‘roe fantol own nh cnt fp yes aid cl on ec aes cel day tks crema apo il pay seme oe py antag nk ata, rig nd etn oer ers, yap hea fare Lowes Hata Mi a hsp ACen of Tras Maieutic, Creative Myth: Conveying Values and Systems of Interpreting Reality (Definition, Part 2) Mh etc cates ming thong avrg he corspndeacr—ach snare, ies bron, fcc arte eh cee cmot acm Te alles een al nd eng ded within ae coropedcces hme hon ier empece tering ara Mas, We've Ben Hee afore: Women Caton Myths and Gamenperery Lea of pest ate tml iy Thay ie my nerd Wheter adie console thy ra pre al Tei pig on dagen oh ‘fates a hs po en hgh po ey eter eens nes ena abrary hee thy dere teed fab om peepton enteric hat or ‘Pare Spa Pina Mb Mu courinx prriertion taketa while to develop and ‘comprehend, In this eon Ihave spt nto two pss, with te cons ‘ens of ths chapter somewhat more orient rothe ways mythologies fiction maietcally he er rest the Socratic uraring of though ‘caves from the Greek mais, midi one, pcb from the an ‘en Prot-indo-Baropean root “mc, mother, Nevertels, [Rope he ‘aiginal fasion of the two pars willbe repoctd Ise the "What? part, of dining closely rear the "How dost werk” part Beginning with “roisaw Malinowsk’s discovery that myths comprise a trang work ing fore within soceer—we could tlk about “mythological magna ‘ara"—and recognizing dat meh are not mere maters of niga Interest myths are portrayed hee tiring to sce ple ndergind ‘Themes fue of he mth caro wel ets denn yh i he adr ue of ecm f ght tact "ed wo” A rip lf ec expen of ed wr nx ing wh nag aos aon, nd ep names MAS WE tov pelt’ re nee sore em Bying the ways thee peformaace, andthe staal of which they are often constituent parts, do indeed “charter” found soil wlFandertanding, and hence wakview, ‘Myths remain maieute/motheringresve devices oreenengae ea rcs, even thse as apparently Blsé as oor own. Mh sais suey ‘Sppesr nas ol fl’ socoriy Bankes wo mich as ents to chang and evwnes to dyna revisioning of te possible new presents nl fares that we hae only begun to anticipate onthe ewsp ofthe tenis cen vury ‘ionng the way iesmedite pragmatic decision making must be thou ‘aot il!” but anyone who weaes the red/brown dh fl ae". ‘A petind of severely heigtened soci change may herald vase amount of canfision for religous and mythologialconcepis strongly coated ithsoil nstcusons one party may uge maisenance of scien sn- “ds while another urges accommodation to more rect peagmaimas (6. C. Seer 975: ch, 6 and B Vogt 976 ‘yt (and rituals) may emphasize vas and condtins that ae just the epposte of what i found in concempurary experience; for example, nyhs sessing coordination and peace maybe prominent during ape. "od of anarchy or warfare, "The Lady doth pote 0 much, methinks” ‘aples ofcourse to use a paychosnalyil term, we migh peak of ‘ric compensation, oc of the stem &o recondition the present ‘hcougs magia repetition of what wae understood to be elective pr ‘ally Hence the mythographer should proceed very snus in dane lng hivoical conclusions about social sustions from the particular stbolygy emphasized at any given period. The emphats of my ine ated re may reflect ealizains rater tha atl, an they may bed by a politcal diate religious ender, (4s) Convey Political and Moral Values Anthropology subseguene ro Maliowss emphasis upon myths as “char ter” fr soll orders (discussed further in Chapter fears he postion that politi and mal ales are conveyed by reflective ireringof the tewol order aswell as by serving seals paradigms: myths and stale both etc and projet vluional Famewoeks. They provide sceniios fraction swell as electing distorting mirrors. ‘alos conveyed by myth within a necork maybe of diferent pes they may relate Heals for haman erection, responses towal nom OF suprahumen reales, and soon. My are normative in supporting ps ticular ypet of behavior and assclatlon and rejecting other exemplary ‘models: they are eduatve ad heriaie fn ighlighting apive and ame- "mie putes Providing socal cohesion by creating shared symbole rvcultion of social patems and tltons, hey ean lead oa releasing of ‘ersions (sin rituals berwen age groups) oro Mocking nanapproved ex ‘ploration of slatonship oe behivior