“The period—we must note—was that of the fanatic cutting down of the Old Germanic sacred shrines and groves by the early Christian mission (Boniface, the first Archbishop of Mainz, 732)—which…produced in the European psyche a mythic schizophrenia…that is deeply with us still….”— Joseph Campbell, Oriental Mythology

Oh why harp on this over and over?

Why? Because it is all around us still. Stifling creativity, stunting growth, and hindering humanity’s transition to the next level.

Imagine a man/woman lying on a psychologist’s couch, incapable of experiencing life to the fullest. Trammeled inwardly due to some blockage in the psychic stream flowing towards fully functional adulthood.

Outwardly, there is the appearance of maturity. But it is an ego-abetted illusion. A mask disguising insufficiency and painstakingly guarded vulnerability.

Every act in the world becomes an evasion of self. Every accomplishment a further barrier to a genuine reacquaintance with being.

Until the breakdown occurs. That’s when the damned up psychic stream breaches the banks and floods over the neighboring fields and towns—washing away the personality, undermining the ego’s achievement.

On the psychologist’s couch the man/woman begins the laborious journey upstream, against the current, to find and hopefully dismantle the original blockage and free up the waters once more for a healthy, unimpeded flow.

Perhaps, as Campbell alludes, humanity too need recline on the couch and paddle its metaphorical way upstream, discovering and removing various blockages that have hobbled our progress… to ourselves.