Caduceus
Catharsis
Causality
Causation
Chakra
Chance
Charismata
Chi
Clairvoyance
Classical composing
Cognition
Coincidences
Collective unconscious
Community of saints
Complexes
Concentration
Concrete operational
Consciousness
Consciousness level
Constants
Contemplation
Conversion
Corroboration
Cosmic Consciousness
Cosmic evolution
Cosmological fine-tuningCreative process
Crisis, (Psychological)
Critical mass
Cross cultural method
Cross cultural validation
Cyclical civilization theories
Cyclical patterns
Caduceus
Word definition: The staff carried by Mercury as messenger of the gods.
Etymology: 1590s, from Latin caduceus, alteration of Doric Greek karykeion “herald’s staff,” from karyx (genitive karykos) “a herald,” from PIE *karu-, from root *kar- “to praise loudly, extol” (cf. Sanskrit carkarti “mentions with praise,” Old English hreð “fame, glory”). Token of a peaceful embassy; originally an olive branch. Especially the wand carried by Mercury, messenger of the gods, usually represented with two serpents twined round it.
Technical description: The caduceus (Latin cādūceus, from Greek κηρύκειον kērū́keion “herald’s wand, or staff”) is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was also borne by heralds in general, for example by Iris, the messenger of Hera. It is a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings. In Roman iconography, it was often depicted being carried in the left hand of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead, and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves.
(Wikipedia)
Cross-cultural comparisons: A vase excavated from the ancient Mesopotamian city of Lagash, now known as Tell al-Hiba in Iraq (east of Uruk), has a figure of two entwined snakes on a rod.
It dates from about 2120 BC and can now be viewed in the Louvre Museum.
In Egypt a goddess was depicted with a snake staff.
Relevance of the concept: The Caduceus is thought by many to be an ancient symbolic representation of kundalini energy.
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/mystical-experiences/kundalini/
The concept in mythology: Some accounts suggest that the oldest known imagery of the caduceus have their roots in a Mesopotamian origin with the Sumerian god Ningishzida whose symbol, a staff with two snakes intertwined around it, dates back to 4000 B.C. to 3000 B.C. (Wikipedia)
Catharsis
Word definition: “purification” or “cleansing”
Etymology: 1803, “bodily purging,” from Latinized form of Greek katharsis “purging, cleansing,” from stem of kathairein “to purify, purge,” from katharos “pure, clear of dirt, clean, spotless; open, free; clear of shame or guilt; purified”
It is a metaphor originally used by Aristotle in the Poetics, comparing the effects of tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of a cathartic on the body. (with most of the extended senses now found in Modern English clear, clean, pure), of unknown origin. Originally medical in English; of emotions from 1872; psychotherapy sense first recorded 1909, in Brill’s translation of Freud.
Technical description: A catharsis is an emotional release. According to psychoanalytic theory, this emotional release is linked to a need to relieve unconscious conflicts. For example, experiencing stress over a work-related situation may cause feelings of frustration and tension. Rather than vent these feelings inappropriately, the individual may instead release these feelings in another way, such as through physical activity or another stress relieving activity.
Catharsis involves both a powerful emotional component in which strong emotions are felt and expressed, as well as a cognitive component in which the individual gains new insights. The purpose of such catharsis is to bring about some form of positive change in the individual’s life.
Phenomenological description: Transformation to a higher level.
Synonyms: Purification, release
Relevance of the concept: Catharsis is an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal, or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress. Catharsis is a Greek word meaning “cleansing.” In literature, it is used for the cleansing of emotions of the characters. It can also be any other radical change that leads to emotional rejuvenation of a person.
The concept in mythology: Baptising.
Citations: Catharsis still plays a role today in Freudian psychoanalysis. The American Psychological Association defines the process as “the discharge of effects connected to traumatic events that had previously been repressed by bringing these events back into consciousness and re-experiencing them.”
Supporting evidence: Data of depth psychology.
Causality
Word definition: what connects one process (the cause) with another process or state
Etymology: c.1600, from causal + -ity.
Technical description: Causality is an abstraction that indicates how the world progresses, so basic a concept that it is more apt as an explanation of other concepts of progression than as something to be explained by others more basic. The concept is like those of agency and efficacy. For this reason, a leap of intuition may be needed to grasp it. Accordingly, causality is implicit in the logic and structure of ordinary language. (Wikipedia)
Synonyms: Mainspring
Relevance of the concept: Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is what connects one process (the cause) with another process or state (the effect), where the first is partly responsible for the second, and the second is partly dependent on the first. In general, a process has many causes, which are said to be causal factors for it, and all lie in its past. An effect can in turn be a cause of, or causal factor for, many other effects, which all lie in its future. Causality is metaphysically prior to notions of time and space. (Wikipedia)
Causation
Word definition: the action of causing or producing, the relation of cause to effect; causality.
Etymology: 1640s, from Latin causationem.
Technical description: A general metaphysical question about cause and effect is what kind of entity can be a cause, and what kind of entity can be an effect.
One viewpoint on this question is that cause and effect are of one and the same kind of entity, with causality an asymmetric relation between them. That is to say, it would make good sense grammatically to say either “A is the cause and B the effect” or “B is the cause and A the effect”, though only one of those two can be actually true. In this view, one opinion, proposed as a metaphysical principle in process philosophy, is that every cause and every effect is respectively some process, event, becoming, or happening. An example is ‘his tripping over the step was the cause, and his breaking his ankle the effect’. Another view is that causes and effects are ‘states of affairs’, with the exact natures of those entities being less restrictively defined than in process philosophy. (Wikipedia)
Phenomenological description:
Synonyms: Interconnection, Relationship.
Relevance of the concept: The deterministic world-view holds that the history of the universe can be exhaustively represented as a progression of events following one after as cause and effect. The incompatibilist version of this holds that there is no such thing as “free will”. Compatibilism, on the other hand, holds that determinism is compatible with, or even necessary for, free will. (Wikipedia)
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/meaning-of-life/free-will/
Chakra
Word definition: Wheel.
Etymology: (Sanskrit: cakra, Pali: cakka, lit. wheel, circle)
Technical description: Chakra, also spelled Cakra, Sanskrit C̣akra, (“wheel”), any of a number of psychic-energy centres of the body, prominent in the occult physiological practices of certain forms of Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. The chakras are conceived of as focal points where psychic forces and bodily functions merge with and interact with each other. There are six major ones located roughly along the spinal cord and another one located just above the crown of the skull are of principal importance. Each of these seven major chakras is associated with a specific colour, shape, sense organ, natural element, deity, and mantra (monosyllabic prayer formula). The most important of these are the lowest chakra (mūlādhāra), located at the base of the spine, and the highest (sahasrāra), at the top of the head. The mūlādhāra encircles a mysterious divine potency (kuṇḍalinī) that the individual attempts, by Yogic techniques, to raise from chakra to chakra until it reaches the sahasrāra and self-illumination results. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Phenomenological description: With a certain degree of mystical development, one becomes aware of the presence of a number of concentrations of energy located at certain points just outside the body, where one feels a circulating movement. ( M.J.M.)
Synonyms: Force centres, Tan tien.
Cross-cultural comparisons: ‘Centers’ or ‘chakras’ are mentioned by:
- Hindu and Buddhist mystics in India;
- Sufi mystics in Persia;
- German mystics in Europe;
- Hopi Indians in North America;
- Eastern orthodox Christian monks in Greece, and;
- Chinese Taoists.
( M.J.M.)
