Now the third function
Of
A mythological tradition
Is to validate
And maintain
A certain moral order
Now these moral orders greatly differ from one society
To another
For example
The requirements
Of a primitive hunting community
Are very, very different
From a primitive planting community
What is required of the young men and women
Is in each case quite different
Likewise, in a complex
Society
Of
Differentiated
Tasks
With professional
Doctors, Medicines, Medical men
Astronomers
Or scientists
Governing people
Trading people
All of these coordinated in one society
We have a quite different
Social problem
Quite different moral problem
From that of a simple
Primitive community
[Chorus]
The individual must be shaped
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
The individual must be shaped (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
And so there is this variation
From society to society
In terms of the social orders
Now some of these social orders
Are extremely
Ruthless and fierce in their requirements and extremely
Narrow
In their demand
Individuals may be
Thus divorced
Separated
So to say
From their own nature
Read some of the descriptions
In the anthropological works
Of the primitive
Initiation rites
What is done
To the young people
In
Some primitive societies
In order
To
Test their courage
In order to integrate them
In the social group
Now most societies
Are extremely
Dogmatic
And fierce
In their
Integration
Of the individual
The individual is born as a separate
Entity
He is carved up
So to say
And made to fit
Into a pattern
That the society requires
It doesn’t require a total man
It requires a “part man”
Not an individual
But a “dividuum”
Someone who has been divided up and put into a notch
[Chorus]
The individual must be shaped
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
The individual must be shaped (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
This happens in the most primitive societies, already
Nature produces
This wonderfully
Rich being
Full of possibilities
The society and you cannot blame society
It requires
A certain
Specific - Limited - Type
It’s got to have that otherwise it can’t exist
And so
The individual is
So to say
Carved into shape
Scarified
And teeth knocked out
His body is changed
So that he will know;
I’m a member of this group
Not that group
[Chorus]
The individual must be shaped
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants (wants it to)
The individual must be shaped (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants (wants it to)
The individual must be changed
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants it to
The individual must be changed (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants it to
[Bridge]
And
In so
Shaping the person
The person is removed
So to say
From his own nature
From his own nature
From his own nature
His own nature
Of
A mythological tradition
Is to validate
And maintain
A certain moral order
Now these moral orders greatly differ from one society
To another
For example
The requirements
Of a primitive hunting community
Are very, very different
From a primitive planting community
What is required of the young men and women
Is in each case quite different
Likewise, in a complex
Society
Of
Differentiated
Tasks
With professional
Doctors, Medicines, Medical men
Astronomers
Or scientists
Governing people
Trading people
All of these coordinated in one society
We have a quite different
Social problem
Quite different moral problem
From that of a simple
Primitive community
[Chorus]
The individual must be shaped
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
The individual must be shaped (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
And so there is this variation
From society to society
In terms of the social orders
Now some of these social orders
Are extremely
Ruthless and fierce in their requirements and extremely
Narrow
In their demand
Individuals may be
Thus divorced
Separated
So to say
From their own nature
Read some of the descriptions
In the anthropological works
Of the primitive
Initiation rites
What is done
To the young people
In
Some primitive societies
In order
To
Test their courage
In order to integrate them
In the social group
Now most societies
Are extremely
Dogmatic
And fierce
In their
Integration
Of the individual
The individual is born as a separate
Entity
He is carved up
So to say
And made to fit
Into a pattern
That the society requires
It doesn’t require a total man
It requires a “part man”
Not an individual
But a “dividuum”
Someone who has been divided up and put into a notch
[Chorus]
The individual must be shaped
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
The individual must be shaped (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
This happens in the most primitive societies, already
Nature produces
This wonderfully
Rich being
Full of possibilities
The society and you cannot blame society
It requires
A certain
Specific - Limited - Type
It’s got to have that otherwise it can’t exist
And so
The individual is
So to say
Carved into shape
Scarified
And teeth knocked out
His body is changed
So that he will know;
I’m a member of this group
Not that group
[Chorus]
The individual must be shaped
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants (wants it to)
The individual must be shaped (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants (wants it to)
The individual must be changed
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants it to
The individual must be changed (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants it to
[Bridge]
And
In so
Shaping the person
The person is removed
So to say
From his own nature
From his own nature
From his own nature
His own nature
The second function
