Joesph Cambell Four Functions of a Mtyh

Seyed Maghloubi (Historical Mythology) Joseph Campbell explains the following four bleeds of a myth. Its metaphysical operate is to awaken us to the mystery and wonder of creation, to open our minds and our senses to an awareness of the mystical ground of being, the source of whole phenomena. Its cosmological function is to describe the shape of the cosmos, the universe, our total terra firma, so that the cosmos and alone contained within it sustain vivid and alive for us, infused with significance and significance every corner, every rock, hill, stone, and flower has its place and its meaning in the cosmological scheme which the myth provides.Its sociological function is to pass down the law, the moral and ethical codes for deal of that culture to follow, and which help define that culture and its prevailing social structure. Its pedagogical function is to lead us through particular rites of passage that define the various significant stages of our lives-from dependency to m aturity to old age, and concludingly, to our deaths, the final passage. The rites of passage bring us into harmony with the ground of being and allow us to make the transit from one stage to another with a sense of comfort and purpose.The mystical experience, the core spiritual expedition that envisions God, has always been a tough experience to communicate. Some would say its impossible to communicate. Others would say that this is the primary function of myth-to find a way to communicate whatever mystical insight has been gained on the journey an grounds of the mysteries that underlie the universe an appreciation of its wonders the sense of awe or rapture experienced. Since these things cant be communicated by strike means, myth speaks in a language of metaphors, of symbols, and symbolic narratives that arent bound by objective reality.Some guess that the mystical experience is what gives birth to metaphoric language, metaphoric thinking. In our post-Enlightenment western wo rld, we have decidedly rancid to science to tell us what the shape of the world is. Originally, however, myth performed this function, explaining the cultural history, religion, class structure, pipeline, even the origin of the geographical features in the surrounding landscape. A myth describes the shape of the world, and infuses each part of that world with meaning and significance.And though a mythic tale may seem literally false in our world today, it was once considered true, and it s manger expresses a metaphorical truth. Campbell explains that the sociological function of myth is to support and validate a particular social order. The myth will make it clear who is in charge, what ethical code is appropriate, what the institutional rituals will be. The problem is that these codes are fixed, like the natural order, for all time they are not effect to change. Our myths, according to Campbell, are seriously outdated.Changing time require new myths, and since our times are ch anging so very rapidly, the myth-making function cant keep up. As a result, we are practically myth-less. Campbell felt we need to expand into much more than we presently have. This is the aspect of myth that teaches us how to pass into and live all the differing stages of our lives. Our myths (as religion) give us rituals to live by, rites of passage to accomplish. We learn how to look at the world, at ourselves, from birth till death. Because he felt they were all true, Campbell believed myth could teach us important lessons about how to live.