Joseph Campbell was a professor of mythology, speaker and prolific writer, whose influence was so far-reaching that Newsweek, upon his death in 1987, called him “one of the rarest of intellectuals in American life: a serious thinker who has been embraced by the popular culture.”
Campbell applied Jungian theory to his study of mythology and added his own perspective in the realm of spirituality and human potential.
He believed that all religions, at their core, sought the same elemental life force from which everything came, within which everything currently exists, and into which everything will return. Although this cannot be expressed in words, spiritual rituals and stories refer to the force through the use of “metaphors”—these metaphors being the various stories, deities, and objects of spirituality we see in the world. For example, the Genesis myth in the Bible ought not be taken as a literal description of actual events, but rather its poetic, metaphorical meaning should be examined for clues concerning the fundamental truths of the world and our existence.
Accordingly, Campbell believed the religions of the world to be the various, culturally influenced “masks” of the same fundamental, transcendent truths.
In his own words: “People feel panicky at the thought that we might all have something in common, that they are giving up some exclusive hold on the truth. It is something like discovering that you are a Frenchman and a human being at the same time. That is exactly the challenge that the great religions face in the Space Age.”
Campbell was fascinated with what he viewed as basic, universal truths, expressed in different manifestations across different cultures. For example, in the preface to his book: “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, he said a goal of his was to demonstrate similarities between Eastern and Western religions. In his four-volume series of books “The Masks of God”, Campbell tried to summarize the main spiritual threads common throughout the world while examining their local manifestations.
Note – excerpts above taken from The Joseph Campbell Foundation site and Wikipedia
From “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell:
“We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us — the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.”
This famous piece of prose insinuated itself into my psyche at an early age. At our cottage in Huntsville, my parents hung the “Desiderata” on the wall of the main floor washroom. So everytime I sat on the toilet as an impressionable young girl on our weekends away, I would read it and try to make sense of what it told me. I believe my parents had become enamoured with the “Desiderata” when Pierre Elliott Trudeau shared it with Canada in one of his speeches. It was apparently a ‘motto’ for how our former, illustrious Prime Minister carried himself in the world… and my parents were fans of Trudeau.
I forgot all about this until a couple of years ago when my son, Jordan, gave us a large poster/plague for Christmas with a picture of a waterfall and the words of the “Desiderata”. This is now hanging in the bedroom.
It was always a mystery to me that these eloquent words of wisdom on how to move through life with grace was not credited to anyone. The poster in our bathroom in the 70’s credited the writing to “anonymous” and the one in my bedroom does not reference an author at all. In writing this post, I did a quick google search and discovered that it was in fact written in 1927 by American writer Max Ehrmann (1872–1945). There was some confusion over this and due to a series of blunders, it was assumed to be written in 1692 by an unknown author and therefore copyright-free. It wasn’t until a spoken word song was released of the “Desiderata” in the early 70’s that the family of the author was able to declare the rightful author and win royalties.
“Desiderata” is a Latin word meaning “Desired Things”. A few choice phrases (“the universe is unfolding as it should”, “be gentle with yourself”, “keep peace with your soul”) have always resonated with me and seem ahead of their time for when this piece was written.
Here is the full prose poem:
Desiderata by Max Ehrmann
Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.
This question has been asked since mankind reached consciousness and it has certainly driven me forward in my life quest, in searching for meaning in life. I think many people, regardless of religious tradition or beliefs, will generally agree that our basic goals should be to make a difference in this world and to contribute to others.
Or, in loftier terms, as I suggested in the post “Searching for Nirvana”– to find peace and love, to live in harmony, to create a better world for our children and to surpass the limits of the form we were born into, to evolve the human spirit to new heights…
But while my underlying commitment is about living my life to achieve these ideals, I find that I often fall short of them in my everyday life. The daily grind, the limits of our human bodies, the endless chatter of our mind, the upsets and frustration we all experience (not to mention the way business and society dictate our behaviours) not only get in the way but often derail us. So, I sometimes find myself in conflict with people (which always depresses me) and not always exuding the warmth and balance that I strive to demonstrate to others. This, in turn, can lead to a desire to escape, to be alone, to avoid too much contact or intimacy with the other humans on the planet, lest I misbehave further… hardly an enlightened approach.
