Thanks to all at ARAS for such a compelling pair of films by Jules Cashford. She reminds us in so many ways how mythology is there to help us imagine the world in all its dimensions. Most importantly, it can provide a new way of seeing our present engagement in the world in a new light: we humans as a part of it, not the center of it.

At the end of the second film, Dr. Singer posed the question that was most likely on the minds of all the listeners: what is the prescription for going forward? What is it we need to do?

The quote from Einstein that professor Cashford mentioned is the signpost towards a response; paraphrased, we cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created them. It requires not only a new way of thinking, but a new way of knowing, or even “not knowing.” This is where the imaginal takes an equal seat at the table along with the intellectual, indeed as she says, imagination is essential to animate the intelligence.

To Dr. Singer’s question, the response is: there is no prescription. The proposition that there might be a “silver bullet” is at the heart of the old way of thinking, based upon oppositional strategies. Instead, the way forward is one of inter-dependance resonant with the new mythopoetic vision. We don’t need a new plan, but a new practice with newly awakened capabilities and sensitivities. In particular, to more fully appreciate our place on this planet, we need to have a deeper feeling for the role we might play.

In this way, our call as a species is not what we might do, but how we might participate. The quality of that participation is what might save us.