"The Peruvian Indians moulded images of fat mixed with grain to imitate the persons whom they disliked or feared, and then burned the effigy on the road where the intended victim was to pass. This they called burning his soul." (The Golden Bough, p. 15)

The practice described above falls under the banner of homeopathy, a theory of medicine whereby like produces like. An ailment can be treated with another element of similar form, like the saliva upon the hand that will sooth the wound dealt by the hand spat upon(according to a philosopher and Roman general named Pliny). Or, as in the quote above indicates, injury brought about by injuring a likeness. The voodoo doll has had a wide cross-culture appeal, apparently.

We also discussed the influence of Lord Raglan, who collected hundreds of stories from different cultures and found that they were structurally similar to one another. This proved the foundation of his book The Hero. He had twenty points of progress for the Hero's Journey; Joseph Campbell took this as a starting point and whittled it down to three.

1. Seperation

2. Initiation

3. Return

It seems, basically, that myth is behind everything that's been done. Which is why there's nothing you can do that hasn't already been done, because its all part of a vast mythic pattern.

What remains to do, then is to strive and see sacredly, speak sacredly and do sacredly. Or to use the polar image of this motif from the Three Monkeys: Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.