One overriding lesson I’ve learned is that it is very difficult for an unhappy, depressed, or angry person to exude warmth and love, to create a space to truly contribute to others, or as Oprah has so eloquently put it: “to be the change you want to see in the world”. So, our number one priority must be to take care of ourselves. Consider that if you are ‘happy’ then you are more able to be with people such that they will feel better in your presence. (The old analogy of the airline’s safety rule stating that you must put your oxygen mask on first before assisting others holds true.) I believe the enlightened individuals on our planet, those we look up to and strive to emulate, understand this, continuing to do the work on themselves while accomplishing monumental tasks for the planet. They have a deeper sense of their soul’s purpose.
Speaking of giants, I came across Oprah’s Soul Series on XM Radio yesterday. She was interviewing Brian Weiss which was a great ‘coincidence’ as I had recently read his first book ” Many Lives Many Masters: The True Story Of A Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient & The Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives”, as well as a book called “Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life between Lives” by Michael Newton, PhD. If you haven’t read them and are open-minded (or perhaps, especially, if you are not), then I highly recommend both authors. They are both professional therapists who have worked in the field of past-life regression for decades. They both have a great many documented case studies of patients who have recounted stories about past lives, and even more interesting to me, the soul’s journey between lives.
The original question that I posed – “why are we here?” takes on a much deeper dimension when you consider this viewpoint. If the heartaches and challenges and struggles of your life were actually selected especially for you (possibly by you), as lessons that you must learn, obstacles that you must overcome, on your soul’s journey, does this change your perspective? Face them now or you’ll just come back and do it all over again. 🙂 Do the work on yourself now. Be the best person you can be. Contribute to the people around you with your whole heart.
Another thought-provoking angle is the idea of soul groups which means that many people closest to you have been part of your existence for many lives and beyond. If you believe this then you can more easily accept their passing and your own when the time comes. It also puts new meaning, for me, to the concept of contributing to others in this lifetime. Some advanced souls may only be here for a short visit, to touch our lives, to steer us towards our life lessons.
I believe that everyone is here for a reason and that everybody begins life with something special. To rise above our life circumstances, to be our best selves and recognize what those gifts are, is part of our quest, our life’s greater purpose. Some are born rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, brilliant or dull, physically superior or handicapped. Most of us are somewhere in the middle of these extremes but, regardless of our physical and situational traits, our deeper being has something more to offer in this life. We all have a unique ability or vision to share with others that can make a difference and allow us to live a fulfilling life, to advance our soul’s journey.
I’m offering some personal reflections as a means of enhancing the feelings of peace, love, compassion, tranquility, fellowship … which exist in every moment of every day of our lives, but sometimes become overshadowed by events which sadden or frighten us. As well, it is a way to connect to those of you who ‘talk the same language’ as me … have been walking along a similar path of spiritual discovery, because I think now more than ever, we need to support each other in our quest to bring as much harmony, love and peace into this world as possible.
Upon learning of the death of two volunteer firemen here in Listowel this week, I have been aware of how often my mind and heart turns to them, to their families, friends … and the sadness that comes up for me. Although I didn’t know them personally, they were a part of my community and therefore, I am affected. They were two men. The sadness I feel today can be multiplied by so many other hearts grieving for loved ones in peril or who have died in Japan, New Zealand, Libya and so many other places on our planet where there is tragedy and suffering…
The very fact that we ARE so affected shows us that we have a universal yearning to love and honour our fellow brothers and sisters worldwide. I hold my hands together and say Namaste to you for your compassion.