Relevance of the concept: Over the course of time, it has been noted in different cultures that the physical body is pervaded and enveloped by subtle energy fields.
These fields can be visually perceived and are called the auras. These subtle energy fields are responsible for the perceptions of light by mystics during their mystical experiences. There are hundreds of descriptions of such perceptions left behind by mystics.
The energy fields are compounded of different subtle aura fields that exist at different levels. They are non-physical energies, non-physical substances, and it is these that constitute the mind and the soul.
These subtle energies circulate in the chakras, and are subsequently drawn into the big nadis (non-physical energy channels) through the rings (granthi).
These subtle energies are then transported and distributed throughout the brain by the small nadis. These subtle energies interact with the ‘synaptic units’ in the brain.
So by connecting this knowledge of the subtle energy systems, the solution of the mind-body problem becomes clear. ( M.J.M.)
The concept in mythology: The seven seals of the apocalypse. ( M.J.M.)
Citations: The German mystic Jakob Boehme (1575-1634), who lived in Görlitz Germany, mentioned seven wheels (chakras) in his book “Aurora” [1]:
“One sees always all seven wheels and the one hub in the middle of it in a straight line, and nevertheless cannot understand how the wheel has been made.
One is always amazed about the wheel, because the rotation is very marvelous, while the wheel remains always at its place.”
This description is reminiscent of the chakras: the spokes of the wheel stand still, but the energy moves through it.
Another quotation: “…It rotates around itself as a wheel which is made by means of seven wheels in each other. From that turning and rotating a sound or tone arises” (Boehme, “Aurora”) Here again there is a reference to seven wheels.
Supporting evidence: These independent descriptions of the chakras, coming from different areas of the world, separated by thousands of miles and hundreds of years, is supporting evidence for the existence of chakras. ( M.J.M.)
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/subtle-energies/chakras/
In addition there is the remarkable fact that the emotions are localized near the stomach and in the heart area.
The Dutch philosopher J.J. Poortman wrote that this location of emotions could be related to the chakras.
Cross connections:
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
C.W. Leadbeater: The Chakra’s.
Chance
Word definition: the absence of any cause of events that can be predicted, understood, or controlled.
Etymology: c.1300, “something that takes place, what happens, an occurrence” (good or bad, but more often bad), from Old French cheance “accident, chance, fortune, luck, situation, the falling of dice” (12c., Modern French chance), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia “that which falls out,” a term used in dice, from neuter plural of Latin cadens, present participle of cadere “to fall” (see case (n.1)).
In English frequently in plural, chances. The word’s notions of “opportunity” and “randomness” are as old as the record of it in English and now all but crowd out the word’s original notion of “mere occurrence.” Main chance “thing of most importance” is from 1570s, bearing the older sense. The mathematical (and hence odds-making) sense is attested from 1778. To stand a chance (or not) is from 1796.
To take (one’s) chances “accept what happens” (early 14c.) is from the old, neutral sense; to take a chance/take chances is originally (by 1814) “participate in a raffle or lottery or game;” extended sense of “take a risk” is by 1826.
Technical description: Probability is the measure of the likelihood that an event will occur. See glossary of probability and statistics. Probability is quantified as a number between 0 and 1, where, loosely speaking, 0 indicates impossibility and 1 indicates certainty. The higher the probability of an event, the more likely it is that the event will occur. A simple example is the tossing of a fair (unbiased) coin. Since the coin is fair, the two outcomes (“heads” and “tails”) are both equally probable; the probability of “heads” equals the probability of “tails”; and since no other outcomes are possible, the probability of either “heads” or “tails” is 1/2 (which could also be written as 0.5 or 50%).
These concepts have been given an axiomatic mathematical formalization in probability theory, which is used widely in such areas of study as mathematics, statistics, finance, gambling, science (in particular physics), artificial intelligence/machine learning, computer science, game theory, and philosophy to, for example, draw inferences about the expected frequency of events. Probability theory is also used to describe the underlying mechanics and regularities of complex systems. (Wikipedia)
Synonyms: Accidental, Coincidental.
Relevance of the concept: The question whether something is random, by change or whether there is an additional factor.
The concept in mythology: Providence, Destiny.
Supporting evidence: Statistical data.
Charismata
Word definition: Theology. a divinely conferred gift or power, a spiritual power or personal quality that gives an individual influence or authority over large numbers of people.
Etymology: Word Origin & History± “gift of leadership, power of authority,” c.1930, from German, used in this sense by Max Weber (1864-1920) in “Wirtschaft u. Gesellschaft” (1922), from Greek kharisma “favor, divine gift,” from kharizesthai “to show favor to,” from kharis “grace, beauty, kindness” (Charis was the name of one of the three attendants of Aphrodite) related to khairein “to rejoice at,” from PIE root *gher- “to desire, like” (see hortatory). More mundane sense of “personal charm” recorded by 1959.
Earlier, the word had been used in English with a sense of “grace, talent from God” (1875), directly from Latinized Greek; and in the form charism (plural charismata) it is attested with this sense in English from 1640s. Middle English, meanwhile, had karisme “spiritual gift, divine grace” (c.1500).
Technical description: A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα charism, plural: χαρίσματα charismata) is an endowment or extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit These are the supernatural graces which individual Christians need (or needed in the days of the Apostles) to fulfill the mission of the Church. In the narrowest sense, it is a theological term for the extraordinary graces given to individual Christians for the good of others and is distinguished from the graces given for personal sanctification, such as the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
These extraordinary spiritual gifts, often termed “charismatic gifts”, are the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, increased faith, the gifts of healing, the gift of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, diverse kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues. To these are added the gifts of apostles, prophets, teachers, helps (connected to service of the poor and sick), and governments (or leadership ability) which are connected with certain offices in the Church. These gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to individuals, but their purpose is to build up the entire Church. They are described in the New Testament, primarily in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. 1 Peter 4 also touches on the spiritual gifts. (Wikipedia)
Phenomenological description: spiritual, paranormal, supernatural powers, abilities, and attainments that are the products of spiritual advancement.
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/mystical-experiences/siddhis/
Synonyms: Siddhis, gifts of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts
Relevance of the concept: Different kinds of non-sensory perceptions or capacities which do manifest themselves when people reach a higher spiritual level.
The concept in mythology: Supernatural powers.
Supporting evidence: Similar independent descriptions from different cultures.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
The New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. 1 Peter 4
Chi
Word definition: Ch’i or qi “energy force”
Etymology: The cultural keyword qì is analyzable in terms of Chinese and Sino-Xenic pronunciations. Possible etymologies include the logographs 氣, 气, and 気 with various meanings ranging from “vapor” to “anger”, and the English loanword qi or ch’i.
Technical description: In traditional Chinese culture, qi or ch’i ( qì) is believed to be a vital force forming part of any living entity.Qi translates as “air” and figuratively as “material energy”, “life force”, or “energy flow”. Qi is the central underlying principle in Chinese traditional medicine and in Chinese martial arts. The practice of cultivating and balancing qi is called qigong. (Wikipedia)
Phenomenological description: Chi is felt as vitality.
Synonyms: Life-force, Prâna, Essence, vitality.
Cross-cultural comparisons: References to concepts analogous to qi are found in many Asian belief systems. Philosophical conceptions of qi from the earliest records of Chinese philosophy (5th century BCE) correspond to Western notions of humours, the ancient Hindu yogic concept of prana, and the traditional Jewish concept of nefesh. An early form of qi comes from the writings of the Chinese philosopher Mencius (4th century BCE). (Wikipedia)
Relevance of the concept: The ancient Chinese described qi as “life force”. They believed it permeated everything and linked their surroundings together. Qi was also linked to the flow of energy around and through the body, forming a cohesive functioning unit. By understanding the rhythm and flow of qi, they believed they could guide exercises and treatments to provide stability and longevity.
