MYTHOPOEIC SIG

   This is the site of the former Mythopoeic special interest group of American Mensa. On this site, we talked about and practiced mythopoeia, the creation of myths ancient and modern, particularly those in the manner of the Inklings, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams.

   We'll give a bit of history on the subject itself, as well as some background on how we got involved in it and what was in our newsletter, The Cauldron.

   The essential library is, of course, the major fictional works of the three Inklings, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams:

• The Hobbit

• The Book of Lost Tales

• The Chronicles of Narnia

• Decent into Hell

• The Great Divorce

• The Greater Trumps

• The Lord of the Rings

• Many Dimensions

• The Place of the Lion

• Shadows of Ecstacy

• The Silmarillion

• The Space Trilogy

• The Tolkien Reader

• Til We Have Faces

• War in Heaven

   In his book Storytelling Bausch lists 13 things a good story must be. Paraphrased, they are:

1. Curiosity-arousing

-- from the first sentence it presents such an unusual, curious event that the listener or reader wants to find out what happens next, like an angel's visit (Abraham, Mary).

2. Mythical

-- it shows we are connected with everything else in the world, should help us get in touch again with ourearthly natures, like the Middle Earth or Eden stories do.

3. Traditional

-- it not only connects with the Earth, and Earth's creatures and our fellow son and daughters of Adam, but also with our own cultural heritage, our roots.

4. Human

 -- it exemplifies our common humanity,even if by "non-humans"

5. Mnemonic

 -- it helps us remember the past

6. Daydreamy

-- it uses the languages of dreams, imaginative, creative language, wishfulfilling language not usually found in our day-to-day existence

7. Wordpowerful

-- it appreciates and uses the power of the word.

8. Escapist

-- it helps us escape from the worst effects of our fallenness, loneliness, boredom, pain, disesteem.

9. Right-brainy

-- it does not have much to do with analysis or reasoning, but a great deal to do with synthesis, intuiting and getting the big picture.

10. Healing

-- it repairs the damage done to the psyche, the spirit, even the body by too much of the "real" world and too little of the Real.

11. Ours

-- it's a story we can identify as our own.

12. Hopeful

 -- it inspires hope by presenting a eucatastrophic alternative, our deepest dreams can come true.

13. Ministering

-- it ministers not only to the listeners or readers, but to the storyteller as well, making intimate sharing possible.