As the prequel to the trilogy, Our Axial Age provides its background and context in more detail. At its beginning is a discussion of the prehistoric world, the emergence of civilization, and Jaspers’ Axial Age with particulars on the historic prophets Zoroaster, the Buddha, Confucius, and Socrates. Chapter 3 concentrates on the formation of the four civilizations, with sections on China becoming Confucian, India becoming Hindu, the Middle East becoming Muslim, and the West becoming Christian.
The middle chapters relate to a study performed to determine the one hundred historical milestones after the four civilizations began to meaningfully interact in 1100. These would form the basis for the accounts in the trilogy.
While the above can be involved, what stands out are the two original concepts relating to the passage of time. The first of these we call “Centurial Rhythm.” When the milestones were laid out across the nine centuries from 1100 to 2000 by decade, there was a startling result. Fully 31% of them fell in their second decades with 25% of the overall total in the 15th to 20th year of these decades. Even more significant was the remarkable consistency. Every second decade had three or four events except the 20th century which had five. There were also always 2 or 3 in the 15-20 range.
The book being sent to print just before the 2016 presidential election, contained an assertion that this election, together with that of 2020, “could be fateful for the rest of the century.” So it would seem.
The second concept was recognition of what we’ve termed the “harmonies of history.” These are very like what Carl Jung describes in his Theory of Synchronicity as meaningful coincidences. These he defines as clearly related occurrences extremely unlikely to materialize by chance that have a connective principle in a connotative manner with consequences.
We identify twenty-two of these in Chapter 7. The odds on the startling first one— “The Genius that Enabled our Axial Age”—happening are astronomical, its consequences unmeasurable. Jung was after a common unconscious mind. Could they be evidence of something more? Regardless, how delightful to come upon them!