Читать книгу Museographs: Art, Myth, Legend and Story - Caron Caswell Lazar - Страница 7

Around the world many peoples still cling lovingly to their traditions. For those living in an industrialized, materialistic society, myths may well seem to be totally irrelevant. Over the last two centuries there has been a clearly deliberate attempt in Western civilization to demythologize the world in every aspect of society. Some perceive this as a sign of intellectual and emotional maturity. Unfortunately this approach ignores the far-reaching function of myth in underpinning society and in preserving a sense of the sacred.

And it’s not working. Hungry for the culture of story, new myths are springing up. They take the form of urban heroes who fight crime enshrined in comic books, and film; of other worlds developed mentally and constantly under metamorphosis engendered in games such as Dungeons and Dragons and with more frequency each and every year. In fact cult-like fantasy gaming is one of the fastest growing entertainment businesses in the United States today. The most prevalent myth— or story — of our time is of course, visitors from other planets.

A sad but important difference underlies the myths, legends and stories of history with those given rise in the modern world. Historically they portrayed the triumph of good over evil, engendered teaching for future generations, and voiced the wisdom and growth of earth’s individual and collective peoples. Today’s herald the destruction of the earth, give us mutations of the soul, and leave us as the children of one-celled amoeba rather than the beloved of the Divine.