And now also, I urge you to remember to love and feel compassion for yourself; to do whatever it takes to recharge your spiritual batteries so that the sadness and fear does not become overwhelming. We cannot give from a cup that is empty, thus must take this opportunity to infuse ourselves with memories of joy, beauty, love, Christ consciousness …. whatever it is that feeds your soul. For some it may be sharing laughter with friends; it may be walking in the woods and thanking Mother Earth for her many gifts; it may be meditations in which we hold the world in a bubble of loving Godlight … whatever.
I simply encourage you to give yourself an emotional/spiritual hug – for your sake, and the sake of us all. I feel gratitude to each of you, for being people to whom I can say these things, and know that in connecting my heart to yours for a brief moment in this communication, I am also receiving your heartfelt compassion.
Thank you for the contributions you have made in my life in the past, and will continue to do so. I am including a link to Peggy Black’s Morning Messages. She channels a group of beings who are always so loving and encouraging. This particular message came in just 2 days ago, and it seems so appropriate right now. No coincidences, right?
The conflict between Science and Religion, raging for centuries, has taken a surprising turn over the past few decades. In this new age of spiritually and in the labs of enlightened scientists, the spark of attraction between the two, the esoteric and the practical, is stimulating exciting new ideas. In some circles, they’re practically dating.
So in taking a glimpse into some of these scientific theories, let’s define “THE Mystery” as not being just any old mystery but rather THE Mystery of the universe, of life and death and afterlife, of the nature of our consciousness, of creation, and the existence of some greater life force. Some might call this universal life force God, others might say it is an interconnected field of energy to which we are all part of the greater sum. Regardless, I think we can all agree that this is the mother of all mysteries.
It’s also noteworthy that the title says the science ‘behind’ The Mystery, not that science has “solved” it. In fact, it might be more relevant to this discussion to say that science today is “enhancing” or “expanding” The Mystery, giving it more colour and depth than ever.
It wasn’t very long ago that many thought they knew the answers. The laws of Classical, or Newtonian, Physics explained how our physical world worked in deterministic, predictable ways. Our religious institutions turned a blind eye to science as they already had the meaning of life, death, and creation explained. Darwin’s theories exploded onto this scene to mess with their creation stories but from a scientific perspective, the evolution of species did appear to connect the dots.
But in the dawn of the twentieth century, brilliant scientists revealed new depths to our understanding of science. They discovered Quantum Physics, which explained how the very smallest bits of matter behaved (of which everything, even our bodies, are comprised) and then General Relativity which explained how very large objects and spacetime behaved. And yet, neither of these new areas of science jived with the laws of Classical Physics, nor with one another.
So now the brilliant scientists are searching for a unified theory which will explain how these branches of physics inter-relate.
And meanwhile, the subatomic world of quantum mechanics has demonstrated some astounding properties. One established behaviour (Heisenberg uncertainty principle) identified that particles are constantly in motion, in a state of superposition (many places at once) which is seemingly affected by observation. If one attempts to measure the position of a particle, then it collapses down into one place but it becomes impossible to measure its speed, and vice versa.
As Dr. Stephen Hawking stated in his book “A Brief History of Time”, “The uncertainty principle had profound implications for the way in which we view the world.” … and it is “not fully appreciated by philosophers and still the subject of much controversy.”
Even more bizarre are the properties of entanglement and nonlocality which state two particles can have interconnected states even if spatially separated by extreme distances. Once in contact, they remain in contact throughout spacetime.
The implications of this are summarized In “The Field” by Lynn McTaggart: “Nonlocality shattered the very foundations of physics. Matter could no longer be considered separate. Actions did not have to have an observable cause over an observable space. Einstein’s most fundamental axiom wasn’t correct: at a certain level of matter, things could travel faster than the speed of light. Subatomic particles had no meaning in isolation but could only be understood in their relationships….”
In the search for the “theory of everything”, quantum field theory is a framework which relates laws of relativity and quantum mechanics. The zero point field, postulated as a future unlimited source of energy in science fiction and now by real scientists, is a field of energy that underlies and interconnects everything in the universe. When you try to wrap your brain around this, that our brains, our bodies, our thoughts, the room we’re in, the trees, our planet, the sun and everything in the universe are all part of a quantum web of interconnected energy, you must be struck by the enormity of the possibilities.
