Jennifer van Bergen

[Note: This is the seventh part in a seven-part series.]

PART SEVEN: An Arkhelogy Program for International Schools

It should be evident from our earlier discussion that the UNIS and IB subjects, while comprehensive -- and while they touch upon a number of areas that relate to archetypes work – do not include any unit or program such as an Arkhelogy course or program.

It might be useful to note at this juncture that a single Arkhelogy course would be grossly insufficient to teach Arkhelogy at a usable level. A genuine Arkhelogy program will ensure full acquisition of the discipline and mastery of the skill. As a drama or dance program necessarily requires years to properly train student, as a law program takes a minimum of three years of hard study to teach the law student to “think like a lawyer,” so too does Arkhelogy require several years to master.

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Jennifer van Bergen

[Note: This is the sixth part in a seven-part series.]

PART SIX: International High School Writing Programs

This part of my series on the Ancient Skill of Arkhelogy will discuss the international educational system standards. The next and final part of the series will consider the possibility and efficacy of adopting the archetypes approach in place of current writing curricula, in addition to it, as an elective writing class, or as a the basis of a new understanding of writing and of education. To start with, let us take a look at two international schools and their writing programs.

The UNIS Curriculum

The United Nations International School (UNIS) web site offers a short, useful description of its curriculum goals for English:

UNIS students love to write. Writing is at the heart of the English program in the Junior, Middle and High Schools. All students write almost every day, in school and at home, in script and with the computer, in draft and for publication. Students shape their experiences, imagination and reading into literary responses of stories, poems, plays, memoirs and series. They learn to write with clarity, grace and accuracy by practicing, reading, listening and editing. They study grammar throughout the process.

Reading fine literature inspires fine writing. Students at all grade levels are exposed to classic and contemporary literature by women and men from different countries and cultures. The curriculum includes works by North American, European, Australasian, African, Asian, Latin American, Caribbean and Native American authors (UNIS, 2008, English).(Full citations are included at the end of part seven.)

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Jennifer van Bergen

[Note: This is the fifth part in a seven-part series.]

PART X: The Arkhelogy Skill: Lost in Time

If the ability to “do archetypes” is so critical to human development and so universal, how is it that it has been left out of educational curricula for so long? How is it that it is completely unknown to modern man? It is my belief that Arkhelogy was lost to mankind either when organized Christianity began to proliferate or when science became the dominant means of understanding the universe. In either case, it's a victim of historical accident. It was lost in the transition to modern times and because it was never completely understood by the new modern man, who had changed his approach to understanding from pagan-based spiritual beliefs to religion-based or to science-based understandings. To the extent modern man perceived the arkheloging ability, he probably incorrectly classed it as unscientific or heretical.

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Jennifer van Bergen

[Note: This is the fourth part in a seven-part series.]

PART FOUR: The Arkhelogy Program

The Arkhelogy Program is made up of an introductory or beginner course, an intermediate course, and advanced work. The introductory course teaches all the component skills through exercises. At the conclusion of the introductory course, the teacher shows the students how the component skills work together, but students are not yet asked to integrate the skills. This course takes from six weeks to four months, depending on how often the class meets.

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Jennifer van Bergen

[Note: This is the third part in a seven-part series.]

PART THREE: Some Principles of the Ancient Art of Arkhelogy

The practice of Arkhelogy is built on certain underlying premises:

(1) Writing Takes Place in the Subconscious

Some people view the subconscious as merely a dumping ground for stuff the conscious mind cannot or does not want to handle. Others consider that the subconscious only exists for people who have “problems.” They think that if you are healthy, your subconscious will just fall into line with your conscious mind. None of these ideas are true.

The subconscious actually operates – in everyone -- as an independent mind. It perceives, processes, and retains things that never enter the conscious mind at all.

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Jennifer van Bergen

~ An Appeal to International Educators, Educational Policy-Makers, and Concerned Global Citizens ~

[Note: This is the second part in a seven-part series.]

PART TWO: The Archetypal – The Eternal & Eye of the Soul

One way to explain Arkhelogy is to consider the field of sacred geometry. Ancient Greek philosophers saw the study of geometry and mathematics as a way of accessing the eternal or archetypal.

Robert Lawlor, in his book Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice (Thames & Hudson, Ltd., 1982), distinguishes the “typal,” the “ectypal,” and the “archetypal” (p. 6). A sphere, for example, is the typal; the idea of the sphere is the ecyptal; and the principle or power-activity of the sphere is the archetypal (p. 6). Thus the archetypal is “the process which the ectypal form and typal example of the [sphere] only represent” (p. 6). Lawlor notes:

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Jennifer van Bergen

~ An Appeal to International Educators, Educational Policy-Makers, and Concerned Global Citizens ~

[Note: This is the first part in a seven-part series.]

