The American saeculum, as I have pointed out, is dysfunctional, reflecting the limits of its subject, American society. It turn, this society is the outcome of a civilization cycle in its waning stages; the last century-plus of the 500-year Renaissance-Enlightenment cycle, in which Western Europe explored and colonized the world and mastered it physically with science and technology. The tools of republican democracy and scientific technology were apt ones by which Europeans could subdue a virginal continent with abundant resources there for the taking, making the United States one of the world powers that succeeded Europe after its fall in the great war.

But the world view and its scientific tools are not sustainable in themselves, and neither is the separation from the land and the spiritual aspect of reality that they fostered. So the saeculum as we know it is different from the civilization cycle, which encompasses world civilization-- not one decadent part of it which has separated itself from the fount of inspiration from which civilization comes-- that part being the society of the USA. That means that a turning in the dysfunctional American saeculum, is not at all equal or similar by nature to a phase in the civilization cycle I described in my book. We are NOT in a mega-awakening or a mega-unravelling, but we are in a phase of rebirth and a golden age of the civilization cycle, to the extent that we are aware enough to participate in it. In Frye's terms, while mainstream society (and especially perhaps, cynical Gen Xers) are still caught up in the Ironic phase, those who have shifted into the new world (such as "cultural creatives") are back in a Mythic phase. And this doesn't even count the reactionary religious culture of the red states, who aren't even up to speed with the worldview and culture from which the USA was founded over 200 years ago.

The continental Europeans understood this new rebirth first, and have expressed it in modern art, psychology and science since the change of age in the 1890s; but then, in the American awakening of the 1960s and 70s, this understanding came to America. It has since been relegated to relative fringe status. But as I suggested, given the huge population of the modern world and the many trends it contains, the new age, visionary and psychedelic cultures that provide the new world view and culture have been as large and vibrant as any culture of the past that managed to dominate smaller societies.

You can see this new world explained and linked-to on my website, and in the visionaries of the consciousness revolution thread I started here. There is no other successor culture to the fall of European colonial science than this one, even though it is likely only visible in fringe publications, such as Common Ground and Vision Magazine in California, and probably a number of other local publications elsewhere. Common Ground recently released its creativity issue. Here is a link to the June issue of Vision:
http://issuu.com/visionholisticmagaz...299993/3210401 (too hard to read the actual articles; well, you can click on them to enlarge them and move around. One of them is inspired by The Who!)
archive here: http://visionmagazine.com/archives/index.html

Originally Posted by TimWalker

I think we could use a definition and a description of a Mega-Awakening.

I included a link to the proposed megasaeculum scheme I outline them here:

6^th cent BC: Axial Awakening My development is focused on Western Civilization. I split Jaspers period into two periods. The first retains the name and is concerned with the rise of monotheism, which will flower into the two main Western Eurasian religions in subsequent mega-awakenings.

3^rd cent BC: Greek Philosophers The second wave of Jaspers period, centered on the rise of Western-style philosophy, which will lead to the Western rationalism and the Scientific Revolution.

1^st cent AD Christian Awakening

4^th cent AD Christianity becomes state religion of Roman Empire

7^th cent AD Islamic Awakening

10^th cent AD Cluniac movement: development of precursors of Capitalism

13^th cent AD Mendicant movement: development of precursors of Socialism

16^th cent AD Protestant Reformation: and Capitalistic Awakening

19^th cent AD Industrial Revolution, rise of economics and other social sciences and Socialistic Awakening

I am using mega-awakening for roughly century-long periods in which key features of Western civilization originated or appeared.

For example, Christianity is one of the pillars of Western Civilization. It appeared in the Christian Awakening building on a monotheistic base that emerged in the Axial Age, and matured in the 4^th century megawakening.

The two opposing modern political-economic philosophies of Capitalism and Socialism emerged in the Reformation and Industrial Revolution, respectively, building on roots that originated in the Cluniac and Mendicant movements.

Western rationality and Science had their origins with the Greek Philosophers.

The Islamic Awakening begins a split between eastern and western portions of Western Eurasian civilization into Islamic and Western (European) civilization. It spells the end of the Roman Empire, which is replaced by a rump state referred to as the Byzantine empire. The West falls into a Dark Age while the East goes on to new Highs under the Abbasids.

Super Saeculums in trends in literature as inspired by Northrop Frye:

(Dates are rounded to approximations)

The Hellenic Age: 500 BC - 0 = Mimetic

--An era which gave birth to Tragedy and Comedy. The split between the two periods of High and Low Mimetic being the Peloponnesian war. Prior to that Tragedy and Comedy focused on leaders, while after that Tragedy and Comedy focused more on every man. Brilliant split in this dynamic is shown in comparing Aristophanes and Menander--two comic dramatists from either side of the dividing line. In Aristophanes a leader of some sort attempts to establish a new Comic society at a central location (this formula is on display in Lysistrata the most, where Lysistrata attempts to forge a peace at the Acropolis), while in Menander the focus is not on any sort of leader in any central location. Menander's Dyskolos (aka The Grouch) could be about the farmer next door.