In the words of Dr. Hal Puthoff , this means that “so called empty space is not really empty at all, it’s actually full of energy.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbn5vPhLjk0 . What we do know is that this sea of energy is electromagnetic in nature and vast beyond our imagination. If we could find a way to tap into this source, our energy troubles might be over.
While some ‘nay-sayer’ scientists or strict religious leaders, committed to their dogma, may scoff at how far imagination and speculation might be going with quantum theories of consciousness, these possibilities take concepts of human spirituality and our place in the universe to a new level.
An interesting anecodote to end with is Arthur C Clarke’s Law of Revolutionary Ideas: “Every revolutionary idea — in science, politics, art, or whatever — seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases:
(1) “It’s completely impossible — don’t waste my time”;
(2) “It’s possible, but it’s not worth doing”;
(3) “I said it was a good idea all along.”
I wonder if the next great stage in mankind’s evolution will occur when our conscious and unconscious “minds” become so connected and in tune with one another that they become one. What would this mean for future generations? If one believes that the unconscious mind is akin to our soul, our spirit within, which connects us to the greater life force and to every other living being in the universe, then this transformation could indeed be glorious.
Some of my readers may be thinking that I have just taken a great leap with my opening statements, so let me back up, starting with the early pioneers of the unconscious mind – Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. Jung was also a key influencer for Joseph Campbell, a mythologist who applied Jungian theory to his vast knowledge of mythology, spirituality, and religion. Campbell’s work, among many others, has continued to advance us on this journey to understand our psyche and our connection to one another throughout time, particularly at this ‘unconscious’ level. And today’s thought leaders are progressing these concepts to new realms as we are now able to connect quantum theories into our understanding of consciousness.
So first a (very) brief history…
One book I recommend in this area is Carl Jung’s last work, before his death in 1961 which was his only project not targeted for psychology and medical professionals but rather it was intended for the general public, so that we could all benefit from an insight into his lifework. This book – “Man and his Symbols”, edited with an introduction by Carl Jung – was a great source of information for me when I was working on “Vision Speak”. Jung’s quotations referenced below are all from his writing in this book.
“Man and his Symbols”, although intended for the ‘layman, is still not exactly a ‘light read’ so for those who may not be familiar with the breakthroughs and disconnect between the two most famous psychologists of all time, here’s a brief (and simplified) view of Freud and Jung’s material on the topic of the conscious versus unconscious mind.
In the nineteenth-century psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists were beginning to inquire into both the existence and importance of the ‘unconscious’ or ‘subconscious’ mind. The most renowned figure of this period, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), developed comprehensive theories on this subject and early psychoanalytical techniques with an emphasis on the importance of dreams.
Freud believed that dreams were the key to exposing repressed desires and memories, using techniques such as free association, to cure people of neuroses.
Freud’s younger colleague – Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) – disputed some of Freud’s theories on the unconscious mind. He said Freud “worked on the assumption that dreams are not a matter of chance but are associated with conscious thoughts and problems.” Jung maintained that a psychoanalyst could work directly with a patient without need to lead them away from the actual dreams which he believed had “some special and more significant function of their own”. In other words, “one should pay more attention to the actual form and content of a dream, rather than allowing free association to lead one off through a train of ideas to complexes that could as easily be reached by other means.”
“..part of the unconscious consists of a multitude of temporarily obscured thoughts, impressions, and images that, in spite of being lost, continue to influence our conscious minds.” These hidden areas of our unconscious can be uncovered – sometimes triggered by our senses (such as the sound of music or smells from the past), possibly revealed by unconscious behaviours. Sometimes lost memories can be exposed in hypnosis and often appear symbolically in our dreams. But the unconscious is much more than just a repository of past information that is no longer ‘stored’ in our conscious.
