In reading the article on eradigms, I found myself nudged to consider the similarities between these movements that “chart the individuation of the human species” and alchemy. Very likely I was drawn to this because alchemy is on my mind these days (I’m just finishing up a course), but I do see a very real connection. Specifically, I wonder about parallels between Dorn’s model of the progression from unio naturalis to unio mystica. For Dorn, there were 4 stages that represented the ego’s journey of development. The first stage, unio naturalis, seems to have much in common with the Mother Nature eradigm, with its more primitive connection to earth and dream and story. The Heavenly Kingdom eradigm speaks of a split between genders, between gods and man, between this world and the otherworld – a rise in dualism that seems similar to Dorn’s state of unio mentalis, where the spiritual principle is separated from the bodily sphere. Here the step-by-step parallel falters, for the Big Machine with its focus on rationality and abstraction seems more a continuation of Dorn’s separation state, as opposed to a movement to the next phase. While different than the Heavenly Kingdom, there is still a dualistic focus and resistance that marks the separation. The Earthrise eradigm seems aligned with Dorn’s reintegration phase, where we see the rejoining of the bodily and spiritual, with the spiritual having a stronger and more conscious place. Earthrise, with its networking and focus on system and process, seems much like Dorn’s envisioned reintegration.