Beyond Apocalypse (Part 1) – Mimetic Rivalry in the Tower of Babel
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This series of essays comprises readings of reports, articles, and presentations that are in the public domain, accompanied by references. The content is based on futurology, incorporating elements of cycle science and the mystical sciences. Readers are encouraged to approach the text with critical yet open minds.
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One need not be graced with prophetic insight to recognize that we are living in one of those rare ages, like the end of classical antiquity or the beginning of the modern era, that bring forth, through great stress and struggle, a genuinely fundamental transformation in the underlying assumptions and principles of the cultural world view – Richard Tarnas (Cosmos and Psyche) 1
Mimetic Desire and Mimetic Rivalry
In anthropology, the concept of mimetic desire leading to mimetic rivalry refers to the intensified competitive behavior among individuals that occurs during periods of liminality. René Girard, the anthropologist who defined mimetic desire, identified it as a phenomenon whereby someone wants something that someone else possesses simply because that person possesses it.
If a person is observed to have or own something, an onlooker might automatically want to have or possess the same thing or things, which may lead to conflict. Extrapolated further, when a person takes a specific action to obtain something, an observer may feel inclined to mimic that action to get the same (or, perhaps, similar) possessions or items. This is indeed how people behave at times.
Mimetic Contagion and the Mimetic Spiral
Girard focused on the desire of acquisitive mimesis (the desire to ‘acquire’ an object held by another person), and analyzed instances of mimetic contagion, or what he also called the ‘mimetic spiral’. The latter is another crucial metaphor indicating the close connection of micro and macro events in crisis moments – Bjørn Thomassen (Liminality and the Modern) 2
Readers are reminded of the esoteric maxim that the microcosm often reflects the macrocosm and vice versa, meaning that if an event occurs on a small scale, it can also happen on a larger scale. In this context, the term “macrocosm” refers to the phenomenon of mimetic desire between nations and states, rather than individuals or groups.
Mimetic desire is a phenomenon that usually occurs when individuals or communities are undergoing major transitions. However, it can also arise in large-scale social transitions within societies in between epochs, which is precisely the context that the world presently finds itself in.
According to Girard, the danger of mimetic rivalry is that it can lead to what is known as mimetic contagion. When “mimetic rivalry goes viral”, it can spiral out of control. A mimetic spiral on a large enough scale could lead to what constitutes an apocalypse. More specifically, Girard believed that it could result in the Biblical Apocalypse.
However, the devastation will be all on our side: the apocalyptic texts speak of a war among people, not of a war of God against humans – René Girard (Battling to the End) 3
Prophetic visions from credible prophets are traditionally treated as warnings of events to come (potentially), which should be mitigated. Visions of elders or spiritual leaders within the Hopi clan and Maya communities in the Americas, as well as those of Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung (before he passed away 4 ), contained such images of a possible future apocalypse.
Mitigating the Apocalypse
As a result of exposure to his clients’ inner experiences as well as his own during the tumultuous World War II period, Carl Jung had special insight (considering his profession) that led to his warnings about the real potential for a future apocalypse scenario. Much of his work centered around acknowledging our inner darkness and facing it so that our unconscious tendencies as humans could be mitigated (to avoid another world war).
Today, as the end of the second millennium draws near, we are again living in an age filled with apocalyptic images of universal destruction. What is the significance of that split, symbolized by the “Iron Curtain,” which divides humanity into two halves? What will become of our civilization, and of man himself, if the hydrogen bombs begin to go off, or if the spiritual and moral darkness of State absolutism should spread over Europe? – C.G. Jung (The Undiscovered Self) 5
The “darkness within” that Dr Jung was concerned about was the human tendency to project our negative tendencies onto others, typically. In short, what we project is more often a reflection of something within us. Dr Jung’s method (called shadow work) is based on practices and approaches relating to “owning our darkness”. He believed that if enough people engaged in this practice, humans would become less violent and destructive through increased self-awareness.