“..it is a fact that, in addition to memories from a long-distant conscious past, completely new thoughts and creative ideas can also present themselves from the unconscious…” In fact, our most creative and innovative ideas and inspirations come from this part of our psyche and, we can also attribute our instinctive, psychic, and intuitive insights as coming from the unconscious.
However, one of Jung’s most important theories – the collective unconscious – came when he explored the unconscious mind as it related to more spiritual realms such as religion and mythology, which Freud thought ‘unscientific’.
More on this in future posts … but, for now, here are some more words from Carl Jung from “Man and his Symbols” on the subject of the collective unconscious.
“Just as the human body represents a whole museum of organs, each with a long evolutionary history behind it, so we should expect to find that the mind is organized in a similar way. It can no more be a product without history than is the body in which it exists.
The experienced investigator of the mind can similarly see the analogies between the dream pictures of modern man and the products of the primitive mind, its “collective images,” and its mythological motifs.
My views about the “archaic remnants,” which I call “archetypes” or “primordial images,” have been constantly criticized by people who lack sufficient knowledge of the psychology of dreams and mythology.”
The following is the presentation with three short readings from the “Vision Speak” Book Launch in February.
In “Vision Speak”, a powerful matriarch leaves an explosive legacy for her great granddaughter. Willow’s expanding consciousness threatens her society but may hold the key to humanity’s future.
People have asked where I came up with the ideas for this story and what was I thinking…
Vision Speak Book Launch – Reading
When I began this journey, I was plagued by questions.
Simple ones like: Why are we here? Why do some people die young? Why can’t we live in harmony? …and … Why is there so much senseless violence in the world?
These questions led me in a variety of directions and some of the research underlying the concepts in this book included:
– The history and evolution of man and civilization
– World Religions – the beauty, the wisdom and the sorrow, futility and failings
– New Age Philosophies and Spirituality
– Jung and Freud, particularly Jung’s theories on the collective unconscious
– Joseph Campbell and his ideas on mythology and religion and their metaphorical value
I know this sounds heavy but it’s not really, not at the level that I was searching. I’m no expert in any of these areas, just someone who craves answers to unanswerable questions.
Basically, I found glimmers of wisdom and imagined the rest.
This story takes place centuries after global wars and devastation have led to a new world order. The Republic now controls and restricts all spiritual practices, intent on preventing the mistakes of the past from ever happening again.
Willow has violated her Spiritual Contract, secretly trained in “Vision Speak” by her mentor, Elzabeth. In this first reading towards the end of Chapter 1, Willow and Elzabeth are connecting at a deep, inner place…
Starting at the bottom of page 9:
After that, time swept away. Despite her agitated morning, Willow reached the state quickly, effortlessly—with minimal guidance from her mentor. It seemed to go faster every time. Within minutes, she became immersed in a waking dream, a trance-like existence where she was still aware, still conscious of her surroundings and yet her inner being was animated and exposed as never before. The old matriarch and her young descendant interacted with visions and feelings, thought-pictures and senses. It was like an inner voice, a connection of directed, shared dreams. Great Bet called it Vision Speak. The two women were oblivious to the absolute silence in the room. To them, their surroundings were vibrantly alive.
Finally they stopped. Willow sensed that her great grandmother was growing weary. Returning her attention to the physical world, she gawked at the time display. Two hours had passed. She resigned herself to missing her Experimental Art class too, yet it didn’t seem important anymore. The room, its occupants, the outside world—everything—had a fresh glow. The world was transforming before her eyes. It all coalesced unlike ever before.
Elzabeth had sunk deeper into her pillows, her eyes glazed. Concerned, Willow bounded out of her chair, energy pulsing through her. She leaned over her great grandmother, smoothing back her silvery-white halo. “Great Bet. Are you okay?”
Deep wrinkles and lips curved upward. “I’m wonderful, so wonderful thanks to you.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. Willow leaned in closer. “Oh, my dear, why didn’t I teach you long ago? I didn’t sense the possibility until I saw you again at my birthday party. It struck me that day so clearly that you were open but even then, I had no idea what you would be capable of. The others will be shocked when they experience your abilities.”
