Myth and religion go hand in hand. From the Veddas to the Bibles to the epic poems of the Hindus, Romans, and Greeks, it all makes its way into the reality of religion. Myth is a very human way for man to pass on relative truth, and all religion is relative truth.
The Gods are simply too vast and far too extreme a form of life for us to properly understand. And we human beings need to understand things. We need to know, to be certain of things, so we interpret the Gods, give them form we can deal with, and then create stories that pass on those interpretations.
But the interpretations are not blind. Man does experience the Gods. Man does not simply make up the Gods, he creates images that are relative to the reality he experiences. As a result there is truth, not relative but true, that man passes on as best he can from generation to generation, and as we proceed through the ages, our interpretations join those of our forefathers to create a better understanding of the divine.
In myth, there are certain stories that are of the utmost importance to man for a variety of reasons. Creation myths are important because man needs to understand where the world around him came from, and while no creation myth can ever truly convey the enormity of the universe, it almost always seems to convey certain aspects of the truth that seem to be inherent knowledge in all life.
Myths regarding the interaction of man and the Gods are of the utmost importance because they detail some of the things for which mankind is grateful and for which man honors the Gods. Myth, however, masks the Gods in a homocentric cocoon of anthropomorphism. For all that we may wish it, the Gods are not human, and it is debatable if they can even conceive of what it means to be human without making the greatest of moves. Incarnation, life, and death.
Heroic myths are different in that they convey something very powerful about the human spirit. They convey that strength and power which lies within all of us. That desire and ability to transcend our limitations and persevere regardless of the obstacles nature and the Gods put in our way.
There are also myths, poems, philosophical treatises, and tales of various kinds that are warnings to us. They give us guidelines, set boundaries, and give us a look at the consequences for our actions should we behave in ways that are immoral or detrimental to ourselves or humanity.
Myth and legend are important ways that we humans share our experience of the divine, and no other form can ever be quite as good at it because unlike the more philosophical or scientific means of exploration they allow us, or even force us, to use our imaginations and think about things rather than simply accepting things as fact.
The Gods are simply too vast and far too extreme a form of life for us to properly understand. And we human beings need to understand things. We need to know, to be certain of things, so we interpret the Gods, give them form we can deal with, and then create stories that pass on those interpretations.
But the interpretations are not blind. Man does experience the Gods. Man does not simply make up the Gods, he creates images that are relative to the reality he experiences. As a result there is truth, not relative but true, that man passes on as best he can from generation to generation, and as we proceed through the ages, our interpretations join those of our forefathers to create a better understanding of the divine.
In myth, there are certain stories that are of the utmost importance to man for a variety of reasons. Creation myths are important because man needs to understand where the world around him came from, and while no creation myth can ever truly convey the enormity of the universe, it almost always seems to convey certain aspects of the truth that seem to be inherent knowledge in all life.
Myths regarding the interaction of man and the Gods are of the utmost importance because they detail some of the things for which mankind is grateful and for which man honors the Gods. Myth, however, masks the Gods in a homocentric cocoon of anthropomorphism. For all that we may wish it, the Gods are not human, and it is debatable if they can even conceive of what it means to be human without making the greatest of moves. Incarnation, life, and death.
Heroic myths are different in that they convey something very powerful about the human spirit. They convey that strength and power which lies within all of us. That desire and ability to transcend our limitations and persevere regardless of the obstacles nature and the Gods put in our way.
There are also myths, poems, philosophical treatises, and tales of various kinds that are warnings to us. They give us guidelines, set boundaries, and give us a look at the consequences for our actions should we behave in ways that are immoral or detrimental to ourselves or humanity.
Myth and legend are important ways that we humans share our experience of the divine, and no other form can ever be quite as good at it because unlike the more philosophical or scientific means of exploration they allow us, or even force us, to use our imaginations and think about things rather than simply accepting things as fact.