> C.S. Lewis did not intend for his books to be read through a Hindu worldview. I can't imagine he would intentionally create a pantheistic world. Does that mak

> C.S. Lewis did not intend for his books to be read through a Hindu worldview. I can't imagine he would intentionally create a pantheistic world. Does that make this interpretation meaningless? The connection between Christ and the myth of Dionysus is an undeniable embarrassment; and many other pagan stories and motifs find expression in the lives of the saints and the works of Christian artists. The artist is often but a cipher; driven by a combination of emotion and aesthetics and idealism to use certain symbols, but not comprehending the depth thereof, despite extensive training and firm beliefs. This suggests that symbols really stand on their own. One sees evidence of this not only in the history of Christianity but also in the cross-cultural relevance of the Aarne-Thompson types. The comparative method -- which places substantial weight on the symbolic content of the stories themselves -- seems to be the best way to understand how stories fit together and why they resonate with people the way that they do.