M Y T H O L O G Y I I

M S . D Y E R

COSMIC MYTHS OF WORLD

MYTHOLOGY: CREATION

MYTHOLOGY DEFINITION

•The Greek word mythos means “story” & -ology means “the study of.”

Therefore:

• A myth is an imaginative, anonymous story (erroneously thought to be religious in nature) resulting from man’s attempt to:

• understand the phenomena of nature

• explain cultural customs & rituals

WHY STUDY WORLD MYTHOLOGY?

1. Myths Reflect Human Nature• Its needs, desires; hopes, fears

2. Myths Reveal the Human Condition• Creation Myths satisfy the need to have roots

• Fertility Myths respond to the need for economic stability in an unpredictable world

• Hero Myths provide models for human behavior

3. Myths Reveal Cultural Responses to the Ever-Important Questions:

• Who am I?

• What is the nature of the universe that I live in?

• What must I do in order to survive?

• How can I lead a satisfying life?

• How can I balance my own desires with my responsibilities to my family & my community?

• How can I face death?

WHY STUDY WORLD MYTHOLOGY?

4. Myths Broaden the reader’s knowledge, understanding, & appreciation of the inter-relationships between cultures

• from the time of the earliest cities, through travel, trade, & talk

5. Myths Prove that people have learned from & enriched each other through their technology & their stories

WHY STUDY WORLD MYTHOLOGY?

6. Myths Create a greater interest in & Enrich the appreciation of: literature, art, music, history, religion, psychology, anthropology, & archaeology

BECAUSE:

7. Myth is the direct ancestor of today’s literature--both as story and as extended metaphor

8. Myth is also a form of history, philosophy, theology, or science

MYTH TERMINOLOGY

• Avatar: from the Sanskrit word avatar (avatara) which literally means “descent” -- refers to the descent of an immortal god to earth in a human or animal form (in order to correct some evil)

• Axis mundi: the sacred (cosmic) center on which the temple or the city is placed--the spot nearest to the supreme sky god where the word (cosmic energy) can be received by Earth

• Great Spirit: In Native American cultures, a supreme god with ultimate power who both has created & oversees the universe • Often male; usually related to the sun

• Other names include: the Great Mystery, Father Sky, Old Man, & Earthmaker

ARCHETYPE

• Archetype

• a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of

thought, image, etc., universally present in individual

psyches

• occurs frequently in: dreams, fantasies, literature, myth, religion, or folklore

• From the psychology of Carl Jung

• Behind each individual’s “unconscious” (the blocked-off

residue of the past) lies the “collective unconscious” of

the human race

CARL JUNG’S “COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS”

• the blocked-off memory of our racial past & our

pre-human experiences

• gives us a group of “PRIMORDIAL IMAGES,” shaped

by the repeated experience of our ancestors,

which evoke profound emotions because they

touch the “unconscious memory”

MYTH TERMINOLOGY

• Mythology: from the Greek word mythos means “story” & -ology means “the study of.”

• Mythopoeia: the creating of myths--either by a single artist or by a collective spirit--or of a mythic framework.

• Pantheistic: any religious belief or philosophical doctrine that identifies God (transcendent reality) with the universe

• Pantheon: the gods of a particular mythology, considered collectively

• Tehom: Hebrew word for “deep” that is a reference to “Tiamat” from Babylonian culture• as in Genesis 1:2, “Now the earth was formless and empty,

darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”

MYTH TERMINOLOGY

• Shamans: In African cultures, elder healers and spiritual savants who were responsible for healing, divination, exorcism, and escorting the dead to the underworld• underwent some severe physical and emotional trauma in their early

years• Healed themselves & reintegrated their lives that placed psychic (if

not cosmic) powers at their disposal—powers that enable them to engage with spirits, both good and evil

• Performed in an ecstatic trance induced by dancing, drumming, chanting, or with the use of a drug or alcohol

