Universal theme overview
Mystery is a child in the Universal themes series and is a member of the Big ideas theme family.
Mystery is anything unexplained, secret or unknown. Whether intentionally hidden or simply undiscovered, the lack of knowledge builds curiosity.
Big ideas
- Everyone is attracted to a mystery.
- Theory is a tool to identify problems and to plan ways to improve them.
- Creativity is made of skills that can be learned.
- Hiding something you already know stops the flow of energy and makes real connections impossible.
- Some questions are not meant to be answered.
Mystery key concepts
- Something that has allure is tempting, inviting, seductive and fascinating.
- A distraction is a diversion, something that pulls attention away from an original focus or a confusion that results when there are too many factors demanding attention.
- An enigma is an obscure riddle, something ambiguous and puzzling is being concealed.
- Anything foreign or unusual is exotic and having the charm and allure of the unfamiliar.
- Something familiar is a frequent occurrence in your life that you are knowledgeable if and used to.
- An illusion is something that appears to be something is not; a deceptive trick that causes the observer to misinterpret or exaggerate what is happening.
- Occult describes things that are hidden from being seen or understood.
- A paradox is something that is true but seems like it should not be. It goes against established rules or expectations and yet still works.
- Placebo means to please, and is something without active helping properties, to make a person feel like something is being done. Sometimes this is enough to cause the problem to be resolved.
- A theory is an offer of systematically organized knowledge; assumptions, principles, rules/ procedures that have been developed over careful and deep study of an issue over time.
Archetypes
animals: cat, coyote
birds: bunting, magpie
flowers: muscari, strawflower
foods: blackberry
mythical: Loch Ness monster, Sphinx
roles: detective, femme fatale
settings: moon
symbols: key, mask, shadow, veil