MYTENS 



B6 i > 



MYTHOLOGY 



< >oiuty was " All that is is 



, in. in and < Iixl wen- tin -re- 

 .11 llitlliiiltc asMiciatii.n: 



in fact, it was hardly posilili- to 



Let WCCII tin-Ill. I Mil i.l 



. n-t\ civini Uiart, 



I jr. H lifj'.i. one <>f tin- most re- 



l.li- nl tin- < ;! 111. Hi n 

 KeUhuit's m\.-licisln r- of a pro- 



iiiniin-rilly pantheistic typo. "God 

 i- imt tin- highest, being,' he says, 

 fur " In- is the only being. Outside of 

 ii"d then- is nothing but illusion 

 ami deception." Gradually, how- 

 ex IT, mysticism separated itself 

 from Pantheism owing largely to 

 tin- iiilliienee of John Ruysbroek, 

 I _".:; l:;s|. who has been called 

 " the Patriarch of the German 

 mystics." 



Hut the most influential of the 

 mystics was John Tauler (1290- 

 1861), who succeeded in sever- 

 in _: mysticism from all its Pan- 

 theistic connexions, and bringing 

 it into line with orthodox Chris- 

 tianity. Hitherto mysticism had 

 l>eeii largely contemplative, and 

 had shunned the practical life. 

 Tauler showed that mysticism was 

 worthless, unless it issued in con- 

 secration of character and life. Two 

 societies were founded in Germany 

 to popularise mysticism : ( 1 ) The 

 Friends of God ; (2) The Brethren 

 of the Common Lot ; both of which 

 were instrumental in preparing the 

 way for the Reformation. 



Thomas a Kempis was connec- 

 ted with the latter society, and 

 though the Imitatio Christi cannot 

 perhaps be called mystical in the 

 technical sense of the term, it was 

 written under the spell of the teach- 

 ing of the mystics. Another pro- 

 duct of the same school of thought 

 was the Theologica Germanica, a 

 book which had a unique influence 

 at the time, and did almost as much 

 as the Imitatio Christi for the re- 

 covery of spiritual religion in Ger- 

 many. In the 16th century there 

 was a powerful resurgence of mys- 

 ticism in Roman Catholicism, par- 

 ticularly in Spain. The chief lead- 

 ers of the movement were S. 

 Teresa, S. Juan, and Molinos, who 

 carried to completion the work of 

 S. Catherine of Siena. S. Catherine 

 is the heroine of Baron von HiigePs 

 book on Mysticism, and his de- 

 lineation of her character is the 

 best exposition of the part which 

 mysticism played in the devo- 

 tional life of a devout and orthodox 

 Catholic. In France, too, mys- 

 ticism found expression in the 

 writings of F6nelon, Bossuet, Ma- 

 dame Guyon, and in Jansenism. 



Roman Catholicism has always 

 been more favourable to mysticism 

 than has Protestantism, though the 

 latter has by no means been un- 

 touched by its spirit. Jacob 



K.<. hinc was the first great I'm- 

 1 fa, and it wa from lii.i 

 - that William Law III I m 



tn.iliired m\ -.1 1, im into th- 

 lih Church. It cannot be said, 

 L'.U. ver, that mysticism has ever 

 been a power in Knuili.sli lite, I lii iii -.-h 

 il tumid Mi mil.', ail\ocates ill the 

 ( 'amlil nL'i- I'latoniM:-. On.il.ej l-ln, 

 with itsdi.i-trim- nl the Inin-r Light, 

 ami .Methodism with its insistence 

 on the need of personal assurance of 

 salvation, have, of course, their 

 points of affinity with mysticism, 

 but the movement has never 

 gripped the soul of England. 



H. T. Andrews 



Bibliography. Personal Idealism 

 and Mysticism, W. R. Inge, 1907 ; 

 Studies in Mystical Religion, R. M. 

 Jones, 1909 ; Practical Mysticism, 

 E. Underbill, 1915. 



Mytens, DANIEL (c. 1590-1642). 



