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In his later comprehensive reply to his critics, he says: "Myth actually talks about _den jenseitigen Mächten oder Personen_ as though they were _diesseitigen, weltlichen_ \-\- contrary to its real intention. ¶"For what is this intention? Myth talks about _jenseitigen Mächten_, about demons and gods, as powers on which we know ourselves to be dependent, of which we do not dispose, whose favor we need and whose wrath we fear. . . . In this way myth gives expression to a certain understanding of human existence . . . . \[I\]t knows of _eine andere Wirklichkeit_ than _die Weltwirklichkeit_ that science has in view. It knows that the world and human life have their ground and limit in _einer Macht_ that lies _jenseits_ everything falling within the realm of human reckoning and control \-\- in _einer transzendenten Macht_. ¶"But myth talks about _dieser jenseitigen Wirklichkeit und Macht_ inadequately when it represents _das Jenseitige_ as spatially distant, as heaven above the earth or as hell beneath it. It talks about _den jenseitigen M{_}{_}ä{_}{_}chten_ inadequately when it represents them as analogous to _den diesseitigen_ _M{_}{_}ä{_}{_}chten_ and as superior to these powers only in force and unpredictability. . . . Myth talks about gods as human beings, and about their actions as human actions. . . . Myth thus makes the gods (or God) into human beings with superior power. . . . ¶"In short, myth objectifies _das Jenseits_ into _Diesseits_, and thus also into the disposable, as becomes evident when cult more and more becomes action calculated to influence the attitude of the deity by averting its wrath and winning its favor. ¶ "Demythologizing seeks to bring out the real intention of myth, namely, its intention to talk about human existence as grounded and limited by _eine jenseitige, unweltliche Macht_, which is not visible to objectifying thinking" (183 f. \[98 f.\]).

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