“Myths play a very important role in the African understanding of reality.” (1)
 
Jones M. Jaja writes that the African people regard myths as a direct expression of the universe and of their inner and outer experience of themselves in relation to the world around them. Myths are not merely symbolic or a product of human imagination. He states “Myths are seen as vehicles conveying certain facts or truths about man’s experiences in his encounter with the created order and its relation to the super-sensible world.” (1)
 
African myths are an expression of culture, history as well as man’s relationship with God and all other living beings, seen and unseen.  The purpose and value of myth in the African societal setting is both explanatory as well as acting as a socializing agent to educate the young as to meaning mysteries of the universe and humans’ place in it.
 
Various creation myths all over Africa “explain how and why the different natural phenomena came into existence, the forces behind their perfect working and the relationship that existed and still exists between man and the creator God and the universe”. (1) At the core of African cosmology is the belief in a Supreme Being (which predates the advent arrival of Christianity); a belief in the ancestors; a belief in the spiritual nature of a person and God’s imminence; and, culturally defined rites of passage. The ancestors are a source of guidance and needs to be approached through appropriate rituals.
 
“The African view of the person and worldview are founded on a holistic and anthropocentric ontology (Akbar, 1996; Kambon, 1996; Biko, 1998; Teffo and Roux, 1998; Holdstock, 2000; Eagle, 2004). This implies that humans form an indivisible whole with the cosmos (and therefore a unity with God, other human beings and nature).” (2)  At the heart of the African worldview is the idea that ‘we become persons through other persons who relate to us as persons’. This fundamental interconnectedness between self and others is reflected in the concept of Ubuntu, meaning a person is only a person through others, prioritizing the interdependence of relationships as an embodiment of our humanity (3).
 
 Written for @jungsouthernafrica
 
References:

1. Jones M. Jaja. (2014) Myths in African concept of reality. International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies Vol. 6(2), pp. 9-14,  DOI: 10.5897/IJEAPS11.060
2. Henning Viljoen (2017) African Perspectives (Chapter 17). Personology : From individual to ecosystem. Cape Town: Pearson 

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Yggdrasil in Norse cosmology is an immense central sacred tree that sprang forth from the primordial void. The nine Norse worlds are organized around it. Asgard, the home of the gods is depicted in the highest branches, Midgard or Earth, where humans dwell, at the tree’s base, and Hell is underground amongst the tree’s roots. On the crown of the tree sits an eagle, which in other mythologies is equated with the Great Spirit. The great serpent Niðhǫggr, gnaws at the roots signifying the Cosmic tree’s mortality and need for protection.
 
As a symbol of the interconnectedness of all things, the Cosmic Tree is a common feature of religions/mythologies around the world. The nine Norse worlds are held together by Yggdrasil’s branches and roots, which connect the various parts of the cosmos to one another. Because of this, the continued existence of the cosmos depends on the health of Yggdrasil.
 
When the tree trembles, it signals the arrival of Ragnarok, the destruction of the universe. The death of Yggdrasil is equated to the death of the gods. According to historian Mircea Eliade (1), Ragnarök marks the end of a cosmic cycle. This cyclical destruction and creation of the world is demonstrated in the rise and fall of many great past civilizations. Myths of destructive floods have been reported in almost every mythology, depicting the power of natural disasters to bring an end to an epoch. The conjunction of planets Saturn and Jupiter at the recent December Solstice is believed mark the arrival of the Age of Aquarius, a new cosmic cycle. What lies ahead for us?
 
