Thank you for the opportunity to keep the thread alive Rapunzel.

Perna, as i said in the pm i sent you, i have respect and admiration for your knowledge, as well as your personality. I am thankful for your contributions to this thread. Sometimes i am lost in some of your writing, but, it's my fault, not yours. I hope I can ask for clarifications..

You had stated that in your opinion the topic is currently 'How one knows God' ... yes, we're on the same page.

are you describing the archetype as a vehicle to God? That is my view of it.

for me, it builds a curiosity of the archetypal family. it causes me to think that if i understood the archetypes better, through that understanding and knowledge, it would increase my understandings of mankind.. his desires, her desires, a childs desires, or an older person... it would help me munderstand people from all walks, all times...

i would have a vision of the conglomerate... and a sound to go along..... a wailing...

how many are in fear, pain, suffering? what do they call to for help?

to use this energy, this sound, this vision and reach for the collective sake towards God and to do so sincerely... is something like Jungs' theories...

i wish i could quote from the article but im afraid of losing this post by flipping pages...

the more i read the article, the more i find it does apply to me... i have felt disconnected and misunderstood for so many years, and now, its like a new light has turned on...

"the possessors of happy faith" were the groups i also was unable to connect with... it seemed they had it, hut, it didnt fit my skin... so, like 1oxbowgirl said, i wanted more, i needed more..

i had no context as a teen, no context until 30 or so years old... lost in a confusing and contradictory world..

so i searched spiritually, keeping my mind open... took me down some screwy paths...

but i kept coming back and seeking the right fit.. one that still fell within the mandala of sprituality, but not one of the ones from the usual choices....

to find God... in all things, as Sky and you Perna said, God just IS ...

and not a book, not a character, not an archetype...

one of the greatest things i think you said in this thread Perna is:

"I think the archtype and Jung's collective unconscious is the best approximation of sharing/knowing another's experience."

right, with stories... and there are many, many books....

in a more personal note, i hope i am not out of line, you also said:

"...how do I "learn"/get to "know" this and what is "It" that I get to know? I believe I have experienced love and that I have experienced God's Love but there is no way to share that experience or experience someone else's experience because I am an individual."

this is where the collective unconcious fits in i think... by sharing the stories, that experience becomes shared between individuals, forming the "us" in "collective" through the emotions we each feel and the reactive compassion and empathy...

God has a story... it has changed, adapted with humanities ascension... as humanity ascends, Gods story will continue to adapt.. the last book about God has not been written yet, imo...

the article mentions the concept of transcendance... of maral obligations...

this thread exists because i wanted any other people out there who are lost and confused and cant find a way, to keep looking...