Egon: There’s something very important I forgot to tell you.
Peter: What?
Egon: Don’t cross the streams.
Peter: Why?
Egon: It would be bad.
Peter: I’m fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean bad?
Egon: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.

- Ghostbusters

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what happens when we cross the streams. I’m not talking about wading across a river here either. I’m talking about uniting these various directions that we all seem to be pushing in. Actually, I think many of us are pushing in the same direction, but using different metaphors and methodologies to get there. And whether or not we intended to, the streams are already starting to flow together.

The streams I’m talking about have to do with the various things those of us are writing blogs about: counter-culture, alternative thought, activism, the collapse of
civilization, conspiracy theory, gnosticism, story-systems. It’s all starting to coalesce in my head more and more every day.

Garrett pointed out the two best things I’ve written on the subject so far have been:

1. The Psychological Function of the Apocalypse
2. Conspiracy Theory, Alchemy, & Gnosticism

Of especial importance, I think, is the combination of gnostic thought whose goal is personal liberation (spiritual anarchism), and conspiracy theory, whose goal is the discovery of the truth in the mundame realm. Their fusion results in the coming together of spirituality, psychological symbolism and the examination of semantic structure in the culture.

In addition to that, I’d like to suggest that we also fuse in the basic principles of the Emerging Church movement. Whether or not you see yourself as a Christian, what these people are doing is inordinately important. They are seeking to connect back to an authentic tradition which is personally spiritually alive. Most importantly of all, they are doing it by systematically dismantling and rebuilding one of our cultures oldest most basic guiding story-systems. I would wager that once this cat is fully out of the bag - once we have people openly questioning and discussing - it won’t stop at religion. It could eventually be converted to do the same thing with all the major story-systems in our culture: especially media and government - the province of the conspiracy theorist, anarchist and activist.

The other thing I think that’s important if this fusion is going to progress and ignite is the centrality of hope. Conspiracy theory and civilization collapse theory are notoriously paranoid and negative. Admittedly, part of their power comes from this ability to shock people out of complacency with drastic images and possible consequences. But what if in addition to that, we consciously focused on the presentation of positive alternatives. Instead of just trying to cut down old dead ways of thinking, we also aggressively plant new ones so that if and when a major transition occurs, people aren’t only ready for it, but ready for what comes after it and how to survive psychologically no matter what happens by nourishing their own inner light of truth, their gnosis, and respecting and promoting that in others.

If you remember the end of Ghostbusters, the demon Gozer asks them to choose what form will destroy the world. Accidentally, Ray thinks of the Stay-Puft Marshallow logo, who then comes to life and rampages through the city. I think we’ve all already spent enough time - maybe way too much - pondering the nature of the form that will destroy us. Just like in Ghostbusters, the only way we’re going to be able to defeat the towering eidolon we’ve created is by crossing together our streams.