I have always found a certain correspondence between the physical world and its workings and the inner world of the spirit and mysticism.
I see no clear line of demarcation between Science, Religion and Myth. For each of these paths of human enquiry, the great goal, the supreme task is to know Truth....to distinguish what is real from what seems real, the real and the illusory.
Truth is not separate from us. We and our world are its mirror. Like the laws that govern the workings of living things and natural phenomena, whether we recognise them or not, truth is the basic principle of the real.
For most people, though, myth is pseudo-science. Science explains what is real, while myth explains the world to societies that either have no science, or lack the knowledge to undertand it.
On the surface, it might seem like that. For who but children or the simple-minded could believe that stories about monsters of chaos, treasure-hoarding dragons, demons, gods fighting and mating like lusty peasants, or first humans pushing earth and sky apart tell us anything about the real world?
Who indeed? The people of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Meso America, whose remarkable knowledge of mathematics and astronomy and perhaps other as yet unknown technologies enabled them to construct huge edifices with unbelievable precision. The Polynesians, whose intimate knowledge of the stars, the oceans and weather allowed them to make great sea voyages. Indigenous people across the globe who lived, throve and functioned superbly with simple technologies.
One thing I learned from my studies in anthropology is that so-called non-technological or 'simple' cultures often know a great deal more about the world and how things work than most of us in 'advanced' cultures do.
There is no doubt that in all societies, there are many who will take their myths literally. They might believe that their world actually spewed out of a serpent or broke out of a giant egg; that woman was created out of a rib bone, or that a family built a boat that held two of every animal.
Just as easy to take these as literal truths as to the believe the greatest myth of science: that the magnificent universe and we, with all our psychological complexities, perfectly ordered biology, creativity and intelligence are mere accidents, the result of chance, of good luck, of being in the right place at the right time.
How can anyone, I wonder, look into this world, into the cosmos with all its glorious beauties and wonder and its mathematical precision, and not see the handiwork of a Great Mind?
Myth and science are not contradictory. They reflect two different paths of enquiry, two different ways of understanding the world, and they are focused on different aspects of reality.
Science is concerned with the observable realities of matter and its forces.
Myth is concerned with the metaphysical realities of humanity, of spirit and the inner world. Throughout human history, cultures have expressed their deep metaphysical and spiritual knowledge in living, profoundly symbolic mythologies.
The misunderstanding between myth and religion (on one hand) and science (on the other) is simply a matter of perspective.
Taking myths and religious narratives literally keeps things simple: That's the way things happened, and there is no need to ask troublesome questions or confront the great mysteries of existence.
Likewise, limiting science to the observable and mathematical allows us to avoid the big questions. By giving all importance to the What and the How of the world, science neatly sidelines the biggest questions of all:
What exploded at the Big Bang? What is the true source of the cosmos, its extravagantly beautiful nebulae, stars and galaxies such as the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy, below? How does this universe of non-conscious objects and forces maintain such a perfect balance of order and potentiality?
What is the First Cause of Life?
Who are we? Why are we here?
These are the questions with which religion and mythology have always been concerned...and now, tentatively....science.
M64: The Sleeping Beauty Galaxy.
Credit: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI), S. Smartt (IoA) & D. Richstone (U. Michigan) et al.
Don't you just love Hubble? Tosca