Viral Mythology

by Marie D. Jones

  Creation stories of voids, nothingness, and paradise before the beginning of time.

  Stories of deities that undergo death and resurrection; the life-death-rebirth motif.

  An axis mundi or cosmic or world center.

  Themes of good versus evil and karmic retribution.

  A hero or chosen deity who undertakes a challenge or journey.

  A great flood.

  There are categories of myths as well, which include:

  Myth as origin and creation story.

  Myth as dreams and visions.

  Myths of archetypes.

  Myths of sacred histories.

  Myth as proto-scientific knowledge.

  Myth as religious, spiritual, or metaphysical truth.

  Myth as personal challenge/hero’s journey.

  Myths of power hierarchies.

  Myth as moral, ethical, and principal beliefs.

  Though others are quick to dismiss both myth and religious stories of creation, life, death, and rebirth as pure fiction, that may not be the case at all. Information in the form of historical, cultural, and even scientific truth could be encoded within the tales of heroism, redemption, and renewal, of life and love and survival. Hiding in the tales of Gods and Goddesses, of creatures and beasts and wars and battles, of talking trees and burning bushes and shape-shifting humans and animals we might actually learn what the ancients knew about the world around them, and how it worked.

  Common Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

  For both myth and religion, certain themes, motifs, and symbols appear throughout and across cultural and social borders. These similarities speak of a common understanding of often complex and “supernatural” elements of existence, such as creation and our place in the cosmic scheme of things. Creation stories and myths from the world over talk of order and form arising out of chaos or a dark void of nothingness, of light and wound as creative sources, of an unimagined and shapeless Universe that is given form via the will and intention of a deity or deities, of an order of Gods and lesser Gods and then humans emerging from the primordial soup, of a division of the cosmic all into a number of realms, most notably the three of earth, sky, and water—or heaven, hell, and earth.

  Some of the common themes, motifs, and symbols are:

  1. Fate and destiny.

  2. Retribution and revenge.

  3. Love and marriage/procreation/beauty.

  4. Cycle of birth/death/rebirth/natural cycles/creation/destruction.

  5. Dangers of greed/lust/arrogance.

  6. Redemption.

  7. The hero’s journey/quest.

  8. Superpowers.

  9. Acquiring power/wisdom/life lessons.

  10. Control of self/others/Nature.

  11. Youth vs. elderly.

  12. Searching for God/the search for the missing God.

  These are but a few of the kinds of myths and even religious stories that have been passed down throughout history. They mirror the common experiences and challenges of humanity and the quest to understand both the personal/individual and collective roles we play. It doesn’t matter where the myth comes from, because these commonalities prevail. Names of deities and other characteristics will be changed, but ultimately we get the same stories, told over and over again. In the case of religious myths, the theme of enlightenment is much more prevalent than in traditional myths, where the hero’s journey, clashes between deities, and love often take center stage.

  The Great Flood Myth

  One of the most common themes in myth is that of a great flood that was sent by a God or Gods to punish and destroy sinful earth dwellers. The Great Flood myth also parallels the many global creation myths involving life emerging from the primeval waters or Primordial Ocean. Some of the greatest epics ever told are flood stories, such as the Mesopotamian “Epic of Gilgamesh,” written on 12 large tablets from about 650 BC that tell a story that may date back to earlier than 2000 BC in which a man named Utnapishtim is told by the God, Ea, to build a huge vessel to protect his family, friends, and even animals from a pending flood, a lot like a man named Noah in the Judeo-Christian Bible. The Hindu have the Satapatha Brahmana and the tale of first man, Manu, being warned of a pending flood and told to build a boat. The Sumerian flood myth was the Ziusudra epic, and the Chinese have their Gun-You myth of a father-son team that attempt to control the flood waters, as well as the oral tradition of the Hei Miao myth in which Thunder is angry and decides to drown the earth, with only two survivors left to carry on humanity. Interestingly, the Chinese flood myths deviate from the normal flood myth theme of punishment by God/Gods. In the Chinese myths, the flooding is usually the cause of natural disaster or some mysterious element.

  The Greek have their Deucalion, who because of his prudence and piety is allowed to load up an ark with his wives, kids, and animals when God unleashes a flood on the earth. In the Roman flood myth, Jupiter wants to destroy humanity by fire but not wanting to get burned himself, decides on a flood instead. The Welsh myth involves the Lake of Llion bursting and flooding the lands, with Dwyan and Dwyfach escaping in a big ship along with pairs of every living creature. The Southwest Tanzania myth also has God telling two men to take seeds and animals onto a ship with them as floodwaters rise. In this myth, they even send out a dove to see if it locates dry land. Sound familiar?

  The flood of Noah and the flood of Gilgamesh have many commonalities:

  Both were global floods sent by a God/Gods to punish man’s wickedness or sinfulness.

  Both have a righteous hero who is told to build a boat.

  Both were told to take family and animals of all species.

