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Is Civilization Going Under?
In 1993 I attended the 4th Annual Men’s Leaders’ Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana
had attended. We shared stories, read poetry, talked about our children, our wives,
lovers, friends, and neighbors. We caught up with old friends and heard about what was
going on with men and their relationships in other parts of the country.
When it was announced that there would be a sweat lodge ceremony on Saturday
afternoon I was ambivalent about doing it. I’ve had asthma since I was a kid and the few
times I had been in a sweat lodge, I had trouble breathing. On the other hand, this is an
ancient tradition for purifying body, mind, and spirit and I definitely wanted some of that.
I decided to do it, even though it was a wet day and I wasn’t looking forward to slogging
animal skins and blankets. A depression is dug in the center into which hot rocks are
positioned. Water is thrown on the rocks to create steam and a small flap opening is used
As we touched the earth and made a prayer for “all our relations,” we crawled naked
through the doorway and took our positions around the stone pit. We were told there
would be three “rounds” where we would chant and pray. In between rounds the flap
would be open to allow us to cool down. With each round the lodge became hotter as
more stones were added and the experience became more intense. As it turned out, I was
at the back of the lodge where it was the hottest. In the third round it became so hot that
many of the people crawled out. I was one of the few people left inside, but I didn’t feel
the heat. I was somehow transported to another time and another place. Here’s what I
experienced:
We are all on a huge ocean liner. It is the Ship of Civilization. Everything that we
know and have ever known is on the ship. People are born and die. Goods and services
are created, wars are fought, and elections are held. Species come into being and face
extinction. The Ship steams on and on and there is no doubt that it will continue on its
There were many decks on the ship starting way down in the boiler room where the
poorest and grimiest toiled to keep the ship going. As you ascend the decks things get
lighter and easier. The people who run the ship have suites on the very top deck. Their
job, as they see it, is to keep the ship going and keep those on the lower decks in their
proper places. Since they are at the top they are sure that they deserve to acquire more
and more of the resources of all those below them.
Everyone on the lower decks aspires to get up to the next deck and hungers to get to
the very top. That's the way it is. That's the way it had always been. That’s the way it will
always be. However, there are a few people who realize that something very strange is
happening. What they come to know is that the Ship of Civilization is sinking. At first,
like everyone else, they can’t believe it. The Ship has been afloat since time before time.
It is the best of the best. That it could sink is unthinkable. Nonetheless, they are sure the
Ship is sinking.
They try and warn the people, but no one believes them. The ship can not be sinking
and anyone who thinks so must be out of their mind. When they persist in trying to warn
the people of what they are facing, those in charge of the Ship silence them and lock them
up. The Ship's media keeps grinding out news stories describing how wonderful the
future will be. Any problems that are occurring will surely be solved with the wonders of
The leaders of the Ship smile and wave and promise prosperity for all. But water is
beginning to seep in from below. The higher the water rises, the more frightened the
people become and the more frantic they scramble to get to the upper decks. Some
believe it is the end and actually welcome the prospect of the destruction of life as we
know it. They believe it is the fulfillment of religious prophesy. Others become more and
But as the water rises, those who have been issuing the warnings can no longer be
silenced. More and more escape confinement and lead the people towards the lifeboats.
Though there are boats enough for all, many people are reluctant to leave the Ship of
Civilization. Many questions are asked. “The old stories tell us that we’ve been on this
Ship for more than 10,000 years, isn’t it safer to stay aboard? Could things really be
this bad that we have to leave? Where will we go? Who will lead us? What if this is all
Nevertheless, the Ship is sinking. Many people go over the side and are lowered
down to the boats. As they descend they are puzzled to see lettering on the side of the
ship, T-I-T-A-N-I-C. When they reach the lifeboats many are frightened and look for
someone who looks like they know what to do. They’d like to ride with those people.
