The formula for positively impacting our world is simple:
Activate the Creative Culture!
by Immanuel Otto
If we are to thrive throughout the monumental cultural and environmental transition in which our planet is currently engaged, humanity must become aware of — and act out of — the deeper dimensions of interconnectedness that fuels and drives our greatest potentials; our inherent spiritual nature.
Creative people in the arts and sciences can activate this in our species en masse. The creative community possesses the power not simply to render an image of a “positive” future, but to serve as the actual architects of our future civilization.
The first goal of this writing is to awaken a compelling context within you; a knowing of your purpose as a “creative” (if that isn't alive and strong in you already). The goal following that is to connect you with empowering information, experience, and techniques through which you can fulfill your distinct purpose intentionally and skillfully.
Joseph Campbell wrote: “My wife, Jean Erdman, who is a dancer, discussing one day the relevance of an appreciation of the psychological connotations of myth to the practice of an art, remarked: ‘The way of the mystic and the way of the artist are related, except that the mystic doesn’t have a craft.’” (The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion, Chapter 3 “The Way of Art”)
This concept of the creative as a mystic with a craft is central to what follows.
In his pioneering video The Global Brain, Peter Russell states:
“We might then consider our days and nights to be like the heartbeat of Gaia; the seasons to be her breaths; the tropical rainforests resemble her lungs; the oceans act like the circulatory system. So, if the whole planet does behave as a huge living system, what then, might we ask, are we doing here? What is humanity’s function in this system?”
Russell goes on to present a case that we might regard the whole of humanity to function as a crucial element of a planetary nervous system, an element that is capable of either being occupied by malignant or benign activities in relationship to the health of the entire organism, known mythopoetically as “Gaia.”
The obligation of artists to the entire species and ecosphere
A secure future for humanity requires a BIG shift, and the essence of this shift is inner spiritual development. Artists possess the responsibility and the means to enable this for our species. According to Joseph Campbell, speaking in The Power of Myth, “Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are artists of one kind or another. The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment and the world.”
Myths have traditionally been the structuring narratives humans have devised to come into alignment with the natural order of the world. They are the devices we have used to connect with our purpose within a greater system — i.e. Gaia, the solar system, and so on. They encode insights into the mystery of existence in ways that language, at its surface, could never render.
Perhaps, however, a more appropriate term for artists to consider is “mythos” — similar in meaning to “myth,” but conjuring less archaic and irrelevant connotations. A mythos is the overarching worldview or story a culture accepts about itself and its place in the universe. It is similar to an ideology with a very important distinction in that ideologies, such as Marxism, Socialism, Capitalism, the classical sciences, etc., reject the underlying and supportive dimension of mystery that serves as the foundation of all religions and contemplative philosophies. In that sense, these ideologies are rootless in a context that transcends the narrow human experience of life in this universe. It is interesting to note, however, that in our current era, quantum theory, stem cell research, nanotechnology, and other newly emerging sciences are returning the scientific world to those roots in the mystery dimension.
In the sense that a mythos is a story we are telling ourselves, consider the artists, scientists, and innovators of all types to be the storytellers, regardless of the medium of expression.
What story do we want to tell ourselves as a species? Are we telling that story now?
What is our mythos prognosis?
Joseph Campbell often referred to the mythological state of our current times as being surrounded by a “terminal moraine” of mythic forms. Terminal moraine is the crushed rock and debris left in the wake of the movement of a glacier. Campbell noted that many cultures throughout history have known relatively harmonious periods of time characterized by a deep relationship to the particular mythological system that governed every aspect of their existence. He furthermore insisted throughout his work that a living, effective mythological system functions by putting the subject culture in accord with nature — when an individual or a group is living in accord with nature, nature yields its bounty (so the theory goes).
What are the factors involved in transforming an ineffective mythos into one that is effective? Joseph Campbell asserted that our dreams, fantasies, and visions connect the unconscious wisdom experienced in sleeping or deeper brain wave states with the limited consciousness of our ordinary waking states. These dreams, fantasies, and visions are the primary source of the most elementary and universal themes of our myths. This realm of consciousness may also be proactively accessed by participating in meditation and contemplation practices, as well as more immersed shamanic states of consciousness. Furthermore, we can turn with confidence to these perennial themes of myth for solutions to some very difficult challenges in this time of global dysfunction.
...and what might be the healing factor?
Reflecting further on the concept of our planet as a living organism introduced earlier, consider the creative and spiritually inclined people to be our planet’s white blood cells. I’ve found this purpose in the world. White blood cells are functionaries of the immune system — they are the body's healers — while red blood cells contribute to maintaining general homeostasis. In a similar manner, a certain breed of creative people (including scientists and engineers) consider themselves in service to others. This analogy is not intended to perpetuate an elitist perspective that could create distance between us and others, but to assist us in connecting more meaningfully to our roles as healers in our world.
Always Perfect, Always Perfecting
Life isn't about achieving perfection. It's about perfecting. Perfection is static. Only the dynamic have a place in life. Perfection has its place, too. It underlies and supports the playful dance of life, holding it and waiting to receive it all back again.
Every moment is to be approached fresh, almost a child once again. Experience is there for all who answer the call. Experience breeds opportunities for new creations . . . be reborn with childlike wonder . . . embrace wild love . . . catalyze radical transformation . . . connect with soul . . . be of service to the highest good of life everywhere . . . and joyfully create!
Immanuel Otto is a business development leader, media producer, publisher, global culture steward, and new paradigm relationships and human rights advocate who works on social profit initiatives related to creativity, emotional intelligence, mindful business, meditation, peaceful conflict resolution, conscious activism, and more. He has over 16 years of experience as a Social Programs Producer for various cultural institutions, developing membership communities and interactive platforms to mobilize social resources for non-profits, including 7 years as a key leadership team member of the Joseph Campbell Foundation. Visit his profile at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/immanuelotto