adamchalmers on Nostr: It is time to renew the power and passion of ancient mythology, welcoming it back ...

It is time to renew the power and passion of ancient mythology, welcoming it back into our collective psyche. For lack of stories about ourselves we are rapidly losing our depth of tradition, character, feeling and expression. We need myths to guide us safely through the transition phase that is happening now and into a brighter future.

Myth is embracing of life in all its rich tapestry of experience. The world of myth refuses to cast strong moral judgments on its characters’ flaws but rather dives deeply into the human condition, embracing and even celebrating the dark, light, and all the shades which lie in between. Myth suits the times we are in, much as it suited the Greeks, Romans and Norse mythologies of the ancient West, or the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Jews of the Middle East, there are moments in History where myth must by necessity find itself experiencing a resurgence. Re-written and interpreted anew to bring back meaning and purpose where we have lost our way.

The person who is comfortable with ambiguity understands that morals are more a concern of Religion than myth and story. Yahweh of the Old Testament is extremely concerned with moral behavior.  Zeus on the other hand is not. Religion, especially the monotheistic ones are strictly adhered to and certain interpretations on behaviour and the nature of God and man so concretised as to be almost impossible to shift our understanding on. One such example is that of Solomon. According to the traditional interpretation Solomon’s wisdom was given him by God in a dream, downloaded like a new software program as a reward for choosing the gift of wisdom over wealth and pleasure. As the story goes Solomon then chose to pursue wealth and pleasure anyway and in the end was led astray by his hundreds of wives and mistresses. This can of course be interpreted differently. Solomon more likely developed his wisdom over decades and was in fact positively influenced into a less warlike and more open-minded reign than his father before him through his exposure to all the cultural, religious and behavioural differences of his wives and lovers. This was clearly the experience of the Greek King of the gods Zeus who’s many love affairs, conquests, mistakes and adventures led him to grow in wisdom and understanding over time. Zeus is a nuanced character and Greek mythology can accept that. Christianity on the other hand cannot accept a God who is not perfect, or a man who learns as much through his sin as his spiritual devotion. Hence we have the mythic Christ, made into a real life character who is supposed to be the literal incarnation of a perfect God, intolerant of any moral deviations whatsoever.

At times in history such a mythology as that espoused by the major Abrahamic faiths has been welcomed, relevant and even necessary for society to thrive. This is not one of those times. Hard and rigid ideas around morality, behaviour, relationships, ethics and faith are not what most people are looking for. We understand that rigid concepts can quicky lead us into tribalism, fear and hatred of those with different views to our own. Do we really need to go back here? Mythology on the other hand has no problem with fallible human nature; mistakes, death, hedonism, taboos (incest, patricide, rape and homosexuality) and even welcomes these concepts as deep parts of ourselves that we entertain but do not openly admit. Myth has a way of bringing the dark to the light and exposing our more shameful desires and behaviours for what they are, human. Mythology when followed loosely for its lessons and guiding principles on behaviour does not demand of us to judge others when they show themselves to be flawed, in fact it is our expectation that they are indeed flawed, for mythology has shown us this and taught us to accept and expect it. If the gods are flawed, and the heroes of humanity also, it is no surprise that our neighbours, colleagues and family members are also capable of doing hurtful, prideful and selfish things.

This is exactly why myth is more empowering for culture than religion. It has a lighter touch and in so doing allows for more flexibility and growth of new concepts and ideas. Religion moves slow and struggles with evolution (there are some exceptions of course), in general it is fixed. Myth is fluid and this fluidity opens it up for constant new iterations and additions to the story that naturally evolve as our concepts of the world shift and move. Religion and science struggle to see eye to eye, myth has no problem with it as they are completely distinct and separate realms of thought. It is the same in politics, religion worms its way into it, myth stays separate and is more commonly found in the arts, performance, film and storytelling. There is a beauty to its form and function that more closely follows nature.

At its core the stories of myth change but the essential themes remain. It is to these themes we much look for our inspiration and our guidance. Despite their antiquity they are as relevant now in these modern technological times as they were in ancient Babylon thousands of years ago. We cannot say the same for the religions practiced by the ancients, their archaic behaviours would in no way suit modern Western culture, because religion has a way of getting stuck. It is related to a fixed mindset in a way that myth is not. In the times we are in, fixed mindsets cannot possibly serve us. During a transition phase what is needed is flexible and malleable minds and behaviours that can adapt to rapidly changing environments. Closed and ossified beliefs and ideals will crack and crumble under the pressure of rapid and sustained change, or at best simply become obsolete leaving the individuals and cultures who observe them in the dust of the ones who can pivot quickly to a new way of living.

Let’s reconsider the ancient themes behind the myths, not becoming hung up on the stories themselves but rather on the characters, how they faced challenge, where they won and lost, their successes and failures, and their willingness to embrace all sides of their divinity and humanity. Without the richness of myth and the lessons gained from embedding it into our psyche, culture, and education we risk slipping into religious fanaticism, the emptiness of cynicism or the vagueness of confusion. At worse we will slip backwards into a dark age of violence, tribalism and fundamentalism that undoes decades of progress towards a more open minded, collaborative and equitable future for all humanity.

Myth has power to focus our minds, aid us in accepting our flaws, and bring passion and purpose into our lives individually and collectively. Let’s embrace it, grow with it, reinvent it, and create new traditions and practices suited to the times we now find ourselves in. Myths contain hope for a brighter future.
 
#myth #wisdom #lifelessons #life #philosophy #religion