ABSTRACT

This chapter establishes the theoretical base for the study. First, myth in general is defined in terms of its three component parts: foundational principles, symbolic form and concrete narrative. Then, the two dominant forms of myth in the West are differentiated from each other. The exoteric, or conventional, is predicated on the three material laws of thought. Formally, it consists of an aggregate of symbols that, organized binarily, interact dualistically, projecting the defeat of one side by the other. Its manifestation as narrative is linear, revolving around the moral conflict between good and evil, personified by the cosmic battle between the Son and Satan. The esoteric counterpart is predicated on six characteristics, as identified by Antoine Faivre. The symbols in this system do not oppose, but complement each other, and the characteristic operation is not the elimination, but the transformation of negations into contraries, the goal being the restoration of a dynamic form of unity. Its archetypal narrative is cyclical, revolving around the intellectual recognition and correction of the primordial error, the choice of reason over vision.