conscious. In other words, myths originate in the unconscious but are consciously created. Freud proposed that every person has an independent, trans-historical psyche and that people of the same nation, ethnicity, or group share common fears and hopes expressed in their worldviews and myths. People create the same materials because all people share the same cognitive abilities. Similarly, Jung believed that there is a tendency for all people to form the same mythic symbols or archetypes.
Carl Jung argues that religion preserves myth, and myth sustains religion. For example, Christianity has failed because myths have not been made relevant to the modern world through symbolic reinterpretation. As a result, Christian myths have been pitted against science, making belief in Christian doctrine problematic for most people. For instance, the literal reading of the Gospels renders them incompatible with history, although Christ serves as a model and mythical hero if read symbolically.
Myths Represent Archetypes
Archetypes can be applied cross-culturally and have a universal quality because every person has experienced hunger, thirst, heat, cold, and fear. Archetypes are basic metaphors, patterns, paradigms, images, and concepts that influence intellectual and emotional behavior. Thus, archetypes are universal and independent of tradition, including an individual’s past experiences. For psychoanalysis, gods are archetypal images that contain human experience. An example in Christian myth is the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge; in Norse mythology, there is Yggdrasil. Other archetypal images include those of the afterlife, popular in the Middle East and Europe, including caverns, boats, bridges, and tunnels.
There are two main criticisms against interpreting archetypal images in myths. The first is that archetypal symbols are static; they represent the personality, not the behaviors that myths narrate. Secondly, Jung related myth to the individual, ignoring that myth is a social phenomenon that addresses social structures and functions. One myth may have more than one archetype; however, it is necessary to identify with more than one myth on an individual level. For Jung, myth served as a way to link people to their unconsciousness, though over time, an individual’s myths change in response to changing societal circumstances. Personal mythology emerges when individuals’ dreams are studied, allowing people to know themselves in a world of disorder.
Further Reading
Freud (1900) The Interpretation of Dreams, free resource
Jung (1932) Modern Man in Search of a Soul, free resource
Snyder (1996) Myth Conceptions: Joseph Campbell and the New Age, free resource
Author: mountshastamyths
Lurking around here with more questions than answers