As I review the scope of my articles over the years, most of my early work has been devoted to the study of philosophy ~ mostly metaphysics and theology, along with logic, ontology, and teleology. This has been collected as Selected Articles: Metaphysics and Theology, 1989-2022. Very early on I was also writing suggestions for a whole new change of program for this planet, starting with New Solutions, and The Church of the Living Tree, recognizing the fundamental importance of the loss of the Trees in the declining fertility and viability of our biosphere.
The underlying thread has always been my astonishment and dismay at the way this world of ours is playing out (teleology). But lately most of my articles seem to be focused upon the looming Omega Point described by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (vide: The Phenomenon of Man). Unfortunately, however, the Omega Point we are approaching is not the transition upwards to a higher level of existence and consciousness; it is the point on the other end, the bottom, not the top. The miracle of life celebrates both birth and death. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could enlarge the scope of our consciousness to break through upwards to a whole new land, and enjoy a new Golden Age ? Dream on ~ go back to your dystopian novels to see how it ends from here.
Recently, astronomers have been pointing out how surprising it is that no other sign of life in the Universe seems to have shown up (yet), in spite of our increasingly sophisticated tools for exploring our universe. As far as anyone in these waters knows, We just might be the only significantly intelligent life, period. It is a very real possibility that We, on this lonely planet, just might be the whole show. So why, in God’s Name, is this planet hurtling off to Chaos and Death at a breakneck pace, instead of getting it together to survive (or possibly even flourish once again, at a long shot) ? What could possibly be more illustrative of the dismal state of our planet’s energy than the conflict between Russia (Red) and Ukraine (Purple, rising to Orange), or the State of Israel (Red) wreaking the final solution of genocide upon the Palestinian people (Purple) ? Is there an oasis somewhere of sweetness and light that I don’t know about ?
I just don’t understand why no one gets it. It all seems so obvious to me. I am a gardener, growing not only Trees, but many other amazing manifestations of the glorious flowering of Life. All of the Hermetic ideas, from the planets and metals of astrology and alchemy, to the colors of the aura, and even the primary trigrams of the I Ching, all describe the same cycle of life, from beginning to end, including many astonishing stages along the way. The Arcanum Magnum, in case anyone hasn’t figured it out yet, is Life.
So, if we can understand the different stages in the life cycle of any plant, we can understand all of the mysteries of the cosmos, by correspondence with the same Mystery as seen in a grape vine, a rose bush, or a walnut tree. So all we have to do is to make analogy from the plant to the planet to discover the state of health of Life on our planet, and possibly the entire cosmos.
Now here we are, eyes wide open, looking bleakly at the analogy. Clearly, our planet is on the way out. It has followed a trajectory of vigorous growth from the beginning: Red; life exploding onto the universe with a never ending flush of creative novelty, growing outward into new forms, probably reaching its greatest biological zenith about a thousand years ago; bright Yellow and Green; with the high water mark of the human race following somewhere about the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, perhaps about the time of J. S. Bach. Ever since then it has been on the wane, with its fertility petering out, and ever increasing problems dragging it down to endless and increasingly destructive war (Orange) with some fragile intervals of peace (Blue). But then the compounding problems have lately been pushing it inexorably down, and at an accelerating rate, into the range of the Red and Purple, on the way down to Black, final chaos and death, where not one stone is left upon another.
So there it is, our planet swirling down the toilet, carrying with it perhaps the only serious manifestation of intelligent and creative life in the cosmos, while the Robber Barons go on despoiling the world for their profit (and are required by corporate law to do so, in the interests of their stockholders), while the rest of the people wring their hands in despair, if they have any sense, or just go blithely along following the lemmings in front of them, if they haven’t. The prognosis does not look good.
Not only have I said all of this before, but I haven’t said anything else, lately. Here is the whole story of life in a nutshell, and I hope someone can see it ~ the ending hasn’t yet been written. Yes, of course ~ what is proposed is the most radical and urgent transformative evolution of all time of the manifestation of Life on our planet, but, by the analogy of the dying plant, unless someone make some radical changes quickly, the plant or planet will just fade out to Black. [Subjunctive mood alert ~ this is why I love the subjunctive mood ~ it gently hints the possibility that such changes might not be happening, in case anyone is paying attention.]
What does it take to get people to rise up and make some changes here ? A whole lot has to happen awfully fast, so we had better get going if we want to turn this thing around in time to save some remnant of life out here on this lonely outpost (Have you seen what’s going on over on planet Earth, lately?). The whole of Life, as Gaia, must have a survival instinct, so let’s get that survival program engaged. Now is the time for every good person to come to the aid of one’s planet.
