A swinging pendulum. Much in life can be ascribed to the imagery of a pendulum swinging from one side to the other. One day societal trends seem to move in one direction, then as surely as change occurs, the next day, it seems public opinion swings to the extreme polarity. This is the way of policy, fashion and beauty trends, how we view notable figures, the ebb and flow of history. Humans are constantly exploring extremes and polarities.
This is also how we explore connection, community, relationship, and individual identity. Here’s my theory, based on the swinging pendulum as a metaphor:
Our ancient and indigenous forefathers and foremothers functioned communally. The village way was the way of life. Community was the organism from which each person structured their identity. Meals were hunted and gathered and eaten together in community. Children were raised by everyone in community. Clans of families nomadically sought better space for living in community, as they traversed the earth. Even marriages were arranged, not by the betrothed individuals, but by the entire community. Love marriages, as we commonly have them now, is not an ancient concept. Pendulum swings to the left.
Then human exploration learned all it had to from that dynamic, where the individual did not exist without the group. Upcoming generations and new ways of life emerged as the human psyche began to move towards individualism and independent identity. Enter structures like capitalism, individual will and dreaming, and even love marriages. Communal village life largely dispersed. In our current times, people crave to be self-identified, create their own wealth, even heal individually despite the trajectory of the family system. Pendulum swings to the right.
I believe we are coming to the end of this era. We, as a collective species, are desiring relationship and community again. The adages like “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” no longer hold water. We are speaking to our ancestors again, seeking ancient wisdom from those who did not live individualised existences. We want to cultivate our ecosystems. The lone wolf archetype is insufficient. As a human race, I believe we have learned all we can from rugged individualism: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Pendulum is starting to swing back around again in hopes of finding more equilibrium, more balance.
So what might this now mean? We are seeking individuation, the both-and: remaining sovereign in one’s own identity and energetic bodies, while existing and thriving with others in dynamic community. Carl Jung talked about individuation, citing it as:
the psychological process of inner growth and centralization by which the individual finds its own Self. This does not mean to find one's own ego-identity, as it is described by many modern psychological schools. By the term Self, Jung understands an ultimately unknowable inner center of the total personality and also the totality itself. This center can only be approached but never integrated. Our destiny and our health depend on it. In the various religions and mythologies it is symbolized by the image of the “treasure hard to attain”, the mandala and all images of the inner psychic manifestation of the godhead.
I agree and disagree with Jung: I believe we as a human race are evolving to increasingly explore the possibility of tapping into this unknowable aspect of who we are that is the inner psychic manifestation of the godhead because each and every human being carries a spark of the divine, the godhead, within. Ancient mystics knew this intimately. And I believe there will always be an unknowable mystery of life. There are simply things we will never know, things that are beyond our understanding. Through spiritual practice, energy work, inner inquiry, re-programming we may be able to integrate more of who we are in each lifetime, thereby acquiring more treasure, but we will never discover totality itself.
And I don’t think that’s the point of life. We are travelers on this planet for a finite amount of time here to live life from one exploration to another.
…and the pendulum swings once more and again.