Cosmology Research

Cosmology is the branch of study that deals with discovering the origin, structure, and nature of the universe. Though it may not seem very pertinent at first, this idea actually fits within the 3 levels of interpretation that we learned about very well.

Within cosmology there are 2 separate branches, the microcosm and macrocosm. The first of these, the microcosm, is the smaller of the two branches of cosmology. It deals with individual groups inside the universe, such as the human race, or animal race. Lots of things even smaller than a whole race could be considered a type of microcosm. The ecosystem around a lake, for example, could be considered a microcosm. Even things as small as the germs and bacteria on the top of a cracker you eat could be classified as a microcosm.

The idea of groups of things, small or large, that make up the universe or world fits right into the middle level of interpretation we studied, the social level. The religion of the ancient Egyptians had a lot to do with microcosms. They believed that every group of people had their own role in society; this was the basis for their hierarchy pyramid. Those of noble birth were considered to be the higher microcosm, and were therefore placed on the top of the pyramid to guide and rule the people under them. From there the pyramid branches downwards into larger and larger, but increasingly less powerful, microcosms. At the bottom you have you and me, the average people who just go about their daily business doing the best that they can.

The other branch of cosmology, the macrocosm, deals with the universe as a whole. The macrocosm encompasses everything, just like the universal interpretation level that we studied. Gods and the celestial bodies that they are represented by were the macrocosm within the Egyptian religion. Gods like Ra, the greatest of all, commanded the power of nature. Ra specifically commanded the sun and light. The sun is the center of the universe and nothing else could exist without its life-giving light. This makes it the perfect object to personify a macrocosm. The universe as a whole and everything it contains, stemming out from the sun, is our macrocosm.

The idea of cosmology unfortunately, does not work very well with the individual level of interpretation. It generally deals with larger groups, but if you stretch the definition just slightly, you can even fit it to groups of thoughts within an individual. If you picture your brain as a macrocosm, then certain types of emotions like happy emotions, and sad emotions could be considered microcosms.

That is the long and short of cosmology and the way that it pertains to mythology and the Egyptian culture. There are examples of cosmology in almost every culture. I just used the Egyptians because their religion is centered around celestial bodies.

Mythology Term Definitions

1.Myths are the stories that a given culture uses to explain the gods that they worship, natural events, or the stories of heroes that are passed down through generations. One example of a myth is the story of Persephone and Hades.

2.A hero is someone who has special qualities that differ from other people, they give something to society that it was preciously lacking and perform great feats. One hero we learned about in class is Aeneas.

3.A hero journey is the journey that a hero embarks on to receive the gift that he is going to give to society. The 12 feats that Hercules performs are a great example of a hero journey.

4.A universal quality is something that is found in all of us or something that applies to the whole world and everyone in it. One size fits all. A very universal hero that we learned about is Dionysus, he feels love for his family just like all of us.

5.An archetype is the original model of an idea that all subsequent models are compared to and based off of. The first god was Zeus, so he is an archetype that all the other gods are modeled after and compared with.

6.Something that is cyclical goes into a circle and repeats itself over and over, ending in the same place that it started. Ra's journey is very cyclical, he dies every night and is reborn every morning. He repeats this every single day.

7.Duality is two things contained within one. Two polar opposites working together to balance out the universe or whole. In many myths earth and heaven are used as a duality where the two balance each other out and create a whole.

8.A creation myth is something that explains how the universe was created and who did it. The Enuma Elish is the Mesopotamian creation myth.

9.Cosmology is the branch of study that deals with discovering the origin, structure, and nature of the universe. The Egyptians have a great interest in cosmology because a large portion of their gods are portrayed by heavenly spheres.

10.Life from death is a pattern in which someone or something dying gives life to the next generation or group of people. In the Enuma Elish, Tiamat is killed, but the world and sky are created from her body.

11.A matriarchal society is a society that is ruled and controlled by females. The Mor Soue of China are a matriarchal society.

12.A patriarchal society is a society that is ruled and controlled by males. The society in Afghanistan is a patriarchal society.

