The Sower and the Seed: Reflections on the Development of Consciousness

ISBN-13: 9781782202462 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 262 str.

Alan Mulhern; Alan Mlhern; Lindsey C. Harris

Opis

The Sower and the Seed explores the origins of consciousness from a mytho-psychological angle. The concept of immanence, a vast intelligence within the evolutionary process, provides the underlying philosophy of the book, presented as a creative-destructive spirit that manifests higher orders of complexity (such as life, intelligence, self-consciousness) and then dissolves them. The book explores the human psyche as immersed in nature and the realm of the Great Mother, showing how the themes of fertility and power, applicable to all life forms, saturate the history of humanity--most evidently in the period stretching from 40,000 years ago up to modern civilizations. The book examines in particular the transition to patriarchal religious consciousness, in which a violent separation from the world of nature took place.

The Sower and the Seed also explores Hebrew, Egyptian, and Greek creation myths as commentaries on the origins of consciousness, and shows how the transition to consciousness from the unconscious (the birth of humanity) is inherently problematic, since it creates a separation from the realm of nature and instinct. This rise of consciousness out of nature and its fall or separation into a separated egoic state is its central dilemma. In the final part, of the book the author analyzes the Enlightenment and scientific revolution. As he suggests, this was essential for capitalism to emerge and required a specific change in consciousness, provided for by Protestantism. However, capitalism was destined to undermine all religions and replace them with a thoroughly materialist philosophy. As well as being a profoundly creative system the author shows that industrialization is equally destructive, and that indeed a death potential in consciousness is activated within it (witnessed for example in the proliferation of enough weaponry to wipe out most of life on earth). It is suggested that humanity will undergo species-trauma in the near future and that remaining populations will face either fundamental reform or extinction. Capitalism presents many changes in consciousness during the different stages of its development, including the latest digital age where human consciousness is being fused with artificial intelligence. The book concludes by showing that no matter what happens collectively, the path for individual progress and even enlightenment is open to each individual. This final section, -The Quest-, presents a series of illustrations, poems, and commentaries that show the search of the individual on the path of higher consciousness. The metaphor of the pilgrimage is used and shows essential psychological as well spiritual steps on such a journey.

Spis treści

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR PREFACE COMMENTS BY THE ILLUSTRATOR INTRODUCTION PART I: ORIGINS, BECOMING, AND EMERGENCE CHAPTER ONE Origins CHAPTER TWO Becoming CHAPTER THREE The emergence of human consciousness PART II: CONSCIOUSNESS EMERGING FROM NATURE CHAPTER FOUR The good mother CHAPTER FIVE Fertility and power CHAPTER SIX Earth's terror CHAPTER SEVEN The opposites at the root of consciousness CHAPTER EIGHT The Book of Job CHAPTER NINE Dragon fight PART III: SEPARATION: THE RISE AND FALL OF CONSCIOUSNESS CHAPTER TEN The emergence of civilisation CHAPTER ELEVEN The Garden of Eden CHAPTER TWELVE Lucifer CHAPTER THIRTEEN Banishment PART IV: THE FALLEN AND THE HIGHER STATES OF HUMANITY CHAPTER FOURTEEN The fallen state CHAPTER FIFTEEN Isis, Osiris, and Seth CHAPTER SIXTEEN Evil and the shadow CHAPTER SEVENTEEN The higher self CHAPTER EIGHTEEN The experience of love PART V: THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND CAPITALIST PROJECT INTRODUCTION The scientific revolution and capitalism CHAPTER NINETEEN The source of the achievements of capitalism CHAPTER TWENTY Capitalism as crisis CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE How has consciousness changed with capitalism? CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Death potential in consciousness PART VI: THE QUEST The individual journey of The Quest APPENDIX ONE APPENDIX TWO APPENDIX THREE APPENDIX FOUR GLOSSARY REFERENCES INDEX

O autorze

Alan Mulhern