  Both used the release of birds to seek dry land.

  Both boats landed on a mountain.

  Both men were blessed after the flood.

  There is much argument over which came first—the Gilgamesh epic or the Hebrew account of the Great Flood—but regardless, this kind of shared mythology is common, and these are but a few of the many flood tales, many of which contain the same elements over and over again, most notably a boat or ark, pairs of animals on board, and a pure man or hero surviving to start the human race anew. Though scientists argue over the actual date these floods might have occurred, and no doubt there is a suggestion that each region may have its own origins for its own flood myths (including overflowing rivers, global, or regional climate change, torrential rains, tsunamis...), there are also those who suggest that perhaps there never was a real flood at all, and that the theme is a sort of archetype or symbol of a transformative cleansing of a flawed race into a purer state, or the punishment and redemption of the sinful at the hands of angry Gods, and their opportunity to “get things right” somewhere fresh and new.

  Maybe we all have our own personal flood myth.

  Codes and Morals

  The Greek and Romans were noted for incorporating their ethical codes and morals into their myths, which often indicated the behaviors that were desired and rewarded in society, and those that would be punished. Most religious texts do the same thing, with parables and proverbs and moral stories of sin and forgiveness, meant to serve as moral guides for the culture of the time period. One difference between myth and religion is how the Gods were treated. Take the Judeo-Christian Bible, and you have a God that can do no wrong, is free of flaws, and is the ultimate moral authority. Yet in myth, Gods and Goddesses can be liars, cheaters, klutzes, dolts, and morons with their own flaws, even as they wield authority over the lesser beings. Mythological gods experience hubris and arrogance, anger and rage, violence and bloodlust; and they steal women and animals that don’t belong to them. But a religious God is usually represented as perfection that no mortal or even demigod can ever achieve.

  Still, there are such amazing comparisons between both myth and religion, and pagan traditions and the religious traditions that came later, and we have to ask whether these common themes, motifs, and symbols were simply borrowed from one time and region by another, or experienced simulta
neously or progressively as each culture developed. Maybe even a bit of both. We saw in Chapter 1 how information spreads, and often the motivations for spreading it vary. With myth and religious stories, that motivation is multi-pronged and could involve the evolution of belief, the spread of ritual and wisdom, the concurrent arising of consciousness and understanding, or, quite simply, one group of people ripping off the ideas, celebrations, and beliefs of another group of people, and as the case may have been, usurping those beliefs and incorporating them into the doctrine and dogma of the religion.

  Though our job isn’t to cause or create anger or controversy, we still owe it to readers to lay it on the table. And one of the most stunning examples of the progression of an idea or concept throughout the course of history, in terms of both myth and religious story, is the story of Jesus Christ, the messiah of the Christian world. Although no one knows the truth, there is plenty of intriguing circumstantial evidence to show that the Christ myth was in play long before Jesus was said to walk the earth—and may continue on until we have no more need of either myth or religion to encode the truth within story and fantasy. In our time, information is directly delivered, or so we like to believe.

  The Jesus Model

  Whether or not Jesus was a man, a myth, or a combination of the two is still up for debate among historians, scholars, and religious figures alike. Regardless, what we want to look at are the common elements between the life of Jesus Christ and many other characters from the past to show that myth evolves, develops, and changes in accordance with the needs of the people embracing that myth, but that core truths and foundational elements stay the same, no matter where the story ends up being told, and by whom. There are ideas that just don’t change from culture to culture, because they convey powerful themes and even archetypal symbols that we all comprehend, no matter where we come from. Was Jesus an archetype?

  Buddha was born of a virgin named Maya, called the Queen of Heaven. He also performed miracles and taught chastity, tolerance, and compassion. He was transfigured on a mount, and ascended to Nirvana, or heaven. He was called the Savior and Light of the World. He even fed 500 men from a basket of cakes and walked on water.

  Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis in Egyptian myth, was born of the virgin Isis-Meri on December 25 in a cave. His birth was announced via a bright star in the east and attended by three kings. He was baptized, began teaching at age 30, had 12 disciples, raised a man from the dead, and walked on water. He was transfigured on a mount, betrayed then crucified, buried in a tomb, and then resurrected. He was often featured as a baby on Roman catacombs being held by his virgin mother, Isis.

  The Sun God, Mithras, of Persia preceded the Christ story by more than 600 years and was the most popular pagan tradition at the time of Christianity. Mithras was born of a virgin on December 25, he had 12 companions, and performed miracles. He was identified with the lion and the lamb. He was buried in a tomb and arose three days later. His sacred day was Sun-Day. His resurrection occurred at what we now call Easter and was celebrated yearly on that date. Mithras is most associated with the Christ myth because of the prevalence of the Mithraic tradition at the dawn of Christianity, and the obvious common motifs presented in both myths. Sun God...Son of God.

