From: abeggs@peg.pegasus.oz.au
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Date: 11 Jan 93 15:54 EST
Subject: VELIKOVSKY UPDATE--Three
Nf-ID: #N:peg:483700077:000:13276
Nf-From: peg.UUCP!abeggs    Jan 11 15:54:00 1993



VELIKOVSKY UPDATE--Three
[this and 3 other postings comprise an article from
***AEON--A Symposium on Myth and Science***,
Vol. III, No. 1, November, 1992]
*******************************

TOWARDS A SCIENCE OF MYTHOLOGY: VELIKOVSKY'S CONTRIBUTION

By: Ev Cochrane
*******************************

ON MYTH AND SACRED HISTORY

Countless definitions of myth have been offered, needless to
say, none wholly satisfactory. For our purposes here we would
endorse the opinion of Eliade, who defines myth as sacred
traditions about the origin of the world:
>Myth narrates a sacred history; it relates an event that took
>place in primordial Time, the fabled time of the `beginnings.'
>In other words, myth tells how, through the deeds of
>Supernatural Beings, a reality came into existence, be it the
>whole of reality, the Cosmos, or only a fragment of reality--an
>island, a species of plant, a particular kind of human
>behaviour, an institution.[Fn.42]

In his voluminous writings on myth, religion, and related
subjects, Eliade has argued that myth is typically a sacred
story related about primordial events which are believed to have
happened at the dawn of time, involving such themes as the
creation of the world, the flood, wars of the gods, the dragon-
combat, the origin of culture, etc. Mythological themes formed
the focal point of early culture and religious ritual, countless
aspects of daily life being designed to commemorate these sacred
events through imitation, mimicry, and simulation. Ancient
cities and temples, to take but one example, were designed and
oriented in accordance with the sacred original:
>All the Indian royal cities, even the modern ones, are built
>after the mythical model of the celestial city where, in the age
>of gold, the Universal Sovereign dwelt. And, like the latter,
>the king attempts to revive the age of gold, to make a perfect
>reign a present reality.[Fn.43]

What was true for ancient architecture was also true of ancient
law, sacrificial rites, art, sports, war, etc. In each case the
local custom was expressly patterned after the divine prototype,
revealed in the distant past.

A recurring theme in Eliade's writings is the intimate
relationship between myth and history. Not only does profane
history reveal numerous attempts to commemorate the sacred
events of myth (wars of conquest, for example), but on occasion
myth can be found to masquerade as history. Indeed, as numerous
scholars have come to recognize, it is not always easy to
distinguish between cosmological myth per se and sacred history
as found in many cultures. In early Rome, for example, Dumezil
found that although much of its ancient mythology had been lost,
it resurfaced as "history" in the accounts of Roman historians.
The famous account of Rome's first war and the taking of the
Sabine women is a case in point.[Fn.44]

Countless other examples could be offered in support of
Dumezil's hypothesis. The greatest god of ancient Egypt--Osiris-
-can be found masquerading as a mortal king in "histories" of
the Hellenistic period. Quetzalcoatl, the greatest god of
Mesoamerica, was represented in similar fashion by Aztec
chroniclers. Indeed, the "historization" of great gods as early
"kings' and "heroes" is so commonplace in ancient traditions
that one would be justified in speaking of a rule governing the
composition of tribal histories.

To return to Velikovsky's historical reconstruction:
How, then are we to interpret the Hebrew tradition of the Exodus?
As myth--defined, it will be remembered, as sacred traditions
concerning the origin of the gods and world--or as an objective
history of real people and events? If we approach the Old
Testament account of the Exodus from the standpoint of
comparative mythology it is evident that it contains more
than a trace of mythical elements which, were it not that
these particular traditions are so dear to us, we would
otherwise recognize as being typical of cosmogonic myth.
It is well-known, for example, that numerous peoples traced
their origins to a great god/hero who personally led them
upon an extended migration to their ultimate homeland.
Thus the earliest settlers of Italy were said to have been led
there by Mars; the Norse remembered a similar migration led by
Odin; while the ancient Aztecs were said to have followed
Huitzilopochtli to Mexico City.[Fn.45] While it was commonplace
in the last century to interpret such accounts in a Euhemerist
fashion--e.g., as actual migrations led by men of flesh and
blood--to do so today seems hopelessly naive.

A mythical aura surrounds other aspects of the Exodus-account as
well. The parting of the Red Sea, as several scholars have
recognized, is strangely reminiscent of the Symplegades-
motive.[Fn.46] Here, it will be remembered, the hero barely
succeeds in passing through some treacherous feature of the
natural landscape such as clashing rocks, while his evil pursuer
is caught and killed.[Fn.47]

The slaying of the Pharaoh, similarly, given his explicit
identification with the dragon Rahab in Rabbinic sources,
appears to bear more than a trace of the imagery associated with
the dragon-combat. The latter theme, alluded to in numerous
passages in the Old Testament, refers to the primeval occasion
in which the demon of chaos was vanquished by Yahweh himself (or
with the aid of a supernatural warrior-hero).[Fn.48]
The episode of the wandering in the wilderness also has numerous
parallels in the myths of other lands, a period of wandering
frequently distinguishing the events associated with the
Creation prior to the Creator finding a suitable spot to settle.
The darkness said to have accompanied the period of the
Israelite's wandering, similarly, would appear to relate to the
darkness which is typically said to have preceded Creation, such
darkness signifying a time of chaos.

