The chief difference between the man of the archaic and traditional societies and the man of the modern societies with their strong imprint of Judaeo-Christianity lies in the fact that the former feels himself indissolubly connected with the Cosmos and the cosmic rhythms, whereas the latter insists that he is connected only with History.
Of course, for the man of the archaic societies the Cosmos too has a "history", if only because it is the creation of the Gods and is held to have been organized by super-natural beings or mythical heroes.
But this "history" of the Cosmos and of human society is a "sacred history", preserved and transmitted through myths.
More than that, it is a "history" that can be repeated indefinitely, in the sense that the myths serve as models for ceremonies that periodically reactualize the tremendous events that occurred at the beginning of time.
The myths preserve and transmit the paradigms, the exemplary models, for all the responsible activities in which men engage.
By virtue of these paradigmatic models revealed to men in mythical times, the Cosmos and society are periodically regenerated.
Mircea Eliade
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