“You must tell me about the others. Who are they?”
“I meant the Vision Speak group at the Center, especially Jill, Aaron, and Simon. But, you can’t meet them yet. I don’t know how I’m going to explain this.” Her eyelids fluttered but she continued. “I’ll sort this out before I’m gone, my dear. I promise.” Her words trailed off at the end so that Willow had to strain to hear.
Leaning forward, she kissed the wrinkled forehead and pulled the covers up. “I’d better go now, Great Bet. You need to rest.”
“Wait.” Elzabeth’s eyes shot open and she gripped the young hand. “I forgot to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“When I die…”
“Shh—no, don’t say that.”
“Don’t be foolish.” The frail woman snapped. “I’m dying soon and it’s long past due so don’t waste my remaining time with platitudes.”
“Okay, sorry.” She mumbled. “Please continue.”
“I want you to know that I’ve changed my will. I’ve made you my Protector.”
Willow gasped. To be the keeper and protector of memories was a privilege, usually entrusted to someone more mature, someone who had known the departed for many years. This meant that she, and she alone, would be responsible for Elzabeth’s Life Journals.
“Oh, I’m honoured, Great Bet. Really I am, but what will Grandma Sybil say? What will my mother say?” Her voice raised a decibel when she mentioned her mother. Willow sank back down into the chair, chewing on her fingernails.
“I don’t give a donkey’s ass what they say. I’m tired now, Willow, we’ll talk more later. You should know that before I found you, I wasn’t entrusting my journals to anyone in the family. And now that I’ve discovered you, now that I see what you can do, this is the only way. But, I know the legacy I’m leaving you…it won’t be easy. There may be, uh, interference.”
“What do you mean?”
The old woman closed her eyes again. She was silent for seconds that stretched out like minutes. She never answered Willow’s question but she did whisper one more instruction. “Please be careful. Keep the journals secret, even with the family—at least until you’re ready.” She smiled weakly. “I’ll explain more next time.”
But there never was a next time.
Before we jump ahead 17 chapters, here’s a brief background on what’s happened.
Elzabeth dies, leaving her journals to Willow in a public ceremony garnering unwanted attention from Republic leaders, spies, and even her family. Willow joins the “Vision Speak” group and her abilities advance rapidly. She finds herself attracted to one of their leaders, Aaron. They’re out together when they discover they’re being followed by Republic agents and Aaron gets a glimpse of Willow’s secret abilities for the first time.
In this scene, they’ve escaped to a secluded garden where Willow is reading a sealed entry from Elzabeth’s journal to Aaron. The entry describes an unexpected encounter with a powerful presence that Elzabeth could not explain. Willow is seeking Aaron’s advice but they get distracted..
Second excerpt (from Chapter 18, mid page 96-97)
Looking back at what happened as I record this entry, I struggle to find the words to describe the actual encounter. What stands out in my mind is the power of the visitor. I cannot say what the intention was—the force of it took me by surprise and my only response was to flee, to sever the connection.
I am home now and for the first time, I question what this new evolution of the human spirit will bring. Have I been too naïve? I’ve been so convinced that once all humans could relate at this level, understand each other to the depths of their souls that senseless violence, misunderstandings and manipulations would cease to hinder mankind’s progress.
But what if I am wrong? What if there are evil forces that will use this power for destructive means? I worry now that perhaps the cult has been resurrected. I thought we had disbanded them and their Sacred Trance sessions but now I don’t know. I pray that I have not been wrong.
Willow finished the passage and turned her unit off, gazing at Aaron. She admired the contours of his face in shadow, his wavy, thick hair. Not for the first time that night, she had to contain an urge to reach out and touch him, stroking the wild hair down, running her fingers along his muscular arms and back.
“Whew—that’s intense. I wasn’t aware of this.” Aaron looked off into the distance as he talked, searching his memory banks. “I’ll ask my mother if Elzabeth shared this with her but I think she would have mentioned it.