  Krishna, who many call the Indian messiah of Hinduism, was also born a virgin named Devaki, or Divine One. He is an incarnation of the Sun God, Vishnu, who rises on the winter solstice around December 21. His father was a carpenter, wise men and angels attended his birth, and he was given gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. He raised the dead and healed lepers, the blind, and deaf, and worked miracles and wonders. He taught in parables, humbly washed the feet of others, cared for the poor and downtrodden, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven. He is said to one day return to earth in a second coming to battle the Prince of Evil.

  Even Dionysus, the Greek god of winemaking and the grape, and a fertility deity associated with often orgiastic rituals, could change water into wine, was born of a virgin on December 25, and was resurrected after death.

  The story of Christ is filled with symbols and themes seen elsewhere in deities from Afghanistan (Bali) to Scandinavia (Odin/Thor) to Bermuda (Salivahana) to Greece (Kadmos) to the Aztecs (Quexalcote) to Esus of the Druids, often based upon much earlier pagan and earth-based belief systems. Some suggest that the 12 disciples of Christ and Mithras were the 12 signs of the zodiac depicted in human form. These myths may have even older roots in the “dying-and-rising god” (DARG) or “death-rebirth deity” of pagan cultures. The DARG idea suggests that a number of Gods of the ancient near east all had died and been resurrected in a formulaic manner that applied to each deity. These DARGs were almost cookie cutter, dating back to the third millennium BC, and were often associated with vegetation and nature deities that represented harvest and growing cycles.

  Among these DARGS were Adonis, Tammuz and Osiris, Dionysus, Ra/Osiris/Orion, Baal, Eshmun, and perhaps even Jesus, who may have been a later version of the DARGs and more myth than literal. Female DARGS included Ishtar/Inanna, Bara, and Persephone, so this was not just a male motif, nor was it limited to the ancient near east, as the Japanese have their DARG in Izanami, the Norse Baldr, and the Aztec’s Quetzalcoatl. This motif is popular in the field of comparative mythology, which looks for commonalities in the myths and religious beliefs of diverse cultures, and could either signify a God that went away physically and returned later, or literally died and was reborn in much the same way plants, flowers, trees, and crops “died” each winter season and were “reborn” in the spring. Ishtar and Persephone die every year and return, much in the same way as certain plant life. During their absence, there is no growth, but upon their return, the cycle of regrowth begins anew, thus the association of DARGs with many harvest rituals.

  That the deities of both myth and religion should be so interchangeable shouldn’t bring offense to anyone. Belief, if based at all on reality, would no doubt find common ground even as it spread from culture to culture throughout a period of time, with fundamental and often observable truths remaining encoded in the stories, rituals, and traditions as they evolved and grew.

  One God, Many Names

  Greek and Roman myths share many similarities, most notably their major deities. Many of the deities are the same, but with different names, showing a definite common influence from one region to another.

  These are just a few of the deities that share characteristics and ruling domains. Because of regional proximity it makes sense that stories would infiltrate cultures and be adopted, and adapted, by and to specific cultures. Other global myths include similar deities; think of Odin and Thor of the Norse mythology as the counterparts of Zeus and Jupiter—the supreme ruler of Gods and the God of lightning/storms, signifying a collective understanding of nature and its cycles and the symbolic story-telling that was chosen to describe it.

  What the heck were these stories all about, other than some guy named Thor playing with thunder and a hot babe named Venus who came out of the sea and made men melt, and a chick with snakes for hair and a bush that burned who gave out free wisdom to the chosen few, and winged horses that soar up to the top of mountains with Gods on their backs? Were they just fun and entertaining stories to pass the time—or were they meant to pass on much more than just an evening around the fire pit where oral traditions were soon to become the stories we read about in books made of pulp and ink?

  E.O. James (1888–1972), an anthropologist in the field of comparative religion and former professor emeritus of the history and philosophy of religion in the University of London, writes in his book, Creation and Cosmology: A Historical and Comparative Inquiry that “[m]yth as it exists in a savage community, that is, in its living primitive form, is not merely a story told but a reality lived. It is not of the nature of fiction, such as we read to-day in a novel, but it is a living reality, believed to have once happened in primeval times, and continuing ever since to influence the world and human destinies.” This attitu
de is mirrored by other experts in comparative religion and mythology, such as Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth, and Mircea Eliade, author of Images and Symbols and Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return, who see myth as more than just sheer story-telling for entertainment purposes. Myth had a purpose that went much deeper.

  Comparative Mythology

  Comparative mythology is a field of study devoted to examining myths from cultures and traditions all over the world to seek both differences and commonalities, and identify shared themes, characteristics, motifs, and even archetypes. Often looking at how myths evolve leads us to better understand how religious belief arises in a particular culture, and even gives a glimpse into political evolution as well. What people believe and the stories they tell themselves and pass on to future generations often describe more detail than we think about the lives they lead, even if these stories do also feature fantastical elements like deities and creatures that originate in the imagination.