Examples of Mimetic Rivalry
The previous chapter provided the context for why the world will face significant resource constraints in key areas in the years to come. Ongoing industrialization, globalization, and consumerism have created an ever-growing and expanding demand for resources that a finite planet might not be able to provide in the medium term.
Examples of mimetic rivalry occurred during the Cold War, when it was a case of who could get there first (the first man on the moon) or who could secure ‘it’ first (access to Africa’s resources). In the present era, innovative and competitive empire-building projects have led to a mimetic desire, as well as mimetic rivalry, between powerful nations and country blocs/groupings (old and new), resulting in a new global scramble for resources.
The scramble this time is much more comprehensive and far-reaching than before, due to the diversified nature of minerals and other resources required from a broad spectrum of locations, coupled with an energy crisis in some parts of the world – notably Europe, which is one of the most affected regions. Consequently, several rivalries have emerged in energy- and mineral-rich regions in recent years, with examples including events in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Thucydides’ Trap
In the context of mimetic rivalry, if one side undertakes an empire-building or civilization-expansion project, competing sides may instinctively want to do the same. This can also be understood in relation to the concept known as Thucydides’ Trap, which is relevant to the current discussion. Should a rising power expand its civilization’s reach and influence, its rivals (old and new) would instinctively be prompted to engage in similar projects, which could then lead to conflict.
The term was coined by US political Scientist, Graham Allison. Graham used Thucydides’ old throwaway line to explain a tendency toward war throughout history when a rising power comes to challenge the status of a dominant power. Given the cyclical rhythms of natural life, it seems an inevitability that the rise and falls of power will always meet this Thucydides inflection. – Ryan Faulkner-Hogg (Explaining the Thucydides Trap) 6
Mimetic Expansionism at the Crossroads
Fig. 1 – The Belt and Road Initiative Creates a Global Infrastructure Network [source] 15
The world has been divided into two significant empire-building processes and/or expansions for several years. The first one was the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) 7 8, a project spearheaded by China, which has been underway in the East. In response, similar projects were launched by Western nations featuring the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) 9, 10, which incorporates the EU’s Global Gateway. 9, 10
The BRI has prompted other economies to launch similar initiatives to advance economic development both regionally and globally. For instance the G7 member states launched the “Build Back Better World” initiative in 2021 and the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment in 2022 to mobilize $600 billion for global infrastructure investments by 2027, and the European Union proposed the “Global Gateway” in 2021 to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport sectors and strengthen education, healthcare, and research systems across the world. – Francisco Jose Leandro (BRI kickstarts global growth efforts) 11
Analysts believe that it was indeed the BRI in the East that sparked competition among other global players, motivating Western powers to launch similar schemes. An interesting point is that the 4IR, sustainable development, the green economy, climate policies, and the green energy transition are integrated features of all these competing projects.
Global Commitments
This (above) factor contradicts the general picture consistently portrayed in alternative media, which depicts “multipolarity” as distinct from the Western model. The BRICS grouping of nations is, in fact, a firm proponent of globalism and all its aspects (since the coalition’s conception), as recent statements at the BRICS Rio Summit have reconfirmed. 12
Commitment to Sustainable Development and achieving goals like the Millennium Development Goals and later the SDGs has been consistently emphasized since 2009 – Think BRICS (What Has BRICS Really Achieved? A Data-Driven Look) 13
It is precisely because the policies are so similar in terms of globalization that the rivalry between the major centers of the Global North and South is so strong. It is evident that under certain conditions, elevated competition among the great powers becomes inevitable. Rivalries among traditional allies would also grow under such conditions.
The most dangerous aspect of it all is that conflicts and wars could become contagious, which may result in mimetic spirals (which is what happened during the First World War).
In 12 of 16 cases over the past 500 years, the result was war. When the party’s avoided war, it required huge, painful adjustments in attitudes and actions on the part of not just the challenger but also the challenged – Graham Allison (The Thucydides Trap: Are the U.S. – and China Headed for War?) 14
These realities suggest that the phenomena of mimetic rivalry and Thucydides’ Trap are indeed active in the world today. Whether the main rival nations can avoid bringing another apocalypse upon the world is a crucial yet open question to consider in light of unfolding global events.
