Paper I submitted for my Atlantic University TP6140 Course – December 14 2020
In Duncan Campbell and Michael Meade’s interview, they discuss an Irish myth that claims that “when the center is empty,” which they note is currently the case in the United States, “then the pieces” of former myths “can only be found at the edge and then it’s the job of each person to go to the edge…and pick up their own little piece” (Campbell & Meade, p. 2). The men say the edges today contain such human struggles as mental illness, homeless, refugees, and “anywhere you turn you could find meaningful work to do within ten minutes” (Campbell & Meade, p. 2). Campbell and Meade believe that this is where the center’s reconstruction can occur, from the marginalized on the edges.
While not discounting the benefits of working with the downtrodden and forgotten and understanding the authenticity that can be found amongst these people, for me, it’s the individual themselves who finds themselves alone at the edges today regardless of their state in life. You mentioned on Saturday that we’re experiencing the end of the Piscean Age and how it must give way to the Age of Aquarius. We then discussed that what would accompany this transition is a great “awakening” and ultimately the end of the institutions and their power over the masses.
It may not seem that way looking at the media today. Yet, I believe the institutions’ attempts to limit individual liberties are the Piscean hierarchical structures’ last gasp. They have become like the African myth’s old lions which Campbell and Meade present (Campbell & Meade, p. 4). These institutions are loud, they have a scary roar, yet they no longer have any teeth, or at least are losing them, and they will eventually be eaten by an awakened people who can now see them for what they’ve truly are.
My spiritual journey has brought me from the traditional Christian faith in the center of the culture’s myths to a master’s program at Edgar Cayce’s university and an active member of the Spiritualist church, where I have found many like-minded seekers at the edges of the culture. We often say that we’re so grateful to have found each other since we can discuss topics everyone else in our lives think are absurd. The more the edges become overflowing with such people, the more confident we’ll be in pushing back to the center.
When people ask me what my master’s covers, I like to quip that it’s a mixture of New Age, old age, traditional religions, Eastern philosophy, mythology, and parapsychology with a little quantum physics added for good measure. This soup of various philosophies, traditional, science, and spiritualities have one common dominator, and that’s the transformation of souls. Or put another way, awakening and elevating one’s consciousness.
This will be our new mythology when we finally get back to the center. The completion of an individuation process, as Carl Jung describes it (Jeffrey, n.d.). And in becoming the individual we are destined, we can be fully in communion with other souls, as Jung notes (Jeffrey, n.d.). Individuals who have completed the same process and are now back in the center of it all.
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References
Campbell, D. & Meade, M. (n.d.)., Dialogue with Michael Meade, TP6140 Week 12 reading assignment. Retrieved from https://moodle.atlanticuniv.edu/pluginfile.php/55403/mod_page/content/27/Dialogue%20with%20Michael%20Meade.pdf
Jeffrey, S. (n.d.) A closer look at Carl Jung’s individuation process: a map for psychic wholeness. CEOsage. Retrieved from https://scottjeffrey.com/individuation-process/.