 The evolution seem to be a rather fractal one -
forms reappear all the time. In that respect the evolution of humanity is possible to
follow into prehistory (for instance by studying the Scandinavian petroglyphs) and youīll
be able to recognize yourself, as a human being, here and there through time.Thatīs one way to live a cultivated life - sailing through time, learning from the eldest - most from those who make sense to you. How did Bronze Age people of Scandinavia solve their social problems and how were they able to live in peace (in contrast to the peoples who at the same time left their saga in Val Camonica)? Were they simply lucky (as materialistic demographers perhaps would have it) finding rich natural resources and good meteorological conditions in the warm region of the Golfstream, seafarers, unthreatened by enemies, or were they conscious of the deep powers of mankind and thus in position to choose to live good lives, being able to follow plans and foresee troubles (especially in the generation gaps)? The Bronze Age of Scandinavia seems to be a story of a remarkably stable culture on a highly civilized level. Art from this time is a harmonious one - with smooth and closed forms, and the petroglyphs tell the elaborate "primitive" story of this seafarer civilization in an abundance of visual symbols (ideograms). Archeological findings add to the artistic visions of a rich and joyous epoch in the evolution of mankind. The many new finds of Bronze Age offerings (for instace Vittinge, Sweden, Illerup, Denmark) urge you to think that there must have existed a very powerful group of people able to seize and destroy (ritualistic) weaponry and golden treasures, bringing these values out of the economical circulation. How was this difficult task possible? My first thesis is that the shamans knew the threats of wealth and the roots of greed (beginning in the trauma of birth) and thus acted for the overall best of their people - confiscating certain belongings, always the best, when too much seemed to be gathered in one hand and offering them to the gods. My second thesis is that these shamans knew about the importance of the harmonious transition from the non sexual to the sexual stage and thus took very good care of the young generation in initiation rites. Signs on the Scandinavian rocks here and there tell the same story as anthropologists tell of the last "pretechnological" tribes of our time - sexuality and itīs obvious importance in human life was well known. The Bronze Age shamans, sages and leaders most certainly acted in accordance with this knowledge. I think thatīs the twofold way they managed to keep their civilization alive for thousands of years. The "modern" rediscovery of sexuality (Freud) and itīs importance has not yet led to the rediscovery of the sexual imprinting methods of the Old Civilizations. But when it does, our "modern" society in its confused sexual limbo (with all sorts of father- and mother figures - impossible to unite in a harmonious society - Spice girls, Public Enemy, Presley, Stalin, Monroe, Meir, Jagger, The Pope, Oedipus, Electra, Apollo, Dionysos, Diana...) will probably be in its last stage of evolution - the stage of death and rebirth. Tomas Brusell articles Seahenge  |