However, they find that each person must get in their own boat and row away from the
Ship in their own direction. If they don’t get away from the Ship as soon as possible they
will be pulled down with it. When everyone, each in their own boats, rowing in their
own direction, reaches a certain spot, a new Web will be formed. It will be the basis for
a new way of life that will replace the life that was lived on the old Ship of Civilization.
I slowly came back to the present and found myself alone at the back of the Sweat
Lodge. I wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but the vision was clear in my head and
has remained so. Since that fateful day in 1993, I have been trying to understand what I
had been given to me in the vision and how to best share it with others. Here’s what I’ve
learned so far.
better deck-chair on the Titanic. When the Ship sinks, it doesn’t matter which
deck you’ve managed to reach. “The world we have created is not sustainable,”
says Ervin Laszlo, who has been twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and
is the editor of the international periodical World Futures. “Whether we realize it
2. The Ship of Civilization is a 6,000 year old-way of life that has been based on
extracting more and more resources from the earth. In the last 150 years
fossil fuels have been critical. But this way of life is coming to an end. In his
prescient, 2003 book, The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial
Societies, Richard Heinberg says, “The world is changing before our eyes—
more people, and more profoundly, than any that human beings have ever
terrorism, war, economic swings, climate change, and more: the discovery
the rise.
• The devastation in Japan and damage to nuclear power plants brings into
with at least five other countries in the region) might seem unrelated,” says Richard
Heinberg, “But when it comes to our self interest here in the United States, there's one
thing that binds them together: our unquenchable need for energy and the price we pay
4. Because these changes are unprecedented in human history, stress levels are
going through the roof and wiping us out. We can think of stress as impacting
us in three ways:
“The type of stress that causes damage manifests as a chronic sense of pressure
that is beyond one’s control,” says Woodson Merrell, M.D. “Energy-draining stress
can arise from anything that disrupts your balance. Unrealistic deadlines at work,
financial difficulties. Your nagging concerns, your worries, your efforts to adapt to a
new situation (whether welcome change or not) will take a toll on your energy.”v
And it’s clear that more and more things in our world are taking their toll.
Changes.
Canaries were once regularly used in coal mining as an early warning system.
Toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and methane in the mine would kill the bird
before affecting the miners. Male illness and breakdown are the world’s early
warning signs of impending catastrophe. Things like irritable male syndrome, male
depression and aggression, and high suicide rates are alerting us to the toxic nature of
ways men and women act when they are depressed. “When women are depressed,
they either eat or go shopping,” she said. “Men invade another country.”
Though violence against others is one way men express their pain and unhappiness,
most often men turn on themselves. The suicide rate for men is 4 to 18 times higher
than it is for women. “Being male is now the single largest demographic factor for
early death,” says Randolph Nesse of the University of Michigan. “If you could
make male mortality rates the same as female rates, you would do more good
than curing cancer,” he says. Nesse's colleague Daniel Kruger estimates that over
375,000 lives would be saved in a single year in the US if men's risk of dying was as
low as women's.”vi
role as hunters, it was the men who were the first to become aware of ecological
change—to notice when the buffalo had moved or animals were dying. It was their
As has been true throughout human history, males are genetically endowed to be
the risk takers. It is the role of modern men to lead their people away from the Ship
of Civilization and move us into a world where humans don’t attempt to dominate
how we can make this transition. Daniel Quinn has offered his ideas in books like
Ishmael, The Story of B, and Beyond Civilization: Humanity’s Next Great Adventure.
Daniel Quinn says: “Every civilization brought forth in the course of human history
has been a hierarchical affair. You can have hierarchy without civilization, but you
can’t have civilization without hierarchy; at lease we never have—not once, not
have a hierarchical society.”vii But, as Quinn says, we can move beyond civilization.
