God Beyond Religion: The Importance of Myths, Allegories, and Narratives

From the “age of reason” or the “enlightenment” forward, myths especially, but allegories and narratives as well, took a hit in respectability. As the scientific revolution came into being and physics developed a materialist, physicalist paradigm, they became even less important. It is my belief that myths, allegories, and narratives in general are very important in understanding humanities place in the cosmos, and the material, corporeal world. This is especially true if indeed consciousness is foundational, because then, there is really no difference between consciousness and spirituality and it would be just as correct to say the spirituality is foundational to reality.

It is also true that the last 250 years have emboldened historians to claim that ancient characters such as Pythagoras, Buddha, Hermes, and Jesus did not really exist. First, that is unimportant, and second where there is a plethora of sources claiming something or someone to be true or real, there is generally a reason behind it. Could the role of such individuals be to help us understand this basically spiritual world?

My purpose in addressing this is the Thoth/Hermes narrative. Was Thoth and Hermes a god in the sense that we currently view the term god? Very likely not. But it seems clear that they were also more than a myth. Is Hermetics ancient wisdom? I believe beyond doubt that it is. It resonates with me more than any other spiritual tradition. Even if it cannot be conclusive proven that it precedes Neoplatonism in the middle third to seventh centuries, it is likely foundational to Greek philosophy in general and definitely to the idealism of Plato. Here is an article from the Stanford Encyclopedia that substantiates the fact in my view. “The second assumption, which the Neoplatonists shared with the Stoics and the Hermetists (an influential group of Egyptian religious thinkers that predate the rise of Neoplatonism), was that reality, in all its cognitive and physical manifestations, depended on a highest principle which is unitary and singular.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Online. Neoplatonism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Notice it mentions the Hemetists along with the Stoics and states that they were an influential group of Egyptian religious thinkers that predate Neoplatonism.

I am sympathetic with the idea that Pythagoras went to Egypt and studied their esoteric, metaphysical teachings and brought them back to Greece. While it cannot be proven that Pythagoras was the mathematician he is credited with being, it is much more certain that he was a proponent of mental alchemy, the occult, and the metaphysical. Pythagoras was claimed to have gone to Egypt to study by Plato, and was credited with inspiring Platonic thought. This again resonates deeply with me. This, I think, makes the idea that consciousness, the Logos, was ontologically the first principle in the cosmos an original idea with the Egyptians, and was likely given to them by advanced civilizations that preceded them.

None of these understandings would be possible without myths, allegories, and narratives. They are what has preserved and handed down so rich a story that is now being given new credence by cognitive scientists, physicists, and philosophers. I refer to these well know academics often. Donald Hoffman cognitive scientist, Rupert Sheldrake biologist, Bernard Kastrup philosopher, Max Tegmark, physicist. They all claim in one way or another that consciousness is foundational to physical reality.

While all religious philosophies have superstitions and aspects that are likely the ideas of humans, they all contain fundamental existential truths. For me, the one that resonates best is Hermetics. This is especially true with the addition of the Kybalion, the Arcane Teachings and Formulas which all point toward mentalism or as some call it mentation.