Evolving Worldviews
Hi Beautiful Humans,
As Museum of Self is dedicated to deepening humanity's self understanding, one often overlooked way of understanding ourselves is through our worldviews. I'm in the middle of a four-part series on worldviews, this being the third. If you're curious, scroll down on the Museum of Self homepage to see the first two.
To that end, this week's existential exploration continues to dig into worldviews and suggests they evolve; as an example I share a story of how mine changed. And below, you'll find our artifact of the week.
Evolving Worldviews
How has your worldview changed?
We have certain beliefs impressed upon us from earlier in our lives (for better or for worse), and yet our worldview changes – the way of seeing the world and our roles in it, evolves.
To share an example of how this might look, below is the story of how my worldview changed. I wrote this for winter solstice, as a 10 year reflection from my experience at a Rainbow Gathering in 2012.
Reclaiming the Sacred at a Rainbow Gathering
Today’s winter solstice marks 10 years since I attended one of the most transformative events in my life, where I stripped down and reclaimed the sacred.
This was the International Rainbow Gathering in Palenque Mexico, held over the auspicious December 21st 2012 date. It was there I met hippies, mystics, and devotees of all colors — as well as people espousing prophetic stories of the coming new age. I met hardcore anarchists and attended a workshop on how to erase yourself from the US government database (can neither confirm nor deny if their method works).
It was there I explored what resonated, what didn’t, and where my boundaries lived. It was there something shifted:
Walking alone through the jungles of Mexico en route to the gathering, something inside me clicked — up until that moment it seemed I had organized my life around rationality. With clear logic and reasoning it seemed anything could be solved for, as if life was some kind of math problem. Yet, something shifted. While reason and rationality have important roles to play, they no longer felt to be the ultimate organizing principle of reality.
This shift in how I saw the world, prepared me for the next two weeks as I lived at a Rainbow Gathering, a place entirely outside the worldview of my 22 year old self.
I was inspired by the gathering being organized without explicit hierarchy, funded only by donations, and sustaining a month-long community with basic infrastructure, earth potties (aka shit pits), free food and water. I had never sat in a circle where hundreds of people assembled for free meals, holding hands and singing songs as our food was distributed.
I discovered an appreciation for the sense of unity, a felt sense of gratitude for basic things like food, and I remember being moved by seeing those that arrived early for meals sitting in silence with their eyes closed. This was the first time I saw a group meditating, and it ignited my buddhist informed practice.
Another aspect that made this trip special was how I had to earn it. Two friends, Amy & April, made the case for the importance of attending the Dec 21st 2012 gathering and invited me to meet them there . Something inside me felt I needed to be there.
As a 22 year old in fall semester at school, the challenge was, this gathering was exactly when I had final exams. After looking into it, there’s only two ways to get out of final exams — a note from a doctor, or religious exception. Realizing I perhaps fell into the latter, I started seeing my school's Chaplain weekly who guided my inquiry into why this was such a special event, and decided if this was grounds for deferring exams.
Eventually, after much reflection, the Chaplain wrote a letter of support that I took to the administration. The letter he wrote enabling me to skip school and participate in the 12/21/12 new age mecca added a layer of authenticity to my spiritual seeking. Also the letter is quirky and humorous — thanks for the support Rev. Neil!
I arrived at the gathering wanting to learn as much as possible. What did people think was going to happen? Did some people think the literal end of the world was upon us?
After settling in, the narrative of the event was not that the world was ending, but rather a new age was coming. One cycle ending and another beginning.
It was here I connected with people into spirituality in ways I didn’t always agree with, yet did challenge me to open up in this dimension of life. As I grew up ethnically Jewish and atheist, the spiritual part of my life was long neglected. I grew up in a world where it was cool to be atheist, where belief in god was foolish and naive.
Retrospectively, the form of atheism I grew up in was actually still a god-fearing perspective – fearing in the sense of being afraid to look foolish for believing.
This atheism was damaging as it didn’t grant me the space to not know, the space to be with the mystery. Conviction in no divinity prevented me from feeling awe, sacredness, and reverence - deep valuable experiences that now add immense meaning to my life. I can only speak for myself, yet it feels like being open to the mystery is what allows the sense of sacredness and reverence to deepen.
It was at this Rainbow Gathering I realized "I simply don't know" which opened me up to experiencing the sacred. While I currently don’t have certainty in the existence of god — despite having numerous moments where I’ve felt the presence of divinity — it feels good to be able to be with that uncertainty, that unknowing, and revere the mystery of this wild and precious life as sacred.
10 years out I’m still figuring out this whole sacred thing. And as I move from figuring to experiencing, I move from reclaiming the sacred to embodying it, which feels like my work for this next cycle.
Happy Winter Solstice ya’ll.
Artifact of the Week
Artifacts in Museum of Self are psychoactive works, that invite us into the question "what am I?".
To stick with the worldview theme, and share some more prophetic wisdom, here's one representation of the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor.
To my understanding, this powerful story comes from a number of indigenous communities and offers a hopeful future, if we are able to rise to the occasion and change our worldview.
What stories are you living into?
Have a great week, beautiful humans.
David Zangwill, human @ Museum of Self