The study revisits the Second Volume of the Philosophy of Symbolic Forms published in 1925. Under the title “Mythical Thinking”, Ernst Cassirer examines myth as a symbolic form; through an analysis that is at once historical and systematic, he paves the way for an expansion of the term’s scope - a shift that becomes increasingly evident in his later treatises. By the concept of myth, he refers no longer exclusively to the “grand narrative” but also, pars pro toto, to “mythical consciousness”, “mythical thinking”, and a “mythical form of life”; in doing so, he points neither to a merely archaic stage of cultural development nor simply to one cultural sphere among others. Significant - and demanding serious attention - is his metaphorical description of myth as the “native soil” (Mutterboden) of culture. This metaphor vividly reinforces a claim Cassirer maintained consistently until the very end: that myth retains its relevance even within modern culture. A clear instance of this ongoing relevance is found in his critique of the intellectual-historical elements underpinning totalitarian rule - an analysis he presents with regard to the National Socialist regime in his final completed work, “The Myth of the State”. This poses a considerable challenge to our former understanding, informed by his philosophy of culture: Is the concept of myth invoked in the phrase “the myth of the state” truly the same as the one with which he had previously familiarized readers of his writings on mythical thought? Cassirer’s earlier hints to the possibility of cultural conflicts - indeed, as he calls them “antinomies of culture” - find a concrete illustration, an exemplification in “The Myth of the State”.