They teach us how to live life fully in the world, how to cope with tragedy. To experience the power of living myth in our lives, we must follow its guidance symbolically, just as participants in ritual ceremonies enact a myth's story in physical space. To participate in mythic space is to walk in the deep dark places of soul's truth, in an inner landscape where meaning is found and logic slips away.
Myths are narratives people use to remind themselves of the paradigms they hold as True.
According to Joseph Campbell, myth is similar to dream. They share the same space. The myth is the public dream and the dream is the private myth. Study of myths worldwide has revealed a limited and constantly repeating number of mythic themes, each relating to significant aspects of human life in the world. The actors and props change from culture to culture, but the basic messages remain the same.