mythologem, n.All

Mythologem (n.) exist, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠though their statements do not coincide with our idea of truth — and to bar them from science for being untrue is childish.

A Mythologem (n.) re-enacted ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in ritual is the bridge by which the unconscious transmits its instinctive movements to consciousness without friction; when the image grows antiquated, decisions lose their roots and their certainty.

A Mythologem (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a portion of the world inside the psyche: just as the chicken comes out of the egg the same way all over the world, certain ways of thinking and imagining appear everywhere, independent of tradition.

A Mythologem (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠still fresh and living in the hidden recesses of our most personal life — something the mythologist, being no psychiatrist, does not know.

A Mythologem (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠arise anywhere, any time, with no possible transmission: an insane patient produced almost word for word a symbolic passage from a papyrus not published until years later.