CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.” Eugene Ionesco “That sounds pretty ominous.” Walker laughed. “The Fourth Awakening is a natural progression in human development and shouldn’t be feared or misunderstood. One of the reasons we sought you out was because you could explain what is going on in language that could be understood by the average person on the street.” “You win, we’ll do background first, but I want to establish a few ground rules.” “Such as?” “No psychobabble or New Age gibberish. I want the fi ve “W’s. Who, what, when, where and why.” “I can work with that.” “I’m not done. I need verifiable facts, and not opinions or interpretations based on divine intervention or the reading of tea leaves.” “Fair enough.” “One more,” Penelope said with a sideways glance. “If I ask a direct question, could you at least pretend to give me a direct answer?” A broad smile broke across Walker’s face. “Just because you haven’t understood an answer doesn’t mean it wasn’t direct.” “I thought your goal was to reach as broad an audience as possible? If it is too dense for me to translate then we’re both wasting our time.” 133 The Fourth Awakening “Fair point,” Walker answered with a sigh. “I’ll try to rein in my enthusiasm. If I lose you anywhere, let me know.” Walker waited for an acknowledgement, which he got in the form of a nod, before continuing. “We are on the cusp of the Fourth Awakening of mankind…” Penelope chuckled softly. “Here we go.” “What now?” “How many times have you practiced this?” “Is it that obvious?” “Oh yeah.” “What was the giveaway?” “You used the exact same phrase a minute ago and for the fi rst time since I met you, it sounded like you were reading off of a teleprompter. Why the prepared speech?” “It is critical that you grasp the historical perspective. Without an understanding of what happened previously will be difficult to fully grasp what’s happening now. We need you to see the big picture.” “You’ve obviously given this a lot of thought, and you did buy me a nice dinner.” Penelope leaned back in her seat and folded her arms across her chest. “The least I can do is listen to your little presentation. Please, proceed.” Walker glanced sideways at Penelope and cleared his throat. “We are on the cusp of the Fourth Awakening of mankind. During these transition periods the entire fabric of societal structures changes and a new way of thinking emerges that is completely revolutionary and results in the abandonment of old ideas and methods of functioning both individually and collectively making it impossible to ever return to the old way of thinking.” Walker glanced over at Spence and saw that she was staring at him with her mouth open. “What?” he asked. “Who wrote this for you?’ “I did, with the help of some of the academics at the Hermes project.” “Academic, huh? That explains it.” “Explains what?” “I don’t think I’ve heard a sentence that long since college. It does show you are absolutely right about one thing.” “What would that be?” “If that’s the best you can come up with; you guys really need some help telling your story.” 134 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin “If you think this is bad,” Walker said with a laugh. “You should have heard some of the earlier draft s.” Penelope shivered slightly. “I’ve run across tons of people who believe that just because they got over 700 on their English SAT when they were seventeen it automatically made them the next Hemingway.” “I’ve seen some of that first hand recently,” Walker answered. “What do you suggest?” “Since I’m a reporter, we could try the interview format. I ask a few questions. We’ll see if you have it within your powers to give me some straight answers. Which, by the way, the jury is still out on.” “Hmm,” Walker answered as he fixed his eyes on the road. “Oh, don’t get pouty,” Penelope said as she rested her hand on Walker’s arm. “I’ll make you a deal. We try it my way for awhile and I’ll promise to read every word of your little speech.” “And view the PowerPoint?’ “Yes, I’ll even watch the PowerPoint.” “Okay. Where do you want to start?” “You claim the Fourth Awakening is upon us; since this is all new to me you’ll need to define what constitutes an Awakening.” “I thought I just did.” “Let’s try it again, maybe with punctuation this time.” “Okay. An Awakening occurs whenever there is a major shift in people and the way they view the world around them.” “For example.” “For example when humanity moved from compact familial groups of hunter gathers to the first non-family based small farming communities. From there we moved to even more complex social orders such as city and nation states. Once you’ve gone from a cave to a hut to indoor plumbing, there is no going back.” “I guess there is a certain logic to that. Why do you call them Awakenings?” “Are you a morning person?” “Yes. Annoyed the heck out of the rest of the family. My ex-husband was one of those three cups of coffee before you can talk to me kind of guys. Why?” “That’s a perfect example.” “Perfect example of what?” 135 The Fourth Awakening “Of one reason I decided to call it an Awakening.” Penelope sighed and shook her head. “We were running along fi ne there for a few minutes then suddenly you go off the rails again.” Walker