Harbingers of Change Images and Archetypes of Imminent Transformation

Abstract

This dissertation explores the archetypal harbinger and the means by which the harbinger connects with the human psyche to communicate an imminent event. Examination of human psycho-physical response to its message is approached from an interdisciplinary method that includes mythology, depth and archetypal psychology, C. G. Jung’s synchronicity principle, biology, ecocriticism, and recent studies in the neurobiology of human consciousness. This approach allows for a greater comprehension of the symbiotic relationship between mind, body, and an ever-changing environment.

A comprehensive analysis of birds as representative of the harbinger will demonstrate where the mythic dimensions of birds as forecasters of the future intersect with their biological sensitivity to imminent changes in the environment. In addition, a critical analysis of three mythic archetypes, Tiresias, Cassandra, and Oedipus is performed in an effort to understand the tendency to ignore or resist the harbinger’s message.

Change is the nature of Nature, and those more attuned to her imminence are better situated to anticipate and plan for an adaptive response. Although technology greatly assists with interpretation, and promises protection from Nature’s more violent shifts, an over-reliance on its implementation isolates us from our own instinctive source. The resulting disconnect from intuition and instinct distorts embodied experience, leaving us susceptible to misinterpreting the harbinger’s message. This vulnerability reflects in the culture as an undercurrent of anxiety that resonates out to affect and taint the surrounding landscape.

The subjects to be explored offer insight into how we, as discrete sentient beings, interconnect in ways that suggest our co-dependence with Nature. Re-establishing our mytho-perspective could influence a holistic approach to technology, leading to nuanced interpretations and sustainably adaptive responses to Nature’s harbingers.