I keep wondering about this idea of needing technology to replace us. No longer must we rely on remembering anything, it is all in our hand (cell phone) and soon to be on our wrist (Google watch) or in our clothing (coming to a store near you). What comes to mind when I imagine leaving the body is death, but also meeting our creator (according to most theological beliefs). Following death is resurrection or transcendence. First we leave our bodies by use of technology to help us communicate faster and more efficiently. Then we no longer need our brains to remember anything we do, leaving behind a footprint that never goes away (the internet), immortality!?!? So our next feat is to climb into a craft that takes us away from our planet--hence Virgin Galactic, Elon Musk's spaceX and others--what is it we are looking for? Might leaving our mother earth be symbolic of leaving our mothers in young adulthood or even infancy (birth, leaving mother and coming to the earth?) What are human's doing in regard to evolution? Is there a pattern in our chaotic dark matter?
Just thinking out loud.
Replies
Interesting connection here, tripple goddess mythology: Mother Earth, Virgin Galactic (maiden), and as of yet unspecified Crone... The virgin galactic spacecraft, taken from Mother Earth by Hades to the deep darkness (via plutocracy), guided back to the surface world by the crown of stars of Hecate (star as symbol of spirit, magic, heaven). Lines up pretty well, mythologically.
I have a feeling that if and when humans ever begin to live in space, the unique challenges that outer space brings, such as profound isolation and distances, will lead people to adopt more sustainable and communal societies, and would probably be more spiritually/mythologically attuned as well. Here's an example. If you live on a space-station, where do you get your water from, or food, or what do you do with waste? What happens if something breaks? There is no easy or cheap access to large amounts of raw materials, such as water, agriculture, building materials, as there would be on a planet. It expends vast amounts of resources to bring something up from a planet surface to space, or traverse the unfathomable distances to find asteroids to mine (ah look, here's Hades again, mining asteroids in the depths of space).
So, everything has to be recycled. If a part breaks, there has to be a way of re-purposing it, melting it down, 3D printing it into something new. Humanure, grey water, compost, recycling - all of these would be essential to recirculate resources within the system. Permaculture and dense gardening would the agricultural pillars of this society. People living in such a space-station society would need to be aware of their usage and waste, as it would be critical for their survival. They would also probably run off of solar.
With much more awareness and intentionality embeded in societal values of space cities, a more spiritually and mythologically attuned people might emerge. People who die would most likely be recycled via thorough composting. The nutrients and minerals would go back into the plants in the on-board permaculture gardens. In this way, an ancestor-revering mythology could emerge, with the dead literally re-embodying the living through the food they eat. At first that might seem like a really wierd cannibalism offshoot. However, there is something that keeps us connected, when say, an apple tree grows over the grave of a loved one. To a culture that is highly specialized in re-circulating resources, this would seem perfectly normal. Innoculations of complex living systems would also be required for a successful space-based permaculture. So, ancestral spirits could re-emerge into insects or small animals, shamanically shaping such a society to connect ancestors with other living beings in the space-ecosystem.
As Craig pointed out in the last webinar, extraterrestrials, UFO's, etc. can be connected to the Sky Gods and Angels. I personally believe that if humans eventually venture out into space, space-faring human societies will almost certainly come into contact with some other lifeform or consciousness. If space exploration can be mythologically associated with "ascending to heaven" to meet the Sky Gods, then maybe the Death part of the equation might be in reference to end of the old human species, Homo Sapiens, and the beginning of "Homo Gestalt" (term for a possible future empathically/telepathically networked mutation/evolution of modern day humans). Undoubtably, other space-faring, incarnate species would probably have the same kind of eco-minded consciouness as living in space requires it. Human societies in space would likely change the eradigms of thought from dominator-consciousness to ecosystemic with regards to other worlds and species.
If we consider spirits to be "more energy-based" species, we may find that space is actually inhabited by many spirits, as there are many different, strong energy-currents in space. One of my favorite mythologies that I grew up with, Star Trek, had more than one episode about energy-based lifeforms. At high-energies, plasmas swirl and roil in magnetic vortexes that are extremely complex. Some outcast scientists have proposed that at high-enough levels of magnetically organized complexity, hypercharged and super-magnetized plasma may even be considered sentient, much in the same way that neuronal firing and electrical activity is associated with consciousness. If this is true, then Stars may be incomprehensibly large and powerful sentient beings (Helios as a literal, manifest, conscious being?), and the numerous magnetic and charged particle flows between celestial bodies may be some form of communication.. So perhaps humans living closer to or farther from different celestial bodies may be affected in their consciousness in some way, as solar magnetic fields and charged particles in space are not buffered and diffused by the Earth's magnetosphere. Farther out, past the heliopause of the sun (the extent of the Sun's own magnetic field), exponentially greater interstellar and galactic currents of magnetism and charged particles exist. The farther away from Earth humans go, the more intensely they will probably be affected by these forces.
I've actually thought a great deal about space and mythologies associated with it, so this is a really fun topic for me. I produced an EP titled "Astromancy" delving into this theme: https://soundcloud.com/mythogenmysterion/sets/astromancy-ep
Thinking of zombies, technology and space, I felt driven to watch the Star Wars again: Darth Vadar, the symbol of the dark-side, zombie, half-human, half-machine, riding the Death Star, leading the Empire toward conquest, seemed eerily reminiscent of our corporate-politcal leaders today. Is this what the future of humans inhabiting space would look like?
Have a look at Romanyshyn's book Technology as Symptom and Dream. He makes a similar point. Technology as an escape from roots and Earth....but it can also give us back a sense of both. Will say more about that in our final webinar.
An interesting question might be how ancient fantasies of godlikeness and immortality show up in our use of tech.
I was thinking about space travel last night as part of my active imagination. First, I imagined myself standing on the surface of the moon looking at Earth. Then I started to imagine space travel. If humans manage to survive the current crises and maintain out technological prowess, both of which are uncertain, I do believe that we'll want to colonize the galaxy eventually. Or at least explore a lot. And I don't see why we won't be able to. We do need to mature though, before we leave home. Cool thoughts. Thanks.
Could you tell me how to find the article about dolphins? I looked on your website and could not find it.