laughed and a broad grin covered his face. “The point is people wake up at different rates. Some bounce out of bed at their best while others have to shake off the cobwebs. Some wake up at the crack of dawn while others sleep in until noon. This is exactly what happens in an Awakening. There is an adjustment period before everyone gets on the same page.” “Oh,” Penelope said while shaking her finger at Walker. “I get it. Some people take longer to adjust to the dawning of a new day than others.” Walker continued on. “The big question, as you have so artfully pointed out, is how to put this into language that will resonate with the most people. Some of the folks at the compound wanted me to use the currently accepted names for the eras but I didn’t think it would fl y with the general public. ” “Currently accepted by whom?” “Some of the most enlightened minds of our time.” “I suppose that would include you?” Walker shrugged but didn’t answer. Penelope thought for a moment then asked, “Out of morbid curiosity what did these enlightened minds call these eras?” “Th e first era, pre-200,000 BCE, is referred to as the Archaic Structure. After the First Awakening came the Magical Structure which was followed by the Mythical Structure…” “Ha!” Penelope said with a short laugh. “I guess these folks were all Beatles fan.” “Where did that come from?” “Sounds like you guys were having your own personal Magical Mythical tour.” “You have a very interesting thought processes.” “Th anks.” Walker grimaced slightly. “That wasn’t a compliment.” They both laughed. “With that level of verbal craftsmanship,” Penelope said. “I can’t imagine why you guys don’t have people knocking down your doors begging for more.” “Actually there is a large body of supporting work and some truly outstanding books on this subject. Jean Gebser’s The Ever Present Origin. 136 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin Allan Combs’ The Radiance of Being. Ken Wilber’s Up fr om Eden. I’ll get you a reading list if you’d like.” “Maybe later. Did they help with your little prepared remarks?” “I wish,” Walker said while shaking his head. “Gebser is dead so unless we have a séance he’s not available. As for the others, with every spy agency in the world looking for the Hermes Project we didn’t dare try to contact them. I was afraid to even go through Walker Industries’ PR department. Th at left me with a bunch of lab rats and PhD physicists to help me write this. ” “Oh my. Do you think Combs and Wilber could have done better?” “Absolutely. When you read their stuff you’ll understand. Th ey are gifted writers who could have put this into language that even a reporter could understand.” “Hey!” Penelope said in mock protest. Walker shot Penelope a knowing glance but didn’t reply. Puzzled, Penelope asked, “What was that look for?” “When you read their work, you’ll understand. “Whatever,” Penelope said. “I think your instincts are spot on about using the Awakening language over the era structure thingy. That’s a very elegant way of describing all of this.” “Excellent.” “What kind of a time-frame are we looking at for these Awakenings to completely take hold?” “It can be hundreds if not thousands of years.” “Thousands of years?” “Yes. After the first Awakening the adjustment period was over 100,000 years.” “Really? Why so long?” “There are a lot of factors that can affect the amount of time it takes for an Awakening to be fully engaged. While the progress is always ongoing, environment, weather, geography, food supply and other outside forces have always played a role in human development. Plus, there is the inherent nature of the Awakenings themselves.” “What does that mean?” “Around the time everyone is just getting used to the current Awakening, the next one starts and the cycle repeats itself.” “The early risers are on a different page than the night owls?” “Essentially that’s correct. Everyone develops at their own pace.” 137 The Fourth Awakening “I see,” Penelope said as she rubbed her chin. “What happened 200,000 years ago that merited the First Awakening?” “That was when Homo sapiens are thought to have emerged in East Africa.” “I guess that would qualify as a pretty big change.” Walker nodded. “Progress in human development was pretty slow back then. It took around 150,000 years before the next Awakening and that is when things started to get interesting.” “Interesting?” “Are you familiar with Joseph Campbell?” “Are you kidding? I went to an Ivy League college when he was in his heyday. I stood in the rain for two hours to get tickets to hear him speak.” “Excellent,” Walker said as he nodded his approval. “Then just imagine this Second Awakening being the canvas he used as the background for his Power of the Myth theory. Spoken language emerged during the time of the early shamans, and great myths were told around the campfi re. For the fi rst time, early humans became self aware and while still considering themselves a part of nature they understood they were somehow diff erent.” “What does that mean?” “We began to explore our spiritual side through myth and the creation of Gods and other unseen forces to explain things we didn’t yet understand. Most importantly we became aware of our own mortality. We started to