“God is Dead.” Friedrich Nietzsche “Nietzsche is Dead.” God PPenelope blinked her eyes and pulled back. “What in the world do I have to do with the Fourth Awakening?” A sly smile covered Michael Walker’s face. “We’ll get to that in a few minutes. Right now we need to get you up to speed on the current Awakening. This will be right down your alley with lots of who, what, where and when’s. You want to speculate on why we have so much information about the most recent Awakening?” “I have no idea.” “Come on. Humor me. There are always huge changes after a new Awakening. What do you think was one of the big ones between the Second and Third Awakenings? I’ll give you a hint, it’s your bread and butter.” Penelope drew in a breath and stared out the window of the Bronco at the West Virginia countryside as it whizzed by. Suddenly her eyes fl ew wide open. “Oh my God!” 144 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin “I thought you could get there all by yourself.” “Written language! You’re right, that is a huge change.” “Precisely,” Walker answered, beaming. “Unfortunately it also created some new problems.” “What kind of problems?” “After the Sumerians began to write on clay tablets, the dominant cultures of the time saw an opportunity.” “What kind of opportunity?” “The Chinese and the Egyptian were neck and neck in developing the first written language but the folks in power intentionally made this new media diffi cult to learn.” “Why?” “By limiting literacy to the ruling classes it helped protect their status. We’ve seen this type of thing repeated in different ways time and time again throughout history.” “So you’re saying that there are people who will exploit an Awakening for personal gain?” “Absolutely. The Egyptian scribe class was incredibly powerful and secretive; which is unfortunate since they didn’t leave any directions on how to translate all those hieroglyphics they created. That has been driving Egyptologists crazy for centuries. In China there are still over 47,000 characters in their alphabet with 4,000 in regular use. All of this was clearly designed to protect those already in power. Fortunately for the rest of us the suppression of emerging knowledge by ruling elites never works for very long.” “What does that mean?” “Around 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, right at the beginning of the Th ird Awakening, it became clear a more universally understood written language that wasn’t controlled by the elites was needed. This is when we saw the emergence of various Semitic languages, primarily Aramaic. Th ey lead to the Greek alphabet and the rest is, as they say, history.” “That’s interesting,” Penelope said as she mulled over Walker’s latest epiphany. “So the genie was out of the bottle and there was no way for the ruling classes to keep it to themselves forever.” “Precisely,” Walker answered with a nod. “That would be one of those rough edges of an Awakening that can sometimes take a while to smooth off. Even after a written language became available, because of the high 145 The Fourth Awakening cost of producing the manuscripts it was still limited to the wealthy, religious and well educated classes. This didn’t start to change until around 600 years ago…” “Gutenberg’s Bible,” Penelope interrupted. “Precisely,” Walker answered as he nodded his approval. “That is also a perfect example of the time it can take for an Awakening to smooth itself out. It took us 2,500 years to go from alphabetic words to movable type printing presses.” “Hmm,” Penelope muttered under her breath as she pondered this latest nugget of wisdom from Michael Walker. Some of his theories were too fantastic to take seriously while others had an implicit logic that was difficult to deny. This was going to be a challenging story to write. As if reading her mind, Walker gave her a moment to process this new information. When he saw her shoulders relax, he continued. “Another big issue that arose with the written word is that it requires the use of mutually agreed upon symbolic language. This means the language and the descriptions they produce are subject to interpretation and are run through the filter of each individual’s experiences and prejudices.” “Sounds like the deconstruction theory that was rampant when I was in college,” Penelope said. “Exactly,” Walker said with a nod of appreciation. “Suppose an ancient Egyptian scribe drew a hieroglyph he wanted to represent a tree. Someone else may see it as “shade” and another person as “fruit” and a third may see it as a symbol of summer. Symbolic language is subject to individual interpretation. Communication can be like the old game of “telephone” we used to play as kids. You tell someone something and they pass it on then they pass it on. After the fourth or fi fth telling it sounds nothing like the original.” “Like two different people can read the same poem and come away with completely diff erent messages.” “Or no message at all. It comes down to the way the individual interprets the symbolic language and how receptive they are to the idea. If you think about it for a moment, all of your thoughts revolve around symbols. While the changes a new Awakening brings are always easier to see in hindsight; it appears we may be heading to a new era where a non-symbolic understanding becomes the standard.” “You’re making words up again, aren’t you?” 146 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin Walker laughed. “Of course I am but that doesn’t make it any less valid. Besides, people do it all the time. Globalization, e-mail, aerobicized, pop tarts, SPAM. The list is nearly endless. ” Penelope chuckled and shook her head. She hadn’t enjoyed a conversation this much in years. Walker had the ability to challenge her intellectually with a good natured calmness she found comfortable. “If