MYTH

MYTH
The Dimensional Triangle

Religious Experience

Ritual Myth

MYTH
The Dimensional Triangle

Myths guide ritual practices which, in turn, validate human religious experience.

1. Religious experience "raises" boundary questions.
2. Myths answer boundary questions.

3. Rituals recreate the mythic drama

4. The believer experiences………….?!
MYTH
The Dimensional Triangle
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

Raises Boundary Questions

RITUAL MYTH

Reinacts Answers

mythic drama Boundary

Questions

MYTH:
The Dimensional Triangle

Two Examples of the MYTH/RITUAL link:

1. Eastern Orthodox Christian Easter ritual(s)

(from the Long Search series)

2. Primal religion, Amazon jungle: Funeral ritual

(from the Emerald Forest film)

EXPERIENCE, MYTH, RITUAL

Their relationship:

Religious experience is the state in which human beings seek answers to boundary questions: meaning, purpose, order, identity, relationship, unity, belonging, love, peace, joy, reconciliation, bliss, etc.

EXPERIENCE, MYTH, RITUAL

Their relationship:

These questions are answered in MYTHS, or paradigm-laden narratives, found in sacred texts or in sacred oral traditions in all religions.

EXPERIENCE, MYTH, RITUAL

Their relationship:
Myths contain stories of original RITUAL practices; myths guide ritual activity for future believers. Ideally, ritual activity answers boundary questions; believers enter into a state of religious experience while participating in ritual activity.
MYTH: KEY FUNCTIONS

Myth = paradigm-laden narratives

Myths:

1. Answer boundary questions

2. Guide ritual activity

3. Engender self-esteem and empowerment

4. Express a saving power in human life

5. Present heroic models
MYTH: KEY FUNCTIONS
Myths:

6. PROVIDE MODELS FOR HUMAN ACTION; MYTHS OFFER GUIDES FOR HUMAN BEHAVIOR:

Beliefs + Believers = Behavior
MYTHS: KEY FUNCTIONS

Myths:

7. Offer ways of ordering human existence

8. Provide human beings with meaning, purpose, and sense of reverence for the past and hope for the future

9. Outline the ideals, goals, and objectives of a given culture or society

MYTH AND HISTORY

HISTORY = factual description of past peoples, places, events

KEY QUESTION: "Is history ever completely detached from myth?"

TYPES OF MYTHS
1. ORIGIN/CREATION myths

Genesis, Gaia

2. ALIENATION myths

Noah’s flood, Adam and Eve

3. END-TIME myths (the end of the world!)

Apocalypse now!! (Millennialism)

4. SALVATION or LIBERATION (heros)

CHARACTERISTICS OF MYTH

1. Myths are symbolic and imaginative like art or literature

2. Myths are revelatory; they reveal special truths about life (answer boundary questions)

CHARACTERISTICS OF MYTH
3. Subject matter of myths:

original ritual activity
primeval origins
ancestral models
heroic lives
ritual specialists = shamans, priests, etc.
Future expectations

THE DIMENSIONAL TRIANGLE : A Hindu Myth

The "Myth of the Ganges River" as told by Dr. Dave; a CREATION/ALIENTATION myth about the "mother of all life."

Video illustrating millions of Hindus ritually bathing in the Ganges river, guided by their myths (from the Long Search)

MYTH IN JUDAISM
The Hebrew Bible

Three great myths in the Hebrew Bible

THESE MYTHS GUIDE ALL JEWISH RITUALS

1. Creation (Genesis)

2. Liberation (Exodus)

3. Covenant (Exodus) = the giving of the Law (10 Commandments) on Mt. Sinai

MYTH:
Civil Religion
Civil Religion = a form of MYTH that validates the social order

KEY FUNCTIONS:

1. Provides social cohesion through a yearly cycle of holidays and celebrations

examples: Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.

MYTH
Civil Religion
Key Functions:

2. Infuses public policy and public events with mythic significance

examples: singing the national anthem at

sporting events; the burial of heros; Presidential elections; political holidays and celebrations; saluting the flag, etc.

MYTH
Civil Religion
Key Functions:

3. Supports social ideals over social reality

example: "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" vs. racism and sexism

4. Shapes "history" to suit religiopolitical convictions

example: "Defender of the Free World"
MYTH
Civil Religion

SUPERBOWL XXVII

the world sees Los Angeles explode in riots following the Rodney King beating and the acquittal of the police officers

the world sees that America "really is" a place were equality, justice and freedom count

SUPERBOWL XXVII, a civil religious holiday, provides the opportunity for a "re-validation" of the American social order