I can warmly recommend the books entitled Ursprung und Gegenwart (Ever Present Origin in English) by the German-Swiss philosopher Jean Gebser. He shows the different structures that consciousness has gone through in the spiritual development of humanity and in individual human lives. He distinguishes between archaic, mythical and mental-rational (our present-day consciousness). The transition from one structure of consciousness to a new one creates confusion and crises. Today we are in the deficient mental-rational mode. Gebser’s clear demand is therefore for a new consciousness (he speaks of integral consciousness) in order to overcome the overwhelming threat of this world “made” by mental-rational thinking.
He explains that in integral consciousness man can become aware of his spiritual-divine origin anew, that a clear religiosity or spirituality can be found beyond magical trance, mythical image and symbol and mental concept. In this context, Gebser speaks of the translucent, the transparency of the divine/spiritual origin in the here and now. See WT’s urgent call to us to re-establish the connection to God.
Jean, actually Hans Gebser, is regarded as one of the first consciousness researchers with a cultural science orientation who established a structural model of the history of human consciousness.
“Every confusion that each of us is able to clarify in his life and actions, every interception of fear, every grain of security that he works out for himself, every distancing – even the smallest – that he gains from himself, every prejudice and every ressentiment that he is able to conquer, are necessary achievements that will consolidate the new reality of integral consciousness and give it and the general public a wealth of meaning” (Ursprung und Gegenwart).
Gebser lists, among other things, the manifestations of the consciousness mutation that takes place:
Instead of thinking in terms of purpose and goals, there is a lack of purpose and a genuine ability to love.
Instead of the divided human being, there is the holistic human being. instead of dualistic opposites there is transparency.
Instead of “homo faber” there is “homo integer”.
instead of the hectic pace there is stillness, the ability to listen and remain silent.