you had to write the definition for non-symbolic for Webster’s, how would it read?” “You really can’t, because that would require symbols. But, people have been trying their best to write about and explain non-symbolic understanding for thousands of years. The concept is probably most familiar to you as enlightenment.” “Enlightenment? You’re kidding. Are you trying to tell me that the next phase of humanity will involve all of us becoming enlightened?” Walker shrugged but didn’t answer. “You’re on a roll now. You want to take a shot at figuring out the key elements of the Th ird Awakening?” “Sure.” Penelope curled up in the seat with her feet under her like a cat. “How many key elements am I looking for?” “Two.” “Just two? That’s hardly your style.” “Think big picture here. Another hint. We’re still in the adjustment period for the Th ird Awakening.” “What does that mean?” “They are still the two most important things shaping our world today.” “That dramatically limits the field.” Penelope drew in a deep breath through her nose and allowed it to slowly escape between her lips. “Considering your disdain for Washington I am going to guess politics is not one of them.” “Different forms of government come and go and politicians always think they are more important than they really are.” “Okay. Not politics.” Penelope rubbed her chin as she thought out loud. “Economic systems aren’t important enough.” “Right.” “What’s been around for the past 3,000 years?” Penelope’s eyes fl ew open. “Is it that simple?” “Yup.” 147 The Fourth Awakening “Oh my!” Penelope’s eyes danced as she pondered the possibilities. “Nothing conflicts with your revered who, what, when, where, and why?” Penelope’s mind continued to race as she mentally thumbed through every book and article she had ever read before she absently shook her head. “Not yet.” “Excellent. Now if we can just get you over the final hump of realizing we are all connected through thought…” “Slow down, Skippy,” Penelope said as her eyes focused back on Walker. “While I will grant that you have an interesting theory here; I wouldn’t start fitting me for my choir robes just yet. I have a few more questions.” “Okay.” “First off, I’m not even sure we’re talking about the same stuff . What do you think are the two most important elements of the Th ird Awakening?” “You fi rst.” A heavy silence settled over the Bronco as Penelope folded her arms across her chest and glared at Walker. “Why do I have to go fi rst?” Walker shrugged. “We are on the cusp of…” “Stop. STOP! You win.” Penelope shook her head in resignation. “Th e two key elements of the Third Awakening are Religion and Science.” “Give the lady from Charleston full marks. In the last 3,000 years we have seen the decline of the ancient faiths and rituals and the emergence of every major modern religion. Also, as the grip of religion has waned, the power of science has grown at an amazing rate. These twin pillars are, for better or worse, what hold up modern society.” “None of this supports your core argument that we are all connected through thought,” Penelope said with a sigh. “Did you know that between 800 BC and 400 BC, all around the world there was a religious explosion? This is when the key events in the Old Testament occurred, from which emerged Judeo/Christian beliefs. At the same time Taoism was being followed by Confucianism in China. The same was happening with Shintoism in Japan, and Hinduism and Buddhism in India, and later Islam.” “Your point being?” “If we are not connected by thought, how did all of these simultaneous religious explosions happen?” “Surely you can see the logical fallacy,” Penelope said with a dismissive 148 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin wave of her hand. “You’re starting from a false premise that we are all connected through thought then using that to draw a conclusion.” “What’s false about it?” “Your job is to convince me that you are right. It’s not my job to convince you that you are wrong.” “Fair enough,” Walker answered. “Let’s try another one. Let’s go back to art.” Penelope nodded her agreement. “In the early days of Greek art they made some spectacular vases.” “Okay.” “At precisely the same moment the Jomon Culture in Japan and the people on the Korean peninsula were creating nearly identical work.” “Sorry,” Penelope answered. “We’re running in circles here, Michael. Without some sort of concrete proof I’m more inclined to go with coincidence, unknown trade channels, or some other logical argument over your psychic connection theory.” “I didn’t expect this to be easy,” Walker said with a smile. “Your pigheadedness is a refreshing change.” “What does that mean?” Penelope demanded. “Usually I have this type of conversation with someone who is sitting on the edge of their chair hanging on my every word. These are people who want to believe me; sometimes are desperate to believe me.” “Sorry,” Penelope said with a substantially less than sincere laugh. “I guess I’m just not one of your Awakening groupies.” “No, you’re not. That’s why you’re perfect.” “Perfect?” Penelope said as she pulled further away from Walker. “Th at’s a bit of a reach.” “What I meant,” Walker said with his usual calmness. “Is that you are the perfect person for me to be talking to right now. If I can fi gure out how to reach you and make you understand; then together we’ll be able to reach the world.” “You are a very odd man,” Penelope said while shaking her head. “Th anks.” Penelope didn’t bother to correct him; she was lost too deeply in thought. For about five minutes they rode in silence as she mentally poked and jabbed at everything Walker had told her. She had to admit a lot of it made sense, but that’s the way con men hook you. They bury a lie within a kernel of truth. She glanced over and studied hi............