mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== Marinus Anthony van der Sluijs, M. A. (Netherlands) presents: [gb_white.gif] MYTHOPEDIA a new science of myth - the grand synthesis visit also my personal homepage View My Guestbook Sign My Guestbook Science is arid, but there is no alternative; religious doctrines no longer possess any real power to persuade. [Seymour 1998: 136] As thought mythology approaches - or is a primitive prelude to - science; and as experience it is precisely art [Campbell 1959: 179] Our usual understanding of human tradition - mythology, religion, and culture - is seriously challenged. Where do the myths, the rituals and the symbols come from, that our ancestors once cherished? The myriads of explanations offered in the last 200 years now begin to make place for a unified theory, which brings to light both the unity and the consistency of the `primitive traditions of the past'. For the first time ever the study of myth, ritual and symbolism begins to look like a respectable and testable science. Simultaneously, the world views of all races, ranging from the most savage to the most elevated, are cast into a refreshing light, highlighting the uniformity of human tradition. Welcome to Mythopedia - the grand synthesis of mankind's traditional heritage. Search Mythopedia: Google _______________________________ Google Search (_) Search WWW (_) Search mythopedia.info why this website? The purpose of this website is to present a brand-new, all-embracing theory of myth, which incorporates all presently existing theories. This new theory is an interdisciplinary theory, leaning most heavily on the latest findings of plasma cosmology in particular. For those who like to classify theories: Mythopedia argues for a catastrophist view on world history and the necessity to posit a very different arrangement of the solar system in early times. The upshot of the theory is that a number of drastic and turbulent changes in the solar system a few thousands of years ago spawned the germs of the intellectual heritage of mankind, including all forms of religion. The spectacular events taking place in the sky were recorded on stone in thousands of petroglyphs found all over the world, enacted in thousands of rituals celebrated until the present day, and narrated in thousands of myths. The data presented on this website is divided in various sections: o 'Mythodology' contains most of the 'dry stuff'. It explains the theoretical background of our views on mythology and offers a new and complete methodology for an emerging science of myth; o Mythomaticstraces the myths of the world via the rigid processes of comparative and structural mythology back towards a single origin; o Mythaeum is a provisional unselective encyclopaedia of myth, ritual, and religion, that will continue to grow over the coming years; o and Myth-wise contains a variety of articles on comparative mythology and religion. If Mythopedia contributes in one way or another to a better understanding of the phenomena of human religion and culture it will have served its purpose already, but it would be a greater boon if the theory unveiled here would be adopted and tested by others. As Seymour has written: There is no future in an attitude which is so afraid of awkward possibilities that they must be suppressed, even at the expense of scientific credibility. [1998: 167]. The new theory proposed on this website hallmarks a new era in the history of the sciences of humanity. Please note that the pages are under continuous development. The number of articles will gradually be expanded over the course of time. Orthographic errors and inadequate statements will be removed, and the encyclopaedia will continuously be enlarged. We apologise for errors and misspellings, ask for your patience and warmly await your suggestions. 'Mythodology' (the axioms of myth and a proposed methodology) Comparative mythology - the myth of the novais the working title of a forthcoming book in two volumes. In this book I disclose the underlying principles of a fundamentally new approach to comparative mythology, in which a catastrophist model is advanced as the only satisfactory explanation for the enigma of myth. Needless to say that this requires a wholesale revision of many established ideas about myth and religion. The draft version of the book already comprises more than a 1,000 pages. The text is elucidated with helpful diagrams and numerous illustrations which further enliven the text. To give you a taste of what it is all about, I have included some text samples on this website. All are invited to comment on this. the key discoveries regular evolutionary principles Over the centuries, mythological ideas have constantly developed according to certain predictable processes you might call the 'regular evolutionary principles of mythology'. visual prototypes The ultimate origin and significance of the myths was embedded in the underlying visual images, not in the meanings, functions, and interpretations the myths acquired subsequently. myth, ritual, and icon Myths, rituals, and traditional icons developed as the parallel expressions of the same prototypes. culture and civilisation Human culture and civilisation themselves were largely modelled after mythical prototypes. symbolism Mythology is not to be taken literally, but