Mytho-Mystic Literature
Year:2020 | Volume:16 | Issue:59|Papers Count:10

The Red Book is an unusual work by Carl Gustav Jung, whose descendants have recently authorized its publication. In this book, he expresses his spiritual developments, pursues his inner images in a symbolic language and tries to find his forgotten soul. Also, Bahā ud-Dī n Walad, the father of Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, in his book, Ma’ arif (the Gnosis), expresses his mystical intuitions frankly. The present article attempts to consider the voyage of spirit in these two works by using descriptive – analytical method. Therefore, the themes of "the spirit of the depths" and "the spirit of this time" discussed in The Red Book are compared to concepts of wisdom and soul discussed in Ma’ arif; and at the end, the results of this voyage are mentioned. The purpose is to express the similarities and differences between the views of a mystic and a psychologist. The results show that Jung speaks of "the spirit of the depths" that is his guide and saves him from the "the spirit of this time", but Bahā ud-Dī n Walad does not say anything about the types of spirits and his only guide is God. According to Jung, at the end of the voyage, "if the hero in you is slain, then the sun of the depths rises in you". In Ma’ arif, Bahā ud-Dī n Walad kills the carnal soul and his soul is enlightened to Divine lights.

Research in mythology, by comparing the literature and culture of nations, leads to discovery of universal symbols. By studying the literary texts of the Indo-European nations, it can be seen that their myths, legends and epics reflect a common worldview. One of the important themes in these texts is the place of women and their special characteristics in mythological beliefs and rituals. The present article seeks to compare the role of women in the two epics of Odyssey and Darab Nama of Tarsusi with a mythological perspective and a comparative approach. Accordingly, the prominent functions of the main female characters in these two works and their similarities are considered. After mentioning the characteristics and functions of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war, and Buran-Dokht, the wonder heroine of Darab Nama, the authors try to show that Buran-Dokht is a latter-day recreation of Iranian goddess, Anahita who has a similar position to Athena. This kind of similarity in the epics of the two different cultures shows the common origins of the mythological characters in the literature of nations.

In Persian lyrical texts, myth, as the infrastructure of culture, plays an important role in representing the function of characters. In Iranian mythological narratives of creation and in the infrastructure of stories, the demon, as a destructive character, tries to overthrow the divine characters. In the story of Vis o Rā min, composed in poetry by Fakhruddin As'ad Gurgani, and the fifth story of Haft Paykar, composed in poetry by Nizami Ganjavi, the character of demon has enriched the two stories. Both poets, by contrasting demonic and divine forces, have highlighted the dual of good and evil in the deep-structures of narratives. In both texts, the narrator tries to portray the characters' morals and wisdom through their speech and behavior, but explaining of the role of demon in the deep-structures of the two stories is not the same. By using descriptive and analytical method, the present article attempts to consider the function of the theme of demon in two stories. In the mythological infrastructure of Vis o Rā min which is a battle between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, the love of Vis and Rā min defeats the Ahuric wisdom and morals, while in Haft Paykar, the Ahuric wisdom prevails over Ahriman. It should be noted that the differences in the attitudes of the two poets and the influence of Zoroastrian, Zurvanite and Manichaean thoughts on these two books have led to differences in the imaginaries and narratives of the two stories.

Mithraism, as one of the oldest religions in the world, dates back to the pre-Zoroastrian era. Mithra is god of covenant and light; he is opposed to chaos, drought, disobedience and lie, and is known as a warrior. Due to the specific characteristics of this god, Mithraism spread in many parts of Iran. Surviving legends in some parts of Iran have mythological themes and are rooted in some religious beliefs. In the present research, by using descriptive-analytical method, the influence of Mithraic beliefs on Lori legends is examined. We study the legends that have been written in Persian language and have been collected from Lorestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces. The reader will realize that some of the mythological and religious beliefs of Mithraism, while maintaining their functionality, and some others through transformations, have taken root in Lori legends. Some of these beliefs are as follows: how to be born, warfare, fertility, and phenomena related to sun, cock, crow, eagle, soldier, fire, number seven and cow.

Critical discourse analysis is an approach that focuses on social, cultural and religious representations to interpret discourses and actions. Based on Norman Fairclough's theory, in the present article, the story of "How Hamza, may God be well-pleased with him, came to battle without a coat of mail" form book 3 of Masnavi Manavi is described in three stages of description, interpretation and explanation. The purpose of the paper is to clarify the formal and semantic structure of the narrator's speech and the generator of discourse by using descriptive-analytical method. It is through this way that the dominance of the narrator over the audience as well as his discursive interaction in the form of preaching are known. The results show that Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, relying on Qur'an and the religious and moral teachings and using firm and emphasizing sentences, forms a special discourse that its deep-structure is "voluntary death and the worthlessness of worldly life".

