Hallowe’en is approaching, and with its advent myths and superstitions are brought closer to the forefront of our minds. But where did they come from? Myths and superstitions of many sorts are ubiquitous to human culture across the world. This seems to suggest that all humans have a desire for an explanation, some sort of story about why we are here, where we came from, and why things are the way they are. Many people think that myths and superstitions have no place in our modern rational world, but consider the fact that many buildings leave out floor thirteen. Where do myths come from, and what do they tell us about ourselves?
Humans are, at heart, storytellers. When the ancient Greeks saw rainbows, they invented Iris, the messenger of the gods. We didn’t know where we came from, so we created a story for ourselves, as in the case of the Norsemen telling tales of slain ice giants and the first humans formed out of driftwood. We have a deep desire to know, and when that desire is not fulfilled, we fill in the gaps. If eclipses are unexplained, they become the moon’s consumption by a giant jaguar, who turns the moon bloody before it is completely eaten. This is where myths come from, and this is why they are present in human cultures throughout the world.
But what do these myths tell us about ourselves? The most interesting part about studying myths across cultures is the places where they are different and the places where they are all the same. Many cultures have a flood myth. Does this mean that such a catastrophe actually happened somewhere in the history of the world? The Greeks viewed their gods as higher humans, with more power than mankind, but formed in the same way and with the same flaws and follies. Does this mean that they had enough hubris to create their gods in their own image? Or does it simply mean that they had no capacity to conceive of something beyond themselves? Contrast this view with the Egyptians, whose gods were man/animal hybrids. What does this say about Egyptian culture in contrast with Greek culture?
Myths are fascinating, not because they have much truth in and of themselves, but because they tell us truths about the people who created them. By studying the myths of a culture, we can understand what they believed about themselves, and what they wanted to believe about themselves. And this is not just true of ancient cultures. Every human culture tells themselves stories. These stories can come in the form of myths, superstitions, or just general worldview. The Enlightenment portrayed reason, justice, and truth as sorts of gods, in a metaphorical sense rather than a literal. What can we learn about ourselves by examining the stories we tell ourselves? This isn’t something I am wise enough to say, but it is something that begs thinking about.