The Roman Age: 0 - 500 AD = Irony (Grecco-Roman mythology crumbles, Christianity is born)

--An era where belief in the central myth no longer holds the culture together, new competing myths begin to appear and threaten the stability until at long last the old central myth is replaced with utter chaos. The focus is on those who are "lesser" than others, a lot of stories about slaves, the oppressed and persecuted, etc. All of the saints who were martyred fit in this period. And it should be remembered that one person's saint is another person's low-life heretic. One man's savior being crucified, is another's rebel scum being justly executed. If one reads Plautus and Terence, one gets the idea that they would've laughed all the way through the Passion. There is a duality in this period as the old central myth dies away and new ones are beginning to be born or take hold. Slaves getting burned or flogged on stage occurs here and we're meant to laugh uproariously at them. Stories of Christians being thrown to the lions or burned at the stake also belong here.


The Dark Age: 500 - 1000 = Myth (Christianity, Norse Mythology, German Mythology, Celtic Mythology, Rump Classical Grecco-Roman Mythology)

--An era of competing myths: amongst them include the Germanic pagan gods, the Celtic pagan gods, rump Classical myths, and Christianity--eventually Christianity devours them all and comes out on top. The focus in this period is mostly on the divine and the actions of the divine. The most popular rump Classical myth of this period arguable is "Cupid and Psyche" and other tales of lesser Classical gods which eventually serve as the foundation of fairy tales and folklore. Christianity eventually finds a way to devour the competing myths and bring versions of them into its own fiber. Old Celtic goddesses like Brigid becomes St. Bridget for example.


The Chivalric Age: 1000 - 1500 = Romance (Tristan and Isolde, Gawain and the Green Knight, La Morte D'Arthur)

--An era where the central myth has been established (or absorbed all the competitors for the large part) and now we turn our attentions from looking at the divine, to the divinely inspired heroes who seem almost semi-divine and have "God on their side".


The Clockwork Age: 1500 - 1900 = Mimetic

--The semi-divine or divinely inspired heroes of old no longer cut it anymore and we begin to focus on ourselves and society as we are. The cult of the individual pops up. The central myth exists as a binding social force but no longer takes precedent in the story, serving more as background. The central myth is taken for granted and by the end increasingly questioned.

---High Mimetic = 1500 - 1750 (Shakespeare, Marlowe)

-----Focus is on our rulers and leaders.

---Low Mimetic = 1750 - 1900 (Austen, Dickens)

-----Focus is on the everyman and the followers of leaders.


The Modern Age: 1900 - 2??? = Irony

--The central myth which once held our society together no longer does and an empty vacuum in people's lives now exists as they increasingly desire a new central myth that speaks to them. Post-Modernism is a strong philosophy of this period because if there are no "universal truths" then you can argue that everything is "perspective" which opens up the battlefield once more to the idea of competing myths--or will do so eventually. The focus of stories in this period for the large part has been a flourishing of stories about people who are "lesser" than your everyday people as explored in the Low Mimetic period, so essentially expect to see more characters who have handicaps of some kind, mental illnesses, are the lowest of the low on the social scale, the oppressed and beleaguered, etc.


About Sentimentalism in literature...

Frye mentions that sentimental pieces of literature can be written in the manner of an "earlier style", and for a good example he gives the 19th Century Romanticism movement as being a sentimental movement trying to emulate the earlier period of Romance. However there are assumptions that come with sentimental movements that it is an imitation of "the past" and not an invention of "today".

~Chas'88

This goes along with my book and the astrological cycles. Without reference to Frye, I drew the parallel between the Roman period and our own, as well as others according to this same rhythm.

It is not really a supersaeculum, although you could use that term instead of mega-saeculum to distinguish the two cycles. This super-cycle (which I called the cosmic clock or the great Uranus cycle in chapter 5) also has similar phases within each period.

Originally Posted by Mikebert

I included a link to the proposed megasaeculum scheme I outline them here:

7^th cent BC: Axial Awakening My development is focused on Western Civilization. I split Jaspers period into two periods. The first retains the name and is concerned with the rise of monotheism, which will flower into the two main Western Eurasian religions in subsequent mega-awakenings.

I imagine you meant to say 6th cent. BC

There is also a 600-year religious cycle which I mentioned in my book, discovered by Charles A Jayne, related to Uranus-Neptune cycles.

Originally Posted by Eric the Green

I imagine you meant to say 6th cent. BC

Yes. You are right.