Why Mythology is Important!

If you desire to put an idea into the ground where it will disappear and never return to bother you, just label it as mythological. To suggest that something is mythological is to suggest that it is fanciful, of no great importance, and cannot be trusted to tell you anything about the truth. Our ancestors had a better idea about mythology; they liked it, trusted it, and placed their most important secrets into that format for safe keeping. In an age where there was no other way to pass on data from one generation to the next, mythology became the method of choice. Why did they find it so important when we find it otherwise? If you think about it, you will soon see that any other method of passing on information was risky and far less efficient. Tell a story that has simple elements and is easily remembered, and that story will last for a very long time. The tales of Aesop are standard fare for our children, just as they were standard fare for us when we were growing up. Each contains a moral. The tales told to my generation, which predated World War II, are the same as are being related to my grandchildren. The morals contained in each tale remain the same, and are just as pertinent today. Our distant ancestors did not know how the world was created or if it was created at all. That didn't stop each group from having a creation story to pass on from one generation to the next. We have no problem labeling all of them as mythological except for, you guessed it, our own mythology. I refer specifically to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which I submit is just as mythological as any other such story. However, from a gnostic view point, the story of Adam and Eve is important. Our ancestors didn't just make up that story; it has a germ of truth which the mythology is designed to nurture and pass on to us just as our ancestors intended that it should. The story has its roots in Kurdistan (a section of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and parts of the old Soviet Union). The Kurds have lived in that area for some 10,000 years. Their traditions go back to the time when the Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden story had its beginnings. It is not a coincidence that the birthplace of Abraham, namely the City of Ur, is right there in the middle of that area. The germ of truth is that this is the place where likely human beings transitioned from hunter-gatherers into farmers and city folk as we are now. Again, it is not a coincidence that the underlying problem between Cain and Abel was that one was a farmer and the other a hunter. Wars were fought in the American West between ranchers and homesteaders over the use of the land. It is not a stretch that hunter-gatherers would resent the tilling of the land where they were used to hunting. The ruins of Gobekli Tepe are possibly the location of the Garden of Eden. There was a land known as Eden in the vicinity. I recommend to those who are interested in this history that they buy two books, both by Andrew Collins. One is "From the Ashes of Angels," and the other is the "Gods of Eden." If you prefer to take it as fiction rather than nonfiction, I recommend that you read, "The Genesis Secret," by Tom Knox. If you read any or all of these books, you will never see our mythology in the same way. First, you will know that the Garden of Eden story is mythological, and second, you will know that it carries an important message for our own time. I especially recommend these books to those folks who believe that the earth is only 6,000 years old. Since the events in these books occurred 10,000 years ago, it will serve as a timely wake up call for taking religion literally rather than metaphorically.