I've just released my newest book, Myth and Trauma: Higher Self, Ancient Wisdom, and their Enemies.
It provides what I hope is some of the most compelling evidence that the world's ancient myths are based on a common system of celestial metaphor, presented in a clear and easy-to-follow manner with hundreds of illustrations and star charts showing the constellations and their connections to the figures and events of the sacred stories.
And, it explores the evidence that the ancient myths are using this world-wide system of metaphor in order to convey powerful truths for our benefit and empowerment in this life, with a particular focus on overcoming what today is referred to as psychological trauma, and its result: the separation from who we are.
Psychological trauma and the separation from our self can have devastating consequences, and the evidence suggests that this problem is very prevalent in the modern world, and in fact increasing at a disturbing rate. And yet, this problem is not widely understood -- partly because there are reasons why we often suppress the very possibility of the existence of an essential self, let alone the possibility that we have become alienated from that self.
And, although the use of the term "trauma" to describe this serious problem is relatively new, it can be demonstrated with abundant and compelling evidence that the ancient myths -- going all the way back to some of the very earliest texts known to history, including those from ancient Sumer and ancient India and other very ancient cultures -- are in fact dramatizing trauma and the suppression of the self, and that they are pointing us towards a path of recovery.
But that's not all: Myth and Trauma also examines the disturbing evidence which indicates that, despite the fact that the myths themselves declare that their intent is to heal, to empower, and to promote justice and human dignity, there are those down through history who deliberately suppress and distort their message, and who instead of promoting their message of healing trauma, actually seek to impose trauma upon their fellow men and women for nefarious purposes.
In the video above, and in the book itself, I make a comparison drawn from George Orwell's famous novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which the author lays out (in an appendix to the story itself) the "Principles of Newspeak," by which minds and thoughts could be controlled through control of language -- and specifically through the deliberate reduction of language and the eradication of the meaning of certain "heretical" meanings.
In this way, the proponents of Newspeak explain, words such as "free" could still be allowed to the public, but only if stripped of all "unorthodox" meanings, such that "it could only be used in such statements as 'This dog is free from lice' or 'This field is free from weeds.' It could no longer be used in its old sense of 'politically free' or 'intellectually free,' since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed even as concepts, and were therefore of necessity nameless."
Those opposed to the powerful message of empowerment and justice contained in the world's ancient myths and given as a precious inheritance in the sacred traditions of every culture on our planet have pursued a very similar goal as that of the proponents of Newspeak, by eliminating understanding of the meaning of the "language" the myths are speaking, and replacing them with "Newspeak interpretations" that will prevent "heretical" or "unorthodox" thoughts from being generated.
However, not long after the ostensible end of the Second World War, a book was published which provides the key to unlocking the ancient language that the myths are speaking -- and when we begin to piece together their "vocabulary" we find that the myths are talking about amazing and life-changing subjects!
One of those subjects -- indeed, a central focus of the myths -- involves the suppression of and alienation from our own essential self due to trauma . . . and the way we can repair this grievous condition.
It is my hope that this book will help others to hear the incredible things that the myths are saying, and point us towards the precious inheritance we have in the ancient sacred stories given to all cultures in remote antiquity, whose message is needed today perhaps more than ever.
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For a preview of Myth and Trauma, please visit the "Books" section of my main website at Star Myths of the World, and click on the cover image there or the other links provided. The "Look Inside" feature on retailers such as Amazon is coming soon, and as Myth and Trauma is distributed by Ingram (with international reach) it should be available very soon if not already in other countries outside the US: you can always ask your local bookstore or library if they can order a copy for you and they should be able to obtain one.
And, it explores the evidence that the ancient myths are using this world-wide system of metaphor in order to convey powerful truths for our benefit and empowerment in this life, with a particular focus on overcoming what today is referred to as psychological trauma, and its result: the separation from who we are.
Psychological trauma and the separation from our self can have devastating consequences, and the evidence suggests that this problem is very prevalent in the modern world, and in fact increasing at a disturbing rate. And yet, this problem is not widely understood -- partly because there are reasons why we often suppress the very possibility of the existence of an essential self, let alone the possibility that we have become alienated from that self.
And, although the use of the term "trauma" to describe this serious problem is relatively new, it can be demonstrated with abundant and compelling evidence that the ancient myths -- going all the way back to some of the very earliest texts known to history, including those from ancient Sumer and ancient India and other very ancient cultures -- are in fact dramatizing trauma and the suppression of the self, and that they are pointing us towards a path of recovery.
But that's not all: Myth and Trauma also examines the disturbing evidence which indicates that, despite the fact that the myths themselves declare that their intent is to heal, to empower, and to promote justice and human dignity, there are those down through history who deliberately suppress and distort their message, and who instead of promoting their message of healing trauma, actually seek to impose trauma upon their fellow men and women for nefarious purposes.
In the video above, and in the book itself, I make a comparison drawn from George Orwell's famous novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, in which the author lays out (in an appendix to the story itself) the "Principles of Newspeak," by which minds and thoughts could be controlled through control of language -- and specifically through the deliberate reduction of language and the eradication of the meaning of certain "heretical" meanings.
In this way, the proponents of Newspeak explain, words such as "free" could still be allowed to the public, but only if stripped of all "unorthodox" meanings, such that "it could only be used in such statements as 'This dog is free from lice' or 'This field is free from weeds.' It could no longer be used in its old sense of 'politically free' or 'intellectually free,' since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed even as concepts, and were therefore of necessity nameless."
Those opposed to the powerful message of empowerment and justice contained in the world's ancient myths and given as a precious inheritance in the sacred traditions of every culture on our planet have pursued a very similar goal as that of the proponents of Newspeak, by eliminating understanding of the meaning of the "language" the myths are speaking, and replacing them with "Newspeak interpretations" that will prevent "heretical" or "unorthodox" thoughts from being generated.
However, not long after the ostensible end of the Second World War, a book was published which provides the key to unlocking the ancient language that the myths are speaking -- and when we begin to piece together their "vocabulary" we find that the myths are talking about amazing and life-changing subjects!
One of those subjects -- indeed, a central focus of the myths -- involves the suppression of and alienation from our own essential self due to trauma . . . and the way we can repair this grievous condition.
It is my hope that this book will help others to hear the incredible things that the myths are saying, and point us towards the precious inheritance we have in the ancient sacred stories given to all cultures in remote antiquity, whose message is needed today perhaps more than ever.
--------------------
For a preview of Myth and Trauma, please visit the "Books" section of my main website at Star Myths of the World, and click on the cover image there or the other links provided. The "Look Inside" feature on retailers such as Amazon is coming soon, and as Myth and Trauma is distributed by Ingram (with international reach) it should be available very soon if not already in other countries outside the US: you can always ask your local bookstore or library if they can order a copy for you and they should be able to obtain one.