The stories of prophets provide a clear and understandable platform for audiences; the mystics use their allegories to express their own thoughts. Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (died in 1273) is one of the mystics who uses stories, especially the stories of prophets, as a tool to express his ideas. For example, the life story of Jonah the Prophet provides the necessary elements to present Rumi’ s thoughts. He does not tell the linear narrative of the life story of Jonah and chooses a part of the story according to the appropriacy and the audience. This refers to Rumi's novel view on storytelling and is an example of his use of story to express his thoughts. The present study is an attempt to examine the views about Jonah the Prophet that have been expressed in the mystical texts before Rumi. Then, we give Rumi's account of the story and, finally, compare the similarities of them by using descriptive-analytical method. The results show that Rumi, while using the works of his predecessors, presents his own interpretations and views, and in some sections, creates new semantic artistic components.

In the Iranian belief, battle has a long history and fighting has always been one of the most important challenges facing Iranian heroes. This challenge has first been presented with constant struggle between good and evil and then has been represented in different forms in different periods of Iranian art. The contemporary Western thinker, Slavoj Ž iž ek discusses violence in his books and articles and reveals its hidden aspects. By using analytical-comparative method, the present research, first, tries to answer the following question: In Iranian painting, how and with what concepts is violence portrayed? Then, we examine Ž iž ek’ s view on violence and compare his view with Iranian paintings. The article compares three examples of Ferdowsi's Shā hnā meh paintings with the theory of mythical violence and considers the ideas of Ž iž ek and Walter Benjamin. The findings show that the theory of mythical violence can be compared with Iranian paintings and can be used as a way to critique Iranian art.

Myth is one of the significant elements in the structure and content of the contemporary stories. One of Persian contemporary stories, influenced by myths, is Nader Ebrahimi's Atash Bedune Dood (Fire Without Smoke). By using descriptive-analytical method and library sources and based on Gerard Genette's intertextuality theory, the present article attempts to identify the traces of myths in the story. The authors assume that Ebrahimi has consciously used mythological elements in the structure and content of his work and has established intertextual relationships. He has been influenced by mythological and epic texts, especially Shā hnā meh. Mythological and epic stories, including Rostam and Sohrab, Fereydun, Siavash, Banu Goshasp, as well as mythological themes, such as the sanctity of tree and transformation of hero into plant have played a role in shaping the story. Based on Genette’ s five subtypes of transtextuality-intertextuality, paratextuality, architextuality, metatextuality and hypotextuality-these subjects have been explored in the article.

Salman Savoji is one of the prominent poets of 8th A. H. century whose poems represent various religious, mystical and social thoughts. Although he used to praise the kings and took financial profits from his poems, this feature never caused him to abandon the spiritual dimensions. The present article, based on library studies and descriptive-analytical method, tries to analysis the libertinistic (rendi) and bohemianistic (qalandari) themes in the ghazals of Salman Savoji. After giving an introduction to Malamatiyya school and theologies of libertinistism (rendi) and bohemianistism (qalandari), we consider these themes in the poems of Salman Savoji. Considering his poems shows that he is one of the most prominent figures of the real mysticism and avoids the ways of people of the cloak (the followers of formal mysticism). He challenges the principles of sufi monastery system and attacks their taboos by highlighting their corrupted values. Salaman is aware of the concept of diffusion of Love in the Divine order, and considers it as a Divine doposit; he abandons his name and fame, leaves mosque and monastery and takes refuge in the vintner's house. According to Salman Savoji, the perfect man is a bohemian libertine (rend) who turns her/his back on the exterior of the sacred Law and resides in cloister of Magians. He believes that the only way to salvation is bohemianistism (qalandari); In this path, the mystic cleans the cloak of hypocrisy with Divine wine and puts aside pragmatism.

During his/her suluk (spiritual journey) and intuition, a mystic establishes a relationship between himself/herself and nature and God, revealing something beyond reason. It is called "mystical experience". This experience is ambiguity when it comes in the form of language; in this way, different narrators create different narrations from "a single experience". In mystical texts, on one hand, the author tries to convey her/his thoughts, and on other hand, to "hide the secrets from strangers (na-ahlā n)". By using descriptive-analytical method and based on the ideational metafunction, the present article tries to study the role of "experiencer" in the philosophy of illumination (Falsafeh Eshraq). In his treatises, Suhrawardi, as the founder of this school of thought, refers to themes like separation from higher world, spiritual nostalgia, removing barriers to suluk and meeting the old wise man, and focuses on spiritual journey (suluk) to the world of light and releasing from the worldly prison. The findings show that by overcoming the illuminate (Eshraqi) worldview, the relational processes have become mentalistic processes in the verbal sphere. Suhrawardi, first, describes the symbolic concepts with the aim of creating a tangible space, and then, interprets them by creating a space for dialogue. Finally, as the old wise man, he expresses the abstract concepts.