Mythicity

Eric Gould introduces, as far as I know, the word "mythicity" in his Mythical Intentions in Modern Literature to discuss "the philosophical functions of the mythic as an element of consciousness” [from William Doty Mythography p 241].

Process Arts perform in a social setting the act of mythography (studying daily and systemic abstract models), in an environment of mythicity (abstract transcendence models functioning philosophically – in thinking, behavior, and culture-making).

Myths, says Doty in the introduction to his Myth: a Handbook “are seldom fantasy constructions; more frequently they are the backbones of practical ways of living realistically”[p 3]. He ends that book with “contemporary uses of myth”[163] and enumerates the places the word mythos is appropriate, from deep story, plot, and narrative, to sets of attitudes, interrelated beliefs, values, and transformations of mythological materials and motifs into new, mythopoeic creations, including “the enhancement of self-conscious political agency by developing mythological imagery, symbolism, and story”[165]. In short, the making of culture.

Mythicity, I would like to suggest, refers to the mythic thought environment, the kind of consciousness that allows for studying daily and systemic abstract models which function philosophically in thinking, behavior, and culture-making.

Cultivating this consciousness and developing this environment for the making of culture is the work of a culturesmith dedicated to shaping communities which deeply serve the needs of everyone involved.