Myth and Today's Consciousness

The image, or persona, to which it is expected one should conform in the new age, whether we call it Aquarian, post- Christian, nuclear, or space, is already revealing itself. It is both more individual and more generalized than its predecessor. The new tide runs strongly against the accidental differences that divide us, like class, nationality and religion, flowing rather with the essential qualities which unite us. Much light has been shed on the nature of these qualities by the twentieth century phenomenon of depth psychology. As a result, we are becoming more sceptical of the prophet and the hero and the guru who claims special knowledge or virtue - or at least we ought to be - and more aware of the shadow that contradicts and counteracts the aspirations of the idealist, more conscious and tolerant of the paradoxical multiplicity of human nature....The gods and their myths are mighty forces which grip the psyche; they are never more dangerous than when they are ignored, repressed or slighted. So this book is very much concerned with religion, Christianity, and the predecessors which it supplanted, and the present state of our relationship with the gods. This is a presumptuous aim which will rely heavily for its fulfillment on a subjective, intuitive assessment of the signs of the times. Particular emphasis will be placed on the need to become more conscious of the deities with whom we appear to be on bad terms. The book is apologetically polytheistic in the same way that the circle of the horoscope contains the signs and the planets and the Tarot deck its multitude of archetypal images. --- excerpts from book's Preface