This week, I again explored myths and mystics to understand and pursue genuine wisdom. This piece explores how neoliberal illusions have mythically fragmented the West, leading to a spiritual and communal crisis. By reclaiming myths through Jungian, Gnostic, and metaphysical distillation, we can collectively rediscover pathways to genuine wholeness.

Myths taken and myths birthed. This is the story of an endless cycle of opposing narratives driving full force through altering perceptions of histories and realities. A particular rear-view mirror shattered into a hundred million pieces long ago, along with it fracturing our sense of self. This struggle is never made easy. However, through understanding, we can return to wholeness.

Having lived in the US South my whole life, I’m very familiar with the belief in myth. The stories I heard by the warmth of fire undeniably shaped the person I became as an adult. I taught myself ways to connect with the spiritual, even in an environment shaped by religion. Visits to Cherokee, NC, at a young age to learn and hike helped to ground these myths. The Christian myth collided face-first with the oral traditions I read and witnessed. On Sundays, I was told stories of angels (and my teacher’s miraculous run-ins with such angels), and by Monday, I read creation myths about how deeply connected we are to the earth. But the two rarely met. In this sense, the gap between these stories and their reflective symbolism opened a deeper awareness for me early on.

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It’s funny that after all this time, I most vividly remember one story in particular. My Sunday School teacher, with a straight, intentional tone, detailed to us his encounter with an angel as he was stopped on the roadside. All I remember is his car had some trouble. Rain pouring endlessly, he looked up to see a figure reaching out to help. As the rest of the story goes, of course, a devout Methodist would see the symbolism in such a figure, but this was all too much for our young minds to grasp, and we didn’t talk much of it amongst ourselves since we were all a bit too confused by the encounter. I can’t say I’ve ever personally seen such a figure in waking life myself, but I do believe we are capable of such encounters through dreams and symbolic encounters with nature. Oh, the tales we weave under the guise of myth and spirituality.

Though narratives now live fully in fractured digital spaces, they, too, breathe life into a new flavor of myth given to those who consume them in the form of an illusory communion and an extreme crisis of individualism. Both of which are bleeding with isolation and alienation. This current age is not too different from the explosive Renaissance in the 15th century when some believe this Aquarian curiosity began its diversion out of the Piscean Gnostic Christian myth. These myths were given Western social and spiritual life, in turn shaping the American capitalist accumulation of wealth and growth at all costs, even to its eventual detriment and downfall.

We now observe a split in ourselves: a duality that can only be contained by a cosmic womb to birth a converging information age with a new collective knowing. In other words, what we are beginning to see arise is the alchemical myth, with its symbolism and constellating, is the definitive missing link to the Western Christian religion, connecting transhumanism's desires with a conscious connection to the earth and its people.

This will require a newfound reconnection with the imagination in search of wholeness.

In this piece, I wanted to provide some grounding background to the myths we’ve been told, some we’ve had taken from us, and explore new myths that can ultimately birth creations so currently unknown they can hardly be spoken of.

In my view, myth-making and myth-taking have been and will continue to be strong drivers of telling the story of human flourishing. Meaning-making, while one of the current prevailing narratives challenging our people, becomes less important as the collective unconscious is made whole. This would describe a knowing beyond belief that makes meaning simply the foundation of all understanding.

Myth-taking refers to how dominant ideological structures remove or distort meaningful myths, replacing them with superficial narratives, thereby undermining collective wisdom and spiritual connection.

Myths Taken

Such childhood stories shaped my understanding of myth’s power. Yet, as I grew older, I witnessed how modern society distorts or ‘takes’ these ancient narratives, reducing them to illusions that feed capital-based structures. We discussed this illusion last week with the imagery of the veil of capitalism in the library.

The American people have been myth-taken by a vast body of propaganda and division by the illusory neoliberal ideology for decades. This problem has diseased the nation from the inside out—clawing at every aspect of the false American Dream narrative, predicated on the belief every man has a chance for success. Belief, which has turned so many good intentions into dogma. Therein lies the problem with, and the toxic nature of, acceleration.

Acceleration drives the necessity of “efficiency” for the few at the expense of the many. The myth of optimization without imagination distorts the idea of abundance into a bleeding mess when the people are dry of all resolve.