fnguiry Functoning today asc ate paradigms or model), While myth may well be cohesive within ‘monofcelsoiery (mile Duskeias“roil cement, they may be dv ‘Sve within polyol xokery sacha our wn-—indeed myths suc a ‘those using ant Semi may perpetate hatred among subgroups “The tendency toasty vals by zfercing them to a rotoypicl sie of origins may reflect the desze to make socal els an sncsions so tute by grounding then in some primordia scene tht no pen to ge (2) Sytem of Interpretation Cute itself may be tought of aa hermeneial sytem of insexpret “to a semioic fst aa peson s what he or she speaks, elere casi ofthe uythie atces ell Prediction for cetsnsypes of so- ‘estes the modesby which a society can bet explain iel—the ways In Taleo Parson's useful pra, glues ppt. Aauvey of ou: ov ci fetions can disclose mporan indications of the way we got Deception, the ways wemare oles unconsciously seep certain parame ero what ftion write or novel may or may not pote Literary stories can ack he Sz iaances ofthe we of «parte narratne ice x tye fr instance, othe growing scxprance of the way explicit tral sctvies are preajed Ad within the Getions mot rece co ee “acceptable n contemporary erature, deempss Upon eur.tal marae plo, section of chronologies or temporal conventions, tnd she shiering of the model of dhe ose ata may revel a touch aout our own soc ncoherence a volume f socelogial data “Tathe extent hat myths provide senda frameworks forthe language oe society, they provide sytem o patterns for sigaiying meanings, cil meanings ofthe pas (ale I efereed otis peovison of fame ‘voc a “eoding’). Such amesorks provide markers sat establish the ‘motive ad elective wae of symbol ad srptuses within the society: they canbe vase distinctions tobe made among te elements of the world at hand and they tens cetin feasres, syethesize bers, and esab- "ih eltve rankings among the hey nd secondary symbols: Hence there current tendency to codify myths nto oil anons, which are atempss ‘sft he inerpreive frameworks from criticism and change. ‘Canonical choise are po fct determinations of top dogalpha male, snconiastto secondary seconde igaliances. canon marks mon0- calor; an opennded canon being rough a we move toward 2 more ‘nulltraraleocety inrernationlly Literary anthologies ave ben io Clning many nontrdionalIrerstres, ending teachers eranBling to tsi seen minimal competence in Nasve or Afeap American materials focinsance. Ad Apia and Gaces have compiled The Dctnaryf Gob Cle (996, which xpi sets ou (per el dfton on the dst che) “emphasizing he achiement of the non-Western work “The relative validity of a paccular myth system determines the in ‘uence ieerercises among the sytens, varying from very significant to prey subordinate. Reform movements frequently seek to zevivfy tbe {est and concep of neater stage of the mythological semantics nd Inece to reinstate an eat aptem of interpretation Rvialit eso ‘ois "Back othe Bible" movements within Cesta prove oe ex ample “The hey and socondarymetahors and symbols peovie means of depo tema forces hat are experienced nay a being threatening eat seal, weather phenomena). By the overeyering of symbolic inerpre- favions such dangers are due by beng conneced to experiences a scaly recognized safe. Rial exorcise o shamans encourage a patent to experince fly "the other word” into which the speci takes him och: Upon return to everyday realty, the person tested wil be ale ro operate more fecily because he or se now recognizes dhe actual con- tours that work's powers as icerpreedby the society and iso longer onrsled by fearal personal projections (@ compelling istason: Silko novel Cremon 1977). By ks behaviors—which may och p> ror or laightr—ehe ral adlencerelnfxces societal inderstanings sSouthow the wo words aze 1 be related: "The doctor ai I wat not to wor "The pret gave me he bene of the doubts "Our section man gerd we ere realy to tackle new projets” (1g) Individual Experience within Universal Perspectives Myths delinace the univer or macs dimensions ofthe perceived social and natural words in symbol tems that enable persone to sate ‘hemes indvidualy (ies within them Because ssl fc ‘aes the etal interfacing of the