When a society is in transition, it reviews its mythology, that is, the collection of stories that define it, to see if they are still accurate, notes Karen Armstrong in A Short History of Myth.  And baby, are we transitioning. 

Signs our mythology is up for grabs are everywhere: 

• The (over)use of the word “narrative,” by politicians, journalists, writers, activists, media personnel, and others

• The choices of stories before us, be it fake news, counter narratives, hidden narratives, and untold narratives 

• The liminal space between narratives as the old, dominant (white, male) narrative breaks down and a new mythology has yet to emerge.

The pimping of narrative has been bubbling up for some time though—in corporate training rooms, online gaming, and consumer marketing programs—to control players’ behaviors. Now, that “sticky” tool is expanding its reach to control the society’s mythology and, by extension, our own.

We have two choices in this collective mythic quest: to keep the old mythology even if it is becoming increasingly inaccurate, or to envision a new and more authentic one. 

We’ve Been Here Before

It’s an old story, two thousand years old to be exact. That’s when society last revised its mythology and patriarchy seized it, noted Riane Eisler, a cultural theorist, in The Chalice and the Blade. Then, as now, the manipulation of story was pivotal in this shift.

Then: Leaders of the new, hierarchical power structure had their court scribes pen stories that were performed in town squares to teach the new code of conduct and expected behavior, noted Eisler.

Now: We’re more sophisticated. Competing narratives are being pushed through media multiple outlets—religious, economic, physical, social, educational, and more—to anchor the beliefs their mythology is marketing. 

Your Role in Birthing a New Mythology

All our lives, our parents, ancestors and the culture itself tell us stories about what is “moral,” that is, right and true and good. But morals, like the stories they are attached to, are fictions, created by those in power with very specific agendas. 

The task then, is to untangle your beliefs, embodied over a lifetime, from those of the culture’s so you can claim and author your own, authentic ones.

This is hard work. It is deep work. It is, in fact, the work of the hero. 

It is also what is required to birth a new mythology personally and socially.

M. Carolyn Miller, MA, designs narrative- and game-based learning. She also writes and speaks about the power of story in our lives and world. www.cultureshape.com