Chapter 10 – Mythology

For Thoreau, cyclical uniformitariansm provided an alternative natural theology to the prevailing Christian natural theology of the mid-19th century.  Thoreau’s version reflects an equal mix of science and spirit, one part Principles of Geology by Charles Lyell and one part Bhagavad Gita from ancient Hindu scripture. Walden‘s most glaring omission is the catastrophic glacial theory of Louis Agassiz.  To include it would have wrecked his book.  So, in lieu of cold, hard, glacial facts, we get quasi-comic myths, allegories, and word plays.  

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"Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide my face in thee."  Though Thoreau did not sing this hymn as a Christian, much of his own religious thinking went this way.  This photo shows a deep cleft in the otherwise massive outcrop of the Andover Granite at Fair Haven Cliff. 

 

 

Following their swim, these bathers in Walden Pond seem oblivious of the stately heron leading the way.  Thoreau considered his swims to be baptisms, "as sacred as the Ganges, at least."  Perhaps these locals feel the same.