Apocalyptic Perspectives ~ Jonathan Zap

Researcher and philosopher Jonathan Zap discussed the surge in apocalyptic predictions and how they relate to the 'Singularity Archetype,' the collective unconscious, and the evolution of humanity. We live in a time when people believe the apocalypse is around the corner, whether coming in 2012 with the end of the Mayan calendar (see his article/podcast Carnival 2012), or as predicted in various other prophecies. Yet, in whatever age people have lived in, they've been predisposed to believe "the end is near." The reason for this, he suggested, is that they have anxiety over their own death. But if everyone is going to die together, this is a more satisfying or comforting notion for the ego to consider than just the death of oneself, he explained.

The Singularity Archetype "is a primordial image of human evolutionary metamorphosis which emerges from the collective unconscious. The Singularity Archetype builds on archetypes of death and rebirth and adds information about the evolutionary potential of both species and individual," Zap writes. He pointed to several images (see below) which show different aspects of the Archetype. The film 2001: A Space Odyssey, for instance, depicts a character's travel through an interdimensional corridor or stargate. "He's basically crossing the event horizon," and experiencing the death of his old form, said Zap, who noted the similarity of this to the way near-death experiences have been described.

In order for humanity to evolve, we need shocks to the system that can be highly disruptive, Zap argued. "The message from the Singularity Archetype is that what looks like the worst thing in the world, may be exactly what is necessary to create a quantum evolutionary jump," he said, adding that this is true on an individual level as well, so that when a dire event happens to a person, it may prove to be a great moment of opportunity.

Biography:

Jonathan Zap is a photographer, author, teacher, paranormal researcher and philosopher who has written extensively on psychology and contemporary mythology. Jonathan has worked as a staff gemologist and instructor for the Gemological Institute of America. He has taught English in High School and College and worked with troubled youth as the Dean of a South Bronx High School. As a wilderness guide, Jonathan has led inner city kids and other young people on expeditions to remote desert canyons and to the summit of Mount Rainier.

He is the author of numerous published articles, essays, experimental works of fiction and the Zap Oracle. His most recent work is Crossing the Event Horizon—The Singularity Archetype which should be available late in the summer of 2011. Jonathan has an extensive background in Jungian psychology, paranormal research and dream interpretation. For over thirty years he has been using the tools of Jungian psychology to study popular culture, contemporary mythology, and dreams for evidence that we are getting signals from the collective unconscious about the nature of a quantum evolutionary event approaching the human species.

Wikipedia
An apocalypse (Ancient Greek: ἀποκάλυψις apocálypsis, from ἀπό and καλύπτω meaning 'un-covering'), translated literally from Greek, is a disclosure of knowledge, hidden from humanity in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e., a lifting of the veil or revelation, although this sense did not enter English until the 14th century.[1] In religious contexts it is usually a disclosure of something hidden. In the Revelation of John (Greek Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου, Apocalypsis Ioannou), the last book of the New Testament, the revelation which John receives is that of the ultimate victory of good over evil and the end of the present age, and that is the primary meaning of the term, one that dates to 1175. Today, it is commonly used in reference to any prophetic revelation or so-called End Time scenario, or to the end of the world in general.