One of the major illuminations that blinded me this week was in the linguistics lecture on Indo-European roots and their Greek/Latin equivalencies.
We have already covered the masculine root which deals with rulers and masculine power in the PIE root *reg . Taken in context with the
information we read in Condren's The Serpent and The Goddess, the PIE root *me suggests an older form of measurement which was
relative to the astronomical cycles and their effect on human and terrestrial flows of the aqua vitae. The stark contrast between earthly
regulation of possessed parcels of land, and the measurement of the cyclical relationship between humanity and the natural and cosmic forces
underscores the immensity this shift from feminine centered or matrifocal culture of kinship to the masculine dominated politics of kingship and
nationalism.
Joyce makes much of this connection to the watery abode of our first forebears; our Mighty Mother, the great ocean of being Binah, the
feminine supernal on the interdicted Tree of Life. At several points in Ulysses Joyce shows his knowledge of the burgeoning occult and
theosophical lore that was in vogue at that time. Although his tone is satiric towards their metaphysical cant, his familiarity with the subjects
seems to suggest more than a cursory interest. Something I would be interested to discover is how much he knew of the infamous "wickedest
man in the world", Aliester Crowley, a member of Mathers' Golden Dawn; as he too enjoyed constructing elaborate labyrinths for his students
to puzzle through in their quest for illumination.
The zeitgeist at the turn of the century was one of expansive openness, not unlike Leopold Bloom. The culture was undergoing so many
changes due to the effect of new technologies on their lives that this inclusive perspective was the only way to maintain any semblance of
balance or connectedness. As our own culture is undergoing a similar explosive expansion of technological innovation at a millennial cusp,
what are the forces that today are shaping the zeitgeist? Who are our perceptive spirits pushing the envelope of understanding into
tomorrow? Robert Anton Wilson reiterates in Cosmic Trigger II that information is doubling at such a rate it is now impossible for any
one person to know the sum of knowledge of one field of inquiry, much less of humanity as a whole. The reason for this is that the computer
revolution has allowed disparate fields who would in no way have shared knowledge to intercommunicate and increase both fields sum of
knowledge with the new interrelations.
It is a blessing indeed to be born into interesting times, this move towards unification theories begun after the turn of the century is forcing our
world-view ever wider and wider. I look towards the future with an air of optimism, this comes from my reading of R. Buckminster Fuller. His
view of tomorrow is as expressed in Critical Path one of the more hopeful scenarios I have run across. Although I have also read my
share of dystopian future scenarios from Aldous Huxely to William Gibson, and I can rightly see their observations about corporate greed and
big brother's control. But as some one said, the times we are in have something of the dawning of a new universe about them. We can either live
to create this new paradigm, or we can sit back and apathetically allow the robber barons to suck what spirit is left out of humanity and what life
is left in the biosphere. We make the choice as to what world we will wake up into. Joyce is constantly pushing people to wake up from this
nightmare and take responsibility for their lives – throw of the chains of Morpheus, fly by the nets that confound our flight and greet tomorrow
today.