Myth-Making

History consists not only of facts and events. It also consists of the relationships between facts and events and their interpretation, often imaginative, of such relationships.

In any such act of interpretation, a mythic element necessarily comes into play. Myth is not thus distinct from history.

On the contrary, it is an inseparable part of history. Ivo Andrich described the process whereby ‘truth’ and 'lies,' ‘history’ and ‘myth’ become entwined so as to create a new historical actuality:

This includes imaginative exaggerations and embellishments [sometimes called magical thinking]. The lies of a people or culture, the hyperbole, even outright falsifications, and inventions are not merely gratuitous ...
To the extent they serve to crystallize identity or self-definition, they create something that becomes true, even though it departs from what is wise.

~ Baigent & Leigh (1988). The Temple & The Lodge. Corgi Books, p. 131

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Nothing in nature is inherently immoral. What is immoral is pretending an abnormality is normal or that falsification is truth. Certain such misattributions become mythical and consequently determine the course of human events. Societies routinely conform to accepted myths. Examples are evolution, vaccines, the burning of Rome (attributed to Christians), and a virgin birth.

Believe what you like, but truth remains immutable, despite happy minds who wish otherwise.  ~ oz.