• Shamans: In Native American cultures, healers, holy men, or “medicine men” considered to have magical powers that came from direct contact with the supernatural through ecstatic trances or “dream visions”• who used a combination of herbal remedies & “spiritual healing”• acted as repositories of lore & magic & were regarded as the actual

connection to the spirit world

MYTH TERMINOLOGY

• Trickster: In African cultures, a clever, clownish character who is both a troublemaking hero & a schemer who shows little concern for the consequences of his mischief & fantastic adventures (ex. Anansi the spider, Ture the spiderman, Hare, Eshu)

• Trickster: In Native American cultures, a malevolent & often aggressively over-sexed character who can sometimes be a cunning cultural hero (smart, brave, & resourceful) -- clever & foolish at the same time• Richard Erdoes describes the trickster as,“always hungry for

another meal swiped from someone else’s kitchen, always ready to lure someone else’s wife into bed, always trying to get something for nothing, shifting shapes (and even sex), getting caught in the act, ever scheming, never remorseful.

• Ex. Coyote, Hare, Iktomi, Kokopelli, Blue Jay, Raven

MOTHER-EARTH & FATHER-SKY

• A knowledge of the basic difference between Mother Earth-centered Matriarchal religions and Father Sky-centered Patriarchal religions is crucial to an understanding of the symbolic content of many myths:

• Matriarchal “Mother-Earth” Religions were the first religions

• Patriarchal “Father-Sky” Religions began replacing them by 2400 B.C.

• Aggressive Tribes Worshipping a Supreme Male God who was a Father Figure or Successful Warrior had begun to Invade many Matriarchal Societies

• Brought a New Social and Political Order in which Males Dominated

• Kings Ruled by Heredity & Animals Sacrificed for the Favor of the Gods

THE GREAT MOTHER

• Great Goddess or Mother Goddess

• Was the Supreme Deity who Personified Mother Earth

• Source of all Human Life & Source of all Food—the prima materia---without which life cannot be born

• Functioned in Three Related Forms

• Goddess of the Underworld

• Goddess of the Earth

• Goddess of the Sky

THE GREAT GODDESS AS:

Goddess of the

Underworld

Controlled the 3 Stage Cycle of Life:

• Period of Birth & Childhood

• Fertile Period of Maturity & Reproduction

• Sterile Period of Old Age (with its Decline &

Death)

Goddess of the

Sky

“Great Moon Goddess”

Appeared in her 3 Stage Cycle of Phases:

• New & Waxing Moon (Period of Birth

or Rebirth)

• Full Moon (Period of

Maturity)

• Waning Moon (Period

of Decline & Death or Dormancy)

Goddess of the

Earth

Controlled the 3 Stage Cycle of the Seasons:• Spring --Period of

Birth or Rebirth & Budding Growth

• Summer—Period of Blossoming & Harvest

• Winter—Period of Decay, Barrenness, & Death (or

Dormancy)

FOUR TYPES OF MYTH:

1. COSMIC MYTHS: Concerned with the great Facts of Existence

• Include: Creation Myths, Fall of Man, Flood (DELUGE) Myths, Afterlife, & APOCALYPSE Myths

2. THEISTIC MYTHS: Involve Cultural Hierarchies of the gods• Include: the Twelve Olympians, Norse gods, Egyptians gods

3. HERO MYTHS: Stories dealing with individuals (the best known myths)

• EX: Achilles, Hercules, Theseus, Gilgamesh, Jesus, Moses

4. PLACE & OBJECT MYTHS:

• PLACES: Atlantis, Labyrinth, Avalon

• OBJECTS: Golden Fleece, King Arthur’s sword “Excalibur”

COSMIC MYTHS

• Myths of the Cosmos--from the Greek kosmos, meaning “order”

• Reflect the Universal Human Concern about the Nature of Existence

• Give Humans Purpose and Significance in the larger Perspective of the Universe Itself

• Belong to a Science called COSMOLOGY -- the study of the Order of the Universe as a whole and include:• Creation myths: give us context

• Fall of Man myths: explain why we have “death”

• Flood or DELUGE myths: give us the basic concept of the “cleansing sacrifice”

• Afterlife & APOCALYPSE myths: give us an occasion to celebrate the immortality of human consciousness against the background of personal & universal physical decay

