Axial Ages

" ... If there is an axis in history, we must find it empirically in profane history, as a set of circumstances significant for all men, including Christians. It must carry conviction for Westerner, Asiatics, and all men, without the support of any particular content of faith, and thus provide all men with a common historical frame of reference. -- Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) Way to Wisdom (1951), p. 99-100

The shift of the First Axial Age was from a collective tribal consciousness closely related to nature and fertility. The gods were tied to the tribe, and/or to specific places and specific powers, and were wooed and appeased through ritual. The axial shift happened all over the world simultaneously during a specific period (ca. 800-200 BCE) that included the Greek philosophers, the Jewish prophets, Zoroaster, the Buddha, Confucius, and others.

The shift was to an individual consciousness that was distinct from the tribal consciousness. From this shift came self-reflection and personal moral responsibility; freedom and individualism; analytical thinking; exploration and science; and industry and nationalism. The First Axial Age resulted in a change in human consciousness that extended beyond religious belief and practice.

The Second Axial Age

"No one can deny that a network (a world network) of economic and psychic affiliations is being woven at ever increasing speed which envelops and constantly penetrates more deeply within each of us. With every day that passes it becomes a little more impossible for us to act or think otherwise than collectively." --Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), The Formation of the Noosphere,(1947)

Many, if not most, contemporary writers speak of the Second Axial Age in terms of religion or faith. As was the case in the First Axial Age, however, much more is involved. Today our consciousness is becoming increasingly global. Consider:

A sense of oneness, community, and inter-religious connection is expanding our consciousness, even to the whole universe.

Axial Age Publishing
midwife to the Second Axial Age,
encouraging consciousness throughout the world
to take a second radical shift,
from individualism to global consciousness
and universal connection.

The mission of Axial Age Publishing is
to offer publications that further the exploration and understanding
of this emerging axial change in human consciousness.