Importantly, individuals have the capacity to transcend the apocalypse personally, whether it occurs in the external world or not, a subject that will be explored in the next chapter.
Expanding Into Conflict
More importantly, the BRI is challenging the monopoly of the West in the postwar world order, as it represents a framework of collaborative practices to present quasi-global solutions to common global problems – Francisco Jose Leandro (BRI kickstarts global growth efforts) 11
The BRI, PGII, and Global Gateway have been referred to as “global economic development initiatives” that present “quasi-global solutions to common global problems”. In other words, as stated, they reinforce, extend, and expand globalism for regional and global economic growth.
An interesting side-effect is that while the above projects are meant to reinvigorate globalization, they could, ironically, also undermine it. The backdrop is that global resources are being used up at a much faster pace than usual and at greater volumes. Running and maintaining globalization in an expanded and accelerated form would amplify resource depletion and thereby exacerbate planetary overshoot.
Mimetic rivalry blinds countries and peoples to the realities of limited resources on a finite planet, and if everyone competes for scarce resources, zero-sum games may ensue. The uptick in conflicts worldwide, particularly with the ongoing events in Eastern Europe and the broader Middle East, clearly illustrates that the world has been heading in the wrong direction, especially since 2020.
De-escalation initiatives for off-ramps or exit strategies from the conflicts in the above regions have not yet yielded significant enduring results (at the time of writing), and it is unknown whether current efforts will be sufficient. One issue is that, due to distrust among leaders resulting from broken agreements, new agreements may be on shaky foundations.
Dangerous Times and Conflicting Logic
In the previous chapter, it was illustrated that the world has entered a long-term plateau in fossil fuel liquids, with those resources expected to enter a decline phase at some point over the next two to three decades. Currently, the global economy is still mainly dependent on fossil fuels.
The refrain that “minerals have become the new oil” is based on the belief that globalization could be extended beyond its normal limits by transitioning the world into a minerals-based industrialization model, intended to fill the gap left by the anticipated decline of fossil fuels.
In other words, at the very point when people and nations should start living more frugally, considering that we are at the end of an era of fossil fuel abundance, the extension and expansion of globalization is aspired to in the East as well as the West.
In the context of mimetic rivalry, this makes for dangerous times. Hypothetically, the competition over global resources may have been limited mainly to fossil fuels, but a wide variety of raw materials that were previously of lesser importance are now also being competed over.
Expansionism, Fault-Lines, and Flashpoints
Fig. 2 – Mapping the Belt and Road Initiative: This is Where we Stand [source] 15
Added to the above factors is a trend of mimetic expansionism in the form of encroachments (or stated interests to that effect) upon territories or lands of other nations or countries. This is especially observable on the fault lines where East meets West, and more specifically, where the BRI, PGII, and Global Gateway projects overlap in Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and the Balkans – but it is also a global phenomenon.
Examples of territories or (parts of) countries affected include, in no particular order, Ukraine, Donbas, Crimea, Russia, Kursk, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Serbia, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Gaza, Iran, Taiwan, Greenland, Canada, and Venezuela (which is not an exhaustive list).
Other forms of (internal) expansionism can also be observed, such as land and property expropriation without compensation, as seen in South Africa. That phenomenon is accompanied by inaccurate facts presented globally about the migration, settlement, and land ownership patterns of that country 16.
Unity in Diversity vs Disunity in Ideologies
It is worth noting, as an aside, that South Africa, being a microcosm of the world due to its cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity (the country was created artificially), means that much of what happens there has spread to other parts of the world in some form or another.
This is an example of how the microcosm can reflect (or affect) the macrocosm, the reason being that South Africa has been a model for cultural integration under the slogan of unity in diversity, which has failed in the South African context because of identity politics 17 (a factor not yet broadly acknowledged).