eleural macrocar with the personally niga lerocosm, we may sy tha tin tien perms mediating oF rescsic fnction the term is rom Zee 975522) Myths highligh drtincions between “ny people” (he immediate (rou kin, socioezonaase o geographic neighbors) ant then” oud 1, thse medilly rene persons from another territory. enemies). Hence myths eth the personalocl boundaries of interpeted ei tence and gue one's adhuscment to normative aides, sare, and ‘oles win iY are only a Novice Chipmunk, bt was tained by Her Royal Graciousnes, Heesl) In this manner myths and ius may te duce sity when they mesh the individ with dhe soil order o po ‘de sociaive enSeation within the immediate group Bea the “lf rmaie person” hat «family, and fall genealogy wil be empasized| ‘shen the soc fle ofthe individual x unclear Tay, autho Bgres td pop caleere models replace the morales and histories of lng range cular aes because they seem more immediate and ence inthe cone empeery post radonsl word more storie beceseinescapably ‘more ‘nyo face, mothIn tcc the lorerdacpinry humanities, am minded frequently ‘how stations of gest soil change fen il confusions inthe pat terms of individual o group Sentfeaions, Sach entiation has been featured inthe primaty myth of each hinaiel eure n psi of change i becomes more and moc difcal o lncralze the ways in ‘vidas reaprae the developmen of the microcosm, a sessed in ric ‘al niistons—these may inelude a symbole regression to chaos befire sequence of developmen stage lading fal aulhood (ofl person ‘hod, snc the uninttd may no be considered flly human}. Then the «question of “ole model becomes ate, a een most nly in modern Societies in the coflsion sbout “lense” 2 cheme thet appears in many enterperary novels as wellas "sep" books. Myths provide us with whst I zeler to as projective mythic or puyche mollperhaps not ar anedately and insserly a do our parents and pees but nonethels with model of rol, of aspirations toward becom Ing something ober than what we ae, of wap of aging new possibile ‘es asto who we are lla pauses the concep of mths grithat ‘combed up as imaginal odes). They function partclatly—or atleast ‘they have so fuetined-—to give ws ole models of masculine and fer rine behave a, for istnce, the th of Bros and Psyche, or gender del, ich at Downing 99 and Dory 93 have exposed). They ed ate ws in way of ating ot malenes and Femalenes of interrelate wo, reflecting on the bes tats f each sex, anderen of resnciing she Social manifestation of mascuny and esi within partic is torial periods. The mot intersting of the posfemiis (i.e, chink ge: ‘eration feminist) analyte have shown how songy gender patterns have ‘sed sro the "The danger i that mythologies! modes are apt ro Become harden _seretypial models, merely enforcing pacers of behavior that ae no Tonger adequate to contemporary rca relies. skeptical tension be een the mode andthe realy i always necessary ae mate ciated Caeflly. (am semi of che formation of a group of one nde ‘Wonder Women athe snnsalcaventon of dh Nasional Organization of ‘Women In Alantc Ciy in September sc dhe NOW organizers cles ndestood the need to work guia the Superman stersotype of ous im meds heringe) Mrs provide eof p's len thease, centering upon couneesas located within «corm as wllaralocl content. “Who an” ‘voles mythic answer: look, fr instinct at the Bereshich/ Genesis cree ‘on myth, with ts poseve evalaion of the role of ham Beings, Now, however, we ve come to sc tht perspective negatively because spl ture of fama beings hasbeen regrded a3 elevated above tue hat ‘wehve fie 1 manlpulat and is the process destroy All conten ocay approaches o“ecotheciogy” have hao begin questioning thi ‘odd se the wie range of positons onthe elation bewen rion, ‘aru andthe eavironment n Gotie 556). Such guttioning and om en might led sto are where the new ecological eration myths may belated, o what happen tonic a dichotomy between ate and cul ‘ure when some experiments seem once that plants have nervous systems and lelngs Tompkins an Bits 7. And myths elucidate ou des ae fantasies they te aor imaginings Inco universal sharing, ancient ports of acting that maybe forgo ‘enor replced but reenter when least