Keuka College - Kiondaga Yearbook (Keuka Park, NY)

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12 THE COLLEGE RECORD. But in all of these is this one factor : Something going on, action, changes, processes, movement. It is not difficult for some types of mind to see in this por- trayal of the ever-present principle of life — the Law of Growth, the Law of Change. It is not necessary to suppose that primi- tive mind was purposely developing a philosophy, or that it had any more than an instinctive consciousness of this great law ; if indeed the word consciousness, as we understand it, may be used at all in such connection. But it is easy to ob- serve that myths are a portrayal of action, and this, in general, expresses the Law of Growth. Whether an esoteric signifi- cance was intentional on the part of myth makers, or uninten- tional, does not matter. This fact of outward movement finds a true correspondence in the myriad changes that take place in the inner world of thought and feeling. How much or how little the ancients may have appreciated this truth need not concern us. Such is the law of life ; as it is in the visible world of changes so, in general, is it in the invisible psychical realm. Thus mythic lore may be said to have application in both realms, the visible and the invisible, and to illustrate the Law of Growth in all departments of life. But an environment of constant changes leads to an inquiry concerning the beginning, the origin of things, and in particu- lar concerning the origin of man. One great class of mythic stories presents theories regarding man's origin. These theories belong to two classes. Common to all such literature are traces of totemistic ideas ; man has arisen from beasts and is akin to them. Likewise common to such literature is the idea, couched in various weird stories, that man has arisen from the gods and is akin to them. Fundamentally there is truth in each kind of story ; man partakes of divine and of animal qualities, and in so far as he partakes of the character- of each he may be said to have arisen from each. Again another great group may be made of those myths that represent the alternate victories of king, hero, or giant over each Other. These are classed as solar myths by philologists, and are said to represent the victory of light and warmth over darkness and cold or the alternation of (lay and night, the re-

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THE COLLEGE RECORD. 11 tials he need not become entangled in the meshes of minute- ness. These minor features — the details — are points in which myths of different nations vary, and only illustrate and empha- size the mythic law of revealing yet concealing. It is only to be expected that the results of this method should seem capricious and arbitrary to the distinctly intellec- tual temperament. It will be argued that it is absurd to claim that the mind of myth-makers ever saw such meaning in the products of their creation. No such claim is made by those who see traces of a deeper truth in them. Why limit ourselves to what myth-makers saw ? Is it reasonable to claim that we can determine, with any degree of certainity, what primitive consciousness saw in myths ? No claim is made of being able to determine the primitive significance of myths in the sense of discovering, with ac- curacy, what they may have meant to early tribes. But it seems reasonable to many minds to cherish the hope of de- ciphering the primitive significance of myths in the sense of finding in them a portrayal of primitive or first principles ; simple, fundamental laws of life, which, in some way, found birth in the race mind and became clothed in beautiful or in grotesque imagery, the meaning of which in the evolvement of human thought has passed through many phases of interpreta- tion ; simple, fundamental laws of life to which primitive organisms in the process of evolution may have given only instinctive obedience, with no comprehension whatever of the vital principles involved, with no consciousness even of render- ing such obedience. For the purposes of this article a few generalizations from mythic material to illustrate the symbolic type of interpreta- tion must suffice. Myth-makers were in an environment of constant changes. The myriad phases through which the elements of nature pass in one brief hour furnish material for weird fancies, in which the leading factors are given personal names and personal traits. Nature's sports and havocs under different circum- stances present different aspects. Hence in various localities stories that picture her ways take various shapes and colorings.

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THE COLLEGE RECORD. 13 turn of the seasons and other cyclic processes of nature. Un- der this also come the lover's alternate wooing and losing of his lady or goddess or fairy love. Generalizations from this class of myths may be stated in this principle : Growth pro- ceeds through a mingling or contending, harmonizing or alter- nating of two apparently antagnonistic forces ; as, light and darkness, heat and cold, love and hate, good and evil. Another group of myths annoy the refined taste of those who see nothing in them. These represent gods and heroes as swallowing their own offspring. These are seen by some to illustrate a true principle of life, beautiful when understood ; growth proceeds through the method of devouring one's own children — that is, eating the fruit of one's own deeds. Still another class of myths represent transformations from gods to beasts, from beasts to gods, incarnations and re-incar- nations, migrations and trans-migrations, as though such freaks might be the sport of a moment. They may be consid- ered the garb of the general truth that growth proceeds through an endless series of transformations. Retro- gression finds place in these illustrations as well as progression. From a hero or a god one may dwindle down to a grasshopper if he is not gifted with the qualities of immortal youth or with the elements of desirable progress. Other principles of growth may be seen in mythic material, according to the classification made of it. The great Epics of Greek and Latin Literature, the Aeneid, the Iliad, the Odyssey, are seen by some to be, in their esoteric meaning, parables of life. They give evidence of being a por- trayal of the growth of the soul, with as true and beautiful significance as allegorical portions of the Scriptures. The twelve labors of Hercules are explained by philologists as the tasks of a solar demigod or hero in his victory over darkness. The essentials of the narrative may be given briefly: Born at Argos (a word signifying brightness ) from the sky (Jupiter) and the dawn (Alcmene), in early infancy he throt- tles the serpents of darkness. With untiring patience and str ength he plods through life, never resting, and always on his journey performing twelve great tasks. These are inter- preted to represent either the twelve signs of the zodiac, or the