The Partnerships Approach
The objectives of empire-building have historically involved gaining access to external resources through various imperial and colonial strategies and mechanisms. In the present era, the approach favors partnership collaborations, whereby resource-rich but underdeveloped countries are incorporated into mutually beneficial agreements with leading nations and blocs in the West and East.
Large-scale projects, such as the ones mentioned further above, would naturally have economic imperatives oriented toward economic expansion and growth for mainly the nations spearheading them. Some of the negative consequences of large-scale partnership collaboration projects, however, are that human rights as well as property rights are eroded or overlooked, resulting in destabilization in peripheral zones, which could later affect northern centers.
Overlapping Partnerships and Cross Pollination
The plan is meant to compete with China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” which has tried to strengthen ties with the developing world, especially in Asia and Africa, by offering financing for large-scale projects such as roads, railways and ports.” – Jonathan Lemire and Karl Mathiesen (G7 unveils $600B plan to combat China’s Belt and Road) 18
With the BRI and other projects spearheaded by Eastern nations, initially, it appeared to be mainly about building ports, railroads, bridges, dams, airports, and so forth for partner nations. At the same time, on the Western side, the focus was primarily on the energy transition, the green economy, and sustainable development. Although the green economy and its interconnected components initially appeared to be a Western initiative, it later became clear that it was also integrated into Eastern models.
Several Western nations have been actively engaged in the BRI for years, while Eastern countries are also involved in the Western initiatives in various ways. This cross pollination in both directions can be explained by the fact that, although the East and West compete due to mimetic rivalry, all countries on both sides are members of supranational bodies that guide global development processes.
Another example of cross pollination is that, although the Eastern model of taking charge of key infrastructure assets in partnership countries in return for unserviceable debts has been known to exist, similar practices have also been adopted by Western nations. An example is debt-for-nature swaps 19. In brief, both sides employ debt mechanisms that constitute alternative forms of colonialism.
Colonialism Through Trade
In return for access to their resources, it is proposed that peripheral partnership nations would benefit from infrastructure development schemes that would be ‘win-win’ solutions for all parties involved. However, in practice, the advantages are usually much more one-sided, regardless of which side of the East-West paradigm peripheral nations choose to partner with. 20
It is typically difficult for developing nations to opt out of partnership proposals or agreements due to significant power imbalances. The long-term results of colonialism through trade are that weaker partnership nations find themselves locked into trade deals from which it is difficult to extract themselves due to newly accrued debt burdens, which ultimately become the real costs of such partnership deals.
All Roads Lead to “Rome” (and Rio)
As Rio de Janeiro prepares to host the 17th BRICS Summit from July 6 to 7, 2025, the gathering represents more than just another diplomatic meeting. It embodies the early contours of what political theorist Alexander Dugin describes as a “multipolar world order” still in its formative stages – a preliminary sketch of global governance that prioritizes the interests of emerging economies and the Global South – Think BRICS (BRICS Summit in Rio: The Global South’s Moment of Opportunity Amid Western Skepticism) 21
Centralization lies at the core of any collectives (groupings or structures) that subscribe to an adherence to collective approaches, rules, or polices. There is typically a hierarchy, as can be observed within the BRICS coalition, with its first-, second, and third-tier nations.
The lower-tiered nations follow the lead of the decision-making centers in the top tier, which are China and Russia. India, Brazil, and South Africa are in the second tier as secondary founding members, while new countries joining are (unofficially) third-tier entrants with initial peripheral status.
Regarding collective approaches, it is worth noting that large-scale centralization would structurally limit, restrict, or constrain the autonomy, self-determination, sovereignty, or independence of smaller nations, or nations residing within larger nations (i.e., minorities).
It is indeed acknowledged by proponents of the BRICS coalition that it is a politically left-leaning project 22 geared toward the objectives of global governance, with an emphasis on the Global South. 21 In other words, it is Eastern (and Global South) centralization that is in direct competition with Western (and Global North) centralization.
In short, a multipolar world order (as proposed) based on expanding globalization through the extraction of minerals, in addition to fossil fuels, while incorporating and building out the 4IR, is a very similar model to the Western one.