Dutch Ji.iinter. 



'-, he wi 

 .Mi. leveldtand 

 Rubens, came 

 to London, 

 1018, and was 

 made painter 

 to Ch;i 

 1625. After 

 Van Dyck's 

 arrival he re- 

 turned to 

 Holland in 

 1630, and 

 died in 1642. 

 His best works include Hudson, 

 the Dwarf, with a dog, in St. 

 James's, Charles Howard, Earl of 

 Nottingham, at Hampton Court, 

 Charles I, and Henrietta Maria in 

 Buckingham Palace. See Hamilton. 



MYTHOLOGY : GROWTH AND INTEREST 



E. 8. Hartland. LL.D.. Author ot Ritual and Belief 



This getieral sketch is supplemented by articles on the figures of 



mythology, whether Greek, Scandinavian or other, e.g. Balder ; 



Jupiter ; Neptune ; Odin ; Siva ; Thor . Venus . Vishnu. See 



also Fairy ; Folklore ; Rig-Veda ; Valhalla, etc. 



Mythology may be defined as 

 comprising the sacred stories of the 

 various peoples of the world. Of 

 these stories some relate to the 

 Creation, and to divine or super- 

 human beings, their genealogies, 

 activities, and adventures, whether 

 they are believed to have originated 

 the world, or mankind, or a par- 

 ticular tribe, rank, or family, or 

 to superintend or take part in its 

 government, to be concerned in its 

 well-being, to be hostile to it, or to 

 lead a life of their own more or 

 less apart from mortals. 



Other stories relate to saints 

 or heroes who have championed 

 mankind or conferred benefits, 

 who have undergone sufferings, 

 made discoveries or inventions, or 

 moulded the earth or its inhabit- 

 ants into their present form. 

 Among such stories are included 

 those of the origin of death, the 

 gift of fire, the deluge, the origin of 

 beast and bird and tree, or their 

 peculiarities, the organization of 

 society, and of various institutions 

 and customs. Many stories are 

 aetiological, i.e. are told for the 

 purpose of explaining these and 

 other things ; many, on the other 

 hand, simply narrate what passes 

 with an uncultured or half -cultured 

 people for history. They are often 

 connected with the worship of the 

 gods, are told to explain the festi- 

 vals, the ceremonies, the forms of 

 their images,' the position and fur- 

 niture of their temples. In a word, 

 they are sacred. 



Unlike some non-sacred tale* 

 they are told as true, and wild and 

 repulsive or impossible as they may 

 be, they are believed, or were at 



one time believed, as facts. Another 

 characteristic frequently, but not 

 universally, present is that they 

 are told only under special con- 

 ditions, or at a certain time of year, 

 or in connexion with certain rites, 

 or to certain classes of persons, as 

 the initiates into a cult or mystery. 

 The scientific collection and critic- 

 ism of these stories is called the 

 science of mythology. 



Myths take their rise very low 

 down in culture. The people has 

 not yet been discovered so savage 

 as to be destitute of myths. As 

 culture advances, one incident after 

 another becomes incredible to the 

 growing intelligence, or repugnant 

 to the more refined manners and 

 morality of the community, but 

 the old stories are still piously re- 

 peated by the backward classes or 

 the priests of the local shrines. 

 Again, the myths deemed deroga- 

 tory to the divinities are denounced 

 as lies ; or they are interpreted as 

 parables. 



All these methods were tried in 

 Greece. From Theagenes of Rhe- 

 gium, and Metrodorus, in the 6th 

 century B.C., down to Porphyry, 

 and the latest age of paganism, the 

 interpretation of the gods as 

 physical phenomena was a favour- 

 ite teaching. The modern explana- 

 tion that myths are a disease of 

 language, that seeks their expla- 

 nation in questionable etymologies 

 and blunders of meaning, was anti- 

 cipated by Plato. 



Ultimately Christianity was vic- 

 torious over paganism throughout 

 the Roman empire. The official 

 theory of the conquerors was that 

 the heathen divinities were devils, 



