The Four Functions of a Living Mythology

"I see mythology, when it's in a socially functioning way, as

serving four functions...

1. Mystical: "The first function is what I would call the mystical function.

It opens up a realization of the mystical dimension -- that behind the

surface phenomenology of the world, there is a transcendent mystery source.

And that is the source also within yourself.

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2. Cosmological: "The second function has to do with the image of the world. What I would call the cosmological function. This changes radically from time to

time. In the very early hunting, planting, and gathering societies, you have

a relatively small horizon and the science was that of what was visible. It

was in terms of the visible world. The sun rose and went down. The moon rose

and went down. With Copernicus, this all changed. The sun isn't rising. It's

we that are twisting. The cosmology has totally changed. Cosmology and

science changes. A mythology to be up to date and really to work in the

minds of people who are living in the modern scientific world, must itself

incorporate the modern scientific world.

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3. Sociological: "The third function of a mythology is sociological. To validate

and maintain a certain specific social order, here and now, of this specific

society.

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4. Pedagogical: "The fourth function is the pedagogical. Guiding the

individual harmoniously through the inevitable crisis of the stages of life,

in his world, today -- in terms of its goods, its values, it's dangers."

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