Although the concept has been important within many Chinese philosophies, over the centuries the descriptions of qi have varied and have sometimes been in conflict. Until China came into contact with Western scientific and philosophical ideas, the Chinese had not categorized all things in terms of matter and energy. Qi and li (理: “pattern”) were ‘fundamental’ categories similar to matter and energy.
Fairly early on, some Chinese thinkers began to believe that there were different fractions of qi—the coarsest and heaviest fractions formed solids, lighter fractions formed liquids, and the most ethereal fractions were the “life breath” that animated living beings. Yuán qì is a notion of innate or prenatal qi which is distinguished from acquired qi that a person may develop over their lifetime. (Wikipedia)
The concept in mythology: Breath of life.
Supporting evidence: The concept is similar to prana in Hinduism and yoga philosophy. Chi means “breath” or “air” and is often translated as “energy flow,” “life force” or “matter energy.”
Just as prana moves through the body via channels called nadis and passes through the chakras, chi is believed to move through meridians and three energy gateways called dan tiens – one each in the pelvic region, the heart center and the third-eye center.
Clairvoyance
Word definition: The supernatural power of seeing objects or actions removed in space or time from natural viewing.
Etymology: clairvoyance (from French clair meaning “clear” and voyance meaning “vision”) is the ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said accordingly to be a clairvoyant (“one who sees clearly”). (Wikipedia)
Technical description: Clairvoyance, (French: “clear seeing”) knowledge of information not necessarily known to any other person, not obtained by ordinary channels of perceiving or reasoning—thus a form of extrasensory perception (ESP). (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Non-local perception. ( M.J.M.)
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/evidence-based-approach/14-research-areas/non-physical-perception-and-communication/extrasensory-perception/
Phenomenological description: Visual perception that is non-local in nature.
Synonyms: Remote viewing, Prophecy, Second sight, visionary, ESP.
Relevance of the concept: In parapsychology, clairvoyance (meaning “clear-seeing”) denotes a form of extra-sensory perception in which knowledge about a contemporary object, situation, or event is acquired by paranormal means. Clairvoyance is different from telepathy in that the information gained by a clairvoyant is assumed to derive directly from an external physical source, and not from another person’s mind. The term “clairvoyance” is often used as a blanket term, incorporating concepts like second sight, retrocognition, and precognition, as well as prophetic visions and dreams. Colloquially, the term has also been used to refer to fortune tellers. In more scientific arenas, the ability to clairvoyantly see an object from a distance is known as “remote viewing.” As with all psi phenomena, there is wide disagreement and controversy within the sciences as to the existence of clairvoyance and the validity and interpretation of clairvoyance-related experiments. Yet the desire that there be more to the world and existence in it than can be experienced through the physical senses alone drives many to continue to report and study this phenomenon. In fact, adherents to various faiths believe that the ability is natural and can be awakened through spiritual practices such as meditation, and that its increasing occurrence indicates an elevation of human consciousness. (Wikipedia)
The concept in mythology: The seer.
Supporting evidence: Russell Targ, May 12, 2014: …Jessica Utts is a statistics Professor at the University of California, Irvine, and is president of the American Statistical Association. In writing for her part of a 1995 evaluation of our work for the CIA, she wrote: “Using the standards applied to any other area of science, it is concluded that psychic functioning has been well established. The statistical results of the studies examined are far beyond what is expected by chance. Arguments that these results could be due to methodological flaws in the experiments are soundly refuted. Remote viewing has been conceptually replicated across a number of laboratories, by various experimenters, and in different cultures. This is a robust effect that, were it not such an unusual domain, would no longer be questioned by science as a real phenomenon. It is unlikely that methodological flaws could account for its remarkable consistency.”
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
Dean Radin: The conscious universe. 1997.
Dean Radin: Entangled minds. 2006.
Classical composing
Word definition: Musical composition
Etymology: Word Origin & History: c.1400, compousen, from Old French composer “put together, arrange, write” a work (12c.), from com- “with” (see com-) + poser “to place,” from Late Latin pausare “to cease, lay down,” ultimately from Latin ponere “to put, place” (see position (n.)). Meaning influenced in Old French by componere (see composite). Musical sense is from 1590s.
Technical description: Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western culture, including both liturgical (religious) and secular music. While a more precise term is also used to refer to the period from 1750 to 1820 (the Classical period), (Wikipedia)
Phenomenological description: Closely related to musical profundity is experience of the sublime. In classical musical aesthetics, as with other arts, the sublime is usually taken to refer to evocation of that which is beyond human comprehension. In keeping with Edmund Burke’s influential analysis, the experience of sublimity in classical music is most often associated with feelings such as awe, astonishment, obscurity, and terror. Musical passages have been considered to evoke the sublime through qualities. These qualities include complexity, whether of overall design or of interaction between musical elements, emotional expression and mood, which may involve intense conflict or turbulence, but could also be present as transcendence or otherworldliness, and creative power either from an impression of the composer’s creative power in the scope or impressiveness of the work or through qualities evoking creativity in the work itself (IEP)
Relevance of the concept: especially relevant is its relation to the idea of inspiration.
The concept in mythology: The Muses.
Citations: When the great classical composers talked about their inner experience when composing, the idea of communication with a force or forces on the highest transcendental level was seen as the only way to create music of lasting value and essential to their art [2].
The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven declared that his ideas came from God, that he was aware of his connection with the Divine:
“I was conscious of being inspired by God Almighty”.
And: “I know that God is nearer to me than to others of my craft”.
The German composer Johannes Brahms:
“Straightway the ideas flow in upon me, directly from God, and not only do I see distinct themes in my mind’s eye, but they are clothed in the right forms, harmonies and orchestration.
Measure by measure, the finished product is revealed to me when I am in those rare inspired moods…”
And about the spirit that worked through him: “Spirit is universal. Spirit is the creative energy of the Cosmos.”
The Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg:
“I composed as the spirit moved me, without comprehending clearly that I was working with great cosmic laws. Whereas Brahms realized, just as Beethoven did, that he was being aided by Omnipotence. It is only a supreme creative genius who can rise to such heights.”
“The composers are projectors of the infinite into the finite.”
Supporting evidence: phenomenological descriptions of the process by composers.
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/evidence-based-approach/14-research-areas/forms-of-inspiration/classical-composition/
Serial patterns in time: Melody
Parallel patterns in time: Harmony
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
“Talks With Great Composers” by Arthur M. Abell:
Between 1890 and 1917, Abell engaged in lengthy, candid conversations with the greatest composers of his day–Johannes Brahms, Giacomo Puccini, Richard Strauss, Engelbert Humperdinck, Max Brunch, and Evard Grieg–about the intellectual, psychic, and spiritual tensions of their creative endeavours. This book is the result of those conversations, and is, quite simply, a masterpiece that reveals the agony, triumphs, and the religiosity inherent in the creative mind.
Cognition
Word definition: the act or process of knowing; perception.
