Personal Mythology: Creating Meaning in a Secular Age

The Crisis of Meaning in a Post-Religious World

Nietzsche proclaimed the “death of God” in the 19th century—and this turned out to be more than just a metaphor. Religious faith in Western countries has been steadily declining (with the exception of the USA). Along with it, the traditional source of meaning, ritual, community, and the explanation of suffering is disappearing.

What takes its place? For some—new religious movements, Eastern practices, New Age. For others—ideological movements (political activism as quasi-religion). For many—the absence of a replacement, nihilism or meaninglessness.

The psychologist Viktor Frankl, a survivor of the concentration camp, wrote “Man’s Search for Meaning” (1946): people survive when they find meaning in suffering. Meaning is not given—it is created. Logotherapy: a therapeutic method that helps people find or create meaning.

Jung and Individuation

Jungian psychology offers the concept of individuation—the process of becoming “whole oneself.” This is not achieving social goals—career, status, wealth. It is the integration of all parts of the psyche: the Shadow (the dark sides), the Anima/Animus (the opposite-gender part), the Self (the holistic center).

Myths are “road maps” of individuation. Hercules’ path through the twelve labors is the psychological path of integrating dark forces (the Nemean Lion, the Cretan Bull—aspects of the Shadow). The Descent of Inanna into the underworld is the archetypal path of accepting death and transformation.

Personal mythology is the creation of one’s own meaning through mythological images. This is not self-deception: it is the recognition that meaning is created, not found ready-made. The choice of one’s own “gods”—one’s own values, personal story, heroes—is an act of self-determination.

Rituals Without Religion

Anthropologist Dmitry Erhart (“Secular Rituals”) records: secular rituals—Christmas dinners, corporate gala evenings, sports fan rituals—are functionally identical to religious ones. They create community, mark transitions, symbolically structure time.

Psychologically, rituals reduce anxiety in the face of uncertainty (a tennis player performing the same movements before serving), increase the sense of control and belonging.

Creating personal rituals is a practice that psychologists are recommending increasingly often: morning rituals, rituals of transition between work and home, annual “recalibrations.” This is not mysticism—it is the management of attention and emotions through structure.

Question for reflection: What is the source of meaning in your life? What rituals—large or small—structure your life and help you get through difficult periods?