Myth And The English Mind

Presented in this volume are the Clark Lectures which Dr. Tillyard gave in Cambridge in 1959-1960, as delivered. The lectures range over a wide field, from the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century, and are given unity in their concern with various myths and the literary embodiment of these myths in different periods of English literature.

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Why were Prometheus and Loki envisioned as chained to rocks? What was the Golden Calf? Why are mirrors believed to carry bad luck? How could anyone think that mortals like Perseus, Beowulf, and St. George actually fought dragons, since dragons don't exist? Strange though they sound, however, these "myths" did not begin as fiction. This absorbing book shows that myths originally transmitted real information about real events and observations, preserving the information sometimes for millennia within nonliterate societies. Geologists' interpretations of how a volcanic cataclysm long ago created Oregon's Crater Lake, for example, is echoed point for point in the local myth of its origin. The Klamath tribe saw it happen and passed down the story--for nearly 8,000 years. We, however, have been literate so long that we've forgotten how myths encode reality. Recent studies of how our brains work, applied to a wide range of data from the Pacific Northwest to ancient Egypt to modern stories reported in newspapers, have helped the Barbers deduce the characteristic principles by which such tales both develop and degrade through time. Myth is in fact a quite reasonable way to convey important messages orally over many generations--although reasoning back to the original events is possible only under rather specific conditions. Our oldest written records date to 5,200 years ago, but we have been speaking and mythmaking for perhaps 100,000. This groundbreaking book points the way to restoring some of that lost history and teaching us about human storytelling.

Indian mythology is a teeming storehouse of heroes and heroines, who are psychological studies in themselves. Did you know, for instance, how Krishna’s son, who was his father’s alter ego, tackled the curse to be the destroyer of his entire clan? Did you know that sage Gargi was the only lady amongst legendary sages who competed for the prize for the greatest sage in the sub-continent? Did you know that Sahadev, the youngest Pandava, had qualities lacking in any of his other, better-known brothers? Did you know that Shakuni is actually a tragic hero? Myth and the Mind is a collection of six short stories about very interesting personalities in Indian mythology. These men and women are all great, and they are all human beings in whom we will all discover a small part of ourselves.

Originally published in 1950, the name of the late Dr H.G. Baynes was already well-known as a leading exponent of and translator of the writings of Professor C.G. Jung, as author and as psychotherapist. The essay which gives it title to this varied and interesting collection of writings, shows clearly Dr Baynes’s gift for illuminating a familiar subject with fresh insight drawn from his wide knowledge of the unconscious mind. He can make the unconscious real to us, and can convince us that myth and dream are expressions of vital problems of the human soul. The collection includes material to interest many types of reader, from The British Journal of Medical Psychology, from Folk-Lore, from The Society for Psychical Research. But perhaps most full of interest for the majority of readers are the first three chapters of an unfinished book – What It Is All About; here we find an admirable introduction, given with a wealth of illustration, to the main concepts of Professor Jung’s analytical psychology. Dr Baynes made Professor Jung’s thought his own, without loss of his own originality. He can touch with significance any subject on which he writes, whether it be the problem of the individual or the kindred problems of humanity.

The book examines the assumptions and confusions regarding misuse of constructs (constructions) in mainstream psychology. The confusions involve a failure to distinguish constructs from concrete events. Four controversial topics of psychology, namely mind-body, consciousness, free will vs. determinism, and sensations are examined.