We don't inherit answers. We inherit clues. Humanity creates myths to point at the truth... and here's what all of them have been pointing to all along.
Before we had language, we had stories.
And every story began the same way: where did we come from?
Throughout history, we have crafted myths to explain the origins of humanity, weaving stories that reflect our understanding of the world and our unique identities. In this interview, anthropologist Dr. Jean-Loïc Le Quellec, a leading figure in the study of prehistoric art and myth, and on the origins and spread of human thought, explains how our diverse myths reveal patterns and differences across societies. These myths reflect both diversity and convergence of human imagination and the ways in which our narratives shape, and are shaped by, our cultures.
When I finished the article, I couldn’t help but think there was something I was missing… what if every story contains a subtle clue to what we keep forgetting… a universal meaning in the myths.
If there is one, perhaps it's this:
That we’re trying to remember something we could never forget... we’ve only covered it up by repeating stories we’ve mistaken for facts… until we look beneath them to reveal their hidden tracks.
Across every culture, every time period, every continent, humans have asked:
Where did we come from? Why are we here? What happens after this?
And in trying to answer those questions, we did what we always do: We made meaning.
We transformed wonder into narrative. We wrapped the mystery in symbols. We sculpted gods, patterns, rituals, roles, genders, hierarchies, heroes and villains. And we painted it on cave walls, encoded it in scripture, and passed it down as truth.
But none of these myths, not a single one, holds the whole truth. Because they are all shadows cast on the same cave wall. Refractions of a light we carry inside us, but rarely turn toward.
What we’re too blind to see is this:
The myth is not the truth. It’s a mirror. And what we’re seeing in it… is ourselves.
We keep missing it because it’s too close. It seems too simple.
Because it’s not hidden in the sky, or buried in the ground. It’s not locked in a symbol or guarded by the self-chosen.
It’s here. Now. For everyone.
In the quiet awareness that exists before belief.
Before the names. Before the form. Before “I” or “You” took shape.
The birthplace of time.
We keep looking out there for what we never lost in here. Only obscured through inattention.
You are the origin story. Everything else is a pointer.
© 2025 Zaheer Merali.
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