The Turning of the Age

The New Age is running a little bit behind schedule. In the 1960s, it seemed to those in the radical counterculture that the Age of Aquarius was dawning, that within a few short years we would live in a world without war, without borders, without money. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Instead of the Age of Aquarius, we got the age of Ronald Reagan, the “me generation,” the War on Terror, continued ecological degradation, the moral, social, and political decay of the West, rampant depression and addiction, increasing polarization of wealth, deteriorating health, intensifying social division, and an accelerating slide toward a crypto-fascist totalitarian corporatist state which waves a progressive banner as it consolidates its control through technologies of surveillance, censorship, and narrative management.

Given the betrayal of the promise of the 1960s, it is no wonder that the term “New Age” turned into an insult. One might well be cynical hearing any talk, at this late date, of a turning of the age.

That cynicism finds further support in the unredeemed millenarian fantasies that have repeated themselves through the centuries. From Christian predictions of an imminent return of Jesus, to Hindu ideas of a new golden age to succeed the current Kali Yuga, to the dreams of Industrial Revolution utopians who were sure that the Age of the Machine would soon bring leisure, peace, and plenty to earth, the myth of a New Age has taken many forms over history. Yet here we still are.

Nonetheless, the myth still retains an undiminished potency despite its repeated failure to manifest in reality. It says that the human condition that we have known for thousands of years of civilization can change. Only misinterpreted does it say that the New Age will just happen to us, carrying us passively into a more beautiful future. Correctly interpreted, the New Age myth illuminates a possibility to which we can give our lives. In return, we receive a sense of meaning and purpose.

Perhaps, then, the failure of a New Age to manifest is the result of our unreadiness to give ourselves sufficiently to it. It doesn’t just happen. We have to choose it. But it is available to choose. Paradoxically, that availability swings closer each time civilization hits a new crisis that reveals how far away from it we are. Because the New Age is not the triumphant culmination of the “progress” of the current age. It expresses an entirely different story of the world, a different story of the human being, a different story of the self, and a different story of what is real. That is why it can be born only through a dissolution of the old.

Art: “Return of Viracocha” by Drew Brophy

This is the backdrop for the program I’m launching called The Turning of the Age, which I describe in this video. My intention is to support the transition process from an old story, through the space between stories, into a new story. That includes support on the personal level of that transition (as it affects all aspects of life) and also support to be a more effective contributor to the transition on the collective level.

The program centers around a monthly live call: The More Beautiful World Progress Report, which chronicles Earth’s evolution toward “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible,” plus a live Q&A session the following week. These reports each bring together some or all of the following elements:

• Meta-political commentary

• Off-the-radar events of global significance

• “Sign of the times” stories

• Developments in conventional and alternative science & technology

• Earth changes: ecological illness and healing

• Newly emerging and dying myths

• Insights from astrologers, channels, and mystics

• Guided meditation/prayer

To help integrate and apply the information in the live call, my amazing former wife Patsy has put together a team to host and support the following on our network:

• Post-event discussions hosted by moderators and member-organized discussion rooms

• Moderated discussion forums

• Smaller groups, including action groups and reflection groups.

• Incubators for member projects

• Thematic and regional member groups (cx. Being with Grief, Interbeing for Artists, Health Freedom, Conversations on Death, Star Talk, Parenting in the New Story.)

• Member-hosted events (Virtual and in-person)

Most of these are already well established, as they carry over from my previous program, the Sanity Project, and the New and Ancient Story network we created several years ago. You don’t have to participate in any of them to join The Turning of the Age and watch the livestreams, but they are available for those who want them.

The Turning of the Age is a subscription program. You can choose the subscription fee that feels right, clear, and appropriate to you, that reflects your feeling of value, gratitude, and commitment, and that respects your financial situation. Even zero is welcome. Registration is open starting now.

The first More Beautiful World progress report will be available live to everyone regardless of whether you subscribe to the program, because we will broadcast the call on YouTube. After that, I will share excerpts from subsequent reports as a podcast here on Substack.

Everyone is welcome to the program accompanied by their faith, cynicism, optimism, despair, hope, and doubt. Together we will create an oasis of sanity as the old myths and systems dissolve, and choose which new ones to live into.