• Home
  • Biography
  • Services
  • Links & Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact
 

ORIENTATION TOWARD THE NORTH STAR

10/31/2019

2 Comments

 
There are stars, and then there are "stars." Lately I have noticed that my mind seems to come back, not just to stars, but to the "stars" who fill our public spaces, cluttering our social, spiritual, and psychological life.

For example, there are the "stars" who crowd the media with clownish tactics which seem unfailingly to dominate our attention. Consider our political news and the toxic narcissism of our would-be leader. Consider also the fawning, obsequious flattery that follows in his wake, producing a medieval horror show that tortures our sensibilities and threatens our traditions of civility. Even the worst script writer for grade-B fiction would not write such tragic/comic scenes for fear the public wouldn't accept them. But this ever-performing "star," starved for accolades, succeeds in dominating our mutual life.

Of course, this act in the "big tent" of our political arena is but one parody of "stardom." Other stages vie for attention. Our short attention span appears to crave more and more of less and less: more danger, more aggression, more sensationalism; and less substance, less art that explores the deep nature of our existence, less depth in helping us to live lives that care for one another and our natural world. Such is our "star"-filled universe of media productions in which politics has become a horror show. And again, I am not acknowledging that some creative, worth-while productions exist, but rather that our attention span itself appears to be oriented toward the "star"-gazing fascination with distractions of greed and those who manipulate it. 

And so I ask myself, why is it that we human beings are so fascinated with the "stars" and their movements in our movies, sports, preachers, politicians, and executives? But, then again, why not? Consider the fact that most human beings find the night sky fascinating. Even as small children, we delight in looking at the sky -- the changing moon, the shooting stars, the movement of constellations, the designs and patterns the stars make: "the little dipper," "the big dipper," "Aquarius," "Scorpius," "Aries," etc.

The Greek and Roman names of the constellations witness to the human tendency to project meaning upon a surface that compels our interest and attention. In this way, the dramatic characters of our mythological history play out their dramas above our heads and move through the night sky, bringing with them the seasons that rotate through our earth-bound life.

For the young mind, historically as well as biologically, this seeming cause-and-effect relationship enhanced us with a wonder that lingers still. This is so because it is archetypal. The patterns we see in the sky dwelt within us before we projected their "meaning" upon the heavens.

For example, as our Space.com website describes the mythology of Aquarius:

       The Greeks linked this constellation Ganymede, the cupbearer to the gods.
       According to lore, Ganymede was a good-looking young man who was the
       object of Zeus' affection and was brought to Mount Olympus, where he 
       served as cup bearer to the gods and was granted eternal youth.

       Aquarius has also various meanings and associations in other cultures. 
       Babylonian astronomers identified the constellation as representing the 
       god Ea, or "The Great One," which was often pictured with an overflowing
       vessel. In ancient Egypt, the water bearer's jar was said to cause the spring
       overflow of the Nile when it was dipped into the river. The Chinese 
       astronomers viewed the "stream" as soldiers.

In this centuries-old fascination with stars, we see a deep interconnection with human beings and the stars. They serve as points of orientation in our need to find meaning beyond the experience of our existence on earth. The sense of a greater controlling force that moves the stars in established patterns may have meaning for our orientation on earth as well.

And indeed that is the case. In previous centuries, we had only the stars to guide our risky journeys across the oceans, for example. And the stars also proved to be a valuable, trustworthy guide on land as well.

One such example was the experience of southern slaves who had only one guide to orient them in their escape to northern states and Canada. That guide was the North Star. Suspended above the earth, perched on the line that would form an axis from the earth's northern hemisphere into space, Polaris, which we call "the North Star,"remains a constant point over our heads around which the northern sky moves like movement of a clock's hands. While other stars move, rising and setting, the North Star remains in the same spot and thus serves as a directional point.

It was because of this natural, unmoving point in the night sky that run-away slaves could chart their route toward freedom. On December 3, 1847, Frederick Douglas founded a publication called The North Star. Douglas himself was an escaped slave, and his newspaper sounded the theme that not only supported slaves in their escape to freedom, but also helped bring an end to slavery itself. The North Star's slogan is worth recalling:

       Right is of no sex -- 
       Truth is of no color --
       God is the Father of us all
          and all we are Brethren.


With this publication, Douglas creatively merged a natural object -- the star -- along with a human fascination with the inexplicable wonder of the night sky, and an escape of humanity from the degradation of slavery. In doing this, Frederick Douglas helped to make each of us a little more conscious, reminding each of us that we need a North Star to escape the smothering slavery of the spirit that possesses us today and shackles us to the present age's slave masters of greed and "stardom." 

It is these words of Carl Jung that call us to an orientation of our inner psychological, spiritual North Star.

       The more a man's life is shaped by the collective norm, the greater is his
       individual immorality.
 (Collected Works, Vol. 6, para. 762)

The "collective norm" refers to the danger of locating our personal identity and values within a group's mass-mindedness. It is the path of disorientation in which we become vulnerable to the collective psychic epidemics of war, prejudice, and the loss of soul. 
2 Comments
Penelope Ryder
3/8/2022 01:14:52 pm

I was looking for Jung and the North Star connection.

A wonderful find and timely for where humanity is at at this time.

Reply
Gregory Sova
6/18/2024 10:40:51 am

I have just started to watch season 2 of Outer Range. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Range When the North Pole Star came up I recalled that in Jung's psychology it is a coniunctio image with Polaris at its center. The emphasis on 1878 and the Native Americans showing up at times in modern times is evidence of a mass psychosis. But the union of the natural united psyche (Native Americans) with our chaotic times is the theme. The Native Americans thought with their heart. The chakra symbol for the heart is an overlapping upwards and downwards pointing triangle. The upward triangle represents the upper three chakras above the heart chakra in the subtle body and represents CNS (Logos/rational) functioning. The lower three chakras below the heart chakra represents VNS (Eros - instinctual/non-rational) functioning. VNS (Vegetative Nervous System) is known in the West as the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. When Jung met Chief Mountain Lake in 1924 and learned that he thought with his heart - Jung eventually realized moderns are too high up in the head and need to come down to the heart.

I am a theoretical physicist (very high up in the head). So, it was a surprise that aluminum (UFO's appear to be made from aluminum) was considered to be a big secret in my inner visions and dreams. After about 20 years the secret was revealed. It had and atomic number of 13. In the Zodiac, Aquarius is the only constellation having 13 stars. I found this of special interest because Jung sensed that number is the most primitive of all the archetypes and all the archetypes are likely based on number - we just don't know how. This implies that all the constellations in the Zodiac have an element from the Periodic Table.

If you would like to see my further thoughts on number see my little book "The Apport/UFO Mystery; A Symbolic Understanding" (2023).

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    March 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

  • Email: [email protected]
  • Tel: 704-344-1100