Myths as Symbolic Maps of Social-Moral Order: New Approach: Babylon Hammurabi Code & Moses, Lawgiver-Prophet w/ Gods of Mesopotamia as social-moral order (Shamash, Marduk, Enki, Nabu, Inanna, Enlil, and Anu), Zeus, Indra + E Halas: "groups [as] commo

A. Symbolism: Background 1. Confucius, a Chinese philosopher and spiritual leader who lived from 551 to 479 BCE, observed long ago, "Signs and symbols rule the world, not words or laws!" Modern politics and religion have proved Confucius right. 2. Elzbieta Halas: "groups exist only on the ground of common symbolization of their members." "The processes of symbolization…create a social order, express meaning and control actions. Symbols are not autonomous. They constitute tools of action, indicating and dramatizing social relations" 3. D. Balaganapath: "The basis of every culture and every identity is determined by its own established common symbolic expression." 4. Erica Hill: [The arctic hunter gatherers] "thoughts and actions established and maintained relationships with prey animals and may be more productively conceptualized as dynamic social behaviours embedded within the context of daily life than as privileged ritual acts." 5. Emile Durkheim: "The forces before which the believer bows are not simple physical energies, such as are presented to the sense and the imagination; they are social forces," 6. Ramon Reyes: "In sum, one social and moral order encompasses the living, the dead, the deities and the spirits, and the total environment." B. Are "Myths as Symbolic Maps a New Approach? 1. Rollo May, an American existential psychologist and author, observes "There has been a radical change during the past three decades… Neither term, "symbol" or "myth," even appears in the index of the standard psychology textbooks." 2. Sociologist Elzbieta Halas emphasizes that symbolism had been largely marginalized as an epiphenomenon" Elzbieta Halas states: "Too often symbolism is thought of as an epiphenomenon, a phenomenon that is derivative of what are considered to be more important factors….which are allegedly 'objective' facts." 3. Complexity of symbolism: a. Balaganapath emphasizes that "The meanings that these symbolic forms transmit are complex. Instead of standing for a single referent, they evoke a variety of meanings, some of which may be ambiguous."13 b. Elzbieta Halas confirms that view: "Of primary importance is the concept of generic metaphor, around which the dominant symbolism of some social group is created. These are key representations set in a symbolic system, which condense numerous meanings and unify multiple signs.. c. the Complexity of Symbolism creates an inherent conflict between symbols and the materialist fixation with quantification. Symbols are very complex with encoded information and so, outside the scope of strict rational analysis and materialist quantification. Because symbols are beyond the scope of strict rational analysis and materialist fixation on quantification, it appears readily apparent that symbolism and myths got sidelined and marginalized.