Intellectualism & The Intellect: The Modern-Day Fool's Gold

Just as our planet goes through climatic cycles, so too we can become aware of the fact that the collective consciousness of humanity also goes through cycles of its very own. These cycles are occurring for us all at an individual level, but as we are all part of a much larger collective, it holds that this larger collective must also be going through this same process, and therefore cycles of its very own. These cyclical periods, if observed consciously, reveal to us certain trends that are unfolding within that collective, which could typically be thought of as ‘themes’; each theme being related to its own cycle. 

With some effort and intention placed towards realising the ‘theme’ of a cycle it gradually becomes more visible to us, as the principles upon which that cycle are built come more clearly into our perception. It is often the case that we will find that the phenomenal events and experiences unfolding within these cycles become increasingly intense as the cycle proceeds, building up to some sort of crescendo. The culmination of that crescendo will often result in the key principles of that theme becoming resolved. It is the intense nature of the events and experiences occurring at the peak of the cycle which means that various issues which are part of that theme can simply no longer be ignored anymore.

A more sensitive or contemplative individual will become aware of the nature of these themes far sooner then others in the same collective. It is their sensitivity which makes it seem as though they are able to, in some way, ‘predict the future’, because it allows them to become aware of the key active principles which exist at the foundation of all of the events that subsequently play out as a part of that cycle. The ‘crescendo’ of any of these cycles is typically represented by some unresolved conflict that exists within the collective becoming highlighted in our collective awareness through the unfoldment of a set of events or experiences. It is not always the case that the crescendo in the cycle must be reached for some resolution to come about, but this is more often then not the case.

Once the events from this crescendo have been internally realised, the root cause of the conflict becomes fully internally realised by the collective. These root causes can be based on the same, or very similar, principles and yet look completely different in the way that they phenomenologically manifest. In other words, the same active principle and cycle can look very different depending on what particular aspect of society we are looking at its manifestation in. For example, the root cause of a conflict which becomes more pronounced in the sciences will often appear to look very different from that same root cause being expressed as a crisis in an artistic movement contemporaneously. 

Therefore, it is often far more beneficial for our own development for us to focus on understanding the root causes of these cycles, because we will then be able to identify and understand any of the conflicts we look at within society, regardless of which aspect of society we look at. We can use the image of a hand with its five separate fingers to help us understand the point that is being made here. The active principle and the cycle are like the hand, it is something which is connected to all of the fingers. That cycle and active principle made manifest as events in different areas of society are like the fingers; each one of them appearing to be different, but importantly all finding their root in that same common hand. Although these fingers are all connected to that same hand, they can all be moved independently of each other, which is what makes them appear to be separate from one another to an observer who is not aware of the hand.