Myth: Intro to Myth

Why are we exploring Myth?

• Myths are part of the conscious and unconscious stories that play out in our lives,
• Giving ourselves the opportunity to bring consciousness to these myths empowers us
• Passion. Motivation. What drives you?

Definition Of Myth

Key Words: folk tale, folk story, legend, tale, story, fable, saga, mythos, lore, folklore, mythology, parable, allegory

• Usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon
• A popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially: one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society

***I think it is imperative to note that Myth is derived from the Greek word mythos, simply meaning, “story.” And what do I always say? (… Everything is a story!)

What we will explore this year is how myths, either the ones we create, the ones we were born into, or the ones we subconsciously adopt throughout our lives, affect the outcomes of our stories. By naming the mythology we are playing out, we give ourselves the opportunity to gain sovereignty and awareness over what is going on with our psyche.

The advantage to naming a myth that you are currently playing out, or that you have lived through in the past, is to gain awareness about how things are playing out and will play out for you. What aspects of a given character’s psychology mirror your own. And through their archetypal experience, we find examples to guide and enlighten us on our own journeys. The archetype is simply the original; the model, the first. Knowing their path can shed light on ours.

I like to use the Hero’s Journey as an example of a myth simply because I am a huge sifi nerd and I love Star Wars! As you remember from my News Letter, George Lucas was hitting a wall creatively when he was writing the screenplay for Star Wars, and it wasn’t until he read Joseph Campbell’s, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, that he locked onto Luke Skywalker’s path and was able to tell his story. The Hero’s Journey outlines the concrete path that the hero always takes. Keep in mind, however, that these myths provide outlines for how certain stories play out.

Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist who advanced the concept of psychological archetypes puts it beautifully:

“The term ‘archetype’ is often misunderstood as meaning certain definite mythological images or motifs, but these are nothing more than conscious representations. Such variable representations cannot be inherited. The archetype is a tendency to form such representations of a motif—representations that can vary a great deal in detail without losing their basic pattern.”

Basically, no two people can walk the same path.

*** Insert brief outline/examples of the hero’s journey via star wars***

Types of Archetypes

The Innocent, The Orphan → Peter Pan complex, The Caregiver, The Explorer, The Rebel, The Lover, The Creator, The Jester, The Sage, The Magician, The Ruler

Archetypal events such as: birth, death, separation from parents, initiation, marriage, the union of opposites Archetypal figures: great mother, father, child, devil, god, wise old man, wise old woman, the trickster, the hero

Archetypal motifs: the apocalypse, the deluge, creation.

Example of Myth: Cupid and Psyche

Once upon a time there was a king with three daughters. They were all beautiful, but by far the most beautiful was the youngest, Psyche. She was so beautiful that people began to neglect the worship of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty.

Venus was very jealous, and asked her son Cupid (the boy with the arrows) to make Psyche fall in love with a horrible monster. When he saw how beautiful she was, Cupid dropped the arrow meant for her and pricked himself, and fell in love with her. Despite her great beauty no one wanted to marry Psyche.

Her parents consulted an oracle, and were told that she was destined to marry a monster, and they were to take her to the top of a mountain and leave her there. The west wind took her and wafted her away to a palace, where she was waited on by invisible servants. When night came her new husband visited her, and told her that he would always visit her by night and she must never try to see him.

Although her invisible husband was kind and gentle with her, and the invisible servants attended to her every desire, Psyche grew homesick. She persuaded her husband to allow her sisters to visit her. When they saw how she lived they became very jealous and talked Psyche into peeking at her husband, saying that he was a monster who was fattening her up to be eaten and that her only chance of safety was to kill him.

Psyche took a lamp and a knife, but when she saw her beautiful husband, Cupid, she was so surprised she dripped some hot wax onto his shoulder, waking him. He took in the situation at a glance and immediately left Psyche and the magnificent palace she had been living in disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Psyche roamed about looking for her husband, and eventually in desperation approached his mother, Venus. Still angry, the goddess set various tasks for Psyche, all of which she passed, with a bit of help from ants and river gods. At last Cupid found out what was going on, and he persuaded Jupiter to order Venus to stop her persecution of Psyche. Then they were married and lived happily ever after – and it really was ever after since Psyche was made a goddess.

First and foremost, one of my daughters’ favorite movies growing up was a sort of strange movie called The Polar Bear King, which almost copies this myth, verbatim. What I love about this story is that it plays out in relationships I see all the time.

Conclusion

This is a process, an exploration. I invite you to explore what myths or aspects of myths you are embodying. You are going to go only as deep into this as you want. Again, you create meaning and reality