Myth
by Bob Grubb

Mythology is explained as early humankind's explanations of the "mysteries" that surrounded them - the lights seen in the heavens, the pleasures and pain of Nature experienced. Some myths survived for thousands of years, passed between generations verbally before they were committed to writing. The Roman, Greek, and Norse mythologies we are taught (to some degree) are mere subsets of Mythology. Because we've been conditioned to think "Norse, Roman, or Greek" when we hear the word Mythology, we tend to think that Mythology is confined to dead religions - religions without worshipers. This is not so. The definition of myth used here agrees with any standard dictionary:

 myth a traditional story of unknown authorship, ostensibly with a historical basis, but serving usually to explain some phenomenon of nature, the origin of man, of the customs, institutions, religious rites, etc. of a people.

This definition clearly puts the unprovable tales of all religions under the subject Mythology. The resistance one may have in accepting this fact is that other popular but incorrect definitions of the word "myth" include "untrue", "made up", "commonly held to be true, but in fact false". These incorrect definitions make considering one's religious beliefs to be founded in mythology the same as saying that one's religious beliefs are founded upon speculative fantasy. This is not so. It does not follow that myths are untrue just because myths cannot be proven.

Ancient mythologies have an impact on present day life, be they accepted as history or fantasy. For instance, the biblical story of creation "explains" the creation of the Sabbath (as well as the universe). Science has decreed this creation story to be invalid, yet some societies stubbornly retain laws and ethical stances that support observation of the Sabbath.

Myths from diverse parts of the world are similar in substance and usually distinguished by cultural trappings and wrappings. All describe the creator(s) and how early man interacted with them. All creators come from or live in "heaven", described as being where the stars are. All explain how humans came to exist. Epitomizing the universality of cultural mythology are myths that describe a great flood that reshaped the Earth.

An examination of Mythology must begin with the ostensible premise that actual events, distorted over time, form the basis for myth. Further, each culture - developing in various degrees of isolation - has distorted these events in entirely different ways. In some cases these distortions are intentional, serving to hide or disguise the actual events they are based on. In other cases ritual mythologies are used to manuipulate belief and shape cultural destiny.

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