To address the great chasm of **metaphysical uncertainty**, all mythologies perform a sleight of hand—a magic trick so effective we barely notice it happening. They conjure up another plane of existence, a hidden realm beyond the veil of perception. In other words, all mythologies are **two-world mythologies**. They divide reality into two distinct domains: a **physical world**, the one we see, touch, and measure, and a **spiritual realm**, beyond the senses, where gods, ancestors, spirits, or immortal essences reside. Sometimes, this dual structure is explicit—the heavens, the afterlife, the divine order populated with celestial beings. Other times, it is more subtle—an immortal soul, a divine spark, an unseen order that shapes existence from behind the curtain. This two-world structure is so deeply embedded in human thought that we often fail to recognise it as an invention. Even after centuries of intellectual progress, the idea that mind and matter are separate substances—one ephemeral, the other tangible—remains a **stubborn ghost in the machine**. Philosophy and science have wrestled with this division for generations, yet the dualist framework continues to shape how we think, not just about spirituality, but about consciousness, identity, and existence itself. ## The Two-World Divide: A Double-Edged Sword Historically, the promise of an eternal, unseen world has been used as both **solace** and **weapon**. The notion of an immortal soul, for instance, has been leveraged to inspire faith and courage, but also to **compel, coerce, and conquer**. For centuries, institutions of power have justified suffering in the physical world by promising rewards in the next. The meek shall inherit the earth—but only later. The downtrodden shall find justice—but only after death. To question this arrangement was, in many times and places, a dangerous act. For a long time, I was adamant about holding religious authority accountable for this. After all, how many have suffered in the name of a world beyond this one? But over time, my view has become more nuanced. Paradoxically, the invention of an abstract, artificial world beyond ours serves a deeply practical function. **It produces certainty in an uncertain world**. Religious practices worldwide provide meaning—not through empirical truth, but through the weaving of coherence into human life. They connect the individual to three fundamental structures: 1. The cosmos (a larger order, a place within the grand scheme) 2. Society (a community, a sense of belonging) 3. The self (an internal moral compass, a personal sense of meaning) This triple bond is not trivial—it forms the scaffolding of our relationship with reality itself. It **grounds us in a shifting world**, offering a framework through which we navigate the existential unknown. Without it, we are adrift. ## The Modern Malaise: A Crisis of Grounding Much of the anxiety and fragmentation in modern societies stems from the loss of this grounding. The old myths have eroded, their explanatory power weakened by scientific understanding and cultural shifts. Yet nothing has fully taken their place. We have not abandoned mythology—we have simply **become unconscious of the myths we now live by**. And here is the paradox: we cannot simply go back. A return to traditional mythologies—no matter how comforting—is impossible in an age where their literal claims no longer hold up to scrutiny. Intellectual honesty demands that we move forward, that we construct a new way of thinking about uncertainty. ## Toward a One-World Mythology Perhaps it is time to re-connect (*re-ligio*) with the world through a new **mythos**—not one rooted in an imagined afterlife, but one designed deliberately to help us navigate the uncertainties of **this** life. This does not mean erasing mythology altogether—only that we need a one-world mythology, a framework that embraces this world, rather than promising an escape to another. A mythos that acknowledges the depth of uncertainty without requiring gods to smooth out its edges. Perhaps, instead of an afterlife, we turn to the idea of a **hero’s journey**. A mythology where meaning is not given from above but created through the act of exploration. Where we are not passive recipients of divine fate but **active voyagers, sailing the seas of uncertainty** toward a distant, unknowable horizon. A mythology, in other words, for a species that has no choice but to venture into the unknown. [^1] [[Society|Next section]] ___ [^1]: John Vervaeke: Awakening from the Meaning Crisis. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLND1JCRq8Vuh3f0P5qjrSdb5eC1ZfZwWJ