Og

The following is one of the cores of Joseph Campbell's work



THE 4 FUNCTIONS OF MYTHOLOGY

1. "The first function is that of reconciling 'consciousness' to the preconditions of its 'own existence' - that is, of aligning waking consciousness to the 'mysterium tremedum', mystery of this universe, as it is. If one can not affirm that, one is not affirming life, for that is what life 'is'. Whether one thinks of the mythology in terms of the affirmation of the world as it is, the negation of the world as it is, or the restoration of the world to what it ought to be, the first function of mythology is to arouse in the 'mind' a sense of the 'awe' before this situation through one of three ways of participating in it: by moving out, moving in, or effecting a correction. This I would regard as the essentially religious function of mythology-that is, the mystical function, which represents the discovery and recognition of the dimension of the mystery of being".

2. "The second function of a traditional mythology is 'interpretive', to present a consistent 'image' of the order of the 'cosmos'. At about 32,000 BC the concept of a 'cosmic order' came into being, along with the notion that society and men and women should participate in that cosmic order because it is, in fact, the basic order of one's life. In the period of the high civilizations, one comes to the experience of a great 'mystery' that manifests itself so 'impersonally' that one cannot even pray to it, one can only be in 'awe' of it. The 'Gods' themselves are simply 'agents' of that 'great high mystery', the 'secret' of which is found in 'mathmatics'. This can still be observed in our sciences, in which the mathmatics of 'time and space' are regarded as the 'veil' through which the 'great mystery', the tremendum, shows itself".

3. "The third function of a traditional mythology is to validate and support a specific moral order, that order of the society out of which that mythology arose. All mythologies come to us in the field of a certain specific culture and must speak to us through the 'language and symbols' of that culture. In traditional mythologies, the notion is really that the moral order is organically related to or somehow of a piece with the cosmic order. Through this third function, mythology reinforces the moral order by shaping the person to the demands of a specific geographically and historically conditioned social group".

4."The fourth function of traditional mythology is to carry the individual through the various stages and crises of life-that is, to help persons grasp the unfolding of life with integrity. This wholeness means that individuals will experience events, from birth through midlife to death, as in accord with, first, 'themselves', and, secondly, with their 'culture', as well as, thirdly, 'the universe', and, lastly, with that 'mystery' beyond themselves and all things."

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

marmalade

I'm a fan of Campbell. Personally, I'm more interested in the first category, but I'd like to know how the other aspects fit in with it.

According to this theory, our society doesn't seem to have a single coherent mythology that serves all of these. Many religious people seem to think the only purpose of their mythology is the moral justification it gives and all the other aspects are subordinate to this. The more fundamentalist types see even the moral function as being subordinate to the interprative function.

Its been a while since I've read Campbell. Is there a particular book of his that you were getting this fourfold description of mythology's purpose?

Og

This 4-fold purpose of myth is one of his central theses and is in many of his texts and lectures. He also agrees that we do not have a coherent myth as the borders are changing in the world and the previously separated peoples of the world are mingling and finding that their little perspective is actually quite small.

The future myth that guides the life of mankind is going to have to take into account the cosmological perspective presented by modern science. In fact, I think that science offers all of the functions of mythology except for the pedagogical (unless you go the academic route).

Whatever myth does settle out of this transformation in human culture is going to have to be one of a whole world mentality.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

marmalade

Do you think that the study of astrotheology is limited to the second category?

I'm thinking it wouldn't since in reality the categories are fluid. I was wondering about how this view might apply to astrotheology since its what I've been reading.

Also, do you think ancient people would've recognized these categories?
Does Campbell say anything about this?

What book of his gave you the most understanding of this central theses?

Og

What is astrotheology? Astrology? I can see how this informs all of world religions. 7 celestial bodies -> 7 days of the week, music notes, etc...

I think astrotheology is a bunch of nonsense and yet I think, that as a myth, it speaks to all of the above categories of the human experience.

A myth doesn't have to be literally true.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

marmalade

Astrotheology is the theory that ancient astrology informed ancient theology. It is a scholarly term and says nothing about the beliefs of the person who studies astrotheology. It only refers to modern belief to the extent that contemporary religions are part of a tradition that was at some time influenced by ancient astrotheological religions.

I learned the term from Acharya's work. She popularized the term, but I don't think she invented it. You could just as well label her work as mythicist or comparative mythology. They're all related terms.

I used the term because I thought you might be familiar with it. It seems that some of Campbell's ideas might tend towards an astrotheological approach.

marmalade

I was just over at Acharya's truthbeknown forum. Someone had also posted the 4 functions of mythology there.

Og

Cool. I think that astrotheology doesn't speak as a mythic structure then. It seems to be a theory describing how mythic structures formed. It's an unfortunate name for a theory. I was bundling it in with pseudoscience off the bat.

I've got a book called "cosmos and the psyche" by richard tarnas that speaks to this as well. Campbell often speaks of this in his work.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

DNND

Who is Acharya? What is her full name? I love to study astrotheology, but I never heard the name.

marmalade

Instead of going off topic in this thread, I'll start a new one.