The Deep Connection Between Music, Mythology, and Value Systems

As we navigate the realms of music and mythology, it's easy to see them as distinct phenomena—one a form of artistic expression, the other a rich tapestry of symbolic narratives. But what if they aren't as separate as we think? What if, instead, music and mythology are two sides of the same cognitive coin, both tapping into the deep, values that guide human perceptual categorisation?

Before we dive into that connection, it’s important to establish a key distinction in how we view music. Unlike language, which is a socio-semiotic system built on symbolic meaning, music is not a socio-semiotic system of any kind—language or otherwise. It doesn’t encode fixed meanings that we can systematically translate into linguistic terms. Instead, music works as a perceptual phenomenon, exploiting the value-based categories in our perception that have been shaped by evolutionary processes. These values are the very same that inform the way we experience and create mythology. Music, in this view, selects values that weigh and influence all mental processes, including emotions, desires, and thoughts.

With this in mind, we can explore the fascinating ways in which music and mythology share a cognitive foundation based on these deep, perceptual values. Just as mythology can be seen as an exploitation of these values to create meaning, music does the same—except it does so through the medium of sound, with its harmonies, rhythms, and tonalities speaking directly to the emotional and cognitive core of our experience.

Both music and mythology engage with these values, yet their forms differ. Mythology often shapes these values into structured, symbolic narratives that convey moral or existential insights. Music, on the other hand, forgoes explicit meaning, instead inviting us to feel these values in their purest form—often without the need for words at all.

But there’s more to this connection. Just as mythology can serve as a source of meaning-making in altered states of consciousness, music too can act as a kind of sensory access point to the deep perceptual structures that shape our understanding of reality. Visionaries, in particular, access these values through altered states of consciousness—states that allow them to bypass ongoing perception and connect more directly with these foundational value-categories. In such states, they can form the raw materials for myth-making, creating stories that give voice to the invisible forces guiding human experience. Music, too, taps into these deep, perceptual structures, creating an experience that is both primal and transcendent.

In this context, music can be thought of as a tool for exploring the very same values that shape our experience of the world. These categories are not arbitrary—they are values that have evolved to help us process and respond to the world in ways that are crucial for survival and social bonding. Just as mythology takes these values and forms them into stories that help guide human understanding, music taps into the emotional, cognitive, and evolutionary underpinnings of our consciousness, creating an experience that speaks directly to the core of our being.

Ultimately, both music and mythology provide a space for engaging with these deep values, but through different means: one through sound, the other through symbol. Together, they offer a profound way to connect with the fundamental structures of human experience, allowing us to explore the unseen forces that shape how we perceive and interact with the world.