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featured essay: May 2003 That Old Mythic Deja Vu by Dale McGowan Oh, how vividly I remember the stories... Who can forget the marvelous tale of the deity miraculously impregnating a mortal woman, who then gives birth to a great leader and deliverer of men? Or the father who, on divine instructions, prepares to sacrifice his only son, only to be stopped at the last moment by the arrival of a ram? Or the divine one who by his touch miraculously turns a paltry plate of food into a banquet to feed the many? Or the little guy who defeats a giant with a single blow? If you were born into Western Civilization after the fourth century, you'll clearly recognize these as stories from the Jewish and Christian scriptures. If you were born before then, however, you'd have recognized them as Greek and Roman myths. They are both. The mythic archetypes that appear in and give shape to our cultural legends and myths are among our greatest inheritances from the past. They are real treasures, insights into the human condition, diminished not one whit by the fact that most were once thought true by the great majority of those who heard them. Persian, Greek, Roman, Sumerian, Norse, Celtic and Egyptian mythologies passed into the category of recognized fiction, while the Abrahamic mythologies are still considered "religions" for the time being. They too will most likely pass into recognized fiction, whether ten or ten thousand years from now, almost certainly to be replaced by new "religions," most of which will borrow mythic archetypes from their predecessors...and on turns the great karmic wheel... In the meantime, one of the most enlightening yet gentle introductions we can offer our children to a worldview free of mythopoesis is a steadily tracing finger running along the patterns of a more complete mythic tapestry. Most non-theists remember hearing the myths of other cultures and times as children. Usually included somewhere in those memories are the voices of teachers or parents noting that "long ago, people believed these things to be true" --- back when we were ignorant of this or that --- as well as our own inner voice, wondering just how it is we're so confident in the veracity of the bible stories we NOW hold up as true. There's a way to make this comparison pop out so vividly it is even likely to give rise to discussion on the spot --- always a priceless opportunity. Buy a good volume of classical myths for kids (see this month's book reviews for some possibilities), AND buy a volume of bible stories for kids. To whet kids' appetites and introduce the pantheon of gods, read a few of the basic myths, such as Cronos swallowing his children, Zeus defeating the Titans and dividing the tripartite world, Icarus, Phaeton, and so on. Then begin interweaving Christian and Jewish mythologies, carefully matched with their classical parallels. Read the story of Danae and Perseus, in which a god impregnates a woman, who gives birth to a great hero, then read the divine insemination of Mary and birth of Christ story, noting the parallels aloud. No denigration of the Christian myth is necessary; kids will simply see that myth is myth. Next read the opening portion of the Golden Fleece epic, in which a father --- who believes, incorrectly, that the gods have ordered him to do so --- prepares to slay his son Phryxis (with or without his sister Helle, depending on the version of the myth you read), only to be stopped by the appearance of a ram. Then read Abraham and Isaac, in which a father --- who believes, CORRECTLY, that a god has ordered him to do so --- prepares to slay his son Isaac, only to be stopped by the god ("Jesus, Abe! I was just kidding!" says that rascal Jehovah) who then causes a ram to appear as an alternative sacrifice. Kids do not fail to catch these parallels, believe you me. Then on to Baucis and Philemon, eating with a disguised Jupiter and Mercury who cause the inadequate food and drink to multiply miraculously --- followed by Jesus and the loaves and fishes. Next comes Odysseus and the Cyclops, which compares nicely to David and Goliath. The coup de grace is the story of the infant boy who is abandoned in the wilderness to spare him from death, only to be found by a servant of the king who brings him to the palace to be raised as the child of the king and queen. It's the story of Moses --- and the story of Oedipus. There's even a parallel to the semi-Christian legend of the devil-violinist taking on a prideful human violinist in an epic play-off --- it's the master-spinner Arachne, who boasts that she can out-spin Athena herself. For one of the great readable adult introductions to these wonderful shared threads in human legend and myth, parents can read Joseph Campbell's THE POWER OF MYTH, a transcribed conversation between Bill Moyers and Campbell, who is among the greatest popularizers of our mythic inheritance. Especially noteworthy is Campbell's additional access to non-Western mythologies, including Native American, Indic, Chinese and more --- all of which bear the same uncanny parallels, all born of the basic experience of being human. Ideally, kids can come to a view of our mythic past, including Judaeo-Christian myth --- as an admirable and creative attempt to understand an incomprehensible world when there were few other means to do so. With the rise of science, our real understanding has dwarfed even our richest mythic creations for pure wonder and awe-inspiration, calling us to put aside our fantasies --- but the myths remain dazzling, mesmerizing tributes to the collective imagination. So long as they are acknowledged as fantasies, they can and should be admired and enjoyed. Only when they supplant real knowledge and understanding can and should the hackles go up. A child whose exposure to the explosive wonder of science grows in parallel to his or her engagement with myth is unlikely to allow them to mix. Our creative fictions and our marvelous facts are each too precious in their own domains for us to do without either. CALL FOR IDEAS! Family Issues in June is devoted to critical thinking for kids. Do you know of any kid-friendly activities or ideas to promote or celebrate critical thinking? If so, send 'em to familyissues1@yahoo.com by May 25, 2003 and be registered to win...uh, a big boost in self-esteem, let's say. |
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