Hi Group and Guests!
Extinction Myths = Apocalypse Myths?
Some in my circle would re-label these stories as Post-Transition Myths.
What can you share on modern myths of the Apocalypse or End Times?
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Perhaps the new alchemy types in my tool kit need to address This "waking up."
Hi Scott!
But there must be some modern day apocalyptic mythology? This is of interest to me: You said: "Astronomers and sages throughout history could only dream of being alive at this time." Are you in this camp?
Willi, there is a kind of new apocalyptic mythology, to be found in the science fiction genre of Japanese anime. It's probably a manifestation of the culture actually experiencing an apocalyptic disaster at the end of WW2. But the themes of the movies can easily be understood and interpreted in the context of our current global, climate problem. There's one in particular called Origin, Spirits of the Past, which reminded me of your myths, and what the green communities of the future might look like ...
Cool beans. In Origin, Spirits of the Past, do you find the Campbellian triad of Hero, Initiation and Journey?
Hi Willi, now that you mention it, yes, I think it does. If you count 'waking up', from several hundred years of cryogenic suspension as the heroes initiation, then it definitely does. It seems, upon reflection, that most post-apocalyptic anime does indeed follow Campbell's schematics. It makes me wonder how many copies of, 'The Hero With a Thousand Faces', have sold in Japan during the last 60 years. My guess is a lot...
Hi Willi, it seems 'The Procession of the Equinoxes', plays a big part in apocalyptic mythology. It was the largest astronomical cycle our ancestors could detect with the naked eye--around 25,686 years per revolution. The Mayan astronomers had the 'Great Year' divided into five, 5,100 year ages. In the Near East, our ancestors divided the 360 degrees of the Zodiac into 12 ages, roughly 30 degrees apart (30x12=360). It takes 72 years for the procession to move just one degree backwards through the zodiac, so their ages are around 2100 years (72 x 30= 2160). The Hindu Sages looked at it like giant day of equinox, with roughly 12,000 years of dark, and 12,000 years of light, etc.
To our ancient ancestors, the end of the great cycle was for all intents and purposes, the end of time. Astronomers and sages throughout history could only dream of being alive at this time...