expresses itself through an interface of symbolism. The essence of these symbols is visual, not allegorical. single prototype All myths, rituals, and traditional icons trace back to a single prototype. catastrophe The single visual prototype of the myths was inspired by a series of catastrophical events that took place in the solar system prior to the onset of civilisation. plasma science This series of events can be reconstructed in great detail with the help of the mythical record and may be explained by reference to plasma phenomena operating when a giant comet or planet approached the earth. what the experts say about the connection between myth and early disasters in the sky. Mythomatics (essays on structural mythology) o Celestial Fireworks: a graphic model proposed to explain the origin of myth, ritual, and symbolism, including a general slideshow, a comparison of the model with traditional art, and an approach to the anatomy of the configuration. o introductory: a listing of themes and motifs of a universal mythology o the life of the Hero o the birth cycle: the miraculous birth o the death cycle: passion, death, resurrection and ascension to heaven o the dragon combat cycle: the dragonslayer o the creation cycle o the doomsday cycle o the culture Hero o the flood cycle: the Hero and the deluge o the Hero's appearance o appendix: the enclosing goddess o appendix: the Axis Mundi o the elements of nature o celestial phenomena (sky, stars, planets, Milky Way, moon, Northern Lights) o atmospheric phenomena (sun, rain, rainbow, thunder, lightning, clouds) o geographical phenomena (water, mountain, stone, desert) o plants (trees, herbs, corn, flowers) o animals (worms, insects, spiders, o animals (worms, insects, spiders, fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, mammals) o body parts (head, eye, ear, nose, mouth, tooth, hair, limbs, belly, hand, foot) o the elements of civilisation All aspects of ancient civilisation had religious and mythical significance. It is easy to state this in general, but what was the actual symbolism behind the common aspects of society? o society structure: leadership o religion o law: the judge and the criminal o transport o architecture o the combat: war, hunt, fishing, sports and games o dress and decoration o trade o music o medicine o manufacturing arts and crafts o cooking and food o dance o agriculture o science Mythaeum (an archetypal encyclopaedia of myth, ritual and symbolism) about the Mythaeum encyclopaedia project universal Stone Age Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic Hamito-Semitic cultures Egypt pre-Muslim Egypt pan-Semitic culture Mesopotamia Assyrians, Babylonians, Sumerians, Elamites Levant Ugarit, Phoenicians, Syrians, ancient Israel, Jews Arabic culture including the Southern Semites Indo-European cultures Anatolia Hittites, including non-Indo-European Hurrians, Asia Minor, Cyprus Iran Medes and Persians, Scythians, Ossetes, others, as well as Armenians India Indo-European India: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Tantrism, Lamaism Europe Christian Europe, including pagan Europe in historical times Greece ancient Greece and colonies Roman culture including Etruscans Germanic peoples Celtic-speaking peoples including ancient Iberians and Basques Balts Latvians, Lithuanians Slavs including Albanians and Rumenians Christian 'heresies' esotery, gnosticism, philosophy, hermeticism, alchemy, Manichaeism, qabbala, astrology, Freemasonry, catharism northern and eastern Asia Uralic peoples Finns, Lapps, Samoyeds, Voguls, others Caucasus Georgians, others Arctic Asia Turks, Mongols, Siberian tribes, Koreans, Eskimos, Tibetans Japan including the Ainu China surrounding the Indian Ocean southeast Asia Indo-China: Austro-Asiatic India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Birma, Laos, Indus-culture Oceania Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Indonesia and Madagascar Australia Australian aboriginals Africa sub-Saharan Africa the Americas North-America Meso-America Maya, Aztec, etc. South-America including the Caribbean islands universal, unspecified or unclear bibliography Myth-wise (additional articles on comparative mythology) o Ignis e Coelo - Fire from heaven (January 2001): A revolutionary paper on the mythology of the lightning. Why is the lightning universally described as a bird, as a twin, as a lion or as a dog? What is the idea behind the lightning twins? Why is a stone believed to descend in the lightning? o a social history of man - a summary of Robert Briffault, The mothers; a study of the origins of sentiments and institutions, I-III, 1927 (April 2001): The forgotten theory of matriarchy and the essential otherness of precivilised man is revived in a summarising discussion of Briffault's voluminous work. Briffault's conclusions are weighed against the Saturn theory. o de mythische Jezus; een boek over de Christussen in andere culturen (June 2001) (in DUTCH): This book, which comprises about 100 pages, deals with the life of Jesus, showing that every facet of Jesus' life has numerous correspondences in the mythologies of other cultures; it is shown that Jesus' life is not unique, but just a Jewish version of the universal Hero, who is born of a virgin, is a wandering teacher and miracle-worker, dies and is resurrected, and ascends to heaven.