Published on: Jun 15, 2018
Topics: temenos vision lab, tiresias
By this point, we have covered quite a bit of ground here in this blog, explaining the different archetypes and forces you would find in a temenos or organization. It’s our earnest hope that the writings on these significant
However, there still remains one important question that needs to be addressed. Now that you have seen the kind of archetypes or personalities you may encounter in a temenos, and also the different forces- group behavioral aspects etc.- in the same, how do you bring all these things together and apply the knowledge on a practical level? Sure, understanding the archetypes in itself would help you better prepare to tackle any issues that may arise around such personalities. After all, forewarned is forearmed. Also, management strategies and
But, how to
The answer is: yes. The methodology involves a few components. And the first component is an archetype.
The archetype of Tiresias.
The flow of transformation runs smoothly with Tiresias leading
Before we get into a deeper discussion of the staff-wielding, intense-looking bearded old man (as Tiresias is depicted in the banner image of this post), you should ask yourself a question: Which archetype should I be so that I could become an
And the answer to that question is Tiresias.
A character out of Greek mythology, Tiresias was many things- literally. He is someone who was a man and a woman, who could understand the animal world-
And it’s the hybrid archetype you should become to be a successful leader.
Among the many wonderful attributes of Tiresias is the fact that he could understand both the feminine and masculine perspectives. And that’s a crucial strength for a change agent- especially in the contemporary
Another interesting attribute of the mythical Tiresias is the power of foresight.
It’s never a direct insight into the future that Tiresias has. Instead, he could foretell the future by interpreting the things that happen before him- like the way a flame dances in a fire, or how the tendrils of smoke curl and twist on their way upwards from the flame. Now, we are not recommending here fire divination. Rather, the takeaway is that Tiresias could predict the future based solely on things that happened in front of him. A change
Maybe there are
The journey of transformation deserves the Tiresias archetype
While the part-man, part-woman, part-animal philosophy of Tiresias is of relevance in the hybrid archetype, there is another element you need to add to that mix to become the change agent you should be- the element of the machine. To streamline business actions, to multi-process as and when required, to absorb information and then to process it and more, you should have something of the digital-mechanical functionality common in gadgets and machines of today. And that’s not just something you require to become a better change agent, but an absolute imperative in the age of zeroes and ones.
With all these things, you become ever more the Tiresias archetype. And it’s well worth recalling that in Greek legends, Tiresias plays an important role in the transformative journey of the great hero, Odysseus. The latter was struggling to make his way back to his kingdom of Ithaca after the Trojan war. It took Odysseus ten years to finish that epic journey. In a crucial juncture in his odyssey, it was to Tiresias that he turned for advice. And without Tiresias’ help, the transformative journey may well not have happened.
As a
Meaningful allusions to the hybrid archetype
Now that you have learned about Tiresias, there are some interesting parallelisms and meaningful correlations to the hybrid which would deepen your insight on the archetype. These are mentioned below.
The Indian hybrid
Mahabharat- manuscript illustration
An interesting parallel to Tiresias could be found in the Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In fact, you could say that the character named Bhangashvana is an Indian hybrid equivalent.
In the epic, after the great war of Kurukshetra, before he gives up his life, the royal preceptor Bhishma is asked a set of questions by the King Yudhistira, regarding life. One of his queries is who gains the most pleasure during sexual
Cursed by Lord Indra- the god of rain, Bhangashvana was turned into a woman- so he became the only person on earth who has ever known what it is to be like both the sexes.
You could draw an easy analogy between the above-said episode and one from Greek mythology.
In the latter, Tiresias, one day, seeing two snakes copulating, hit one of the creepers. Hera- who is the Queen of the gods-got angry at this, and cursed him to be a woman for seven years. After that period, Tiresias came across another pair of copulating snakes. This time, she didn’t hurt either of the snakes, and she was turned back into a man.
Later, at another time and another place, Zeus and Hera were having an argument as to whether men or women derived more pleasure from the act of sexual congress. Tiresias was consulted for obvious reasons. His response was that
The hybrid and the singularity
Ray Kurzweil
Connected to the hybrid archetype is the concept of singularity.
