Table of Contents for IC#12

The New Story

Life from a planetary perspective

Originally published in Winter 1985/86
Copyright (c)1986, 1997 by Context Institute


About This Issue
by Robert Gilman

THE STORY

It’s all a question of story. We are in trouble just now because we are in-between stories. The Old Story – the account of how the world came to be and how we fit into it – sustained us for a long time. It shaped our emotional attitudes, provided us with life purpose, energized action, consecrated suffering, integrated knowledge, and guided education. We awoke in the morning and knew where we were. We could answer the questions of our children.

But now it is no longer functioning properly, and we have not yet learned the New Story.

Thomas Berry, 1978

Stories, Facts & Meaning by Robert Gilman
A personal introduction

The Cosmic Story by Robert Gilman
The Universe is where it all begins

The Universe Is A Green Dragon by Brian Swimme
Reading the meaning in the cosmic story

The Human Story by Robert Gilman
The big picture suggests we’re starting a new chapter

It’s Already Begun by William Irwin Thompson
The Planetary Age is an unacknowledged daily reality

Morphogenetic Fields And Beyond an interview with Rupert Sheldrake, by Robert Gilman
New research in undermining old ideas of separation

THE CHALLENGE

The New Storytellers by David Spangler
How we live the story is as important as its content

The Dance Of Change by Michael Lindfield
Eco-spiritual reflections from Scotland. Plus Listening To The Trees, a poem by Susan Meeker-Lowry

From Empire To Ecstasy by Carol Moore
A vision for the coming transition

What Can We Do? by Mary McCollum
Using the New Story in cultural healing

Mythic Reflections an interview with Joseph Campbell, by Tom Collins
Thoughts on myth, spirit, and our times

Being The Planet by William Prescott
To come alive, the New Story needs an expanded awareness

The Garden by Robert Gilman
A story about paths, signposts, and choices