The Great Turning is my favorite way to describe the historical moment we find ourselves in. I first came across the phrase in the writing of Joanna Macy, who described it as the transition from the “industrial growth society” to a “life-sustaining society” (see Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World). The phrase and Macy’s way of describing it has stuck with me as I have worked to dig deep into the root causes of, and fundamental responses to, the destruction of earth’s life support system.
Macy outlines three dimensions of the Great Turning that are happening, and must continue to happen, simultaneously:
- Holding actions. These are the “political, legislative, and legal” actions that slow the destruction and that so many people (more than ever before) are engaged in.
- Analysis of structural causes and the creation of alternative institutions. These are the practical and creative responses that undermine life-denying systems by offering life-affirming alternatives. Local, organic food; alternative currencies; and intentional communities are some examples.
- Shift in perceptions of reality, both cognitively and spiritually. This is the work of cultivating the life-affirming values and beliefs that are the necessary bedrock of the Great Turning. It boils down, in my view, to expanding the sense of self and overcoming the belief in separateness. Examples here include spiritual and body-based practices, voluntary simplicity, and music.
Most of what we call “activism” can be considered holding actions because it doesn’t change the underlying system/s. It doesn’t change the system because it doesn’t change the thinking and fundamental beliefs that give rise to the system. Analysis and even the creation of alternative systems also don’t necessarily change the underlying beliefs. It’s only in the third dimension that the root causes are addressed head on. This is the (the great) turn inward in order to live, practice, and deepen the life-affirming beliefs that help us come back to life. Macy writes:
“The realizations we make in the third dimension of the Great Turning save us from succumbing to either panic or a paralysis. They help us resist the temptation to stick our heads in the sand and withstand the temptation to turn on each other….When we know and revere the wholeness of life, we can stay alert and steady. We know there is no private salvation.”
Thomas Berry is another pioneering thinker worth mentioning here. He referred to the Great Turning as “the Great Work:”
“History is governed by those overarching movements that give shape and meaning to life by relating the human venture to the larger destinies of the universe. Creating such a movement might be called the Great Work of a people.”
For Berry the Great Work was nothing less than the creation of an entirely new evolutionary epoch in the earth’s history. He maintained that industrial civilization has ended the biological flourishing that characterized the 65 million years of the Cenozoic Era. If we are to survive and continue the dance of evolution we must bring about what Berry called the Ecozoic Era, a period in which humans have restored their relationship to the earth and actively engage in restoring the earth (see The Dream of the Earth and The Great Work). He wrote:
“The response we give must have a supreme creative power, for the Cenozoic Era in the story of the earth is fading as the sun sets in the western sky. Our hope for the future is for a new dawn, an Ecozoic Era, when humans will be present to the earth in a mutually enhancing manner.”
Berry knew it was no sure thing, that there would be a choice to make. One choice leads to the Ecozoic Era, the other to the attempt to continue on with a society based on technological dominance of the earth. He understood that the latter choice would be a dead-end leading to mass extinction. It seems that both as individuals and as a society we are already making the choice. Doesn’t look too good from the perspective of January 2012 does it?
So here we are, all in it together. Tis a good time to be preparing. Not for doomsday (why bother preparing for that?) but for service. Service to the cause of life.
Scott