The conclusion, therefore, is that the concept of “multipolarity” functions in the same way for globalization as the ‘green’ and ‘clean’ labels do for the energy transition (on this subject, see also previous two chapters) – the result is more expansion.
Convergence Precedes Dissolution
The integration of structures that could form a unified planetary system has centers in both the East and West, as all major centers globally are structurally working toward similar ends.
As previously highlighted, multipolarity does not necessarily imply decentralization. What it constitutes and proposes is multipolar centralization (an oxymoron), which is the Global South’s form of globalization versus the unipolar centralization of the Global North. Ultimately, both sides are heading in the same direction, toward (more) centralized global governance.
The intense rivalry currently on display between the rising Eastern and the declining Western centers is a cyclical phenomenon (explored in The Cyclic Reordering of Civilizations 28), centered on which side will be the most dominant in an eventual centralized global order, which recent technological advances have made more achievable and realizable.
However, a heightened state of polarization in the world has been evident for at least a decade, a phenomenon that is likely to persist even though, under normal circumstances, it may have dissipated (which is also part of a pattern 28). Hence, growing internal contradictions and conflicts may further complicate global centralization (convergence and dissolution will happen at the same time).
Upheaval and Disintegration
When resources become scarce and economies start to falter in the centers of an empire, the demand for peripheral resources would increase “to keep the centers afloat and the bread and circuses going”. Imminent declines would require higher resource inputs, and those inputs would typically come from the peripheries, as centers often draw on them for their prosperity.
This was an empire built on cities. And to some extent, although heavily debated among historians to what extent, but to some extent, the cities may be said to have drained off the energy or been parasites to the productivity of the countryside – Paul Freedman (The Crisis of the Third Century and the Diocletianic Reforms) 23
It is (in the present context) the accelerated impoverishment of the peripheries due to unnecessarily exaggerated demands for peripheral resources for innovative economic development initiatives led by Western and Eastern centers, which contribute to an influx of new arrivals from the peripheries to the global centers.
The lack of development and sometimes outright impoverishment of peripheral zones results in people desperately seeking better opportunities in regions where most of the wealth and opportunities are concentrated, as was the case during the decline of the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire began in service to the people of Rome, creating an orderly world in which its citizens could flourish, and defending them ably against outside foes. Then, as the age darkened, Rome became focused on expansion, conquest, and wealth; it built its cities and engineering triumphs on slave labor. As the age darkened further, Rome could not maintain even order; forces outside and inside tore at the Roman Empire like wolves in a carcass. Then, all order gone, Europe plunged into centuries of petty warring and ignorance, a time aptly called the Dark Ages – Joseph Selbie and David Steinmetz (The Yugas: Keys to Understanding our Hidden Past, Emerging Energy Age, and Enlightened Future) 24
Since it is typically difficult to successfully integrate large numbers of newcomers, the lack of assimilation and cultural integration can eventually destabilize host nations to the extent that internal crises can lead to instability and decline. Moreover, it can cause the native or original inhabitants of centers to depart elsewhere.
Something similar can be observed in Europe at this time, although perhaps not to the same extent as during the decline of the Roman Empire. Mass migration from the Middle East and Africa by desperate populations due to resource wars and internal strife in their regions has caused significant controversy as well as disruptive social and political dilemmas on the European continent.
Liminality and the New Tower of Babel
When any socio-cultural system enters the stage of its disintegration, the following four symptoms of the disintegration appear and grow in it: first, the inner self-contradictions of an irreconcilable dualism in such a culture; second, its formlessness – a chaotic syncretism of undigested elements taken from different cultures; third, a quantitative colossalism – mere size and quantity at the cost of quality; and fourth, a progressive exhaustion of its creativeness in the field of great and perennial values – Pitirim A. Sorokin (The Crisis of Our Age) 25
The nations of the world, by embracing globalization, convergence, integration and ideological multiculturalism, have, over time, constructed for themselves a new Tower of Babel, without heeding the warnings of what could follow.
