Mother Earth has Struck at the Temples of Transiency

Mother Earth has struck, and by means of her messenger, angry Hephaestus, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, she reminds us how she can fasten Icarus's wings to the ground.

We have all become accustomed to the swift and structured passage through the airport, until we briefly breathe the disconnected sense of being duty-free, free of any duty. However, during the last several days, thousands of weary travelers have been stranded, making airports their inconvenient, temporary home.

The nonlocality and temporality of airports, as Temples of Transiency, sooth the restlessness of the Transient Personality, and suit him or her better than the temenos of the therapy room and the analytical relationship. For a moment, however, the airports have come to a standstill. Suddenly the swift transition between one non-place and another, has frozen.

I wonder if postmodern man will, indeed, stop for a moment, to reflect on Mother Nature's messages, one of which may be the need to stop for a moment to reflect, as we speedily resume our movement, and continue the journey toward our destination, which if we are lucky may be Eco, Home.

Read further in Destruction of the Image and the Worship of Transiency. Jung Journal: Culture and Psyche, Vol. 4, number 1, Feb. 2010, pp. 94-108.

All of Erel Shalit's publications can be purchased at www.fisherkingpress.com or by phoning Fisher King Press directly at 1-831-238-7799, Toll free in Canada & the US 1-800-228-9316