[Mythology of the imaginary or imaginary mythology? History and critique of psychoanalytic myth interpretation].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Humans↗
SEARCH · PubMed Health
Results for “MYTHOLOGY”
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Therapeutic wisdom in Indian mythology.
The usefulness of anecdotal analogies from Indian mythology in therapeutic work with rural mental health patients has been reported. The author encountered evidences for the same in his clinical work. He then undertook to collect from Indian mythological literature excerpts containing psychotherapeutic and related themes. Examples of a few of those themes are presented to stimulate the interest of therapists in the vast therapeutic potential in mythologies. The mental health profession would benefit from examining mythologies of other cultures, and experimenting in using them in therapy.
Adult↗
Scientific cosmogony, mythology, and immortality.
Some current scientific theories of cosmogony demonstrate significant similarities to the cosmological theories of mythology and of certain religions. The notion that the universe originated in a specific cataclysmic explosion raises the mental construct of a center of the universe. This concept plays an important role in mythology and is related to the idea of the cyclical renewal of time. Such concepts, both scientific and mythological, serve as reassurance against the fear of extinction. Aspirations to immortality re-emerge in disguised form in the search for life elsewhere in the universe. Some of the cosmological theories resemble metaphorical elaborations of childhood concepts of procreation.
Astronomical Phenomena↗
Chimeric creatures in Greek mythology and reflections in science.
"The Chimaera" in Homer's Iliad, "was of divine stock, not of men, in the forepart a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, ellipsis Bellerophon slew her, trusting in the signs of the gods." In Hesiod's Theogony it is emphasized that "Chimaera ellipsis had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion, another of a goat, and another of a snakeellipsis". In addition to this interspecies animal chimera, human/animal chimeras are referred to in Greek mythology, preeminent among them the Centaurs and the Minotaur. The Centaurs, as horse/men, first appear in Geometric and early Archaic art, but in the literature not until early in the fifth century B.C. The bullheaded-man Minotaur, who is not certainly attested in the literary evidence until circa 500 B.C., first appears in art about 650 B.C. Attempts, in the fourth century B.C. and thereafter, to rationalize their mythical appearance were in vain; their chimeric nature retained its fascinating and archetypal form over the centuries. Early in the 1980s, experimental sheep/goat chimeras were produced removing the reproductive barrier between these two animal species. Late in the 1990s, legal, political, ethical, and moral fights loomed over a patent bid on human/animal chimeras. Chimeric technology is recently developed; however, the concept of chimerism has existed in literary and artistic form in ancient mythology. This is yet another example where art and literature precede scientific research and development.
Animals↗
Mythscapes: memory, mythology, and national identity.
In this paper I seek to challenge the dominant modes of conceiving the relationship between memory and national identity, and in so doing offer analysts of nationalism an improved understanding of the dynamics of national identity formation. The concept of collective memory is invoked regularly in attempts to explain the pervasiveness and power of nationalism. I argue that the concept is misused routinely in this context, and instead I employ a 'social agency' approach to theorizing, whereby memory is conceived in a more limited and cogent manner. I argue that it is important to distinguish clearly between memory and mythology, both of which are essential to understanding national identity, for not only are the two concepts distinct, they can also act in opposition to each other. Following from this I introduce the notion of a 'mythscape', the temporally and spatially extended discursive realm in which the myths of the nation are forged, transmitted, negotiated, and reconstructed constantly. Through employing the idea of a mythscape we can relate memory and mythology to each other in a theoretically profitable way.
Culture↗
Personal mythology as a paradigm for a holistic public psychology.
Viewing personal myths as cognitive structures, this paper examines the existing literature on cultural mythology, considers its relationship to personal mythology, and proposes an understanding of personal myths as a means of enhancing individuals' control over their lives. Its applicability to therapeutic counseling and its role in a holistic public psychology are discussed.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Creating a disability mythology.
People with disabilities have, for the most part, failed to identify with each other as a group. This has been detrimental because it has built a sense of isolation when a camaraderie based upon existing commonalities could have been developed. During the past ten to twenty years, there has been a great deal of discussion about appropriate language to use when discussing disability issues. This discussion has been a part of a larger debate concerning the existence of a disability culture. I believe that there is indeed a disability culture and I am a proponent of identifying and passing on stories which contribute to that culture. I have chosen to use mythology to convey this message and have begun with a focus on heroes - people who do something out of the ordinary. It is contended that almost all people with disabilities have performed heroic activities because of the pervasive discrimination encountered by each individual with a disability. Creating a disability mythology is an attempt to recognize and promote heroes within the disabled community and to advocate the importance of telling other people how positive change has occurred through instances of individual heroism.
Activities of Daily Living↗
The experience of pain during women's first sexual intercourse: cultural mythology about female sexual initiation.