13.A sacrifice is when you give up something that is important to you for the greater good. Ra gives his life in his myth so that the world can have light every single day.

Cupid and Psyche cover art.

Cupid and Psyche

“She rushed out after him into the night. She could not see him, but she heard his voice speaking to her. He told her who he was, and sadly bade her farewell. ‘Love cannot live where there is no trust,’ he said, and flew away.”

The tale of Cupid and Psyche is full of intense drama and excitement! It fits wonderfully into all three levels of interpretation that we have been studying: the natural level, the social level, and the psychological level. The story appeals to our most basic instincts, as well as our social ties to others around us, and the deep personal feelings that we all experience. As you delve into the myth you will feel a strong connection to the characters involved and feel the pain that they experience during their struggles. This is what makes the myth so open to interpretation; everyone has had different struggles in their lives and will relate to the story in a different way.

Many parts of the story are felt by all of mankind on a natural, physical level. Cupid is the god of love, and though love itself is not something that we can reach out and touch, we all have an extreme physical reaction when we find ourselves in love. No matter where we live, or what our circumstances, we have all felt love at one time or another. This makes it easy to relate with the story on a very natural level. Love goes hand in hand with beauty, and beauty is the other physical element found within this story. Psyche is portrayed as a symbol of perfect beauty. Everyone loves to look at her; some people practically worshipped her. That is why Venus, Cupid’s mother, is so angry with her. Everyone worshipped Venus until Psyche came along, everyone thought she was so beautiful that they stopped paying attention to Venus. This infuriated the goddess, and she attempts to get revenge. She tells her son Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with an awful beast. This will be referred to again in the social and psychological breakdowns of the myth.

There are many aspects of the story that are not physical or natural, they are just emotions and feelings that we experience when we are around other people in a social setting. The item that comes to the front of that list is the way that Cupid feels about Psyche. After he marries her, he tells her that she is never allowed to look at him, or he will have to leave. This is a sort of trust test; when we feel a strong connection to someone in our community we hope that they would do anything we ask. As a result of Psyche’s good fortunes, her sisters become jealous and decide to convince Psyche to look at Cupid. This is like the peer pressure that we feel when we are in a social unit, other people can influence us to do things that we know are wrong. Just like so many of us, Psyche caves under the pressure and decides to look at Cupid. She quietly wakes in the middle of the night and lights a lamp to look at him; however, the lamp drips some hot wax onto Cupid’s shoulder. He then wakes up and sees that she was looking at him and that she was not faithful in what he asked her to do. His heart is broken and he flies away out of grief and goes to his mother. We want to run away and hide when someone hurts us, just like Cupid. The feelings we experience in a situation like this are felt on a deep, personal level.

Cupid’s heart is broken and he is feeling sad and alone, just as we do when a loved one betrays us. Psyche feels deep remorse for her actions and decides that she is going to do whatever it takes to win Cupid’s heart back. As you probably guessed by now, Cupid was unable to carry out his mother’s orders regarding Psyche. Venus is furious over what Psyche has done to her son. Jealousy is an emotion we all feel at one time or another, and it can drive us to do crazy things just as Venus does. Psyche finds her, and Venus decides to take Psyche as a servant. She forces her to do all sorts of seemingly impossible tasks. With some help from outside forces, Psyche always finds a way to accomplish them. This is a result of the strongest of all emotions: love. We all feel it at one time or another in our lives for someone. Psyche perseveres through all of the challenges in hopes that it will bring Cupid back to her. Cupid finally learns of what his mother has done to his wife, and realizes how much she loves him. He flies out and rescues her from his mother’s last challenge. He then brings Psyche up to Olympus and convinces Zeus to make her immortal. Venus is powerless to stop it and must accept Psyche as one of the gods.

This story is inspiring throughout, and like all good stories, has a happy ending. Though everyone may have a different interpretation of the events that occurred, we can all feel the broad and deep levels of emotion that are thrown in throughout the story. It goes without saying that we can all learn from this story if we search deep inside ourselves for the true meaning hidden within it. It is very appealing to our natural instincts, social bonds, and inner feelings.