‘Mythological Visions of the Nature of Time’ (William Irwin Thompson)

by Steven McCabe

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In the post-Pleistocene period the glaciers retreated,

the seashore rose 300 feet,

the tundra turned to forest,

and the great herds disappeared

from Western Europe.

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 And gone with the animals

was the great ‘high culture’

of Ice Age humanity.

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It is not hyperbole

to speak of the high culture

of these hunters and gatherers,

for cave paintings like Lascaux

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are complex works that speak rather eloquently

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for the abundant leisure

and rich cosmology

of their creators.

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Primitive humanity devoted

most of its spare time

to matters of ritual and art.

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As a contemplative people with time on their hands,

they gave much thought to menstruation and the moon,

observed nature,

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constructed a calendar,

told stories,

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and painted hundreds of thousands

of images

on the walls

of the caves.

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As the Sistine Chapel expresses

the flowering of the culture

of the Renaissance,

so Lascaux expresses the flowering

of the culture

of the Magdalenians.

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In more ways than one,

the two great murals have much in common,

for they are not mere decoration;

they are mythological visions

of the nature of time.

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‘The Time Falling Bodies Take To Light: Mythology, Sexuality & the Origins of Culture’ – William Irwin Thompson

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