So goes the quote from the mythic, marvelous TV series “Battlestar Galactica”. And yet….
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The rites and rituals of this past Holiday Season get us thinking about cycles and how to either perpetuate or move past those patterns, be they earth-based, socio-political, or personal. Becoming aware of these repetitions and how they affect us can be the first step to either aligning with what’s going on for a smoother ride or deciding it’s time to shake things up and set some new patterns.
Many spiritual and scientific systems recognize and extrapolate on repeating patterns and the changes within and upon those cycles. In Hindu cosmology the universe itself is repeatedly created and destroyed and the length of some cycles are in the billions of years. That rather puts our daily dramas in perspective. We’re said to be now in the cycle of Kali Yuga, a Dark Age of contention and decay. Yep, kind of seems that way, doesn’t it?
However, around and through every darkness can be light and lest we forget, the Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment, and the Age of Reason followed the Dark Ages in Europe. This was aided in great part by the Islamic culture that flourished when Europe was huddling in mud huts. Islamic scholars and artists both preserved Greek and Roman literature and science, and made their own giant strides in many fields, including architecture, astronomy, and medicine. One upside of the Crusades for Europe was a re-introduction to its own history via the exposure to the cultures of the Levant and Egypt.
In “BSG” the last remnants of humanity after the attack of the Cylons (rebellious AI machines created by humans) are searching the galaxy for Earth, the 13th colony. Full of references to Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian mythologies, the series examines personal-professional-political relationships, the existence of deities and other realities, loyalties, courage, love, betrayal, humans vs. technology, and lots of fine action. It’s definitely worth a binge.
Stories of the creation and preservation of wisdom and fine art in times of chaos and decline can inspire us to be part of the cure, to be bringers of the new ways, to envision and then embody the next Renaissance. And these days, we certainly do need one.
Millions of people are working effectively to bring about positive changes for millions of others, whether on the physical, emotional, mental, or creative levels. A challenge for you for this new yearly cycle – What is the world you want to see and how can you help create it? One way is to find some innovative organization that inspires you and think of how you can contribute to the concept, if not to their actual work.
For you media-makers — It’s often said that masculine stories go in one direction while feminine stories are cyclic. Rather than one or the other, advances can be made by combining the two to create a spiral. Then you can take your story characters – or yourself – on a spiraling upward pattern of greater growth and awareness.
MYTHWORKS offers consultations on story as well as for you personally.
MYTHIC CHALLENGES: Create Stories that Change the World
* I was privileged to meet one of my heroes, the actor Jamie Bamber, who played Captain Lee “Apollo” Adama in the fabulous TV series Battlestar Galactica. He was the President of the Jury for the 2017 Marseille WebFest (where I was one of the Mentors at the Writers Residency). Jamie’s gentlemanly demeanor and enthusiastic support for media creators was a positive part of the MWF.
