Myth, Imagination and Culture

We have myths and fantasies because we have imaginations.  Surely imagination is a thing that is central to being human, both good and evil.  We can imagine wonders and horrors.  We can imagine heaven and hell.  We can imagine Santa with his twinkling eyes and merry dimples.  We can imagine monsters. In fact isn’t it a little creepy that Santa knows who’s been bad and good? Children used to be told of the Bogeyman who would snatch away bad children.  We don’t think that’s such a good myth anymore.

A myth is a fantasy that has a tradition.  They are stories or legends that are a central part of any culture--they are culture.  We often say that a common belief or story is a “myth” in order to say it isn’t true.  But myths are slippery! They contain some of our most exalted--and also some of our most evil--imaginations and they have a powerful grip.  Many have the power to seize one’s imagination and live there.  Imagine a Creator God simply saying “Let there be light!”, and light itself first comes into being!  You don’t have to be an orthodox Christian to read the Biblical story of creation and find your imagination fired by the story.

And even when we are pretty sure a given myth is not real, the story or it’s image may still have something very important to say to us. Consider the image, often used in cartoons, of a small angel (golden halo, wings, white robe) standing on your shoulder and whispering in your ear. Meanwhile there is a small red demon (horns, hoof, tail)  standing on your other also whispering. The demon of course is tempting you to do something you shouldn’t, and the angel is trying to keep you from doing it--appealing to your conscience.  If the picture is done right, each of these spirits has your face!  

So, OK--maybe there are not little good and evil beings that perch on our shoulders, but isn’t it a wonderful illustration of the fact that we have, in all of us, a mixture of bad and good impulses?

So “myth” and “fantasy” can be much more than just stories or entertainments. Their power is not just for children. They instruct us and inspire us. They may tell us things that are really too deep for words, something like the effect music can have. Our lives are richer, deeper with myth and fantasy, because of our imaginations.   

So the issue with becoming an adult is not to disdain and avoid fantasy and myth, because that would be a very bleak and impoverished approach to life (and probably impossible to do anyway).  The issue is to be able to be realistic when needed--which is most of the time.  In an age when we are saturated with opportunities to fantasize and liable to be addicted to fantasy, to lead a productive and useful--and ultimately joyful-- life means to fantasize in moderation, and to (mostly) live and act grounded in reality.

Another thing about myths is they can become so central to a culture as to come to be regarded as necessarily true, i.e., belief in them becomes a requirement to belong in the culture.  This describes a good deal of religion. Is religion false because it’s “only” myths?  Certainly not! As said above, myths may contain some of the deepest truths.

Myths and Children

My son Matt, age 5, was distraught. An older boy had told him that there was no Santa Claus. I was furious. Sure it’s a fantasy--but It’s such a fun fantasy, we had carried on the tradition.  We told our three little boys about Santa, and on Christmas Eve we would hang the stockings and tell them to go to bed and sleep so “Santy” could come and bring the goodies.  Then we filled the stockings with candy and fruit and laid out presents for them to discover the next morning. Oh, they would be so excited! We loved it.

Of course Matt had to learn the sad truth sometime.  It would not be good if he grew up believing there really is a jolly old elf in a red outfit who flies over all the world in one night in a magical sleigh delivering toys to good little girls and boys.  A disappointment every Christmas!

Is the excitement and fun of the Santa fantasy worth the pain of later discovering it’s not real? We thought so.  But discarding it must come.  You can still love the story, but you have to know it’s not true.

And so it is with most of the children’s fantasy that cultures tell their children.  Both the fun parts (elves, fairies, magic) and the scary parts (monsters, ghosts, magic) are wonderful and entertaining and sometimes edifying, but the stories are for children, not adults.  Growing up means you must discern what is real, and no longer be afraid of monsters under the bed or expect a good fairy to appear and solve your problems, or discover a magic ring that will give you immense powers.  

What about fantasy for adults?  Of course we never stop fantasizing!  As an adult you can still suspend disbelief and enjoy even the scary parts of a novel, say or a movie. But it is not real.You must return to reality to function as an adult.  That’s not easy or fun.