This myth represents a societal-level inflation of the ego that has long been a measure for disconnection and severing oneself from one's country or, worse, one's neighbor. We then see that individualism under the might of capitalism is the sole reason for systemic inequality. Yet, due to this very intentional market-driven behavior, we see no clear solution or way out without destruction and chaos and nihilism. At least not one way out that doesn’t require bowing at the feet of said purest forms of capitalism.

Here, we examine the deep wounds and two illusory myths self-inflicted upon the West—each of which is repairable with enough foresight and care.

Myth of Productivity

Today, in the US, we are challenged by the myth of productivity and false notions of efficiency by a melding of theocratic, autocratic, and oligarchic behaviors led by billionaires so disconnected from themselves that their inhumane actions tell a transparent story to all who witness.

The modern Western myth of productivity suggests that human worth is measured by one's output and economic contribution. These ideologies, especially held by right-libertarians, share a common directive: the acceleration of capital and technological progress at all costs, driven toward an elusive technological singularity. Contrary to genuine wholeness, this singularity symbolizes a profound fragmentation, where relentless pursuit of growth fractures human identity and communal bonds.

Those with this particular level of power have zero empathy for anyone but themselves.

Accelerationism, evangelicalism, and other painful isms result in the deterioration of empathy. Elon Musk touts a facade of efficiency to claim society has “civilizational suicidal empathy,” which makes little rational sense and is actually quite funny on its face until you understand his motives. You come to see just how vastly out of touch he and his kind truly are. All glaringly obvious at this point, only a little over a month into the second Trump presidency.

Remember: collapse isn’t an end; it’s a transition.

For this reason, the new myth of productivity upends the entire idea of uselessness and usefulness altogether. So, in reality, this is both a myth taken and a myth birthed, showing us a new way of assessing not just value at large but also a new systematic understanding of labor and leisure.

From a Jungian perspective, this myth signifies ego inflation—a psychic imbalance driven by perpetual external validation rather than internal reflection or spiritual harmony. Gnostic teachings similarly critique this relentless drive as an illusion perpetuated by a Demiurgic force, further binding individuals into a state of spiritual ignorance and separation from gnosis (inner knowing).

In Gnostic teachings, Sophia birthed the Demiurge, the tragic embodiment of material existence, a mistake. She represents divine wisdom and is both the cause of our imprisonment and the key to our liberation.

Illusion of Community

The other great illusion that desperately needs a fresh coat of paint is the idea that community can be found online. The hyperreal simulated experience of connection allows a certain trickery that we find meaning, or at very least belonging, in a purely digital space.

However, there are hybrid spaces where connections outside of primary rituals hold space for async communication. Constant grounding for the sake of human-to-human contact will help ease cognitive security as we move forward, both of which are increasingly imperative in an age of parasitic AIs and their warnings. True regular communal gatherings in multiple cities will help provide trust in an era where AI agents increasingly invade online spaces. Therefore, the key is to find spaces that are in-person first and immersive online as a secondary mode of connection. And no, zero-knowledge proofs and digital identity aren’t the solution to this problem for the super nerds reading this.

While digital spaces promise connectivity, they often deliver superficial forms of engagement, creating an “illusion of community" rather than genuine communal bonds. In this sense, simplistic online interactions reinforce individualistic pursuits, performative connectivity, and transactional relationships, accelerating isolationist behaviors and populism.

Unlike digital gatherings, in-person rituals should center on reciprocity, shared storytelling, and embodied interactions that ground participants in mutual trust and authentic spiritual experience. These could no doubt be done through agentic experiences, so long as a shared understanding precludes them.

Jung would see this as a fragmentation of collective psychic wholeness, preventing genuine individuation by promoting surface-level engagement over deeply meaningful rituals.

Similarly, Gnostics would identify this digital illusion as a modern manifestation of Demiurgic deception—binding humanity further into spiritual ignorance under the guise of connectedness. For the Gnostics, too, the path forward lies in rediscovering community rituals and relationships rooted in embodied interaction, mutual care, and spiritual imagination.

Myths Birthed

While countless myths have been taken from our lived experiences and contorted into anti-modernist, unwholesome narratives, and dark patterns, we may also find that new myths appear from their void.

Before we imagine myths for a new era of experience, I find it important to tell of a myth I once imagined for myself.

It wasn’t long after hearing the story of my Sunday school teacher and his encounter with an angel in the rain that I had a strange experience of my own. See, it’s not so difficult to imagine a creative experience if your nose is always in a book or playing alone.