A sample of coitally experienced college females was utilized to explore the adequacy of several related beliefs that constitute the cultural mythology of female sexual initiation in American society and to identify possible correlates of the subjective experience of pain during women's first intercourse. The results were that a sizeable minority of the women reported experiencing no pain during their first intercourse, that other subjective reactions (pleasure, guilt, anxiety) were experienced at least as commonly as pain, and that many women acquired considerable noncoital sexual experience prior to their first intercourse. The experience of pain during first intercourse was found to be related directly to young age, conservative sexual values, an expectation of no pain, and negative affect. The report closes with a consideration of future research needs and the presentation of a tentative model of first coital pain in which noncoital sexual experience and qualities attributed to the male partner are projected as indirect influences on first coital pain.
Affect↗
Menstrual mythology and sources of information about menstruation.
Surveys suggest that, despite extensive scientific knowledge of the biologic rhythms and physical changes associated with reproduction and despite the availability of excellent educational material about sexuality including menstruation, young peoples' knowledge of reproductive physiology is inadequate. Superstitions, illogical beliefs, and misinterpretations are more common than accurate understanding. The present article reviews menstrual mythology and describes sources of information for young people. Family and specialist physicians as well as educators in school or in the community need to recognize the limitations of the present methods of sexuality education, must realize that understanding of reproductive processes may be very incomplete, and should be prepared to work cooperatively with informal sources of information (peers, parents, and commercial companies). In addition, menstrual education needs to move away from the focus on hygienic management to that of healthy sexuality and acceptance of self.
Adolescent↗
Discipline and passion: meaning, masochism and mythology in popular medical romances.
This paper is an interpretive analysis of the discourses within popular romance literature, with a particular focus on the genre that includes constructions of the images of nurses and nursing. An historical contrast is made along with examinations of the uses and meanings encompassed within this body of literature, and its messages for women as nurses as it reflects/creates societal change. Deviations from the formulaic nature of these works are explored. Discipline and passion are the recurring themes evident throughout in juxtapositions of romance and power differentials in the hospital/medical scene. The soft-core, sado-masochistic images evident in many titles are explored in a way that raises questions about sexuality, romance, nursing mythology, and the future of this sub-genre of the popular romance.
Erotica↗
[Gods, women and pharmacy in Greek Mythology].
The study of Greek Mythology fully justifies Herophilus's phrase: "Medicines are the hands of Gods" (third cent. B.C.). A number of Gods are said to be the inventors of the drugs which are useful to men. Their names are still alive in the scholarly or popular appellations of a great many medicinal herbs. However, insofar as the action of a drug (of a Pharmakon) remains mysterious, one finds it in essentially female practices as well as in medicine. The study of these ancient beliefs, which have survived in spite of the progress of twentieth century science, can develop the history of epistemology of pharmacy by stimulating interdisciplinary research.
Greece, Ancient↗
[The brothers of Jumiege--the peripheral nervous system in early French mythology].
This article reviews the process of discovery of the nervous system from Pythagoras (570-500 BC) to Galen (130-201 AD). After Galen, no anatomical studies were performed before the renaissance. According to a legend, probably produced for political reasons, two brothers, sons of the French king Clovis II, revolted against their father and were sentenced to loose their physical powers by having the nerves of their arms and legs cut. They were then set adrift on the river Seine, stranding at the Jumiège monastery. The earliest written version of this legend stems from the fourteenth century; it was probably a part of the local French mythology. This indicates that the existence of the peripheral nervous system, and therefore also in part the knowledge contained in the early anatomical works, quite early may have been more or less known outside academic circles.
France↗
[Mythology and the medicinal plants of antiquity].
In any civilization, nature is closely bound to the world of divinities. This is clearly seen in the Mediterranean world of Antiquity in every reference to the medicinal plants. Our aim, in this study, was to demonstrate the link between mythology and medicine. Through several centuries of medicinal practice, appears a therapeutic knowledge close to become a science. In spite of many gaps, errors and illusions thus emerges a first attempt to master the art of healing. Is it possible to speculate on a new type of drug research guided from ancient texts? Ethnopharmacology investigating medicinal traditions of the world has already obtained in this field some spectacular findings. At the moment, it would be difficult to predict the future of archeopharmacology but as Paul Valery said: "Present is nothing else than a future nutriment for the past".
History, Ancient↗
Some mythologic, religious, and cultural aspects of impotence before the present modern era.
Impotence is not only a problem of modern society. Centuries ago man has sought for causes and remedies for impotence, originally looking much more outside himself rather than within himself. This article reviews and reflects on mythological, religious and cultural aspects of impotence, especially before the beginning of the 18th century.
Cultural Characteristics↗
Personal mythology and psychotherapy: myth-making in psychological and spiritual development.
The sweeping changes and crises in the guiding myths of contemporary cultures provide the context of the individual's psychological and spiritual development. A five-stage process for facilitating the evolution of an individual's personal mythology is illustrated in a detailed case study, and the psychosocial tasks that must be accomplished to successfully navigate each stage are discussed.
Depression↗
Ego psychology and the study of mythology.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Humans↗
[Mythological concepts on pregnancy and menstruation].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Female↗
[Mother and child in mythology; a psychological interpretation].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Child↗