The widespread global centralization of systems is attributed to the formation of monopolies in various markets and sectors over time. Local decision-making shifted to global decision-making, and creativity dissipated in many spheres, resulting in mediocrity, with true small-scale originality and creativity being relegated to the sidelines. Consequently, ubiquity, standardization, uniformity, and a general lack of genuine differentiation have set in.
Peak Tower of Babel
Less evident on the surface of things is peak-oil (presented in the previous chapter). Logically this means the world has entered peak centralization in terms of globalization – and thus also peak Tower of Babel.
Structurally (and as a pattern), centralization typically reverses after a period of peak activity. Cyclically, it can be viewed as a decline toward a zero point, characterized by upheaval, dissolution, and dispersion. Once that has run its course, a more natural and decentralized order would become possible once more.
Much of the destruction that is likely to unfold in the process might be avoided if humans become more aware of their worst tendencies during major large-scale transitions, for which many historical examples exist (see also the works of sociologist Pitirim A. Sorokin on this subject).
The Road of Convergence
Permanent liminality, characterized by borderlessness, results in both eternal flux and complete void, marking the ultimate horizon of modernity, a project of unlimited destructiveness that captures the core of globalization. Modernity, through the discreet charms of its smooth automatisms, the free market (or fairground) capitalism, scientific knowledge (or alchemic technology), and democracy (or mass-mediatized public sphere), had more success in inflicting damage on the planet than any purposeful conspiracy could have achieved – Arpad Szakolczai (Permanent Liminality and Modernity: Analyzing the Sacrificial Carnival Through Novels) 26
In an age of ultra materialism and on a long enough timeline toward convergence, a Tower of Babel scenario is an inevitable outcome, especially during permanent liminality, which is, in fact, what modernity is, according to Arpad Szakolczai (Professor of Sociology at University College Cork, Ireland, now retired), an expert on liminality in large-scale transitions.
Although the formation of a new Tower of Babel may have been avoidable in theory, it may not have been avoidable cyclically, because the end of a long cycle descends into materialism, formlessness, and non-differentiation. Hence, comprehensive centralization is facilitated by the cycle itself, as it falls into a liminal state for a transitional period.
The Tower of Babel as a Pattern
Mass centralization 27 occurred just before the original Tower of Babel’s collapse 27, but a cyclic shift brought about a reversal and a renewal, resulting in a shift from centralization to decentralization. That shift was not instantaneous, though; it was accompanied by a prolonged period of collapse and dispersion (see also video resource: Where was the Tower of Babel? 27).
The Roman Empire’s collapse unfolded in a similar fashion 28. The ‘collapse’ was only the first stage in a transition, rather than a final event.
The peak of centralization in all empires could be seen as Tower of Babel moments. The wide-scale centralization of world systems and affairs – in the context of globalism – suggests that our present reality aligns well with the Tower of Babel analogy, indicating that history may be repeating itself.
Given the cyclical context, the modern day Tower of Babel should be viewed as an end-of-cycle, liminal, underworld phenomenon that is transitory, even though it may appear permanent.
Globalization in Overshoot
Although developed nations have benefited the most from the world’s resources 29, they are the least likely to alter their consumption habits, as hyper consumption is a way of life that is strongly encouraged by the present economic model, which is running low on fuel.
In activist circles, it is regularly claimed that humanity is in overshoot regarding population growth, pollution, and environmental destruction. However, it would be more accurate to say that globalization is in overshoot, as it is an inherently overshoot model.
It took time for the world to become so deeply entrenched in consumerism and materialism that most alternative reference points have been lost. Consequently, there are no ethical or moral boundaries that temper or rein in mass over-consumption.
Globalization on the Titanic and The World’s Catch-22
A wide berth is generally steered around criticizing globalization because, frankly, everyone benefits from it and is dependent on it. If the globalization ship goes down, everyone goes down with it economically, in terms of prosperity, which is why it is generally held onto for dear life.
In the above sense, “we are all globalists” (to varying degrees). It is only the permaculture purists and rural preppers who have “stocked their lifeboats before the mother ship goes down” (while they still depend on the mother ship too).
