The Relationship between Myth and Folk Belief

Abstract

Folk beliefs, which are an integral element of the culture of a society, have an inextricable link with myth. To analyze such beliefs, it is imperative to investigate the mythological era and understand the ideas of the ancient time about the phenomena in the universe. It can be said that many of the rituals that are prevalent in people's daily lives today, are actually the mythical beliefs that have changed over time. Shifting from myth to ritual, preserving their mythological underpinnings, they have become folk beliefs, though they might have had major or minor changes. Among folk beliefs that have significant mythical representations, three rituals stand out: "marriage with a fountain", "breaking an egg to ward off a wound", and "passing a patient through a wall hole" that have been common among various Iranian ethnic groups for a long time. The present article, using a descriptive-analytic method, has rooted the three beliefs and explained their connection with myths. The findings show that all three of these rituals have a mythical origin; that is to say, the marriage with the springs is a remnant of the myth of sacrificing for the springs in order to please the owner of the water. After the shift from myth to ritual, it has turned into marriage with the spring. The egg-breaking ritual is also associated with the myth of the Seed of the Universe and it can be interpreted as the regeneration of the first creation. Finally, passing the patient through the wall hole is a reminiscent of returning to the womb and repeating the idea of birth. From the mythological perspective, this is a pure and ideal moment for the sake of its divinity.















Keywords: Myth; folk beliefs; sacrifice; early creation; return to womb.



Research Background


Several studies on the relationship between myth and various elements of popular culture have been conducted. Among them, one can mention the following: Mozaffarian (2012) has examined the relationship between myths and folk tales. Parsansab and Manavi (2013) have dealt with the evolution of the "crow" from myth to popular culture. Mousavi and Spargham (2010) have criticized the mythology of the story "Orange and bergamot girl" and examined the cultural backgrounds of the use of orange, bergamot, and pomegranate in this story. In his article, Mokhtarian (2005) has tried to classify fairy tales based on myths. Motevaseli (2016) examined various aspects of the place of myths in the Persian folk literature.
Aims, questions, assumptions


The purpose of this study is to explain the origins of the myths of the three popular beliefs: "marriage with the spring", "breaking the egg to repel the sore eye" and "passing the patient through the hole in the wall". Therefore, in this article, we intend to answer these questions: Are the traces of the popular beliefs mentioned in this article traceable in mythology as well? Does the mythical position of these beliefs only belong to Iran? What is the mythical view behind these beliefs? The roots of the popular beliefs studied in this article refer to the ancient and distant mythology, which is one of the common intellectual commonalities in many parts of the world. The belief in the myth of sacrifice for the spring through marriage to the spring lies in the concept of reconstruction in the ritual of breaking an egg and returning to the ideal moment of creation via passing the patient through the hole in the wall.
Discussion


In all eras, myths play role in people's lives and they have stayed with us in the form of certain beliefs and rituals. Some of these myths are so ancient that it is not easy to reveal their presence in the current human beliefs and practices; however, they are prevalent in the popular beliefs and rituals, though people might not be conscious of them. Nonetheless, we find that their origin is the mythical beliefs and pristine thought of the primitive man. For this reason, popular beliefs are the best manifestation of ancient and mythical beliefs in our era, which directly/indirectly display mythical thoughts. According to some scholars, various elements of popular culture, such as stories, myths, and popular beliefs are the degraded and surviving form of the ancient myths in which mythological sanctity has faded (Bastid, 1991, pp. 42-46).


One of these popular beliefs is the ritual of marrying a spring, which is rooted in the ancient myths and expresses the mythical interest of snakes or dragons in girls and women. The ancient people believed that myths were used as a trick to satisfy dragons in order to release water; thus, marrying a spring is a technique of proximity, meaning marrying a dragon near the spring.


Another popular belief, the ritual of breaking an egg to repel a sore eye is another case in point. Since in many parts of the world myths are the origin of the creation of the primordial and cosmic eggs, in the mythology of myth and the rites of the people, the breaking of an egg is reminiscent of the first creation. It confirms the return to the beginning of creation and the primary health.


Another popular belief is the ritual of passing the patient through the hole. The organizers of this ritual have one goal: Imitation and repetition of labor (passing through the hole). Their main purpose of the ritual is to pass the patient through the hole, which means a new birth, resuscitation, and treatment of the patient through a new birth and return to the womb.
Conclusion


The results of the research show that myths and popular beliefs have a deep relationship with each other, and the main source of the beliefs we have today is the mythical ideas of the ancients. Although the passage of time has created changes in myths, according to the mythology, they have been manifested in the form of public rituals and beliefs in our current era. Understanding the mythological origins of popular beliefs is the key to understanding the myriad questions that have arisen regarding such beliefs. In this study, it was found that the ritual of marriage with the spring is the same evolutionary form of the myth of sacrificing water for the client in order to escape the drought. The ritual of breaking an egg to repel sore eye is rooted in the myth of the cosmic egg; because many ancient tribes believe that with the breaking of the cosmic egg that floated in absolute darkness, the universe was created; so, this egg is the beginning of creation. The patient's passing through a hole in a wall, mountain, or tree, which is done to cure the disease, is related to the myth of returning to the womb and the initial birth. It means taking the sick person to the past and the moment of birth when s/he came out healthy and undamaged from the mother's womb.
References


Bastid, R. (1991). Mythical knowledge (translated into Farsi by Jalal Sattari). Tehran: Toos.
Matevasoli, N. (2016). Study of the place of myths in Persian folk literature. Indexed on the Ittehad Khabar website under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Published: 20/ Nov /2016. Visited: 22/June /2020.
Mokhtarian, B. (2005). The proposed model for classifying fairy tales based on myths. Anthropology Letter, 4(8), 119-139.
Mousavi, M. & Spargham, S. (2010). Critique of the mythology of the story of the orange girl and the bergamot and the study of the cultural background of the use of orange, bergamot and pomegranate in this story. Literary Criticism, 3(11-12), 233-255.
Mozaffarian, F. (2012). Folk myths and tales. Quarterly Journal of Mystical Literature and Mythology, 8(28), 213-247.
Parsansab, M. & Manavi, M. (2013). The evolution of the crow from myth to popular culture. Journal Public Culture and Literature, 1(1), 71-92.