Singularity is the phenomenon by which humans would increase their intelligence by a billion times or more by merging with Artificial Intelligence. It’s a state of man-machine hybrid. Ray Kurzweil- the Director of Engineering at Google believes that the singularity is not far away. In fact, at the South by Southwest(SXSW) conference held in Texas in 2017, Kurzweil said that the singularity will happen in 2049. Of course, for the singularity to become real, there is a prerequisite: Artificial Intelligence must gain human-like intelligence first. Typically, to measure whether a machine has achieved human-level intelligence or not, the Turing test is used, developed by the legendary English computer scientist, Alan Turing. According to Ray Kurzweil, AI would clear the Turing test by 2029.
There is one very good reason for taking Kurzweil’s prediction seriously. As a futurist(someone who predicts the future of technology based on logical projection), Kurzweil has made 147 predictions starting in the 1990s. He has had an astounding success rate of 86 percent in his predictions.
He sees a future in which computers with human intelligence could be implanted in our brains which could then be hooked to the cloud- something that would heighten our intelligence manyfold. In fact, it’s easy to envision such a scenario as one in which a collective of humans and machines could think in unison- an extraordinary state of affairs if ever there was one.
It’s also easy to see how such a scenario could be imperative for people in the future. For instance, it’s already imperative to have access to computer and smartphones today for many- for professional and personal reasons. In other words, the hybrid is almost as much a part of your future as the air you are going to breathe.
The hybrid born in the psyche
Craig San Roque is an Australian psychologist who has made significant contributions to Jungian studies. He has also explored to a great extent the idea of archetypes and the connection of the human psyche with the external world.
Pertaining to the Tiresias archetype, there is something written by Roque which is worth looking into. It’s the idea of
Roque uses the term to describe what he calls the “poetic infrastructure of creation.” From the beauty and astounding symmetry which we may see in
Related to Tiresias, you could say that
To explore more on the topic of
Tiresias and the firmness of will
Oedipus at Colonus
Returning to Greek mythology, yet another instance of Tiresias in the canon has to do with the seer acting as an advisor to the King Oedipus.
Oedipus- the son of
He asks Tiresias- the prophet and seer with divine knowledge- for information on the killer. Tiresias, though he knows the killer’s identity refuses to reveal it, neither does he prophesy the future to Oedipus. He claims that even if the king came to know of the future, he would be unable to prevent any calamities. What is to be must come to pass, he says.
Incidentally, Jocasta- Oedipus’ mother, also backs Tiresias’ stand to let the mysteries sleep, not wishing further misery the knowledge of his father’s murderer would bring to her son.
Intricate as the drama is, and dramatic as the situations are, Tiresias’ action in this context illustrates his resolution to take a stance- in this case, not to reveal divine knowledge- and stick with it. This force of character is something a
A poem on Tiresias
And finally, to round up, I leave you with a poem on the archetypes and Tiresias, written by Temenos founder, Siraj Sirajuddin. Called ‘Watermark Soulmate’ the poem is yours to enjoy below:
Deep,
inside my soul
is a
certain intricate
watermark
A guide left
behind
by the touch of
Your
generosity
A truth that
remains
unopened
by the passage
of time
Until
I discover my:
Archetypes
Personas
Masks
Faces
Images
Instincts
Pioneers
Charioteers
Co-sufferers
Nurses
Angels
Paracletes
Nomads
Listeners
Observers
Story Tellers
Gardeners
Prometheus
Atlas
Athenas
Even
Tiresias
is here
as a true
Hybrid.
All of them,
burnt with
Your
certain intricate
watermark.
- * "a certain intricate watermark
"Neither in
You can download “The Soulmate- The Poetry Book Of Temenos” for free here
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Temenos Vision Lab- Online ( June 29, 2018)
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Another venue to take an exquisite inner journey, to find your true Vision.
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An event dedicated to the idea of personal mastery, for nurturing your beautiful self, for change agents and leaders to become their true selves.
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