Etymology: id-15c., “ability to comprehend,” from Latin cognitionem (nominative cognitio) “a getting to know, acquaintance, knowledge,” noun of action from past participle stem of cognoscere
Technical description: Cognition is “the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses”. It encompasses processes such as attention, the formation of knowledge, memory and working memory, judgment and evaluation, reasoning and “computation”, problem solving and decision making, comprehension and production of language. Cognitive processes use existing knowledge and generate new knowledge. (Wikipedia)
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/Lists/List%20of%20conceptual%20skills/
Synonyms: Apprehension, comprehension, understanding.
Relevance of the concept: One of the five main groups of psychological development:
The aesthetic, The cognitive, The interpersonal, The moral, The spiritual.
( M.J.M.)
The concept in mythology: The horseman.
Coincidences
Word definition: a striking occurrence of two or more events at one time apparently by mere chance.
Etymology: Word Origin & History: c.1600, “exact correspondence,” from French coincidence, from coincider (see coincide). Meaning “a concurrence of events with no apparent connection” is from 1680s.
Technical description: A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims. Or it may lead to belief in fatalism, which is a doctrine that events will happen in the exact manner of a predetermined plan. (Wikipedia)
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/evidence-based-approach/14-research-areas/non-physical-perception-and-communication/meaningful-coincidence/
Synonyms: Synchronicity.
Cross-cultural comparisons: Multiples.
Relevance of the concept: the question here is whether these are just random processes or meaningful occasions?
Is there a deeper order, an overarching purpose? ( M.J.M.)
The concept in mythology: Fate, destiny, providence.
Supporting evidence: Similar independent descriptions from different cultures.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
Arthur Koestler: “The roots of coincidence.”
Collective unconscious
Word definition: Collective unconscious (German: kollektives Unbewusstes), a term coined by Carl Jung, refers to structures of the unconscious mind which are shared among beings of the same species. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populated by instincts and by archetypes: universal symbols
Etymology: The term “collective unconscious” first appeared in Jung’s 1916 essay, “The Structure of the Unconscious”.
Technical description: Collective unconscious, term introduced by psychiatrist Carl Jung to represent a form of the unconscious (that part of the mind containing memories and impulses of which the individual is not aware) common to mankind as a whole and originating in the inherited structure of the brain. It is distinct from the personal unconscious, which arises from the experience of the individual. According to Jung, the collective unconscious contains archetypes, or universal primordial images and ideas.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Phenomenological description: indirect influence on conscious processes.
Synonyms: autonomous psyche, primordial thoughts.
Cross-cultural comparisons: Archetypes within the collective unconscious are universal and cross-cultural.
Relevance of the concept: the question whether this finds its origin in biological structures or if its origin is transcendental.
The concept in mythology: The Abyss.
Citations: Carl Jung; The existence of the collective unconscious means that individual consciousness is anything but a tabula rasa and is not immune to predetermining influences. On the contrary, it is in the highest degree influenced by inherited presuppositions, quite apart from the unavoidable influences exerted upon it by the environment. The collective unconscious comprises in itself the psychic life of our ancestors right back to the earliest beginnings. It is the matrix of all conscious psychic occurrences, and hence it exerts an influence that compromises the freedom of consciousness in the highest degree, since it is continually striving to lead all conscious processes back into the old paths.
Supporting evidence: That archetypes are transcultural.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
Carl Jung; The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious ,
Princeton University Press.
Community of saints
Word definition: The communion of saints (Latin, communio sanctorum), when referred to persons, is the spiritual union of the members of the Christian Church, living and the dead, those on earth, in heaven, and, for those who believe in purgatory, those also who are in that state of purification. They are all part of a single “mystical body”, with Christ as the head, in which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of all. (Wikipedia)
Etymology: The earliest known use of this term to refer to the belief in a mystical bond uniting both the living and the dead in a confirmed hope and love is by Saint Nicetas of Remesiana (ca. 335–414); the term has since then played a central role in formulations of the Christian creed. Belief in the communion of saints is affirmed in the Apostles’ Creed.
Technical description: Catholic doctrine:
The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven in the organic unity of the same mystical body under Christ its head, and in a constant interchange of supernatural offices. The participants in that solidarity are called saints by reason of their destination and of their partaking of the fruits of the Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:2 (The Catholic Encyclopedia)
Phenomenological description: An early holistic concept.
Synonyms: Mystical body.
The concept in mythology: The city of God.
Complexes
Word definition: composed of many interconnected parts; compound; composite.
Etymology: complex (n.) 1650s, “a whole comprised of interconnected parts,” from complex (adj.). Latin completus as a noun meant “a surrounding, embracing, connection, relation.” Psychological sense of “connected group of repressed ideas” was established by C.G. Jung, 1907.
Technical description: A complex is a core pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions, and wishes in the personal unconscious organized around a common theme, such as power or status. Primarily a psychoanalytic ter/m, it is found extensively in the works of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud.
In Jung’s theory, complexes may be conscious, partly conscious, or unconscious. Complexes can be positive or negative, resulting in good or bad consequences. There are many kinds of complex, but at the core of any complex is a universal pattern of experience, or archetype. Two of the major complexes Jung wrote about were the anima (a node of unconscious beliefs and feelings in a man’s psyche relating to the opposite gender) and animus (the corresponding complex in a woman’s psyche). Other major complexes include the mother, father, hero, and more recently, the brother and sister. Jung believed it was perfectly normal to have complexes because everyone has emotional experiences that affect the psyche. Although they are normal, negative complexes can cause us pain and suffering. (Wikipedia)
Phenomenological description: emotionally charged clusters of associations withheld from consciousness
Synonyms: Jungian complexes.
Relevance of the concept: the relation of Jungian complexes to psychological conflicts.
The concept in mythology: Sea monsters.
Citations: Jung often used the term “complex” to describe a partially repressed, yet highly influential cluster of charged psychic material split off from, or at odds with, the conscious “I”
Supporting evidence: data from depth psychology.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
Jung, C.G. (1971) [1921]. Psychological Types. Collected Works. 6. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01813-8.
Concentration
Word definition: exclusive attention to one object; close mental application.
Etymology: Word Origin & History 1630s, “action of bringing to a center,” noun of action from verb concentrate (v.). Meaning “a mass so collected” is from 1670s; “continuous focus of mental activity” is from 1846.
Technical description: exclusive attention to one object; close mental application.
Phenomenological description: Active attention.
Synonyms: focussing, attention, focus.
Relevance of the concept: In Hindu and Buddhist systems, concentration (dharana, shamatha, etc) is noted as a middle step towards real meditation.
The concept in mythology: Symbolised as the archer.
Supporting evidence: introspection.
Concrete operational
Word definition: The third stage of the theory that is concerned with the mechanisms by which intellectual development takes place and the periods through which children develop, by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget.
Etymology: from Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
Technical description: In the concrete operational, stage, from age 7 to age 11 or 12, occur the beginning of logic in the child’s thought processes and the beginning of the classification of objects by their similarities and differences. During this period the child also begins to grasp concepts of time and number. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Synonyms: Concrete literal thinking, rational, Symbol-manipulating capacities, logical.
