While philosophy is but a tale told, myth and ritual are reality lived and enacted. Philosophy explains the phenomena of life to the rational mind, but myth and ritual represent the reemergence of the primordial reality that created the phenomena that philosophy wishes to explain. Thus, while philosophy attempts to answer the question why? myth and ritual reply to the question whence?. Depth psychology teaches us that disciplines like philosophy and ethics can at best only address themselves to the conscious portion of the human psyche, but myth and ritual provide a direct, creative link to the unconscious, joining the world of the conscious ego with the deep powers of the region beyond the veil of consciousness.

Gnosticism by Stephan Hoeller