Oldal 117 [117]
in a myth-poor environment, and we crave myth. The romantic
turn of the 19th century brought the idea of myth to the fore. In
addition to the renewal of religion (Christianity), the need for a
new mythology is extremely strong. The most important observa¬
tions on this topic come from Schelling. Mythology is not simply
a story, but rather an atavistic symbol, or as Schelling calls it well
before Freud and Jung: a “archetypal world” (urbildliche Welt).
(S.W. IL.5.p. 416.) He describes very well in the Kritisches Journal
der Philosophie that mythology can only become mythology if it
is universal, if it contains every element that was previously con¬
tained in culture (science, religion, and the arts), and if it perfectly
combines not only contemporary material but also that from
the past. (Hegel, Schelling 1967.p.35.) Going beyond the unique
character of any given myth, he emphasizes the universal truth
of mythology. He argues that there is something in common in
all mythologies, a universal unity that must be brought out and
demonstrated beyond the diversity of each mythology itself. This
is done by responding to a universal need.
European culture is rather poor in mythology after the Classical
Age and the rise of the domain of the mind in general. However,
the need for anew mythology has been elementary since the 19th
century. Psychoanalysis discovered the power of mythology, its
archetypal (Jung) significance, the concept of the collective uncon¬
scious. (see Jung 1935. p.179-229.) All of this was done by leading
back to the mythologies already commonly known. People had
to wait for a new mythology. To be sure, the success of fantasy
(especially in the world of cinema) just shows an infinite lack of
imagination, and it really seems as if the whole world is escaping
into some kind of impossible fairytale world. The surroundings
of modern people are shallow and pathetically bleak. Their lack
of imagination makes it so. However, fantasy itself is just as shal¬
low. It replaces individual imagination, which humanity lost a
very long time ago when they resigned themselves to living in the
emotional desert of the contemporary world. One thing, however,
is indisputable: these fantasies convey something essential. They