By Jupiter!

Life Stories

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Therefore it has always lent itself to an indication of size and importance. Its ten times the size of the earth but it continues to be a gas ball. What was the role of Jupiter in the affairs of the earth? We find some traces of that in the Greek legends and in subsequent portrayals as the ego of man. It was referred to as Jove and thereafter in a Greco-Roman application, came to represent the mighty Zeus.

 

Did the Greeks represent the ego in the way psychoanalytical theory represents it as the manager of the human drives? It would appear that its early usage was in relation to mind, passion and perhaps even the physical object of the human condition, all rolled into one. That would be somewhat similar to the way the Indics represented the experience by referring it to a baby. Science isn't entirely forthcoming on this but it is conceivable that a baby would in that way represent all the qualities of its human condition in one large ball perhaps the size of Jupiter.

 

In the advancement of civilization, man has learnt to differentiate the mind from the passions and the body. Its the instrument of our self understanding and it helps man to relate to another. However in reviewing the way we have viewed the human condition from the past, especially in the way we drew legends, to portray the experience, it makes it easier to encounter the many different views that is thrown up by the passions. It also explains the acrimony we encounter in the many contradictory claims as regards mind of the man.

 

It appears to me that the early bards took the ball of Jupiter and viewed it as a tree, with its roots below, and its canopy covering the circumference of the ball. It was depicted as Freyja of the Vikings and portrayed as the mother of all life, certainly in reference to the potency of the ball as the world and the life of the individual. In subsequent poetic and legendary views, the bards represented Zeus as the son of the mother, but she was renamed as Gaia, or the earth Goddess. Her husband, Kronos, was obviously facing problems of stability before the break took place.

 

As we view the paintings from artists, depicting the portrayal undertaken by the bards previously, we are treated to a visual delight, in the way these Gods are depicted sitting on clouds, nude as a baby, in what came to be represented as heaven in subsequent applications. Its indicative of the state of mind of man, and a closer inspection of the experience would certainly be useful. Today, we are inclined to view such experiences as pre-earth man, at a time when we relied on the stars for a depiction of the state of man and used it to help us cultivate a view.

 

In the advancement of our academic studies and the medical breakthroughs in the understanding of the function of parts of the human constitution, we come to an alternative view of man, very much on earth with social identities, career and professional outlook and the will to view ourselves with regards to our physical life. In cultivating such a view, it returns to encounter the old perceptions of pre-earth and we are in the need to reconcile these with that of previously. However man doesn't appear to have done too much of that.

 

As a result our disposition today creates a separation from the passion-mind of old and fabricates such views consistent with our new studies and live in a state of condition that has a high mobility with regards to the old and the new. We appear to apply no discernment on the matter and are in that way divided in our view of ourselves with regards to our personality. It is possible to separate man from the divine experience and our faiths create a taboo regarding associating the two together, but its not yet a socially conscious view and fathers are constantly sitting with sons to explain why.

All these is leading in these times to a perception of the man that is quite unstable. We appear unsure about anything and keep close to our views to avoid the usual contradictions we encounter in social relations. The issue is a growing problem in societies and we have to take to it to make it clear before it grows into a a new malady that's a mutation from the convolution we experience. Its a problem but man in his intrinsic sense of relation to the issues, be it the passions or mind, is certainly not unmindful about what or where everything is.

 

A mind creates a reliance on facts that is sometimes very powerful in conditions of stress or competitiveness. The passions have always relied on stories as a way of creating a view of life and relating to it. Such stories that are offered as legends by bards constitute an important part of the experience of man. Its what makes us human. However the tendency to dismiss stories and legends as unfounded fabrications, a substitute for opium or a delusional tendency is to miss a big part of the human experience. And thereafter in cultivating political beliefs and social organizations to be more true, these simply crumble over time in the face of human needs for passion and love.

 

Just what is it that we consider are facts in our lives? A review of the experiences finds that we have engaged our will in governance to rename our biases as facts and dismiss any inquiry into the experience by the same will of dismissal. But a real attempt to discover the beginnings of our ego is very revealing as an achievement of greater understanding about ourselves as an individual and by extension that of man in society. For the early bards put in place a device to help man create the conversion of the past to the new. They undertook their work with care and consideration for the future of man and they are not without some strong sympathy for our advancement.

 

The willfulness of the man today is certainly strong and we marvel at why that is so. Certainly as man rises to bring his new knowledge into contact with the old, he will need more that mere willfulness, he'll need a courage he never knew he had. Its therefore important that we save our bravado and volitional natures for ourselves when we confront the truth of the world and universe that lies dormant in us waiting to awake. We will need every ounce of strength we can muster in the true test of what we are as man.