Karen Armstrong On Displaced Myth

I know I'm rambling on here...my last three blogs are evidence of observation and connections (however remote they may be) that I made after reading Heinrich Zimmer's chapter "Four Romances From The Cycle Of King Arthur."  Specifically, when he enlightens us on the "hidden sanctuary of the fountainhead" what many romantic heroes have sought for millenniums as their "holy goal" which is "a solution of the riddle of life and death" which can be traced as far back as the Mesopotamian era and printed on greatly damaged) cuneiform tablets (c. 2000 B.C.)"  You can find all the details about how this ancient story evolves and where it springs up in other cultures on pages 81-88. Anyhow, I'm still thinking about these connections because it is what our group was originally going to present and I'm still quite fascinated by the story and it roots in the past and in popular culture.

Now that I've gotten those of you who haven't read my last four blogs caught up, I want to move on to how Karen Armstrong couches the use of myth in modern western traditions.  She states, "We try to enter this dimension [mythological] by means of art, rock music, drugs or by entering the larger-than-life perspective of film.  We still seek heroes. . . .The myth of the hero was not intended to provide us with icons to admire, but was designed to tap into the vein of heroism within ourselves.  Myth must lead to imitation or participation, not passive contemplation.  We no longer know how to manage our mythical lives in a way that is spiritually challenging and transformative" (135).  She further states that "purely linear, logical and historical modes of thought have debarred many of us from therapies and devices that have enabled men and women to draw on the full resources of their humanity in order to live with the unacceptable" (134).  The "unacceptable" is what Zimmer refers to as "a solution of the riddle of life and death."  Humanity has not come to terms with our destiny, death, and how and what that means.  Our current culture, according to Armstrong, has regressed because of "our suppression of myth" which provides the mechanisms for understanding of where we came from and where we are going.