Epic Climate Change

The world is in a period of ‘great transition’ - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2012)

‘The Great Turning’ of humanity is about crisis and possibility. It calls for an awakening consciousness. Joanna Macy (2010)

We’re in a race between consciousness and catastrophe as we move through an ‘evolutionary transformation’. Terry Patten (2018)

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Climate change is part of a bigger picture – a much bigger picture.

It’s a bigger picture of transformational change of epic proportions rarely experienced by humanity. And it’s happening now!

Some say that the earth and humanity is ‘levelling up’ – and feel called to embark on epic/mythic and sometimes dangerous journeys to do what they can.

They may choose to play the role of ‘hero or heroine’ – and there have been many great examples over the last 50 years of climate change. But we can’t be saved from climate change by the lone archetypal hero/heroine on journeys to overcome the ‘dragon’. The hero archetype in particular - which still dominates mass media – takes people on old masculine journeys of aggression, persistent conflict, linear thinking and violence.

The hero/heroine may be necessary to raise awareness but it isn't sufficient to instigate whole systems change.

Some have written about the new ‘gendered journey’ which is a more inclusive evolved archetype. The gendered journey is emotional rather than cerebral - it’s a journey of transformation.

But this too has fallen short when dealing with the complex relationship between climate change, the biosphere, sociocultural systems and social justice issues.

Maya Zuckerman says it’s time for a ‘collective journey’ where groups of people rise to a call and “move beyond their own individual experiences to a cohesive collective that is both the sum of all individuals and also a new entity entirely.”

Some believe the #MeToo movement and the Arab Spring are examples of the new 'collective journey'.

Zuckerman sees the collective journey as a nonlinear, multidimensional, physical and digital experience of diverse people, groups, tribes, cultures, and networks coming together for a higher purpose and a common cause.

Some see Game of Thrones as an example of a collective journey archetype. The hero can die instead of saving the day.

Perhaps climate change and its deeply connected social justice issues need all of the above – hero/heroine journeys, gendered journeys and collective journeys – and more.

Some feel called to adopt new (or ancient) roles of the champion, the steward, the sage, the shaman, the magician, the lover, the wise gardener, the trickster, the peaceful warrior, the elder… These bring to awareness different ways of being, new intuitions, new wisdom, new opportunities, new dreams and visions of the future.

Climate change is a wake-up call. The epic nature of our interconnected global challenges invites an epic response – individually and collectively.

And this response is not all doom and gloom. Terry Patten reminds us that responding to a deeper calling can bring us into flow with inspiration, wonder and joy.

We need to adopt new roles and explore new narratives with evolved archetypes that tell the story of “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible”.

Image: darksouls1 Licence: CC0