Well, with this encounter on my mind, I guess it really stuck with me then as it continues to be meaningful today. I recall locking myself in a bathroom, staring into my own eyes, leaning over the sink counter into the mirror for what felt like hours. In reality, it was, of course, much shorter, but I must have been in a trance of sorts. As I came to and snapped out of the trance, a feeling overcame me that there must be a parallel universe version of myself that was doing similar things: playing, discovering, reading, writing, all the usual stuff, just… angelic and filled with joy. That was the myth this trance showed me. That things do improve for this other self. It almost felt like I had reached out to the future version of what I would become, or at least that’s how I chose to see it at the time and still do.

I believe we are capable of telling and building new collective myths, even when they’re embarrassing.

Constellating

For this research, I stumbled onto the act of “constellating.” First, through a video series by Galahad Eridanus and, more recently, further reading of Carl Jung’s metaphysical analysis (Severn Sermons to the Dead is good btw, you should read it).

Constellating, in a Jungian sense, involves recognizing and bringing various archetypal or symbolic energies into conscious awareness, allowing us to see how these energies coalesce into our lived myths.

Considering the ways we must filter signal from noise and define dynamic agency for ourselves, the key here will be to learn the art of constellating.

One way I like to relate this practice to something more grounded is through the act of gardening. When planting seeds, you’re not only deciding where to grow and what time of year to sow said seeds. First, you must till and fertilize the soil to prepare a foundation for growth and individuation. The process of constellating is similar. We must deeply understand our archetypes, which, when tended to, may grow into proper modern myths. In this sense, constellating is an active dialogue in which previously invisible patterns are surfaced.

Just like my trance in the mirror-turned-trance-inducing portal, it took constellating to craft a personal myth that kept me moving toward that version of myself.

In practice, constellating for filtering signal from noise works like this

• Nigredo (confusion/noise): represents being overwhelmed by meaningless, conflicting data. Hint: Use an app like Ground News.

• Albedo (clarification): the moment of discerning archetypal themes that hold personal or collective significance.

• Rubedo (integration/signal): successfully integrating those insights into meaningful understanding and action.

Therefore, constellating such myths will require a period of integration or transition, is exactly the focus of these lessons. To build resilience through mental fortitude and prevent cognitive overload, we’ll need these collective myths as guiding stars.

Myth of Integration

One of the other more compelling concepts I encountered is coniunctio oppositorum, the conjunction or union of opposites, which defines the act of integrating fragmented parts into a whole. This concept originates from alchemical symbolism, where the ultimate goal was to unite seemingly incompatible substances (e.g., spirit and matter, sun and moon) into a harmonious whole. In psychological terms, this reflects integrating aspects of oneself or society previously viewed as incompatible or contradictory.

Currently, we exist in a time between two forces: reactionary nostalgia (MAGA, Republicans, e/acc, anti-modernism) and an uncritical embrace of progress (Leftists/progressives, anti-anti-modernism). But there is a third way that’s not centrism or this thing where we have Democrats and Republicans who are only slightly different in their values in a country on a death spiral.

I believe we have these three paths to look after

• Piscean Age: as discussed earlier, this began with the birth of Christ and the spread of religion

• Transitory period: an evolving acceleration of industrialization to the point of automation of individualism and distancing from the collective. This age sees an overlap and great struggle between the two sandwiched eras.

• Aquarian Age: a return to nuance and seeking of wisdom through integrating Gnosis with infinitely adapting technology

The integrative myth of constellating spiritual wisdom (Gnosis) and embracing infinitely intelligent technology will guide us through this third way and into the unknown. However, this integration is predicated on new formative rituals that defy and resist myth-taking behavior. To truly birth ourselves into the cosmic Aquarian womb, we must cultivate authentic imagination.

Conclusion

In a time where attention is all that matters, it’s especially important to seek wisdom since the only way to the other side of these problems we’ve made for ourselves is through.

Though we struggle through a fractured understanding of the “experience economy,” substituting short-lived dopamine hits for fulfillment, we must learn to turn toward collective myth-making. Rent-seeking behavior by those in power will continue to fill our minds with noise and distraction if we continue to neglect or reject new rituals.

Our collective understanding of identity, of the self, and of wholeness all count on these myths.

When in doubt, re-enchant yourself.

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