Myth is metaphor

 “Myth is metaphor. The imagery of mythology is symbolic of spiritual powers within us: when these are interpreted as referring to historical or natural events which science in turn shows could not have occurred, then you throw the whole thing out. You see, myths do not come from a concept system; they come from a life system; they come out of a deeper center. We must not confuse mythology with ideology. Myths come from where the heart is, and where the experience is, even as the mind may wonder why people believe these things. The myth does not point to a fact; the myth points beyond facts to something that informs the fact.

When you think, for instance, ‘God is thy father,’ do you think he is? No, that's a metaphor, and the metaphor points to two ends: one is psychological--that's why the dream is metaphoric; the other is metaphysical. Now, dream is metaphoric of the structures in the psyche, and your dream will correspond to the level of psychological realization that you are operating on. The metaphysical, on the other hand, points past all conceptualizations, all things, to the ultimate depth. And when the two come together, when psyche and metaphysics meet, then you have a real myth. And when that happens the sociological and the cosmological aspects of your life have to be re-visioned in terms of these realizations.”

-Joseph Campbell

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From An Open Life: Joseph Campbell in Conversation with Michael Toms (pg. 21)

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