With its branches in the heavens and its roots in the underworld, the Cosmic Tree is central to the structure of the universe. In many spiritual traditions a tree rising through the center of the world was thought to act as a ladder or bridge, connecting heaven and Earth. It allows us to descend into the underworld or ascend into the heavens, both processes being equally important. Perhaps the cosmic tree can be seen as a symbol of the human psyche, possibly even of Jung’s archetype of the Self and wholeness. Jung said: “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.” (2)
 
References:

1. Mircea Eliade, Myth & Reality
2. CW 9ii, PARA 78

 
Image credit: Pixels.com
 
#A post written for @jungsouthernafrica
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​Why should mythology matter? Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell believed myths carry varied truths of the human experience. Perhaps we can learn from the past? Patterns repeat themselves across many different mythologies. Can we find a golden thread that makes sense to us, gives as meaning or as Campbell says has “resonance within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive”. (2)
 
‘Mythologizing’ (1) according to Toby Johnson is the process of developing a belief system about the world and one’s place in it. It may include numinous experiences of the ‘Nature of the Universe’, whether we want to call it God, Great Spirit, The Mystery, Primal Energy, Sacred Emptiness or ‘The Great Secret’.
 
We are a world in desperate search of a new myth. It seems that the very fabric of our existence is unravelling - the impact of the deadly Covid19 pandemic, the racial and ecological crises, political and economic upheaval.  While threatening the survival of many, it is also pushing humanity to think differently about how we live together on Earth.
 
The current times may feel like a kind of Ragnarok - the end of the world (as we know it).  In Norse mythology, Ragnarok refers to the destruction of everything - including the gods - in a final battle with evil powers. This may be interpreted as the ordered universe (Creation) vanishing and Chaos (which has been held at bay) reigning. Some myths say this is the final end, but others hold that it heralds a rebirth! What can we hope for in our current circumstances?
 
Daniel McCoy writes “Yggdrasil, the great tree that holds the cosmos together, will tremble, and all the trees and even the mountains will fall to the ground. The chain that has been holding back the monstrous wolf Fenrir will snap, and the beast will run free. Jormungand, the mighty serpent who dwells at the bottom of the ocean and encircles the land, will rise from the depths, spilling the seas over all the earth as he makes landfall.” (3)
 
References:
(1) Toby Johnson, The Myth of the Great Secret, 1964
(2) Joseph Campbell, Power of Myth, 1988, p. 5
(3) Daniel McCoy, https://norse-mythology.org/tales/ragnarok/
 
Image credit: https://www.deviantart.com/rpgranty/art/Yggdrasil-at-Ragnarok-326816120
 
A post I wrote for @jungsouthernafrica 

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Shamanism is the path of direct revelation. Its purpose is to serve the highest good of humanity.  It is the practice of communicating with Spirit through Resonance. It operates on the understanding of the interconnectedness between all things within Nature/Cosmos and between the seen and unseen worlds (dimensions beyond the ordinary state of consciousness).
 
Why is there such a renewed interest in Shamanism? Current mythologies are losing their numinosity. They no longer serves as a guiding vision of life on Earth. Jungian analyst, Thomas Singer’s ask the question “What myth now?” (1). He writes that, at critical junctures in human history, competing mythologies would tear at the fabric of our existence until a new dominant myth emerges. The Andean Shamans, known as the Laika, believe we are living in the time of “The Great Upheaval”. 
Perhaps it is time to search for deeper answers rather than “being told” what the ‘truth’ is. For centuries, the great patriarchal religions believed they held the answers and tried to quash indigenous beliefs systems through a colonization of the minds of people.
 
Jerome Bernstein (2) describe the emerging paradigm of reciprocity which is in actual fact an ancient view and a basic tenet of all forms of Shamanism. He describes reciprocity as a psychic force which “is a deep spiritual knowing that all life is sacred and, given that tenet, that a healthy life force requires respect for all species and living in balance with all its forms.” He is not referring to an external belief, but a deep “knowing from within the self and between humans and non-human life forms.” This is what Thich Nhat Hanh calls “Interbeing” (3) and the polar opposite of what Charles Eisenstein (4) dubbed as the myth of separation causing havoc in our world.  
 
An underlying belief in all Shamanic approaches is that we are “Dreaming” our collective reality into being and that our perceptions of reality are a mirror of unconscious programs and beliefs. The Shaman believes that illness or adversity is a potential initiation into our deepest being and true healing is the awakening to a vision of our true spiritual nature beyond our programming.
 
