In the great scheme of things, above the base of silence from which everything began, the first emerging duality is in and out, i.e., toward the center or away from the center. The Big Bang would be the first creative expression of expansion, away from the center, i.e., the  original, eternal, preexisting silence. We are told that someday the universe will collapse back to a pin point, return to its center, its silence, and, perhaps, sit for a while before it breathes life out again.

We echo that duality in our own breathing. A breath in, we feel energy: creativity, inspiration. A breath out, we feel release: restoration, completion, return.

At the breathing level of the human species on the planet, in which breaths may take centuries or more, we are discovering the end of the in cycle. We are almost too full of oxygen. We need to start the out cycle, the return to the center. We have become too creative, too expansive, too consumptive. Centrifugal forces have run free—the freedom has created chaos which must be balanced by a centripetal planetary exhalation.

Centripetus is a practical echo of the beginning of that exhalation. A mystical foundation for centripetal energies can be found in old myths and stories. A poetical riff on "Living at the Ends of Time" (the subtitle) comes from Michael Meade's recent book, "The World Behind the World", (Greenfire Press, 2008), excerpts of which follow:

"In seeking to find home the companions find the center where all the elements meet and the Tree of Life regenerates. The element of earth remained underneath the ash, partly as the anchor for the tree of renewal and partly as the home place, the place of origin for all the children of the earth. The real home for earthlings turns out to be the center of everything; and the center also turns out to be the beginning, the place where life began and can begin again. The center becomes revealed as the place of renewal; finding the tree at the center also means finding ways to begin it all again.

Everyone searches for home and home turns out to be the center of our lives. The real home is the center within each life and each return to that inner center not only calms and heals the person and makes the person whole, but also adds some healing and wholeness to the world around us. When the end seems near it's time to seek the center within and find ways to be central to the healing of the scorched and scarred earth around us. The great tragedies and dramas of life and the threat of it all ending try to return humanity to an awareness of the eternal presence of the divine waiting at the center of each life and all of life.

THE TREE AT THE CENTER

The strange little re-creation tale leads from the ashen remains of both nature and civilization to the tree hidden at the center of all life. The unifying tree has roots that plunge deep into the underworld and branches that reach up to the heavens. The original symbolism of the Tree of Life involved a mythical sense of a world axis, the "axis mundi" around which creation was created, the unified center where all dualities and oppositions come together.

The Tree of Life appears in many forms and can be found wherever and whenever people manage to find the center of life again. As center point the tree remains eternally still; yet as the living, breathing Tree of Life it presents a core image of constant change. It grows repeatedly from the same unseen roots. It is rooted in the imagination, in the living Soul of the World and the old soul of 'human kind where it must be nourished by dreams and longings, by songs and dances that make things whole if only for a moment. Each return to the tree at the center becomes a return to the origins of life and thus a renewal of the world."

 Pgs 163-165

  "This earth story has darkness, knowledge, and healing in the middle.

Facing the darkness leads to finding the necessary knowledge and ways of healing the situation. Ways to bring healing to the great conflicts and blindness that currently trouble the world might elude people unless they face the darkness of the situation. There are similarities between running towards the roar, entering into the ashes, and accepting the presence of the black dog of chaos. All stories attempt some kind of healing or revelation of essential knowledge. Yet all depend upon the presence of trouble and a willingness to enter the unknown.

Unlike ideas that suggest that enlightenment might be found by imagining figures of light, the old stories and teaching tales prefer the kind of knowledge and quality of healing that comes from visiting the darkness. Notice how going to the edge and facing the darkest places leads to awakenings as well as to finding the center again. The lightning of learning strikes where the darkness is deep. Despite their apparent simplicity, the old tales try to show the way to healing and surviving in this world.

Most people only recall the importance of the center after it has been thoroughly lost. Humans are that way. Someone must truly suffer, become lost, feel exiled, and on the edge before the longing for the center awakens. By now, the whole human tribe might be feeling that way.

Mythically, the center of one thing leads to the center of everything.

Seen that way, the illness of one person becomes the ailment through which all that ails a community can be addressed. The wound in one person can become the door through which everyone can find the center of life again. Thus, the afflicted one becomes the center of the community and the opportunity for everyone to commune with the origins of life. That's why people used to say that the afflicted are holy; for they are one way that holiness and healing try to re-enter this world.

At the center, the original flow of energies, ideas, and images can return to life. If people connect to the origins, things might begin again. The center remains the source of unlived potentials, fresh starts, and second chances."

Pg 205