carried you over childhood’s dark abysses,
now beyond your own life build the great
arch of unimagined bridges.
Wonders happen if we can succeed
in passing through the harshest danger;
but only in a bright and purely granted
achievement can we realize the wonder.
To work with Things in the indescribable
relationship is not too hard for us;
the pattern grows more intricate and subtle,
and being swept along is not enough.
Take your practiced powers and stretch them out
until they span the chasm between two
contradictions…For the god
wants to know himself in you.
Peter Russell opens the first chapter of his book, Waking Up in Time with this poem by Rainer Maria Rilke (translated by Stephen Mitchell). The title of that chapter is Acceleration — The Quickening Pace. I relate to this poem because it puts complete responsibility for the greatness of my life directly on my shoulders. As time progresses, I hope to stand witness as we members of the human family collectively take our practiced powers and stretch them out until they span the chasm between two contradictions …the contradictions of “I am mortal” and “I am divine.”
It is in this spirit that I introduce an essay by Stephen Gerringer, a dear friend and colleague with whom I worked for many years at the Joseph Campbell Foundation. In The Times, They Are A’Changin’, Stephen explores Joseph Campbell’s thoughts on where humanity is headed, and the power of mythic images to shape our future. In particular, Stephen explores the highly influential and controversial report that Campbell — among a number of respected thinkers from a variety of academic fields — had a hand in writing, Stanford Research Institute’s 1974 report, The Changing Images of Man:
In the nearly twenty years since Joseph Campbell’s death the world has witnessed innumerable horrific episodes of collective violence: the slaughter of almost a million Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda; years of armed struggle between contending warlords in Liberia, Somalia, and the Sudan; ethnic and religious wars in Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo; blood shed between Basque separatists and the government of Spain, between Hindu Tamils and Sinhalese Buddhists in Sri Lanka, between Palestinians and Israelis, between Irish Protestants and Catholics, and between Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan; al-Qaeda’s attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001; and the shock-and-awe invasion and occupation of Iraq, followed by a brutal insurgency and sectarian violence…
A list that barely scratches the surface.
Arbitrary geopolitical boundaries may indeed appear invisible to anyone standing on the moon, but for those who live on earth these lines are all too often traced in blood. One can’t help but wonder if Campbell’s confidence in the future isn’t misplaced blind optimism that comes from wishful thinking.
And yet there does seem to be a sense that we are in the midst of a period of massive, almost unfathomable change. We no longer inhabit our grandparent’s world nor, given the accelerating pace of change, will our grandchildren live in ours.
…
CONTINUE >> The Times, They Are A’Changin’
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Be sure to note where Campbell emphasizes the importance of the recognition of the artist as “not simply agents ‘depicting a positive future,’” … but “in the structuring of any future civilization.” Stephen adds: If a culture is to change its guiding image, then the image-makers, the artists — particularly those with their finger on the pulse of popular culture, such as the musician-poets, the novelists, the filmmakers, etc. — will play a leading role, their work shaping and reflecting the public imagination far more than any esoteric study issued by an eclectic think tank. (p. 15)
Let us know our-Selves in the gods!
Be well,
m
P.S. If you enjoy this and would like access to additional such resources, visit the Joseph Campbell Foundation website and Facebook page.
–
Manny Otto
There is an almost sensual longing for communion with others who have a larger vision. The immense fulfillment of the friendships between those engaged in furthering the evolution of consciousness has a quality almost impossible to describe.
—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
> check out…
mythosforcreatives.com
awakeningtheartist.com