"Living" a myth implies a genuinely "religious" experience, since it differs from the ordinary experience of everyday life. the "religiousness" of this experience is due to the fact that one re-enacts fabulous, exalting, significant events, one again witnesses the creative deeds of the Supernaturals; one ceases to exist in the everyday world and enters a transfigured, auroral world impregnated with the Supernaturals' presence. what is involved is not a commemoration of mythical events but a reiteration of them. the protagonists of the myth are made present, one becomes their contemporary.
to re-experience the sacred Time, to re-enact it as often as possible, to witness again the spectacle of the divine works, to meet with the Supernaturals and relearn their creative lesson is the desire that runs like a pattern through all the ritual reiterations of myths.
myths reveal that the World, man, and life have a supernatural origin and history, and that this history is significant, precious, and exemplary.
Mircea Eliade
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