PART ONE: Arkhelogy: A Gateway to the Self

Arkhelogy, as defined, described, and discussed in this series, is a lost art. It is a human ability that fell -- over two thousand years ago, slowly, across several hundred years through the course of human events -- into disuse. While, despite its cultural repression, remnants of this ability have continued to emerge spontaneously here and there, we no longer recognize or understand it. It is, however, as I argue in this series, an ability that is essential to the survival of the human race.

Arkhelogy is the term for the skill of “doing archetypes” -- the process and practice of discerning the archetypal as it is embodied within the actual -- that is made up of a group of component skills. Embodied in the term is the concept of the recognition and fulfillment of the Core Self through Core Writing.

Arkhelogy is a gateway to the Self, and as such, it is a gateway into harmonious relations between humans and with all life. It is therefore crucial that this skill begin to be fostered in young people by educators and parents as soon and as early possible.

This series of articles on Arkhelogy is an introduction to the approach and a proposal to incorporate an Arkhelogy Program into a standard international “high school” writing program. No significant attempt is made here to “prove” the existence or efficacy of the skill and practice of Arkhelogy. Nor is it possible, in such short space, to adequately explain fully how Arkhelogy works. Only the barest outline of the concepts, the exercises and skills can be introduced here. Like many esoteric arts, Arkhelogy must be practiced to be understood. (Thus, while my book, Archetypes for Writers: Using the Power of Your Subconscious, articulates as completely as possible the premises, skills, exercises, and concepts or Arkhelogy, neither the book nor this series can replace apprenticeship with a teacher who has mastered the skill.)

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Jennifer van Bergen

on for "Another World Is Possible"

Leonora Sansay and her friend and mentor Aaron Burr (Vice President under President Thomas Jefferson) were early 19th century revolutionaries, humanitarians, and iconoclasts in the pure sense: they believed in the intrinsic worth and equality of every individual (African Americans, Native Americans, and Haitians).

Leonora was in Haiti during the 1802-3 black slave uprisings by which they obtained their independence and about which she wrote in her book "Secret History" (Philadelphia, 1808), which she later developed into a full-fledged novel: "Zelica: the Creole" (London, 1820), perhaps the first book by a white American that has a mulatta heroine.

Roger Kennedy shows in his book "Burr, Hamilton, and Jefferson: A Study in Character" (Oxford University Press, 1999) that Burr was an active abolitionist, whose political presence so threatened southern slave owners that they had good reason to take him down, as Jefferson later used Burr's western adventure to do. Kennedy also shows that Burr was a friend to and advocate for Native Americans.

In 1800, Burr and Jefferson tied for the presidency and Jefferson accused Burr of trying to steal the election, but it later came to light that it was Jefferson who made a deal with the opposite party to put himself in office by making certain concessions to them. (See my article on the tie here.) I am not the first to have revealed the fact, but I am the first to have stood up for Burr.

The more we learn about Burr and about those who engineered his downfall, the more clear it is how wrong historians have been.

Leonora was close to Burr and her life and relationship with him says a lot about him and about America, but the focus of this article is limited to her identity and early life. It is an article that sets down a cornerstone of a much larger structure I hope to complete.

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Stephen Lendman

Obama Year One: Betrayal and Failure (Part II)

Promising change after eight George Bush and Republican dominated years, Barack Obama won the most sweeping non-incumbent victory in over 50 years along with congressional Democrats gaining large House and Senate majorities. In addition, at 56.8%, voter turnout was the highest since Richard Nixon's "secret plan" to end the Vietnam war and his "Southern" and "law and order" strategies beat Hubert Humphrey and independent George Wallace in 1968.

On election night, the mood celebrated hope for progressive change, an end to imperial wars, and a new day for America. When word came around 10PM, expectant thousands in Chicago's Grant Park erupted with chants of "yes we can," hoping Obama would make a difference at a time of deepening economic duress.

In its November 4, 2008 editorial titled, "The Next President," The New York Times called it "one of those moments in history when it is worth pausing to reflect on the basic facts," then listed some:

-- for the first time, Americans elected a black president;

-- his triumph was "decisive and sweeping, because he saw what is wrong with this country, (and will change direction) to regulate the economy fairly, keep the air clean and the food safe, ensure that the sick have access to health care, and educate children to compete in a globalized world;"

-- he "committed to ending a bloody and pointless (Afghan) war (and) restore Americans' civil liberties and (the nation's) reputation around the world;"

-- he must now "prevent an economic collapse fed by greed and an orgy of speculation (by) impos(ing) control, coherence, transparency and fairness," in contrast to George Bush; and

-- he "now needs the support of all Americans (to help him deal with the) many other urgent problems that must be addressed."

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