Relevance of the concept: Piaget postulated four major periods in individual intellectual development. The first, the sensorimotor period, extends from birth through roughly age two. During this period, a child learns how to modify reflexes to make them more adaptive, to coordinate actions, to retrieve hidden objects, and, eventually, to begin representing information mentally. The second period, known as preoperational, runs approximately from age two to age seven. In this period a child develops language and mental imagery and learns to focus on single perceptual dimensions, such as colour and size. The third, the concrete-operational period, ranges from about age 7 to age 12. During this time a child develops so-called conservation skills, which enable him to recognize that things that may appear to be different are actually the same—that is, that their fundamental properties are “conserved.” For example, suppose that water is poured from a wide short beaker into a tall narrow one. A preoperational child, asked which beaker has more water, will say that the second beaker does (the tall thin one); a concrete-operational child, however, will recognize that the amount of water in the beakers must be the same. Finally, children emerge into the fourth, formal-operational period, which begins at about age 12 and continues throughout life. The formal-operational child develops thinking skills in all logical combinations and learns to think with abstract concepts. For example, a child in the concrete-operational period will have great difficulty determining all the possible orderings of four digits, such as 3-7-5-8. The child who has reached the formal-operational stage, however, will adopt a strategy of systematically varying alternations of digits, starting perhaps with the last digit and working toward the first. This systematic way of thinking is not normally possible for those in the concrete-operational period. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Supporting evidence: Piaget’s research.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
Jean Piaget: “The early growth of logic in the child.” (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964)
Consciousness
Word definition: The state of being conscious; awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc., the thoughts and feelings, collectively, of an individual or of an aggregate of people.
Etymology: Word Origin & History
1630s, “internal knowledge,” from conscious + -ness. Meaning “state of being aware” is from 1746.
Technical description: Consciousness is the state or quality of awareness, or, of being aware of an external object or something within oneself It has been defined variously in terms of sentience, awareness, qualia, subjectivity, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood or soul, the fact that there is something “that it is like” to “have” or “be” it, and the executive control system of the mind. In contemporary philosophy its definition is often hinted at via the logical possibility of its absence, the philosophical zombie, which is defined as a being whose behaviour and function are identical to one’s own yet there is “no-one in there” experiencing it. (Wikipedia)
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/lists/list-of-aspects-of-consciousness/
Phenomenological description: the non-algorithmic nature of consciousness.
Synonyms: Awareness.
Relevance of the concept: Perhaps no aspect of mind is more familiar or more puzzling than consciousness and our conscious experience of self and world. The problem of consciousness is arguably the central issue in current theorizing about the mind. Despite the lack of any agreed upon theory of consciousness, there is a widespread, if less than universal, consensus that an adequate account of mind requires a clear understanding of it and its place in nature. We need to understand both what consciousness is and how it relates to other, nonconscious, aspects of reality. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Supporting evidence: Introspection.
Consciousness level(s)
Word definition: Ontological levels.
Technical description: multiple levels of consciousness have pervaded spiritual, psychological, medical, and moral speculations in both Eastern and Western cultures.
Jean Piaget (August 9, 1896 – September 16, 1980) is considered the developmental psychologist of the twentieth century. He preferred the title “genetic epistemologist” – researching the origins (genesis) of knowledge (epistemology). Piaget’s discovery that intellectual development proceeds in an orderly fashion through a sequence of identifiable stages, in a way similar to physical growth, revolutionized our view of the child’s mind. This has had significant repercussions in the educational arena, including regarding children as “creators” of their own knowledge, rather than as small, ignorant adults in need of training. The impact of his work has extended beyond psychology and education into philosophy, sociology, and even computer science.
However, despite his groundbreaking discoveries, Piaget’s work is lacking in several areas, notably the importance of love, emotion, relationships with others, and spiritual values in our thinking. Thus it should be considered a pioneering, yet incomplete, account of human cognitive development. (New world encyclopedia)
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/octagon/levels-of-consciousness/
Phenomenological description: There is a description of A.P. Shepherd relating to the different levels of existence; “These worlds are dimensional levels and are not separate regions, specially divided from one other, so that it would be necessary to move in space in order to pass from one to another. The highest worlds completely interpenetrate the lower worlds, which are fashioned and sustained by their activities.What divides them is that each world has a more limited and controlled level of consciousness than the world above it. The lower consciousness is unable to experience the life of the higher worlds and is even unaware of their existence, although it is penetrated by them. But if the beings of a lower world can raise their consciousness to a higher level, then that higher world becomes manifest to them, and they can be said to have passed to a higher world, although they have not moved in space ”.
A.P. Shepherd: “A Scientist of the invisible” 1954
Relevance of the concept: This levels are developmental levels
The concept in mythology: Stairway.
Supporting evidence: Abraham Maslow’s and Carl Rogers’s research in Humanistic Psychology, further Max Scheler´s research and Jean Piaget‘s theory of cognitive development.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
Max Scheler: “The nature of Sympathy.”
Constants
Word definition: not changing or varying; uniform; regular; invariable.
Etymology: Word Origin & History: late 14c., “steadfast, resolute,” from Old French constant (14c.) or directly from Latin constantem (nominative constans) “standing firm, stable, steadfast, faithful,” present participle of constare, from com- “together” (see com-) + stare “to stand,” from PIE root *sta- “to stand” (see stet). Of actions and conditions from 1650s.
Technical description: In physics, a physical constant is a physical quantity with a value that is generally believed to be both universal in nature and to remain unchanged over time. By contrast, a mathematical constant, which also has a fixed value, does not directly involve any physical measurement.
There are many physical constants in science. Some of the most widely recognized are:
- the rationalized Planck’s constant ħ,
- the gravitational constant G,
- the speed of light in a vacuum c
- the electric constant ε0,
- the elementary charge e, and
- the fine-structure constant α
Some fundamental physical constants (such as α above) do not have dimensions. Physicists recognize that if these constants were significantly different from their current values, the universe would be so radically different that stars like our Sun would not be able to exist and intelligent life would not have emerged.
Some physicists have explored the notion that if the dimensionless fundamental physical constants differed sufficiently from their current values, the universe would have taken a very different form. For example, a change in the value of the fine-structure constant (α) by a few percent would be enough to eliminate stars like our Sun and to prevent the emergence of intelligent living organisms. It therefore appears that our universe is fine-tuned for intelligent life.
Those who endorse the “weak anthropic principle” argue that it is because these fundamental constants have their respective values, there was sufficient order and richness in elemental diversity for life to have formed, subsequently evolving the intelligence necessary to determine the values for these constants. (New World Encyclopedia)
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/evidence-based-approach/14-research-areas/cosmological-planning/cosmological-constants-and-fine-tuning/
Synonyms: unchanging non-varying value.
Relevance of the concept: Anthropic coincidences occur in complete unexpected contrast to all attempts to model the evolution of the universe, and have been “unfolding” since the moment of the Big Bang, ranging in magnitude from our local ecosystem all the way up the ladder to the near-perfectly balanced, “flat” structuring of the universe, itself, so the universe appears to be surprisingly hospitable to the emergence of life—particularly, complex, multicellular, carbon-based life—at a specific time and “location” in the history of the universe. (New World Encyclopedia)
This puts forward the question whether there is a transcending organising force behind the physical world. ( M.J.M.)
The concept in mythology: Creation myths.
Citations: Alfred Russel Wallace anticipated the weak anthropic principle as long ago as 1903: “Such a vast and complex universe as that which we know exists around us may have been absolutely required … in order to produce a world that should be precisely adapted in every detail for the orderly development of life culminating in man.” (New World Encyclopedia)
Supporting evidence: mathematical data.
