The Power of Myth

Exploring Our Future

Deep conflict among the people of Earth erupts in waves. We seem to be entering a high conflict era with the current wave posing great social and environmental danger. And we always have the intriguing opportunity to ask “What if?” The Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy opens an exploration of the meaning of myth as it may relate to possibilities for the future of humankind.

Getting Real About Reality
What humankind calls reality is ephemeral. Through speculative fiction we can explore the meaning of our experiences and emergent themes such as women rising through empowerment just as we enter a high conflict era. We can delve into the spirit world and paranormal events. And then when we enhance it with myth we explore where we have been, who we are and who we might become. In the process we may well create transformation.

Fiction Is Not Always Fictional
In my view fiction is not just a made up story. Humankind appears to be in asymptotic development. And there are a number of ways to explore what is happening because the outcome is not defined or assured. Fiction is an enticing way to explore what might be. It delves into the human equation and not just facts which may be questionable.

Myth Often Conveys Truth
Myths are not merely interesting stories. They exist partly because there was an event or a belief which touched our humanity. I chose one to be woven into this story.  No matter how we approach myths there is substantive meaning and we can learn from them.

Professor, Do You Really Believe That?
On my first day in Psych 101 at the University of Michigan the professor strode into the auditorium, climbed on the stage and declared, “Psychology is a Science”. For me, on that day, he opened a door to speculation which never closed. Not that he meant to open that door.

In the end I majored in psychology and went on to earn my Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Duke University. To this day I cannot validate the professor’s statement at least for the field as a whole.

Questioning Everything
In college I minored in philosophy and cultural anthropology. In philosophy, with special emphasis on political philosophy and existentialism, I was surprised to be led into the human mind and found our minds have the capacity to turn anything into anything. So much for a firm belief in reality.

And then I took a course  from Leslie White, the father of cultural anthropology. There, before a large class of undergraduates, stood an elderly man who questioned everything. He introduced me to imponderables which could be pondered nonetheless because we are speculative beings.

Then I Got In Deeper
In advanced studies in clinical psychology I peered further into the human mind. It became clear to me that in clinical psychology I was going deep into art much more so than science. Carl Jung led me far beyond mental illness to the world of mythology and helped to reveal that we humans truly live on the cusp of reality and have the capacity to be transformative.

The Enrichment of Questioning “Reality”
In our world, reality changes from moment to moment and we gather direction of sorts from experience and our cultures. Beyond what we call reality were things to consider like the spirit world and at Duke they were studying paranormal processes. Through my studies and experiences I came face to face with the fact that wisdom is not the exclusive province of our elders but resides within our youth as well.

Now, in my latter years, I find myself taking my instructions in life to speculative fiction. It intrigues me and opens questions which should be part of a never ending quest by clever creatures. Through myth we glimpse fragments of who we are because myth contains fundamental truths about us.

Exploration and Conversation
This blog constitutes a broadly conceived thought document which relates to a trilogy which may also be termed a thought document since it implicitly asks, “What if?”. Neither the blog nor the Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy are meant to be scholarly or to define absolute truth.  We are entering a dangerous but promising era where it is useful to explore themes from our past and possibilities for our future. The empowerment of women is central to this story and we have to consider what kinds of transformation may lie in our future. Welcome to the adventure.

 

I’ve run on enough. Let me ask you, “What have been your defining moments or experiences which opened new vistas for you? How did they shape your personal reality?”