Of a mythology
Is to
Present
An image
A total image
Of the universe
As consciousness is aware of it
We have to
Encompass
The whole of what we know
And see that
In terms of this mystery
Now as you
Immediately realize
In the course of the ages
In the course of time
Man’s understanding
[Chorus]
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A totally new cosmos
Has come into being
Has come into our consciousness
Has great greatly changed
The view
Of
The world round about
That the Pawnee Indian would have had on the plains of Nebraska
200 years ago
Is very, very different
From what is now propounded
In the University of Nebraska
Likewise
When we read
In the
Book of Genesis
The story of the creation of the world
That’s not the world
That our scientists are
Telling us about
Are are telling us about (faded)
[Chorus]
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A totally new cosmos
Has come into being
Has come into our consciousness
Has great greatly changed
Read an account
Of the coming into being of the cosmos
From the spiral nebulae
Hundreds and hundreds of millions of years ago
And try to bring that into accord
With
The Biblical story
Or try to bring it into accord with any
Of the inherited stories
The
Image of the cosmos
Must change
With the development of the mind
And the knowledge
Otherwise
The
Mythic statement is lost
And man becomes disassociated
From the very basis
Of his own religious experience
Doubt comes in and so forth
You must remember
All of the great traditions
And little traditions
In their own time
Were scientifically correct
That is to say they were correct
In terms
Of the scientific image of that age
So there must be
A
Scientifically
Validated
Image
Now you know what has happened
Our scientific field has separated itself
From the religious field
Or vice versa
[Chorus]
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A totally new cosmos
Has come into being
Has come into our consciousness
Has great greatly changed
It was actually
The religious community that rejected the scientific community
In the 17th Century
And this divorce
Is a fatal thing
And a very unfortunate
And a totally unnecessary thing
There is no reason whatsoever
For clinging
To the literal
The literal
Reading
Of a scientific statement
That is
4000
Years
Old
It must be read
Another way
And there is something else being said there
Which is lost
If you
Either hang on to the old science
Or reject it
Or reject it
[Chorus]
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A totally new cosmos
Has come into being
Has come into our consciousness
Has great greatly changed
Of a mythology
Is to
Present
An image
A total image
Of the universe
As consciousness is aware of it
We have to
Encompass
The whole of what we know
And see that
In terms of this mystery
Now as you
Immediately realize
In the course of the ages
In the course of time
Man’s understanding
[Chorus]
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A totally new cosmos
Has come into being
Has come into our consciousness
Has great greatly changed
The view
Of
The world round about
That the Pawnee Indian would have had on the plains of Nebraska
200 years ago
Is very, very different
From what is now propounded
In the University of Nebraska
Likewise
When we read
In the
Book of Genesis
The story of the creation of the world
That’s not the world
That our scientists are
Telling us about
Are are telling us about (faded)
[Chorus]
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A totally new cosmos
Has come into being
Has come into our consciousness
Has great greatly changed
Read an account
Of the coming into being of the cosmos
From the spiral nebulae
Hundreds and hundreds of millions of years ago
And try to bring that into accord
With
The Biblical story
Or try to bring it into accord with any
Of the inherited stories
The
Image of the cosmos
Must change
With the development of the mind
And the knowledge
Otherwise
The
Mythic statement is lost
And man becomes disassociated
From the very basis
Of his own religious experience
Doubt comes in and so forth
You must remember
All of the great traditions
And little traditions
In their own time
Were scientifically correct
That is to say they were correct
In terms
Of the scientific image of that age
So there must be
A
Scientifically
Validated
Image
Now you know what has happened
Our scientific field has separated itself
From the religious field
Or vice versa
[Chorus]
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A totally new cosmos
Has come into being
Has come into our consciousness
Has great greatly changed
It was actually
The religious community that rejected the scientific community
In the 17th Century
And this divorce
Is a fatal thing
And a very unfortunate
And a totally unnecessary thing
There is no reason whatsoever
For clinging
To the literal
The literal
Reading
Of a scientific statement
That is
4000
Years
Old
It must be read
Another way
And there is something else being said there
Which is lost
If you
Either hang on to the old science
Or reject it
Or reject it
[Chorus]
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A man’s image
Of the universe
Has great greatly changed
A totally new cosmos
Has come into being
Has come into our consciousness
Has great greatly changed
Let’s consider this
Problem
The human
Eye
Opens
At a rather late-stage
In the development
Of the individual
He has already
Done the most
Marvelous work
He will ever do
In a mysterious way
In his mother’s womb
He has built
A human body
And this body
Has organs
That are
Directed
To certain ends
And intentions
And these
Were not
The organs
Designed by reason
Designed by consciousness
Reason and consciousness comes to itself
And asks
Later
[Chorus]
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
Why is it?