Contemplation
Word definition: The act of contemplating; thoughtful observation, full or deep consideration; reflection
Etymology: Word Origin & History c.1200, “religious musing,” from Old French contemplation or directly from Latin contemplationem (nominative contemplatio) “act of looking at,” from contemplat-, past participle stem of contemplari “to gaze attentively, observe,” originally “to mark out a space for observation” (as an augur does). From com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + templum “area for the taking of auguries”
Technical description: Contemplation means profound thinking about something. The word contemplation comes from the Latin word contemplatio. Its root is also that of the Latin word templum, a piece of ground consecrated for the taking of auspices, or a building for worship, derived either from Proto-Indo-European base *tem- “to cut”, and so a “place reserved or cut out” or from the Proto-Indo-European base *temp- “to stretch”, and thus referring to a cleared space in front of an altar. The Latin word contemplatio was used to translate the Greek word θεωρία (theoria). In a religious sense, contemplation is usually a type of prayer or meditation.
Phenomenological description: “intensively focused thought.”
Synonyms: Reflection, Introspection.
Cross-cultural comparisons: In Christianity, contemplation refers to a content-free mind directed towards the awareness of God as a living reality. This corresponds, in some ways, to what in Eastern religion is called samadhi.
Relevance of the concept: not only to understand what contemplation is, but to be able to shift into a contemplative state will make it possible to function on a much higher level. ( M.J.M.)
The concept in mythology: Mountain climbing.
Supporting evidence: Introspection.
Conversion
Word definition: Change in character, form, or function, spiritual change from sinfulness to righteousness.
Etymology: Word Origin & History: mid-14c., originally of religion, from French conversion, from Latin conversionem (nominative conversatio), noun of action from past participle stem of convertere (see convert (v.)). General sense of “transformation” is early 15c.
Technical description: Within Christianity conversion refers variously to three different phenomena: a person becoming Christian who was previously not Christian; a Christian moving from one Christian denomination to another; On a deeper level it refers to a particular spiritual development.
Phenomenological description: Transformation to a higher social / moral / spiritual level.
Synonyms: Transformation.
Relevance of the concept: State transition to a higher level.
The concept in mythology: Slaying the dragon.
Corroboration
Word definition: to support with evidence.
Etymology: mid-15c., corroboracioun, “act of strengthening, support” (a sense now obsolete), from Late Latin corroborationem (nominative corroboratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin corroborare “to strengthen, invigorate,” from assimilated form of com “with, together,” here perhaps “thoroughly” (see com-) + roborare “to make strong,” from robur, robus “strength,” (see robust). Meaning “act of confirming, verification, confirmation” is attested by 1768.
Technical description: Corroborating evidence (or corroboration) is evidence that supports a proposition already supported by initial evidence, therefore confirming the original proposition.
Synonyms: validation, justification, substantiation, confirmation, verification, proof, authentication, evidence, affirmation, demonstration.
Relevance of the concept: to verify a point of view- or an intuitional insight.
Cosmic Consciousness
Word definition: mystical experience
Etymology: Cosmic consciousness is a term that was first coined in 1901 in the book Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind by Richard Maurice Bucke
Technical description: Cosmic consciousness is a way of describing the mystical experience. It is characterised by a fundamental sense of oneness that seems common to most, if not all, mystical experiences.
Richard Bucke described the characteristics and effects of the faculty of experiencing this type of consciousness as:
— its sudden appearance
— a subjective experience of light (“inner light”)
— moral elevation
— intellectual illumination
— a sense of immortality
— loss of a fear of death
— loss of a sense of sin
— the vivid sense of the universe as a living presence, rather than as basically lifeless, inert matter.
Phenomenological description: Cosmic consciousness is a state which transcends normal consciousness with its persistent thought processes.
It is a unitive state, however there are many different forms of Cosmic consciousness. ( M.J.M.)
Synonyms: mystical experience.
Cross-cultural comparisons: Samadhi.
Relevance of the concept: Higher state of consciousness.
The concept in mythology: Chariots of fire.
Citations: The American philosopher William James popularized the concept of religious experience, which he explored in The Varieties of Religious Experience He saw mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies knowledge of the transcendental. He considered the “personal religion” to be “more fundamental than either theology or ecclesiasticism”, and states:
In mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness. This is the everlasting and triumphant mystical tradition, hardly altered by differences of clime or creed. In Hinduism, in Neoplatonism, in Sufism, in Christian mysticism, in Whitmanism, we find the same recurring note, so that there is about mystical utterances an eternal unanimity which ought to make a critic stop and think, and which bring it about that the mystical classics have, as been said, neither birthday not native land.
(Wikipedia)
“I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research.” – Albert Einstein
Supporting evidence: Similar independent descriptions from different cultures.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
Richard Maurice Bucke: “Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind.”
Cosmic evolution
Word definition: Evolutionary process relating to the Ultimate destiny of humanity and the kosmos.
Etymology: Cosmic: 1640s, “worldly, of this world,” a sense now obsolete, from Latinized form of Greek kosmikos “worldly, earthly, of the world,” from kosmos “world-order, world” (see cosmos). Cosmical “related to the earth” is attested from 1580s.
Modern sense of “of or pertaining to the universe,” especially as conceived as subject to a harmonious system of laws, is from 1846. Meaning “related to or dealing with the cosmos, forming part of the material universe beyond the earth or the solar system” is from 1871. In reference to inconceivably vast space or protracted time, from 1874.
Evolution: 1620s, “an opening of what was rolled up,” from Latin evolutionem (nominative evolutio) “unrolling (of a book),” noun of action from past participle stem of evolvere “to unroll”
Technical description: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit, did describe what he called “Omega point”. With this concept he expressed a process in which consciousness and existence evolves towards an ultimate convergence point, a final unity that he called the Omega point.
This kosmic process has a meaning, a direction and a goal and when this Omega point is reached, it is irreversible. This final unification of the world was, in his words: “Not only survival but as super-life” (in: “The phenomenon of Man”, 1950), meaning it was not just life after death, as in some permanent ‘out of the body’-state but a much higher superior form of Life. Sometimes he did refer to the unification of planetary consciousness, but in the end he characterized it as a kosmic event affecting the whole kosmos. ( M.J.M.)
Phenomenological description: This collective processes will be started by individual processes which give an indication of the coming collective processes
( M.J.M.)
Cross-cultural comparisons: Eschatological concepts cover future and final events and are concerned with the ultimate purpose and the destiny of all things. They are found in many spiritual traditions. The oldest eschatology in recorded history is the Zoroastrian eschatology, according to which there is a ‘final judgment’ after which the world will reach perfection.
In Judaism there is the concept of the ‘end of days’. Remarkable is that they don’t see it as a pre-ordained event but brought about by religious observance and good deeds.
Within Christianity there is the concept of the ‘Kingdom of God’. It is the central theme of Christ’s message in the Gospels. These words appear more than a 100 times in the New Testament.
The Sunni-Muslims believe in the ‘judgment day’ that revolves around the purification of the earth.
Within Hinduism there is the manifestation of the ‘Kalki Avatar’ by which righteousness will be established upon the earth.
The Hopi Indians have the concept of the ‘day of purification’ which is followed by a great renewal. ( M.J.M.)
Relevance of the concept: The ultimate destiny of humanity and the Kosmos.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: “The phenomenon of man.”
Aurobindo: “The life Divine.”
Cosmological fine-tuning
Word definition: According to growing numbers of scientists, the laws and constants of nature are so “finely-tuned,” and so many “coincidences” have occurred to allow for the possibility of life, the universe must have come into existence through intentional planning and intelligence.
Technical description: There is the extraordinary high ordering of the initial conditions of the Big Bang, as is clear from the consequences from the second law of thermodynamics and the fine-tuning of the universe.
