Tracking the Gods: Place of Myth in Modern Life

James Hollis in his book “In the Footsteps of the Gods. The Role of Myth in Modern Life” analyzes myths and their influence on the modern system through the prism of existentialism.

The world has changed because various mythological systems that once united people into tribes have lost their influence - they have been replaced by social ideas and political ideologies. The fact that myths - namely, those values ​​and ideas that for centuries helped people establish a connection with the energies of the universe (with the gods, metaphorically speaking), with the community (family and society) and with themselves, have collapsed - has become the reason that forced us to look for a point of support within ourselves.

Why should a person accept this challenge, namely, to take responsibility for their own life, for the formation of a personal myth and their own system of values?

We need to realize that we have lived our lives as well and as fully as possible, and more than that, that we have had some connection with a higher order, even some involvement in the mystery that permeates all history and makes the soul of every person alive.

This difficult task of living one’s life without neglecting the mystery, strangely enough, is two different aspects of the same essence. For the first part of it presupposes not only the presence of the will that will allow one to take responsibility for both one’s life and the meaning embodied in it, but also the right to choose another path, which may be significantly different from the one we have taken before. To reach the end of one’s life and realize that there was no real journey is far more terrifying than any horrors that may come our way.

James Hollis is a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He served for many years as Executive Director of the Jungian Educational Center in Houston, Texas, and until 2019 as Executive Director of the Jungian Society in Washington, D.C., and is currently on the Board of Directors of JSW. James Hollis was the first Director of Training at the Philadelphia Jungian Institute and is Vice President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. He also serves as Senior Analyst for the Interregional Society of Jungian Analysts.