I do this
And that?
Why is it
I do this
And that?
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
Furthermore
The coming of the eyes
Into the general biological picture
Is very late
Life had already originated
Hundreds of millions of years
Before eyes opened
And saw what was going on
Saw what life
Was doing
Now if you’ll see
And think
What it is
That life does
That life has to do in order to be life
It has to kill
And eat
Other life
That‘s the basic thing
This is a rather monstrous thing
And when the eyes see
What the
Situation is
On which its own life
Depends
Its own existence
When conscience
And consciousness
Become aware
Of the
Preconditions of their own existence
There is often
A sense of shock
A sense of horror
You know
The basic
Word of Buddhism;
All life
Is sorrowful
That’s one way
Of recognizing this
There is also the feeling
Many have of guilt
Simply for being alive
This is
In a way symbolized in the image of the fall in the Garden
Life
Is monstrous
Life
Is monstrous
[Chorus]
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
Why is it?
I do this
And that?
Why is it
I do this
And that?
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
Problem
The human
Eye
Opens
At a rather late-stage
In the development
Of the individual
He has already
Done the most
Marvelous work
He will ever do
In a mysterious way
In his mother’s womb
He has built
A human body
And this body
Has organs
That are
Directed
To certain ends
And intentions
And these
Were not
The organs
Designed by reason
Designed by consciousness
Reason and consciousness comes to itself
And asks
Later
[Chorus]
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
Why is it?
I do this
And that?
Why is it
I do this
And that?
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
Furthermore
The coming of the eyes
Into the general biological picture
Is very late
Life had already originated
Hundreds of millions of years
Before eyes opened
And saw what was going on
Saw what life
Was doing
Now if you’ll see
And think
What it is
That life does
That life has to do in order to be life
It has to kill
And eat
Other life
That‘s the basic thing
This is a rather monstrous thing
And when the eyes see
What the
Situation is
On which its own life
Depends
Its own existence
When conscience
And consciousness
Become aware
Of the
Preconditions of their own existence
There is often
A sense of shock
A sense of horror
You know
The basic
Word of Buddhism;
All life
Is sorrowful
That’s one way
Of recognizing this
There is also the feeling
Many have of guilt
Simply for being alive
This is
In a way symbolized in the image of the fall in the Garden
Life
Is monstrous
Life
Is monstrous
[Chorus]
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
Why is it?
I do this
And that?
Why is it
I do this
And that?
What is it
I am all about?
What is it
I am here for?
Now there have been
In the past
200 years
A great, great many
Investigations and researches
Some of them very
Pious
Some of them
Very
Cynical
Of the religions of the world
And certain
Quite constant
Motives
Basic themes
Have come out
Throughout the whole field
These universals
These continually recurring
Themes
Also, in each of the various areas
There are quite special
Particular inflections
Quite different
From those in
Other areas
That is to say, we have this spectacle of
Continuity
And consistency
And at the same time
Differentiation
I want to speak tonight in a very general way
To
The main
Problems
That these situations
And these observations
Bring up
[Chorus]
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
By symbolic forms
Which
Have been served
For 200,000 years
200,000 years
And have sustained the race
Even on the simplest level
And even on
The levels of the highest cultures
We all know the greatest
Monuments
The greatest
Architectural
And
Art
Monuments
Are in celebration of these mysteries
I don’t care where you turn
These are the things
We now
Go by jet
To see
[Chorus]
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
By symbolic forms
Which
Have been served
For 200,000 years
200,000 years
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
By symbolic forms
Which
Have been served
For 200,000 years
200,000 years
In the past
200 years
A great, great many
Investigations and researches
Some of them very
Pious
Some of them
Very
Cynical
Of the religions of the world
And certain
Quite constant
Motives
Basic themes
Have come out
Throughout the whole field
These universals
These continually recurring
Themes
Also, in each of the various areas
There are quite special
Particular inflections
Quite different
From those in
Other areas
That is to say, we have this spectacle of
Continuity
And consistency
And at the same time
Differentiation
I want to speak tonight in a very general way
To
The main
Problems
That these situations
And these observations
Bring up
[Chorus]
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
By symbolic forms
Which
Have been served
For 200,000 years
200,000 years
And have sustained the race
Even on the simplest level
And even on
The levels of the highest cultures
We all know the greatest
Monuments
The greatest
Architectural
And
Art
Monuments
Are in celebration of these mysteries
I don’t care where you turn
These are the things
We now
Go by jet
To see
[Chorus]
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
By symbolic forms
Which
Have been served
For 200,000 years
200,000 years
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
What are the functions
The human functions
Served by mythologies
By symbolic forms
Which
Have been served
For 200,000 years
200,000 years
Many of you I’m sure
Have heard the saying that
Mythology is other people’s religions
Now I am going to ask you
To put yourself in other people’s shoes
And have a look at your own
As mythology
As mythology
[Chorus]
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
Nietzsche
Has said;
“This is the age of comparisons.”