The pillar of fire, said to have led the Israelites during their
nocturnal peregrinations in the desert, has long troubled all
but the most pious of scholars: "Of all the mysterious phenomena
which accompanied the Exodus, this mysterious Pillar seems the
first to demand explanation."[Fn.49] The account in Exodus 13,
so difficult to reconcile with what we know about the facts of
"history," is in perfect accord with the facts of comparative
mythology, where the World Pillar forms a universal
motive.[Fn.50] Indeed, in many traditions the World Pillar is
expressly described as a pillar of fire.[Fn.51]

In short, while this is not the place to argue the probable
origin of the Exodus traditions in early Hebrew cosmological
myth, enough has been said, perhaps, to at least suggest this
possibility. And such a conclusion, should it be confirmed by
future research, would significantly undermine the rationale
behind Velikovsky's attempted historical reconstruction.

Velikovsky's handling of the Exodus material illustrates what
would appear to be a glaring flaw in his approach to the ancient
sources. For want of a better term, I would note that Velikovsky
tended to favour a literal interpretation of the ancient
traditions. If the texts say the sea parted allowing for the
escape of the Israelites, Velikovsky seeks a meteorological
explanation of such an event. If the texts say that the
Israelites wandered forty years in darkness in the wilderness,
Velikovsky imagines the sun being obscured for a period
approximating four decades. If the texts say that manna rained
from the heavens, Velikovsky envisages carbohydrates falling
from the skies and seeks to provide a physical explanation for
such an occurrence.[Fn.52]

Although Velikovsky's interpretations here are within the realm
of possibility, he offered no arguments which would preclude
other, less exotic, explanations of such traditions. A prolonged
eclipse of the sun, for example, such as that described in
Exodus, would naturally tend to disrupt the accurate keeping of
time, and thus the tradition of a 40 year period of darkness
might simply be a conventional way of saying "a significant
period of time" (40 years, after all, is a suspiciously common
span in ancient texts). Certainly it would seem to be a
hazardous enterprise to make of such traditions a foundation
block in a radical reconstruction of ancient history.

In retrospect, Velikovsky's analysis of the Exodus-traditions
seems naive, especially so inasmuch as it comes from a
distinguished psychoanalyst who made his living analyzing
dreams, where the phenomena of displacement, distortion, and
condensation feature prominently. Indeed, as one peruses the
wealth of mythological material in Velikovsky's works one is
amazed at the relative dearth of analysis offered by him. In
most cases the myths are simply accepted at face value, as
literal records of ancient experience. Had Velikovsky applied
his formidable analytic tools to the mythical elements co-
mingled with the Exodus account, he would have found, I suspect,
that the flight of the Israelites, the fall of the Pharaoh, the
prolonged darkness, the time of wandering, and the pillar of
fire are all susceptible of alternative explanation, one
involving less strain on credulity.

CONCLUSION

Granted that our analysis has some merit, the question arises as
to how and why Velikovsky went wrong? I, for one, would suggest
that Velikovsky needlessly compromised his magnificent insight
that myth commemorates the spectacular behaviour of planets in
an attempt to proffer a scientific explanation to accommodate
the sacred history of the Jewish people. Had Velikovsky pursued
a more systematic approach in his mythological exegesis, he
would have discovered, I would suggest, that the sacred history
of the Jews is best understood by comparison with that of other
peoples, and that such a comparison reveals that history to be
less a record of human behaviour than an allegorical account of
planetary goings-on, albeit one that has been suppressed and
"historicized."

Alas, if Velikovsky's historical reconstruction rests uneasily
upon the historical/mythological record, such is not the case
with his thesis of planetary catastrophism, which is confirmed
again and again by the ancient sources. Indeed, it is my opinion
that Velikovsky's theory offers the best hope for a resolution
of the most fundamental questions facing comparative
mythologists. For the truth of the matter is that neither Eliade
nor any other scholar has offered a satisfactory explanation of
the content of myth. A glaring weakness in Eliade's
interpretation of myth, for example, is the inability to account
for the universal belief in a former Golden Age ruled over by a
primeval king under whom all manner of customs were revealed.
Yet as Velikovsky suggested--followed by David Talbott, Dwardu
Cardona, and myself--such traditions are readily understood if
once upon a time the planet Saturn ruled the visible heavens
during an unprecedented period of prosperity and cultural
advancement.[Fn.53] A Golden Age at the dawn of time was
recalled as the well-spring of civilization and deemed to be the
gift of Saturn for the simple reason that spectacular events
associated with the period of that planet's dominance provided
the "divine" inspiration for the origin and development of
cities, laws, religious rites, systems of writing, etc. Having
been, as it were, originally "revealed" by God on high, these
patterns of behaviour were not only held to be sacred, they
remained canonical for all time. To quote Eliade: "This `sacred
history'--mythology--is exemplary, paradigmatic: not only does
it relate how things came to be; it also lays the foundations
for all human behaviour and all social and cultural
institutions."[Fn.54]

No doubt we are still a long way from satisfactorily decoding
the astronomical events encoded in ancient myth. Of this much,
however, I feel confident: Velikovsky's discovery of the
prominent role played by Saturn and the other planets in ancient
thought not only ensures his place amongst the truly important
figures in the history of science, it provides the all-important
theoretical foundation for a science of mythology.

********************************
See the postings ***VELIKOVSKY UPDATE--One, Two, Fnotes***
for the rest of this article.
********************************
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