The word “shaman” comes from the Evenki, a Siberian people.
In Russia, the Evenks are recognised as one of the indigenous peoples of the Russian North.
 
A post I wrote for @jungsouthernafrica 
 
Image credit: Artist: ‘Shaman’ - Kolesnikov Sergey (2017)
https://www.russianpaintings.net/artists/artist_kolesnikov_sergey_246953/shaman_250001/
 
References
1) https://reinventinghome.org/what-myth-now/
2) Jerome Bernstein. (2020). The Cultural Complex and Addiction to Dominion -
Psychic Evolution Cannot Be Thwarted in Cultural Complexes and the Soul of America - Myth, Psyche, and Politics (Edited Thomas Singer). London: Routledge
3) https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/blog/insight-of-interbeing/
4) https://charleseisenstein.org/video/separation-vs-interbeing/
 
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​“God is some kind of lost continent in the human mind” (Terence McKenna). Edward F. Edinger wrote “For modern man, a conscious encounter with the autonomous archetypal psyche is equivalent to the discovery of God. After such an experience he is no longer alone in his psyche and his whole world view is altered.” (1)
 
Jung’s archetype of the Self is the central archetype in our psyche, the ‘imago Dei’ and source of life energy. Jung said “It might equally be called ‘the God within us.’ The beginnings of our whole psychic life seem to be inextricably rooted in this point, and all our highest and ultimate purposes seem to be striving toward it.” (2) As a transpersonal power and eternal dimension of the psyche, it transcends the ego.  According to Jung “The ego stands to the Self as the moved to the mover.” (3)
 
The Self is an archetype of wholeness, referring both to the origin and entirety of our being. Jung said “The Self is not only the center, but also the whole circumference which embraces both conscious and unconscious; it is the center of this totality, just as the ego is the center of consciousness” (4). The Self is the regulating center of the psyche, a structuring or ordering principle which integrates other internal archetypal structures. It holds the tension between opposites such as masculine and feminine rather than their merging into undifferentiated oneness.
 
The archetype of the Self is depicted by certain typical symbolic images such as mandalas, the philosophers’ stone (also called the transcended or philosophical tree of life), the world tree or cosmic tree, as well as circles paired with a representation of quaternary such as a square or cross. According to Marie-Louise von Franz the Self may be symbolized as an animal, representing our instinctive psyche embedded in nature, especially in dreams (4). Within dreams or experiences of altered consciousness, the archetype of the Self may be experienced in the numinous images of Jesus Christ, Buddha, the Dalai Lama or divinities and gods from various religions and mythology. The archetype of the Self may be what some spiritual teachings refer to as our higher or true self.
 
Edinger emphasizes “The connection between ego and Self is vitally important to psychic health. It gives foundation, structure and security to the ego and also provides energy, interest, meaning and purpose.  When the connection is broken the result is emptiness, despair, meaninglessness and the extreme cases psychosis or suicide” and further “A symptom of damage to this axis is lack of self-acceptance. The individual feels he is not worthy to exist or be himself.” (1)
​
Denise Grobbelaar, (Instagram @denisedreamshaman), author of this post, will be presenting at Jung Southern Africa’s Mantis lecture series, taking place on-line from the 2-4 October 2020. She will examine Nature as a dynamic extension of Jung’s Archetype of the Self as embodied in the image of the White Lion. This presentation is based on her paper published in the 2020 Spring issue of the Jung Journal “The White Lion as Symbol of the Archetype of the Self and the Cannibalization of the Self in Canned Hunting”.  Book your space: https://jungsouthernafrica.co.za/events/
 
Sources:

1. Edinger, Edward, F. (1972) Ego & Archetype: Individuation and the religious function of the psyche, (p. 104, p. 43, p. 40)
2. CW 7, ¶399
3. CW 11, ¶391
4. CW 12, ¶44
5. Jung and Von Franz 1964, p. 220

 
Image credits:

1. Carl Jung, Image from the Red Book
2. Philosopher’s Stone,  Atalanta Fugiens,  Michael Maier, 1617
3. White Lion, Global White Lion Protection Trust

 
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