David C. Korten describes the process in his book, The Great Turning: From Empire
to Earth Community. “I use the term, Empire with a capital E as a label for the
The mentality of Empire embraces material excess for the ruling classes, honors the
dominator power of death and violence, denies the feminine principle, and suppresses
He contrasts this way of being to Earth Community as a label for the egalitarian
described by Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade.) “The mentality of
Earth Community,” says Korten embraces material sufficiency for everyone, honors
the generative power of life and love, seeks a balance of feminine and masculine
Although some believe that men are inherently hierarchical and dominating and
females are inherently democratic and partnering, this is not the case. All of us have
suffered in cultures of Empire and all of us will benefit as we move to Earth
7. Your Energy Psychology Power Tool is Designed to Assist You to Heal the
Let’s face it, we’re all embroiled in the tentacles of Empire no matter how much
we want to escape. Going through the transition to Earth Community is stressful and
we can use all the help we can get. It’s pretty obvious that the health care system,
like all hierarchical systems is falling apart. It was pretty limited at best, and now it is
not only expensive, but it doesn’t work very well for the stress-related problems we
are facing today. A new health-care system will emerge as Earth Communities
become more stable and more people embrace this healthier way of life. In the mean
time we are going to have to take our own health-care, and the care of those we love,
Fortunately, your Energy Psychology Power Tool, is just what the new kind of
doctor would order. Using these tools will help you overcome stresses you are
holding from the past, deal with stresses in the present, and keep you focused on the
future that is the most vibrant and health-producing that you can imagine.
The Swiss Army Knife for the Body, Mind, and Spirit
What would you give to have a tool that can fix most of the things that really need
fixing, is easy to use, can be taken wherever you go, never needs to be plugged in,
and costs nearly nothing? Think of it as a super-charged Swiss Army knife with
everything you need to address any emergency and heal any wound.
The Swiss Army is one of the strongest in Europe. It is a tough, well-trained
professional fighting force so formidable that it has kept the country from being
invaded through two World Wars. Every able-bodied Swiss male is required to serve
and remains in the army as a reservist until age 50. As a condition of preparedness,
each soldier is provided with the most advanced technology and the simplest – a
folding pocketknife.
This tool dates back to 1886 when the Swiss Army decided to equip every soldier with
disassemble the rifle, a screwdriver was needed. So a decision was made to create a
multi-purpose tool incorporating four elements--a knife, screwdriver, reamer and can-
opener.
The tool I’ll be giving you in this book also has four elements, which you’ll appreciate
even more than your Swiss Army knife. This tool will give you what you need to create
the kind of life you want. It can instantly shift your brain’s electrochemistry to:
• Help overcome unwanted emotions such as anger, jealousy, fear, guilt, and
shame.
powerful evidence-based healing methods that blend contemporary and ancient healing
“Some truly exciting new upgrades in the field of psychology have been unfolding over
the last several years, which are beginning to align psychology with the stunning
discoveries that have been made over the past 75 years in the field of quantum
physics.”
Although there are many techniques and practices that might fall under the heading of
the four that I feel are the easiest to learn, the most effective, and that have a good
The four elements of your Swiss Army knife for the body, mind, and spirit (I call it the
2. Earthing
3. Heart Coherence
4. Attachment Love
For more information on my forthcoming book on Energy Psychology for Men, please
contact me at www.MenAlive.com
i
Laszlo, Ervin. WorldShift 2012: Making Green Business, New Politics & Higher Consciousness Work Together.
Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2009, p. xvii.
ii
Heinberg, Richard. The Party’s Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society
Publishers, 2003, p. 1.
iii
Diamond, Jared. “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.” Discover Magazine, May, 1987.
iv
Richard Heinberg, MuseLetter #227 / April 2011 by Richard Heinberg. www.RichardHeinberg.com
v
Morrell, Woodson. The Source. New York: Free Press, 2008, p. 22.
vi
New Scientist Magazine, 1972.
vii
Quinn, Daniel. Beyond Civilization: Humanity’s Next Great Adventure. New York: Harmony Books, 2009, p. 85.
viii
Korten, David C. The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2006, p., 20.
ix
Korten, David C. The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2006, p., 20.
x
Thomas, Linnie and Obry, Carrie. Editor. The Encyclopedia of Energy Medicine. Minneapolis, Mn: Fairview Press, 2010