Sam Atkinson: Myth, Symbol, and Ritual Class

A class that I'm taking this semester is very uncannily coinciding with this Great Philosophers class. Myth, Symbol, and Ritual, with Dr. John Thompson has provided me with a great deal of insight into the purpose of mythology, both religious and non-religious, and how it structures the things we hold meaningful, as well as reflects the values which we hold dear in our cultures. Everything from birth to life to death is made symbolic, mythological, and ritualistic by our societies. Most compellingly, these things are indicated in our assessment of Lewis. Not only is our class a patterned behavior aimed to find meaning in a bunch of coinciding symbols, the very material we are assessing is that itself.

At the very end, this holds a very powerful notion that we are all symbol making creatures, with the ability to explain and create symbols and meanings out of thin air and out of nothing. Our communications, our societies, and our actions are all informed by this ability. This class adds an extra dimension to this as I believe Lewis very explicitly states that he is conscious of this fact on multiple occasions. With that, this class is an examination on the use of symbology by one man in particular, garnering a better understanding of the methods by which we can symbolize and myth-make.