It is especially the fine-tuning of the Big Bang that makes it impossible that it just popped up. Roger Penrose’s calculation is that the probability of the occurrence of a universe in which life can form is at least 10 to the power of 123 to 1 {1:1010(123) }
As to the expansion rate after the big bang, this is so incredibly fine- tuned: we’re not talking about merely a one or two percent reduction in the universe’s expansion rate. Stephen Hawking writes, “If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have re-collapsed before it ever reached its present size.”
Stephen Hawking, The Illustrated A Brief History of Time (New York: Bantam, 1996), 156
On the other side, if the expansion rate had been a mere fraction greater than it was, galaxies, stars and planets could never have formed, and we wouldn’t be here, to complain about it.
The concept in mythology: Providence, Destiny, Kismet
Citations:
Dr. Paul Davies, noted author and professor of theoretical physics at Adelaide University:
“The really amazing thing is not that life on Earth is balanced on a knife-edge, but that the entire universe is balanced on a knife-edge, and would be total chaos if any of the natural ‘constants’ were off even slightly. You see,” Davies adds, “even if you dismiss man as a chance happening, the fact remains that the universe seems unreasonably suited to the existence of life — almost contrived — you might say a ‘put-up job’.”
Professor Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in high energy physics:
One constant does seem to require an incredible fine-tuning — The existence of life of any kind seems to require a cancellation between different contributions to the vacuum energy, accurate to about 120 decimal places.
Michael Turner, the widely quoted astrophysicist at the University of Chicago and Fermilab, describes the fine-tuning of the universe with a simile:
The precision is as if one could throw a dart across the entire universe and hit a bulls eye one millimeter in diameter on the other side.
Supporting evidence: Mathematical data.
“That fine-tuning claims can be understood and affirmed by realist, instrumentalist and every philosophy in between”.(Luke Barnes), and furthermore the concept of fine-tuning is supported by theists, deists, agnostics, atheists and anti-theists.
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/evidence-based-approach/14-research-areas/cosmological-planning/cosmological-constants-and-fine-tuning/
Creative process
Word definition: Originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative.
The ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form.
Etymology: Word Origin & History: 1670s, “having the quality of creating,” from create + -ive. Of literature, “imaginative,” from 1816, first attested in Wordsworth. Creative writing is attested from 1907.
Technical description: Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a literary work, or a painting).
See further: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/evidence-based-approach/14-research-areas/forms-of-inspiration/creative-process/
Phenomenological description: The experience of flow.
Synonyms: Innovative, inventive, original.
Schemas / Maps: The American psychologist Mark Runco holds that the creative process consists of six essential stages, or phases. In the first stage, “orientation” (a time of intense interest and curiosity), the creative individual gathers information. The second stage, “incubation,” consists of defining the problem and seeking a solution and involves processing large amounts of information; this can occur at a conscious or an unconscious level. “Illumination,” the third stage, is marked by divergent thinking, openness, and excitement. In the fourth stage, “verification,” the individual evaluates his own work and compares it with what is known in the field. Next, in the “communication” stage, the individual submits his work to the field, making it available to experts who will judge its quality and usefulness. “Validation” occurs in the sixth stage, in which the work becomes available to society and is consequently supported or rejected. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Relevance of the concept: The development of art, science, technology…….
Supporting evidence: The ability of creative persons to produce artistic artifacts, musical compositions, scientific theories, technological innovations and so on.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
S. Dresden: “Wat is creativiteit?”
Ernst Gombrich: The Story of Art, London: Phaidon 1950
Crisis, (Psychological)
Word definition: Strong psychological conflict.
Etymology: early 15c., crise, crisis, “decisive point in the progress of a disease,” also “vitally important or decisive state of things, point at which change must come, for better or worse,” from Latinized form of Greek krisis “turning point in a disease, that change which indicates recovery or death” (used as such by Hippocrates and Galen), literally “judgment, result of a trial, selection,” from krinein “to separate, decide, judge,” from PIE root *krei- “to sieve,” thus “discriminate, distinguish.”
Technical description: A few different types of crisis include:
—Developmental crises occur as part of the process of growing and developing through various periods of life. Sometimes a crisis is a predictable part of the life cycle, such as the crises described in Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development.
—Situational crises are sudden and unexpected, such as accidents and natural disasters. Getting in a car accident, experiencing a flood or earthquake, or being the victim of a crime are just a few types of situational crises.
—Existential crises are inner conflicts related to things such as life purpose, direction, and spirituality. A midlife crisis is one example of a crisis that is often rooted in existential concerns.
Synonyms: Emergency.
The concept in mythology: Battle.
Supporting evidence: psychological data.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
· Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society (1st ed.). New York: Norton
- Erikson, Erik H. (1959) Identity and the Life Cycle. New York: International Universities Press.
- Erikson, Erik H. (1968) Identity, Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton.
- Erikson, Erik H. and Joan M. (1997) The Life Cycle Completed: Extended Version. New York: W. W. Norton
Critical mass
Word definition: An amount or level needed for a specific result or new action to occur.
Etymology: Related: Criticality (1756; in the nuclear sense, 1950); critically (1650s, “accurately;” 1815, “in a critical situation”). In nuclear science, critical mass is attested from 1940.
Technical description: a size, number, or amount large enough to produce a particular result.
Relevance of the concept: related to when a transformation starts.
Cross cultural method
Word definition: Cross-cultural studies, sometimes called holocultural studies or comparative studies, is a specialization in anthropology and sister sciences (sociology, psychology, economics, political science) that uses field data from many societies to examine the scope of human behavior and test hypotheses about human behavior and culture. Cross-cultural studies is the third form of cross-cultural comparisons. The first is comparison of case studies, the second is controlled comparison among variants of a common derivation, and the third is comparison within a sample of cases. Unlike comparative studies, which examines similar characteristics of a few societies, cross-cultural studies uses a sufficiently large sample so that statistical analysis can be made to show relationships or lack of relationships between the traits in question. These studies are surveys of ethnographic data. (Wikipedia)
Etymology: The first cross-cultural studies were carried out by 19th-century anthropologists
Technical description: The basic premise of Cross-Cultural Analysis is that statistical cross-cultural comparisons can be used to discover traits shared between cultures and generate ideas about cultural universals. Cross-cultural analysts create hypotheses and consult data into order to draw statistical correlations about the relationships among certain cultural traits. The approach was developed by early cultural evolutionists (namely E. B. Tylor and Lewis Henry Morgan) and was later greatly advanced by George Peter Murdock, who compiled the work of many ethnographic studies into one database that came to be known as the Human Relation Area Files (HRAF). Today, the journal of Cross-Cultural Research is the premiere locale for published works using cross-cultural analysis. (Wikipedia)
Synonyms: Intercultural validation.
Cross-cultural comparisons: A more careful look at cross-cultural research reveals evidence of universal patterns across the human species.
Relevance of the concept: Cross-cultural research is a scientific method of
comparative research which focuses on systematic comparisons that compares culture to culture and explicitly aims to answer questions about the incidence, distributions, and causes of cultural variation and complex problems across a wide domain, usually worldwide. Such questions include:
x
What are the patterns of coherence and sources of coherence in the practices, beliefs, social roles, norms, expressions, and forms of organization and conflict in a) human communities? b) Other forms of groups? c) Other extra-community trajectories?
x
How much of that coherence is due to a) Common history, language, identity? b) Common or recurrent modes of adaptation to recurrent human problems? c) recurrent consistencies in how language, discourse and expression, social and d) Roles, norms and organizations constructed into shared cultures?
x
What are the patterns of decoherence and disjuncture, misunderstanding and conflict that arise given the a) multiplicity and overlapping of cultures? and b) cleavages and disjuncture of cultures? Cross-cultural research strives to arrive at reliably supported explanations of why things are the way they are (Hempel, 1965; Nagel, 1961)
Supporting evidence: Cross-cultural studies are applied widely in the social sciences, particularly in cultural anthropology and psychology.