Consequently, the world finds itself in a Catch-22. On a decision-making level, nobody wants to abandon globalization. Instead, the model is being prolonged through short-term creative colonialism 30 and innovative imperialism 20 even though constraints are appearing on the horizon.
Toward a More Balanced Order
Globalization receding or reversing would, however, be a positive development on several levels, but most people would not perceive it that way, as materialism still dominates mass consciousness.
Fig. 3 – Meta-Physical Energy Trends 1900 – 2100 (the ‘Above’ Governs the ‘Below’)
From a mystical perspective, powerful cyclic forces function as indispensable cosmic processes returning imbalance to balance and unnatural orders to natural ones. A better balance between materialism and spirituality is thereby achieved, which cannot be achieved solely through collective human will.
A more natural and balanced order is also a more moral order. A post-Tower-of-Babel world, where every nation lives primarily within its own limits and according to its own resource bases, with self-sufficiency as a foundational principle and a worldview, is no less utopian than the entire world being considered ‘one country’.
The biggest challenge that modernized and globalized humanity is bound to face in the coming years is coming to terms with our extreme materialism, which translates into parasitism on a number of levels, and how that could be transcended.
Toward Becoming Free-standing Intellectuals
It is worth revisiting an instructive passage from Bjørn Thomassen’s book, Liminality and the Modern (2014), which discusses Carl Jaspers’ view on the realities of axial ages as examples of large-scale liminality during significant transitions.
Jaspers described the axial age as an in between period between two structured world-views and between two rounds of empire-building; it was an age of creativity where ‘man asks radical questions’, and where the ‘unquestioned grasp on life is loosened’; it was an age of uncertainty and contingency: an age in which old certainties had lost their validity and where new ones were still not ready. It was a period in which individuals rose to the test, and new leadership figures rose. In particular, the axial age gave birth to a new sub-stratum of persons: ‘free-standing’ intellectuals – Bjørn Thomassen (Liminality and the Modern – Living Through the In Between, 2014) 2
Currently, the world finds itself in a similar scenario, with empire-building efforts underway from two sides, and the world as we know it is almost certainly on the cusp of entering an era that will prompt humans to ask radical questions due to a range of new challenges they will face.
We are, indeed, in an age of uncertainty and contingency – and there is no question that the unquestioned grasp on life is loosening. We are already deep into a transition where individuals are being challenged to rise to the test, both within themselves and in the external world.
On the material front, global economic growth will increasingly be met with the realities of limited resources, necessitating the adoption of decentralized strategies. Meanwhile, on the spiritual front we have entered an era of great change (explored in the next chapter).
During liminal times, it is typically free-standing intellectuals who would produce new ideas and solutions in the face of growing confusion and disorder, due to their capacity for autonomous thinking and creativity. This is why free-standing intellectuals are often found on the fringes of society rather than at its center.
Toward New Foundations
World events are testing individuals spiritually and morally during a time when inner structures are at a low, and the veil is lifting in the external world. In the process, souls purified within the crucible of transition are navigating out of the darkness of the underworld into the light of the upper world, where they are laying new foundations on solid ground.
Text and photo by J.J. Montagnier
Completed: August 24, 2025
Published: September 2, 2025
J.J. Montagnier is an independent researcher and writer based in the Southern Hemisphere, situated at the midpoint between the West and East. The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer. This content is provided for educational objectives as a public service and is not for commercial use.
Cover Photo Symbolism:
Humans seek to escape the darkness of the world; they seek to escape their own darkness; they look to God for help; they aspire to be more like God; they strive to transcend their own darkness; they yearn to evolve beyond the duality of darkness and light. (Photo by JJM: Recoletta, Buenos Aires, 2016).
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Video Resource:
Bibliography and References:
References for further reading are a necessary complementary feature due to essays having limited scope and are carefully selected with the reader in mind.
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5. Jung CG. The Undiscovered Self. London, England: Routledge, 2014.
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