Carole M. Cusack, Modern Myth-Making and the Reinvention of Tradition: From Ancient Gods to Contemporary Esotericism By Carole Cusack

https://www.academia.edu/164713355/Carole_M_Cusack_Modern_Myth_Making_and_the_Reinvention_of_Tradition_From_Ancient_Gods_to_Contemporary_Esotericism?email_work_card=title In the twenty-first century West the religious and spiritual landscape is characterised by secularization, individualism, and consumerism. The institutional dominance formerly enjoyed by Christian churches has receded, and multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-faith nations are the norm. Christianity has adapted to wider social trends (Pentecostalism is materialistic, ‘hip’, and engaged with popular culture) and the religious ‘nones’ increase with every census. A numerically small but significant group join new religions (Scientology, ISKCON), and a smaller but more experimental group participate in personal spiritualities, invented religions (based on fictions and announce their status as human creations), and esoteric organisations. Religious creativity now involves mash-ups of mythologies (Greek, Norse, Celtic, and so on) and older religious forms with popular culture (novels, television series, films and online games). Reason and science, as promoted by the Enlightenment, are sidelined and ‘alternative rationalities’ emerge, which meet affective human needs. Modern myth-making is expressed through fandoms and cosplay, new rituals and social practices, and involves subjective forms of cultural memory, elective affinity in creating individual and communal identity, and the location of the sacred in nontraditional sites (gyms and cinemas, stadiums and shopping malls, and the online realm, for example). This lecture discusses the symbols and narratives that are emerging in this space. ...