It works on all levels
And in the realm of
What I’m calling “mythology“, which many people call “religions“
There are cross-influences
Operating today
That would have been thought
Impossible
A hundred years ago
Furthermore, it is good to recall
To remember
That our cultures
And our races
Are very, very late arrivals
In the history of the human species
And we already have
Very interesting
Evidence
Of religious, or mythological practices
In races long antedating
Ours
For instance
In the high Alps
There were discovered in the (19)20s
In
Very small caves
Right below
The ice level of the glaciers
Little shrines
Containing the skulls of cave bears
Now during the course of the last glaciation, the Würmglacial period
Those caves were covered with ice
No one could have gone there
And after The time of that glaciation, there were no cave bears in the world
So these little shrines
With these cave bear skulls
And little fires
And
Little
Instruments of
Showing that there had been worship practice there
Date from 200,000 years ago
200,000 years ago
[Chorus]
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
What is this mystery?
Each of us
Has been brought up
In some tradition
That has its imagery
Of that mystery
But the point I want to
Start out with
Is that in the human heart
And in the human mind
No matter what
The race
The culture
The language
The tradition
There is this
Sense
Or at least the possibility of experiencing the sense
Of a mystery
And an awesome mystery
And a very
Terrifying mystery
Inhabiting the whole
Universe
The very
Mystery
Of being
Itself
And here in these very early little signs
These very early shrines
We have the evidence
Of man 200,000 years ago
Bowing
And asking for something
And devoting themselves to something
In this way of religion which we continue
To know
In this aspect
That inflection
And that other
Throughout the world today
[Chorus]
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
What is this mystery?
Have heard the saying that
Mythology is other people’s religions
Now I am going to ask you
To put yourself in other people’s shoes
And have a look at your own
As mythology
As mythology
[Chorus]
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
Nietzsche
Has said;
“This is the age of comparisons.”
It works on all levels
And in the realm of
What I’m calling “mythology“, which many people call “religions“
There are cross-influences
Operating today
That would have been thought
Impossible
A hundred years ago
Furthermore, it is good to recall
To remember
That our cultures
And our races
Are very, very late arrivals
In the history of the human species
And we already have
Very interesting
Evidence
Of religious, or mythological practices
In races long antedating
Ours
For instance
In the high Alps
There were discovered in the (19)20s
In
Very small caves
Right below
The ice level of the glaciers
Little shrines
Containing the skulls of cave bears
Now during the course of the last glaciation, the Würmglacial period
Those caves were covered with ice
No one could have gone there
And after The time of that glaciation, there were no cave bears in the world
So these little shrines
With these cave bear skulls
And little fires
And
Little
Instruments of
Showing that there had been worship practice there
Date from 200,000 years ago
200,000 years ago
[Chorus]
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
What is this mystery?
Each of us
Has been brought up
In some tradition
That has its imagery
Of that mystery
But the point I want to
Start out with
Is that in the human heart
And in the human mind
No matter what
The race
The culture
The language
The tradition
There is this
Sense
Or at least the possibility of experiencing the sense
Of a mystery
And an awesome mystery
And a very
Terrifying mystery
Inhabiting the whole
Universe
The very
Mystery
Of being
Itself
And here in these very early little signs
These very early shrines
We have the evidence
Of man 200,000 years ago
Bowing
And asking for something
And devoting themselves to something
In this way of religion which we continue
To know
In this aspect
That inflection
And that other
Throughout the world today
[Chorus]
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
That makes the
Human species bow
Before some sign of mystery?
What is this mystery?
What is this mystery?