ARCHETYPES OF NATURE
| Chapter Nine of our book deals with the synchronistic and symbolic impact of the archetypal forces of nature in relationship to humanity. The psychological aspect of man's interaction with earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and volcanoes has a extensive history. In time each of these natural phenomena sections will be expanded. This is just a brief introduction: |
| In ancient
Greek myth Poseidon--LEFT
picture--was not only the god of the sea but also the god of
earthquakes. Black bulls were ritually sacrificed to appease the god and
purge a community of excess hubris.
In modern times excessive hubris by mankind is reflected in over-developed, over-populated high risk quake zones. Such was the case with the 1976 earthquake in Tangshan, China. Tangshan was an industrial miracle--a demonstration of Chairman Mao's great leap forward. The earthquake was one of the most powerful in recorded history measuring 8.3 on the Richter Scale. Within 10 seconds 90% of the city was rubble. The twisted rail tracks CENTER PHOTO are from Tangshan. It took 42,000 workers to rebuild the entire rail system. The 1989 Loma Prieta quake destroyed and damaged many buildings in the Marina District of San Francisco. Built on reclaimed, sandy soil they fell over like a house of cards |
||
 |
 |
 |
| In the ancient world floods were interpreted as a collective problem. Something was out of order in the moral and ethical structure of society. The flooding of the American heartland in 1993 by the Mississippi River also called into play our scientific hubris. A vast network of levees, canals, dams, and dikes created by the Army Corp Of Engineers failed to protect people and their property from the onslaught of the rising water. The ancient wetlands that once surrounded the Mississippi river acted as mother nature's brake system to absorb and stop much of the runoff. Over-development of the Mississippi basin helped propel this situation. The center picture shows the effects of Yangtze River flooding in the Chinese city of Xinghua. | ||
 |
 |
|
| The hurricane is named after the dragon of the
Caribbean, Huracan. He is described as having two arms--one turned up and
one turned down. This gives them the ability to gyrate in circles, thus the
terrifying motion of the Hurricane.
The Satawan tribe of the Caroline Islands in the Pacific uses masks to ward off the storm picture--LEFT. The practical point of this ritual was to protect the breadfruit crop from being destroyed. Ironically, the mask itself was carved from the breadfruit tree which was considered sacred. The computer-generated picture of Hurricane Andrew (below middle) shows Florida on the upper right. The distinctive eye of the hurricane can be seen in the center. The picture-- RIGHT shows what was left of a trailer park after Andrew went through it. In south Miami 80,000 homes were destroyed and 55,000 damaged. |
||
 |
 |
 |
| In 1900, L. Frank Baum
published his classic fairy tale The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. Forty years
later MGM
made a musical based on Baum's story, but adding a few details to the plot.
In our book we delineate the deeper psychological meaning behind
the phenomena of tornadoes and discuss the characters and their symbols. The movie still LEFT shows the OZ tornado. The CENTER photo shows a very rare tornado in Miami, Florida (although city tornadoes are becoming more common). The photo RIGHT is from Griffin, Indiana. On March 18th, 1925 a very fast moving and strange tornado ripped through three mid-western states (Missouri, Illinois and Indiana) and earned the name Tri-State Tornado. |
||
 |
 |
 |
| In almost all of the world's mythic literature the archetypal activity of the volcano is described as giants living or imprisoned deep within a mountain. On the Island of Hawaii it is said that just before an eruption is about to occur that the volcano goddess Pele stamps her feet in Kilauea. One of the ancient legends has it that an old woman is seen just before an eruption. Hence the saying, "...never abuse an old woman...she might be Pele. However, most modern artists portray her as a beautiful young goddess. The painting RIGHT Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele is by Hawaiian artist Herb Kane. | ||
 |
 |
|
Links: http://volcano.und.nodak.edu