• Each Culture has its own Mythic Cosmology which Reflects the Experiences of that Culture

COSMOGONY

• Myth of Creation – a story of how the cosmos began and developed

• From the Greek kosmos meaning “order” and genesis meaning “birth”

• Typically Include:

• Creation of the World

• Creation of Humankind

• Fall of Humankind from a State of Perfection

• Struggle in the Heavens between Various Groups of Immortals

CREATION MYTHS

• The creation story is a metaphor for BIRTH

• EX: MOTIF of the “Primal Egg” or “Primal Waters”

• The “essential female symbols” in creation myths remind us that it is the Great Mother (ARCHETYPE) who gives form to life• She is the Prima Materia without which life cannot be born

• In the comparable mythic motif of the hero’s birth—even God (if he chooses to participate in the human experience) must be born of a Maya or a Mary or an Isis—the living embodiment of Creation itself.

CREATION MYTHS

• Psychological Meaning: Establish humans’ reason for being -- the source of our significance• Cosmos is born out of chaos or nothingness

• Hero is born of a virgin

• Metaphor for the awakening of consciousness from the unconscious

• “The Fall from Grace” at the end of a creation story suggests that Life, by definition, implies death—to be alive is to be on an evolving path toward death

CREATION MYTH TYPOLOGY

• Marta Weigle in her book Creation and Procreation: Feminist Reflections on Mythologies of Cosmogony and Parturition identified Nine Types of Creation Myths

• Often more than one of these types are combined in a single story. • EX: the Genesis account combines both the deus faber and ex nihilo

types

• Each type tries to make sense out of the created world, and each has its own sphere of value -- thus students should avoid treating one type of myth as better or worsethan another

WEIGLE CREATION MYTH TYPOLOGY

• Accretion/Conjunction• These myths see creation forming as a result of the mingling or layering of

the primal elements (i.e. earth, wind, fire, & water). “Any action, whether that of wind or wave, or the earliest stirrings of a god or devil, unleashes the productive power sleeping in the primordial deep”

• Division/Consummation• These myths are “usually associated with discriminating primal matter or a

cosmogonic egg [or] with the consummated marriage of earth and sky.” Usually, “the sky-father casts his seeds into the earth-mother in the form of rain.” These myths focus on separating the various parts of the universe and imbuing certain portions with life or the potentiality for life

• Earth-Diver• These myths typically begin with a primordial sea into which the god

descends to bring back the materials necessary for creating the world. In these myths, the amount of material retrieved by the god is small and parallels the way in which the tiny cells of procreation grow into full-sized beings

WEIGLE CREATION MYTH TYPOLOGY

• Deus Faber• In these myths, the world is created by a great Maker god. The emphasis is

on the creator’s craftsmanship and on the “intricacy and cleverness of creation”

• Emergence• In these myths, a first creature, human, or race enters our world from

another world. The first world parallels the womb and is often too small for its occupants. “Emergence myths emphasize evolutionary progress from the cramped darkness of early society to the airy brightness of civilization . . . . The people learn important truths before they finally arrive in our world—and even then, the world they find is not quite without their efforts. Tests must be successfully met, religious ritual must be learned and performed, and the people must create that which the world doesn’t already provide”

• Ex Nihilo• The Latin phrase “ex nihilo” means “from nothingness” or “from spirit” and

is used to describe cosmogonies in which the creator brings the world into being through speech, breath, dream, thought, or laughter”

WEIGLE CREATION MYTH TYPOLOGY

• Sacrifice• These myths focus on creation as a consequence of the sacrifice of a

god. Typically the sacrificed bodies become some part of the newly created world

• Secretion• These myths see creation as a result of “divine emissions as [bodily

fluids], web-spinning, [and] parthenogenesis.” Parthenogenesis is the production of an offspring from an unfertilized egg or gamete. Myths following this pattern generally focus on the birth of life or humans

• Two Creators• In these myths, the world is created through the combined efforts

of or the conflict between two gods. These gods may be of the same sex, opposite sex, or may be twin gods. Often one god is more ethical or compassionate than the other. These myths also sometimes establish hierarchies between created beings, that is, a society of class