Archetypal Domains

The archetypal system used in Neuromythography is a eclectic, syncretic, sometimes whimsical set of free-association metaphors that attempt to characterize the ecological role of a biological entity such as a neurotransmitter, receiver, brain area, or zone inside of the brain. It should be noted that the appropriation of spiritual ideas from across religions is done with the utmost respect and reverence, in the spirit of synthesizing truths found in all religions. To avoid unintended offense and to provide continuity with deities familiar to mythologists, the Neuromythograph has defaulted to Greek mythology complemented by Roman extensions, with many personified references to philosophy, mathematics, and literature.

Following is the list of mythological domains that the canonical archetypal mapping draws upon:

African Deities of the African religions, particularly the Yoruba
AI pioneers Certain parts of the cortex are involved in abstractions that were not well-covered by mythology. Artificial intelligence pioneers were drafted to serve as deities. For example, object-oriented object-method bindings were invented by Simula inventor Kristen Nygaard. Left area s6-8 tracks the kinds of verbs that can be applied to an object. Thus we assign this area to Nygaard.
Animal totems The rich mythological source of animal totems and spirit animals.
Artists The occipital cortex and ventral temporal cortex parcellation was deconstructed as a set of famous painters and sculptors who are most famous for visual features processed by the particular brain area.
Australian aboriginal Deities of the Australian aboriginal religions
Aztec Deities of the Aztec religion. South American religions are underrepresented in the model simply because so many of their names are unpronounceable, at least for Westerners.
Biblical Biblical characters
Blakean William Blake was a Romantic-era poet and author who created his own mythology.
Brazilian Deities of the Brazilian native pantheon
Buddhism Abstract concepts of Buddhism
Celtic Deities of the Celtic religion
Chinese Deities of the Chinese pantheon
Christian theology Abstract concepts of Christian theology, deified (e.g. Acedia)
Demonology Demons of Judaic and Christian tradition
Egyptian Deities of the ancient Egyptian religion
Famous people Iconic historical individuals that represent an archetype
Gemstones Mythology associated with gemstones
Gnostic Gnostic deities and concepts
Greek Ancient Greek mythology, the backbone of the Neuromythograph
Hawaiian Deities of the Hawaiian religion
Hindu Deities and spiritual concepts of the Hindu religion. Where there is overlap with Buddhism, the original Hindu source is preferred.
Incan Deities of the Incan religion. South American religions are underrepresented in the model simply because so many of their names are unpronounceable, at least for Westerners.
Inuit Deities of the Inuit religion of North America
Islamic Abstract concepts of Islam (e.g. Niyyah)
Japanese Deities of Japanese religions, especially Shinto and folk religions. Also includes Japanese cultural concepts such as Kawaii (cuteness).
Kabbalah Spiritual entities of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah
Literary Classic literary authors (e.g. Shakespeare, Orwell) and concepts (e.g. Thinnai)
Literary characters Classic literary characters (that are not considered mythological, e.g. Jiminy Cricket)
Lithuanian Deities of the Lituanian mythology
Maori Deities of the Maori mythology
Mathematicians Analysis of the mathematical network of the brain required incorporating concepts outside of mythology. Mathematicians who are credited with originating mathematical concepts such as geometry, category theory, set theory, mathematical notation, etc. are eponymously associated with the brain areas that have been found to specialize in these. Note that these areas (mainly intraparietal sulcus and frontal eye fields) are also associated with hand targeting and movements from monkey studies; however, their repurposed role in mathematics is modeled in the Neuromythograph.
Mayan Deities of the Mayan religion. South American religions are underrepresented in the model simply because so many of their names are unpronounceable, at least for Westerners.
Mesopotamian Deities of the ancient Mesopotamian religions
Native American Deities of the Native American tribes
New Age Spiritual concepts of New Age religions, e.g. Source
Norse Deities of the Norse religion
Philosophers Certain of the brain areas correspond to philosophical concepts rather than mythological ones. For these, philosophers who are credited with originating the philosophical concept were recruited, including Aristotle, Pyrrho, Protagoras, Hegel, Wittgenstein (early), and Wittgenstein (late).
Polynesian Deities of the Polynesian islands
Pop Culture When we lack a religious, mythological, literary, mathematical, philosophical, scientific, or artificial intelligence archetype, and can identify a pop culture reference, we (reluctantly) use it, Scooby Doo.
Psychology Psychological concepts. We mostly eschew these, as we argue that our archetypes are superior to the lifeless abstract nouns reified by psychology in its performative scientism. However, we borrow analytic psychology terms from Jung and Freud.
Roman Deities of Roman mythology. We prefer to use the Greek deities when they overlap with Roman, and try to use unique Roman deities to complement the Greek ones. However, in some cases we are imagining the Roman deity as a distinct entity from the Greek one, because we are dealing with more than a thousand biological entities to personify and we need to cut ourselves a break.
Slavic Deities of the Slavic religions, e.g. Svetovid
The Little Prince The archetypal characters of The Little Prince, by Antoine Saint-Exupery.
Ugaritic The deities of the Ugaritic-speaking civilization of Assyria. E.g., Kothar

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