fear death and began to seek a deeper understanding of the cycle of life and how it applied to us.” “How did you conclude that?” “We started to develop increasingly complex rituals of burying our dead to prepare them for the aft erlife.” “Your proof ?” “We moved from simple burial sites during the First Awakening to those big pointy things in the deserts in Egypt in the Second. I would say that is a pretty impressive progression.” “Pointy things? Th e pyramids?” “Sure. The ancient Egyptians are thought to have believed the soul would survive as long as the body survived. The body was preserved and wrapped in linen in case the owner happened to return for it later. They put food and gold in with the mummies in case they got hungry or 138 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin needed cash. Have you ever heard of the terracotta army in China at the grave of the first emperor?” “I’ve seen that in person. It’s amazing.” “A very different burial ritual but easily on the same scale as the pyramids.” “Interesting.” “Interesting indeed. But without an incredible number of things happening around 14,000 years ago we probably wouldn’t be here talking.” “I’ll bite. What happened 14,000 years ago?” “In the middle of the Second Awakening the last great ice age ended and we had the perfect storm for human development.” “And?” “And, people were physically and mentally in position to take advantage of it.” “Take advantage of what?” “As the planet warmed it became much more hospitable for human development. Early humans were able to plant crops and keep livestock which allowed for larger fixed population centers. As the food supply grew and became more predictable there was a population explosion in Homo sapiens just as our primary rivals disappeared.” Penelope made a face and slowly shook her head. “Do you work at being obtuse or is that just your default mode?” “What?” Walker asked. “Who were our rivals?” “During the Second Awakening,” Walker answered. “Homo sapiens were one of three high intelligence species. The Neanderthals vanished around 30,000 years ago and Cro-Magnon became extinct right around the time of the great thaw.” “Do you think early Homo sapiens did them in?” Walker shrugged. “What exactly caused their demise is the subject of great debate but as always the winners get to write the history books. Th e romantic theory is the smarter more nimble Homo sapiens squeezed out first the dumb lumbering Neanderthals then the Cro-Magnon. You can still see that theory everyday in bad insurance ads on television. Considering that Cro-Magnon had nearly the same brain capacity as us and was bigger and stronger, it is impossible to say what happened. Th e key point is Homo sapiens were ready to seize the opportunity. And they 139 The Fourth Awakening did.” Walker smiled and glanced over at Penelope with a twinkle in his eyes. “More importantly, we had the first irrefutable proof that we’re all connected through thought.” “What is your irrefutable proof ?” “Art for one…” “Art?” “Yes. Art is always a good indicator of an Awakening firmly taking hold. In the middle of the Second Awakening we saw rudimental art in the form of cave drawings and crude fi gurines.” “Where is your proof ?” “The famous Chauvet and Lascaux caves in France. Th e Aboriginal Ubirr wall art in Australia. There was the Pachmari Hills in India. Th e Apollo 11 and Wonderwerk Caves in southern Africa. Fell’s Cave at the tip of South America. Is that enough for you?” Penelope looked at Walker and shrugged. “Enough of what?” “All of this art was produced at roughly the same time and all are very similar. How do you explain people in every corner of the world who didn’t even know the others existed all having the same thought at roughly the same time if we’re not all connected in some way?” Penelope rubbed her chin again. “It could have been a coincidence,” she said without much conviction. “That was my third choice right behind an alien invasion populating the planet,” Walker said with a laugh. “Plus there are many others.” “Such as?” “Metallurgy, ship building, planting and harvesting crops, and astrology to name a few. They all emerged at around the same time worldwide in roughly the same forms. During the last part of the Second Awakening the changes in mankind were stunning. In only a few thousand years humans went from grunting cave dwellers living in small groups to building city-states and writing epic poems. Completely independent of each other, many cultures around the world went through their own Bronze Age and Iron Age at approximately the same moment. This is a clear example of the universal consciousness.” The look on Penelope’s face told Walker she was not convinced. “So you’re saying some kind of universal light bulb suddenly clicked on 14,000 years ago?” “It was already on; it just got a whole lot brighter. That’s what happens 140 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin when there is an Awakening; everything changes. Something triggers the change but it can take centuries for all of the rough edges to be smoothed away. From a purely clinical perspective, emerging humans had the brain capacity for hundreds of thousands of years for this type of development but, in my opinion, it took a change