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CONTENTS
Issue 4
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Considering the extraordinary video footage of UFOs by Mexico Air Force pilots on 12 May, my finishing the book Paradigm Wars: Worldviews for a New Age, and my use of a logo found in that book in my Matrimonial Celebration on 23 May, I thought I would dedicate this issue of Cosmopathy to the book and some of its ideas. Indeed yet another hard piece of evidence appears in favor of alien presence on our planet. See the CNN story on the remarkable event. I mention this because Mark Woodhouse, author of Paradigm Wars, addresses extra-terrestrial activity on Earth and how it relates to the Rising Culture and New Paradigm, terms describing the upcoming shift in worldview. While the Worldview Change Project has not defined a worldview specifically that should replace our current civilization’s perspective, Woodhouse has done about as good a job as any in outlining where it might be going. While reading the book, interestingly, I got the feeling of what a true worldview shift might feel like. Some of the ideas are so beyond what I was taught and brought up to believe, I can only begin to imagine how Native Americans felt when civilization brought about the collapse of their belief systems or how people felt when Copernicus introduced the idea that the Earth revolved around the sun and not the other way around. Woodhouse had another unusual influence on me. In the appendix of his book, he had an article by another author on sacred geometry with diagrams of many geometrical shapes and interpretations. Marisol and I took one of them and fashioned it into our matrimonial logo, indicating the holistic New Paradigm theme of union that would mark our own union. Not surprisingly the deeper meaning we attributed was likely lost on most of my family, but it is an evolutionary process. The following is the symbol’s description from Woodhouse’s book. Note that we added both the colors and the unifying triangle to the logo seen at the right. Mediation of Opposites Division of a Unity Circle into smaller, equal circles, provides an image of duality or polarity. A third equal-size circle, tough the center of both, symbolizes reconciliation of opposites by mediation, a principle the ancient Greeks called Logos. A union of three circles in this manner creates two “fish bladder” shapes, vesica piscis. These “two fish” are the origin of the symbol for Pisces, one of the Twelve Houses of the Zodiac (page 543). People
Involved with the WCP: Mark Woodhouse As a result of Woodhouse’s book, I took a record-breaking 71 pages of notes and elected to name him an inspiration for the Worldview Change Project. Although I talked about this book last issue, I wanted to add some observations, now that I have finished his book. First, Woodhouse built great credibility in his exhaustive research, fairness to all sides of issues, general appeal both to my rational as well as intuitive side. His discussion of systems holism, Thomas Kuhn, science, and other areas in which I am already familiar served as important anchors in my triangulation of his knowledge and intentions. If it were not for this credibility, the temptation to disregard many of the new ideas would be much harder to resist. Nonetheless, his book rigorously researches many sources of evidence for paranormal phenomena, alternative medicine, and the philosophy of New Paradigm and New Age thinkers. His understanding of the Relativity Theory and Quantum Mechanics on one hand and the Perennialist Philosophy he calls “Energy Monism” on the other hand make a highly integrated and logical as well as spiritually coherent argument, linking mind, spirit, and body (and other levels in the Great Chain of Being) as well as a way to integrate science and spirituality (after a break that took place several hundred years ago). Most shocking of all (and no doubt why he made it the final chapter in his book) is Earth’s role in the galactic community. He discusses the evidence on alien presence on Earth, alien cultures, and motivations. The evidence for governmental cover up runs deep and the reasons are not what one expects. From his references in the book and one his web site, one can find a variety of provocative web sites such as www.zetatalk.com which is a highly controversial web site, supposedly written by extra-terrestrials through a human interface. He makes a solid case that we are not alone. Certainly the integration of spirituality requires examination of extra-terrestrials and paranormal phenomena as parts of a new worldview. To be a true believer, I would need some empiricalm, first-hand experience. But even in the latter’s absence, this chapter offers important inputs to my book on worldview change. Mark Woodhouse, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Georgia State University in Atlanta. He has taught courses in the history of philosophy, metaphysics, consciousness studies, Eastern thought, parapsychology, and the New Paradigm literature on levels ranging from freshman to doctoral. He is also a spiritual healer. There is a lot more to say
about this material and my own personal growth, but that would transcend
the purpose of Cosmopathy. What I’m Reading:
Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales This classic 1975 book by Child Psychologist Bruno Bettleheim
embarks on the topic of worldview through a different angle on story.
It discusses the role of fairy tales in children’s psychological
development. Since worldviews are stories that have great effects on their
adherents’ behavior, the effects of fairy tales on children serves
as a more readily understandable microcosm of the power of worldviews.
Certainly children are unaware of the influence of fairy tales as they
struggle to understand the world and their relationships to adults and
other elements of their highly constricted universe. Fairy tales have
a unique power to assist children’s growth while much of children’s
literature “attempts to entertain or inform, or both. But most of
these books are so shallow in substance that little significance can be
gained from them... The worst feature of these children’s books is
that they cheat the child of what he ought to gain from the experience
of literature: access to deeper meaning, and that which is meaningful
to him at his stage of development,” asserts Bettelheim. A must read
for any parent interested in reading to their children and an important
addition to broaden a worldview change proponent’s understanding
of the power of story in our lives. Next issue: The Primitive World and Its Transformations by Robert Redfield and the Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge
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“Cosmopathy” is the pathology of worldviews, whereby a person suffers from competing worldviews or the need to change worldviews because the gap between the worldview’s beliefs and perceived reality cause a breakdown, a condition which the Worldview Change Project aims to help. Cosmopathy is distributed to those interested in the progress of the WCP. Your name can be added or deleted by submitting a request to the author.
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April 7, 2005