noticed think of secent fisintion vith magic ant the occ Paro wha iemean to sadly myths and it als ofthe peoples other times an places, that one recover aspect of| eronal identity: the personal mlcrocsm created from the impersonal ‘maroc. "Whom "becomes "Who bave hurts ie me been?” an "What ar she possible ranges of human becoming” As Wendy Doniger (Ormunerey 188: rp) observes, “Taking other peoples’ pts serosal ‘means recognizing tha hey are ow myths, which means not only that ‘hey lave» general meaning for us bur hac they narrate he ies of our onli” Incase ways we can pee of proline ta faction of myths sndricale—noto muck dred answering to the tard ison “Howe ‘must behave” but informing har decison, eduestng the imaginative | fenton that mse asemblethe possiblities for ating ehialy With re ‘pecio the sy of myths and tual, the role of “unre and cro full comparisons ot 20 mach ro establish he exict meaning ofparticular version ato open upthe ange of human possibiies in which Sch exprenons otherwise oear—for weal 00 readily become sappe ‘within the range of our own experience. Univers and croseeltrsl Comparison also emble ust se whether or pot a specif version of = ‘myth tai congruent messy with the aoe in a particular exure, lor whether it covers tor otherwise adapt I 08 specifc context (se K. Kroeber 18:88). (44) Intervention of Supratuman Entities Myths so reguerlyfestare dhe atervention of ditis fxes fom a+ other word” dscoiauous with thir oe ha the cement “soi ofthe ose fequenly considered tobe a necessary ingredient o “myth” at Sach, Homere, the Benge or forces are ot always personal and are more ‘accurately designated ax being sepabuman, By using the term phen {sce Fallowel 1966), 1 eriphasize thet myths eplfy qualities astociatet ‘with highly marked experiences thar indicate something transcending but ‘ot negating ordinary personliod, an yet stopping shor of the ttlter tie (bsoate Onbernest) of diy in Western theology. "Supabuman’ a: lows us o comprehend mythological colections tat focus, as di sme Greek ermples ete erly mythographer Konon, se Henzichs 187), ‘pon heres, and have no myths about divine figures at ll (se also Kit tort ch, 7,0n Greek bero myths). “The suprabutsan entities may be nonpertonalsttues, sin myths wheze suites of social Behavior (ros, desire, vanity) are embodied in ‘personal roles, Or the tranacendene aspect may aise from summarizing tnvdcareyingin persona forma the clearest expressions of corporate signife ance, be they the most able o he mos ase (I shin of the Gree per- onalizatin of eeviete, the Bypostaes of Hellenistic Gosicism, ot the erffng Balinese witch, Ranga Myth diction never remains ne set tebe, estos, pus narrative fesh upon the imagined r= tts of our everyday “ilies fife” At the most abstract level we sped of ercheypesteperened in ston, ot embodied, a ultimate symbols of loves lie and haman eration but “nythi” never mens “ance so mck ast names recurzetly el patterns by which Homo sapiens sae leststoetherthe ways ile has ulea end sper meanings Hire toa marked degre the ceiteal myth analyst confomts dif encesin perspective betweea te anaes ad the sckety'sinterpetation. ‘Those within a mythical workview may ceged x personal inerentons| of mprahuman powers prciely whet the external analyst regards as @ ‘medhunism tha sates a pychological placement of aft. Respect fer the soietys own perspectives crac, and evry effort must be made ‘olive in onthe ways a mycheme i experienced a firsthand: hence com ‘erpoaty myth or flkale gathering inches tdications of tone of voice Ini the materi are chanced o spoken the sud effets ed, per formince markers, and audience reactions. ‘The account ofthe diclosure of «numen or ber power or ity ought ‘ote disrespected o treated condescending no mater ov the analyst ‘wish to code it for is or her own metatractusl psoas, ts spear sae willbe marked by sense of “otherness” within the context wher it us funda religious response. The observer may collie such phenomena | ‘toa wider context of che phenomenology and history of religion, bat frat every efirt mast be made ro project ones Inga into the inary context where che myth forces ae direct and afectvely expe