in the global climate to trigger the event.” “So,” Penelope said with a sideways bemused glance. “You’re saying this Second Awakening was caused by Global Warming?” Walker chuckled and shook his head. “Considering the amount of emotion in that phrase these days, I don’t think I would call it Global Warming. But, that is essentially correct. Plus there were internal changes in humans.” “Such as.” “No longer having to live a hand to mouth existence, we began to turn inward and became more spiritual. As we tried to understand our place in the universe we saw the emergence of a shaman or priest class that was held in high regard in these new social structures. Elaborate rituals were created. Cats started liking us…” “Cats? What?” “Until this period, cats wouldn’t have anything to do with humans. That was a big step in our evolution.” “Cats?” “Yes.” Penelope’s mouth opened, but she thought better of it and motioned for Walker to continue. “Cats are some of the most instinctive animals on the planet. When they sensed that we had changed, they started to allow us to live with them.” “Allowed us to live with them?” “You’re not a cat person then?” “No.” “Ahh.” “Ahh, what?” “Something else you’ll have trouble understanding.” “Cats?” “You don’t choose a cat, a cat chooses you.” “I see. Cats. Anything else?’ “Yes. Humans discovered time.” Penelope closed her eyes and scratched her forehead as she tried to 141 The Fourth Awakening compose her next thought. “So, let me get this straight, you’re telling me you believe time did not exist until around 14,000 years ago?” “Of course it existed, but time wasn’t understood in the same way we perceive it. The hunter gatherers noted the things that were important to them but mostly lived in their present moment. After the Second Awakening humans became much more aware of the past and future, which is no minor development. For example, like any agricultural based society, the Egyptians needed to know when to expect the annual flooding of the Nile. They noticed a few days before the spring fl oods that Sirius, the Dog Star, was visible just before sunrise. Based on that they devised a 365 day stellar calendar sometime around 4,300 BCE that was reasonably accurate even by modern standards. They also used a lunar one for ceremony and festivals the same way we do today.” “What do you mean the same way we do?” “Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon following the equinox. The same logic applies to Jewish high holidays and Islamic Holy Days. That’s why the dates change every year, to correspond with the moon.” “Interesting.” “Plus the entire social structure changed. Hunter gathering societies were largely family based. Farming brought the first small settlements that placed importance on what someone could do rather than who they were related to. Not only were the groupings increasingly larger, we saw the ascension of Pharos, Emperors and Kings who were oft en considered to be the direct descent of God. This was a huge change.” “Hmm,” Penelope said as a frown twisted her mouth downward. “What?” Walker asked. “These are some awfully big leaps of faith based on some pretty sketchy facts.” “Such as?” “The universal thought thing. That’s a bit hard to swallow.” “Why?” “Suppose it is snowing. It wouldn’t take a collective consciousness to tell me to put on a coat. There are some things that people are just naturally going to do.” “I agree.” “Really? That’s a fi rst.” 142 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin “Sure,” Walker said with a quick laugh. “That’s because it is a perfectly natural progression. It takes everyone a while to get their head around this concept. Just keep asking yourself why do people in different parts of the world keep making the same discoveries, all around the same time? As we move along I’ll give you some more examples for you to try to rationalize away.” Penelope gave Walker a playful punch in the shoulder. “I have to admit this is an interesting way of looking at things.” “Good,” Walker answered. “Then we’re making some headway here. Plus this has been fun.” “I guess that depends on your definition of fun.” “Come on,” Walker answered shaking his head in disbelief. “Front page of the Post. Help breaking a lunatic out of prison. Getting your house blown up.” Walker motioned toward the blond wig Penelope was still wearing. “New hairdo. What more could anyone ask for?” Penelope self-consciously adjusted the hair piece. “You are a certifi able nut job.” “Th anks.” “Wasn’t a compliment.” Walker shrugged. “All of that was just the warm up act. This is where it really gets interesting.” “Do tell.” “Around 3,000 years ago we had the Third Awakening. From now on we’ll be talking about stuff you already know, or think you know, just presented in a manner you probably had never considered. Since you’ve studied history and have a quick mind we won’t need to go into great detail. What I’ll need you to do is start thinking of the facts you learned in school and look at how they support my theory of the Awakenings. If you can do that then all of this will start to make sense.” “Where’s the fun part?” “The adjustment period for the Third Awakening is almost over and it’s time for the Fourth Awakening. That’s why you’re here.”