Do you know what she meant by the cult?”
Willow slipped the unit into her handbag, and set it down on the grass beside them. She stretched out her long legs, leaning back with her hands holding her weight behind her, gazing up at the majestic branches overhead. She knew Aaron’s eyes followed her movements, first her legs then tracing his way along her body up to her throat and face. Could he really think that she didn’t notice? Her long hair hung back behind her, almost touching the ground.
Softly she responded, careful not to disturb the currents that were humming between them. “No, I was hoping you might know.” She looked into his eyes then. “Have you ever experienced anything like that?” It was dark, they could barely see each other but something snapped between them.
Although she stayed perfectly still, she drew him in. It was imperceptible—a slight arch of her hips, the staccato sound of her breathing, perhaps pheromones triggered by her intense longing. He responded as if on a string.
As we were born into new bodies and new capabilities, we walked upright and surveyed our world. Our instincts and intellect drove us forward. We built tools and fire. We mastered the planet and its creatures. We became self-aware and questioning. We formed tribes and worked together to build homes and families. We hunted together, collectively sensing the mystical forces at play in the universe. Our early cultures honoured our elders, worshipped the beasts that we killed, developed cunning and resourcefulness, as well as a spiritual sense to help us not only survive but thrive in an untamed world.
But as our populations grew and agriculture led us to create permanent homes and settlements, our aggressive tendencies turned us away from our instinctive, spiritual natures and instead forged warriors and conquerors. We built empires and dominated those that were weaker physically. Groups that remained in the more primitive, mystical world of the past became easy targets for slavery and slaughter, oppression and cruelty. Individual power became an ambition of man, overcoming the clan lifestyle. The value of human life was low if it stood in the way of progress and domination. Instead of honouring the natural world and the creatures that sustained us, we created new gods, powerful ones that would lead us forward in our quest for domination.
Ultimately, we awoke to a more sophisticated age and began to move away from the barbarianism of the past. We formed governments and religion. We created classes and rulers. Laws governed our behaviour in society; religious leaders dictated morality. The human consciousness imagined exultant possibilities and followed the new orders without question.
But our curious minds would always lead us to new territory. While authority and discipline, piety and unquestioning belief in a higher power may have been necessary at a particular stage to drive us forward, eventually, it became oppressive. Despite the answers to life and creation offered by religion, we dug deeper. Science and astronomy, philosophy and art triggered a renaissance of new ideas and new abilities. We discovered ways to manipulate our planet’s resources, asked new questions about our existence, and uncovered previously unimagined answers. Humanity’s progress could not be stopped. Prosperity and technological advances transformed our way of life at an increasingly rapid pace. Empire-building again became a focus but we discovered that war was not the only way to dominate other cultures.
At each stage in the development of our culture and our consciousness, the life conditions of previous stages influenced our direction, in some cases as a negative force. We reacted to that which seemed wrong instead of out of pure creation and conscious choice. Not all areas of the world progressed at the same pace and within regions one might find evidence of past and present cultures. Yet, overall, our progress was steady.
A natural next stage was a revolutionary worldview, an understanding that many of our advances were endangering our planet. For peoples who had been born and bred in a prosperous environment free of war and struggles, many grew more sensitive to less fortunate citizens of the world. They understood the effect that man’s rapid progress was having on our natural resources. They fought to bring harmony and spirituality, a return to more primitive principles when the earth was worshipped for sustaining us – not destroyed and used without concern. This led to a philosophical merging of all great wisdoms, religion, and spirituality and a natural disdain for past structures that still sought to dominate the planet.
But a power struggle remained and for those cultures left out of the prosperity and advancement curve, still rooted in past cultural stages, resentment and violence brewed – particularly towards those who dominated the world stage.
And it came to pass that with so many disparate cultures and worldviews, with violence and unhappiness rampant in some areas of the world, that a relatively small percentage of the human population were able to instigate unprecedented death and destruction upon the entire planet.