(Wikipedia)
Cross cultural validation
Word definition: a process by which a method that works for a sample of one culture is checked for validity by applying the method to another sample of another culture.
Relevance of the concept: Cross-cultural comparisons can be used to determine if an idea, concept….. is culturally determined, or universal. ( M.J.M.)
Cyclical civilization theories
Word definition: Social cycle theories are among the earliest social theories in sociology. Unlike the theory of social evolutionism, which views the evolution of society and human history as progressing in some new, unique direction(s), sociological cycle theory argues that events and stages of society and history are generally repeating themselves in cycles. Such a theory does not necessarily imply that there cannot be any social progress.
(Wikipedia)
Technical description: Plato translated Empedocles’ concept from psychological into theistic terms. At the outset, in his view, the gods guide the cosmos, and they then leave it to its own devices. But when the cosmos, thus left to itself, has brought itself to the brink of disaster, the gods resume control at the 11th hour—and these two phases of its condition alternate with each other endlessly.
The recurrence of alternating phases in which, at the darkest hour, catastrophe is averted by divine intervention is similarly an article of Vaishnava Hindu faith. In guessing the lengths of the recurrent eons (kalpas), the Hindus arrived, intuitively, at figures of the magnitude of those reached by modern astronomers through meticulous observations and calculations. Similarly, the Aztecs of Mesoamerica rivaled modern Westerners and the Hindus in the scale on which they envisaged the flow of time, and they kept an astonishingly accurate time count by inventing a set of interlocking cycles of different wavelengths.
Plato and Aristotle took it for granted that human society, as well as the cosmos, has been, and will continue to be, wrecked and rehabilitated any number of times.
This rhythm can be discerned, as a matter of historical fact, in the histories of the pharaonic Egyptian and of the Chinese civilizations during the three millennia that elapsed, in each of them, between its first political unification and its final disintegration. The prosperity that had been conferred on a peasant society by political unity and peace turned into adversity when the cost of large-scale administration and defense became too heavy for an unmechanized economy to bear. In each instance, the unified state then broke up—only to be reunited for the starting of another similar cycle.
The Muslim historian Ibn Khaldūn, writing in the 14th century ce, observed the same cyclic rhythm in the histories of the successive conquests of sedentary populations by pastoral nomads. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Cross-cultural comparisons: Asian religions, and some classical western philosophers, believed that history consisted of an endless series of cycles: the Wheel of Life, eternal return, or eternal recurrence. This idea can also be found in nineteenth-century European philosophies that related to religion, notably the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, and it is not entirely implausible that processes analogous to the individual’s life cycle occur on larger, societal scales.
(The Association of Religion Data Archives.)
The concept in mythology: Phoenix [from Greek phoinix phoenix, date palm, Phoenician] The sacred bird possibly taken from the Egyptian benu. The most familiar legend about it in Europe, dating from the early medieval period, is that a bird from India lives on air for 500 years when, leaving its native land, it flies to the temple at Heliopolis, with its wings laden with spices. Flying to the altar, it burns itself to ashes on the sacred fire, whence arises a new or young phoenix. This bird is already feathered on the day following the suicide of its parent which was its former self and, having its wings full grown on the third day, it wings its way forth. Pliny and Herodotus give slightly different versions. Ancient art pictured the phoenix as a bird with wings partly golden and partly red in color; in outline and size it was drawn to resemble an eagle.
The ancients gave different time periods as the extent of the cycle for which the phoenix stood as a symbol: 500 years, 600 years (the Babylonian naros), 1461 years, and others, as the phoenix did not symbolize any one cycle but was a general emblem of cycles themselves.
“The Phoenix — called by the Hebrews Onech (from Phenoch, Enoch, symbol of a secret cycle and initiation), and by the Turks, Kerkes — lives a thousand years, after which, kindling a flame, it is self-consumed; and then, reborn from itself — it lives another thousand years, up to seven times seven . . . when comes the day of Judgment. The ‘seven times seven,’ 49, are a transparent allegory, and an allusion to the forty-nine ‘Manus,’ the Seven rounds, and the seven times seven human cycles in each Round on each globe. The Kerkes and the Onech stand for a race cycle, and the mystical tree Ababel — the ‘Father Tree’ in the Kuran — shoots out new branches and vegetation at every resurrection of the Kerkes or Phoenix; the ‘Day of Judgment’ meaning a ‘minor Pralaya’ . . . ‘The Phoenix is very plainly the same as the Simorgh, the Persian roc, and the account which is given us of this last bird, yet more decisively establishes the opinion that the death and revival of the Phoenix exhibit the successive destruction and reproduction of the world, which many believed to be effected by the agency of a fiery deluge’ . . . and a watery one in turn” (SD 2:617).
One equivalent in Hindu literature is Karttikeya riding on his peacock. In China the phoenix is the king of birds, eating only bamboo sprouts, drinking only spring water. His resting place is the tung tree.
Literature: Books / Articles / Websites:
Alfred Louis Kroeber: “Configurations of culture growth.” 1944
Cyclical patterns
Etymology: cyclical: 1817, of a line, “returning into itself,” from cyclic + -al (1). From 1834 as “pertaining to a cycle, cyclic.” In botany, “rolled up circularly;” in zoology, “recurrent in successive circles.”
Technical description: In the modern West, an Italian philosopher of history, Giambattista Vico, observed that the phases through which Western civilization had passed had counterparts in the history of the antecedent Greco-Roman civilization. Thanks to a subsequent increase in the number of civilizations known to Western students of cultural morphology, Oswald Spengler, a German philosopher of history, was able, in the early 20th century, to make a comparative study of civilizations over a much broader spectrum than that of Vico. The comparison of different civilizations or of successive periods of order and disorder in Chinese or in pharaonic Egyptian history implied, of course, that, in human affairs, recurrence is a reality.
The application of the cyclic view to the life of a human being in the hypothesis of rebirth was mentioned earlier. This hypothesis relaxes the anxiety about being annihilated through death by replacing it with a no less agonizing anxiety about being condemned to a potentially endless series of rebirths. The strength of the reincarnationists’ anxiety can be gauged by the severity of the self-mortification to which they resort to liberate themselves from the “sorrowful wheel.” Among the peoples who have not believed in rebirth, the pharaonic Egyptians have taken the offensive against death and decay with the greatest determination: they embalmed corpses; they built colossal tombs; and, in the Book of the Dead, they provided instructions and spells for ensuring for that portion of the soul that did not hover around the sarcophagus an acquittal in the postmortem judgment and an entry into a blissful life in another world. No other human society has succeeded in achieving this degree of indestructibility despite the ravages of time. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
The concept in mythology: Eternal recurrence.
Serial patterns in time see: https://marinusjanmarijs.com/meaning-of-life/kosmic-patterns/
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[1]: Jakob Boehme; “Aurora”. 1620.
[2] : The quotes below come from the following books: Arthur M. Abell: “Talks with great composers”, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, G.E.Schroeder Verlag, 1964;
Julius Bahle: “Der Musikalische Schaffensprozess”, Kontanz, Paul Christiani 1947; J.P. Fockema Andreae: “De inspiratie van den Componist”; K.B. Sandved: “The world of music”, Publisher: Waverley Book Co, 1954.