sinc, Cate mhepcs may ncn pl of emotes this Ss simply recognizing tha scholsbip which remains ignore ofthe im it pon the people ethno ofthe poet fet of mythlogi mater Asrensins halbaked ncopee, ‘Suh a postion permis speaking of he sare not prey or exclusively interns of det fyures disclosing revealing temseves to mere oral, Tut aan aspect by which fstres of the lived wor are marked out a8 ‘ingespecily signlcane Depth, intensity, nlsivnes, transcendence ofthe particu these ate some of the operative terms Hews pte ‘us aed unfathomable: but notin che sense of being incomprehensible, ‘mote inthe sense of recognition ofthe diffe involved in deiing these ors presumed opposite, che sul Tat very dichotomy becomes suspect howere, af he sczed an the profane are conceived a8 o> ‘existing on ona, each ole being somewhat influenti at the thet treme (L. Sexson 399s very helpful in sharing cit dekotony, The sacred” marks el experience tha remains mysterlous Desie of the difcalty of expressing extremely powerfil experiences i lan [puage it remains “mysterious” igofa a human powers of expression ‘ect init thelr mis dt reve an “explanation” of something, “be- ‘he explanation intends what myth doesnot exhibit, amey the mina tion of mystery inthe light of verifiable caoses or rational printpes ‘exly known by the human mod” Harb rye 20), Sacred” marks nat “facs”( which all peoples are presumably aware, since fats ae 90t some moder discovery) bor seperplses of meaning ae signicance hat ‘ouble our cultural words to ave pascularimporances tod {ike Dio Sabbaruct’s suggetion tha “sacredness les in the actions Per ormed bythe nyhicl personages, actions which were the foundstions of eisence” (959-450). Sympatheially, therefore che mythazlystatempts to emi special of experiences claimed as tansendental and asks sch gostions asthe following: ‘whats revealing elf through tis myth? ‘What comes to expesion here at ha been expesed--or 08 expressed elewhere under diferent forms? “+ What mode of Being dicoses sel in such phenomena? How is sudevcribed o riled? + How does a yascular clement contest total organization ‘of societal meaning? ‘Does the myth prove expression to meanings hat annot be ex presed adeguitly through eee forms of dition, sch 8 pio- opi ot theologian? ‘Wat would lingushedsf dis parccalaritem were deleted or tered? ‘What JPK had dled at age 28” Rambo before his Vietnam ex lois? Speed skater Bonnie Bl Belore she made ito her Sst Olympics? (69) Aspects ofthe Natural and Cultural Orders ‘The ature of enpthology i ach tht myths ae xigialysaement in onsigos anguage. That she mythologial bricks” ae ged froma secur in toa and poewe works of our own rece erry 0 levi hitory ‘My senses ht we need apply some of wha we er ost mythic bareback fier the bulla; yet the model for such 20 image, the lineyh asta in what wl all "compaatve thematic seidaton "Yeats go I had avery dette dream in which I wandered oo a seis cofunderground roms decorate in Osental movi, coming eves. of Japsnese teenagers were playing Set on pedestals in relleting pool that che tones were the mos: prt new self definition of. mighty ult ero, 1 Sind the ex ‘oration of gree pereonal vale, Laterrevearch on se hero mati fr class tres ed sry of the teary hero archetype andthe modern a8 of sepa ‘on/peneration return that paral the bro Shippers in the Ancient Near East, and subseguerl to recovery of sho ear wih the Jan ‘be nurpied by my experience, Dui was new tome the ime. Several __ yea Inter ound tat sng sear method when steying he gure of Hermes me to non-Greck pralleis in South America, Japan, and elesuthors ose cange more widely over the implications diteriminate Petbapshow 20 define myths wil aay emai poblesate. Mythical see them worth the stention of al of our conterporaies—cften, ‘eed, proceeding apn the contemporary depising of anything ol and suggesting tha oo lifeworld may, preccly By ving soc historically proven eeouces, provide what we need o face mew milenlur, eshapt ‘har might well ave overcome oh o many trannies of the past and pes several ach, ‘ent of eure the United Sees tated out fen deste shetoricy fom‘ooktowand speculative imaginings of how our civilization may yereves-