Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. SACRED STAR SONGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS: Cultural Contexts of Consciousness as Symbolic Transmission Thesis for the award of Master of Arts, in Social Anthropology At Massey University School of People, Environment and Planning New Zealand Vivienne Tobassa Eggers Date: 31st March 2024 Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 ii Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 iii ABSTRACT Consciousness is a holistic existential phenomenon. It infuses human culture across personal, social, environmental, and universal domains. Recent interdisciplinary attempts to define consciousness reveal disciplinary divergence and challenge consensual understanding. Anthropological studies attempt to provide deeper cultural insights, but experience issues as contemporary science often dismisses socio-cultural theories as subjective and non-empirical. In neuroscience, the focus on mind, body and brain as internal, biological processes disregards Jungian and other theories on consciousness as external, non-local phenomena, that engage with metaphysics. This research explores consciousness within cultural contexts, investigating its topography, expression and transmission. I observe its phenomenal influence on human experiences and challenge neuroscience's viewpoint of exclusive internal derivation. I propose a phenomenology of cross- cultural symbolic communication, that is archetypal and metaphoric in nature. I realign Jung’s concept of the Great Mother Archetype, self and Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey’ to demonstrate a cosmic fundamental source with forces that arise in humanity in processes of alternative consciousness. From review of theoretical literature and visual ethnographies, I apply symbolic anthropology and examine aspects of consciousness, human perceptions and their integral relationships with meaning-making. My research involves cultural astronomy and identifies the role of neurodiversity in the transmission of consciousness from archaic hominins into contemporary society. I find consistency in the monomyth when applied within a panpsychist model of astronomically bound and interconnected forms. The celestial framework denotes a fundamental essence of forces and operating aspects, responsible for the symbolic messages that interact and constitutively influence humanity. This concept is a deviation from Plato’s idea of mathematical forms and Jung’s idea of collective consciousness and unconscious as an immaterial and mental repository of symbols. From research findings, I propose that the intentional and unconscious transmission of primordial symbolism invokes human internal processes, external actions and behaviours. The operations of these cosmic forces and our responsive, human interaction drive the desire for cultural meaning making and explanations of existence in the formation of ritualistic relationships with ‘the other’. I conclude with the reflection of transformation from researching the anthropology of consciousness and describe a forming hypothesis and a conceptual framework for future studies. – Keywords [“interpretive”, “great mother”, “phenomena”, “archeoastronomy”, “symbolism”, “consciousness”, “cosmology”, “affect theory”, “anthropology of consciousness”, “existentialism”, “waters of life”] Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................ VII GLOSSARY OF TERMS .......................................................................................................................... VIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... IX PERSONAL STATEMENT ......................................................................................................................... IX DOCUMENT MAP PART ONE .................................................................................................................... 2 CHAPTER ONE ..................................................................................................................................... 4 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 4 ABOUT ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Topic Overview ............................................................................................................................ 5 Background to the Study .............................................................................................................. 6 The Research Problem ................................................................................................................. 9 Research Aim, Objectives, and Questions ................................................................................... 11 Significance ............................................................................................................................... 14 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................................... 17 LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................................. 17 ABOUT ............................................................................................................................................. 17 THE STUDY OF CONSCIOUSNESS ................................................................................................... 18 THE RESEARCH POSITION .............................................................................................................. 22 Situating a Methodological Framework for Anthropological Study ................................................. 22 CONSCIOUSNESS CULTURAL TRANSMISSION ................................................................................ 25 Foundation of Theory ................................................................................................................. 25 Empirical Research .................................................................................................................... 29 Research Gap ............................................................................................................................ 35 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 40 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................................ 42 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................... 42 ABOUT ............................................................................................................................................. 42 Research Philosophy ................................................................................................................. 42 Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 v Research Approach ................................................................................................................... 43 Research Strategy and Design .................................................................................................... 43 Data Sampling ........................................................................................................................... 46 Data Collection .......................................................................................................................... 47 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 48 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................................... 49 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 50 DOCUMENT MAP – PART TWO ............................................................................................................... 54 RESEARCH FINDINGS ................................................................................................................. 55 ABOUT PART TWO .............................................................................................................................. 55 CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................................. 60 SCIENCE CONNECTS CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS .................................................................... 60 ABOUT ............................................................................................................................................. 60 ETHNOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................. 61 CONSCIOUSNESS .......................................................................................................................... 65 NEUROSCIENCE AND CULTURE ..................................................................................................... 70 JUNG AND CAMPBELL .................................................................................................................... 82 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 92 CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................................... 96 SYMBOLIC ANTHROPOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 96 Culture as Symbolism ................................................................................................................ 96 Symbolism is a Communication ................................................................................................. 97 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 107 CHAPTER SIX ................................................................................................................................... 115 STAR SONGS ............................................................................................................................ 115 ABOUT ........................................................................................................................................... 115 Sky Lore and Other Ways of Knowing ......................................................................................... 116 Songlines and Dreaming ........................................................................................................... 122 THE WATERS OF LIFE .................................................................................................................... 125 ABOUT ........................................................................................................................................... 125 External Consciousness Communication .................................................................................. 126 Symbolic Case Example One .................................................................................................... 129 Symbolic Case Example Two .................................................................................................... 132 Symbolic Case Example Three .................................................................................................. 135 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 137 CHAPTER SEVEN .............................................................................................................................. 140 Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 vi CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 140 Contextual Issues of Consciousness ........................................................................................ 141 Topography of Consciousness in Culture .................................................................................. 142 Culminating Research Conceptualisation ................................................................................. 143 Meaning Making ....................................................................................................................... 144 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 147 Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 vii List of Figures1 FIGURE 1: OVERVIEW MAP OF THESIS DOCUMENT CHAPTERS AND SUB-TOPICS, PART ONE. ......................................... 2 FIGURE 2: RESEARCH CONCEPTUAL MAP. ................................................................................................... 44 FIGURE 3: THE POSITION AND STRATEGIC APPROACH APPLIED TO RESEARCH. ........................................................ 46 FIGURE 4: A CASE STUDY BASED ON THREE COMMON DENOMINATORS FOUND IN SYMBOLISM—REPRESENTING A WAY OF CONSCIOUSNESS. .......................................................................................................................... 47 FIGURE 5: FIVE ITERATIVE APPROACHES TO ANALYSE RESEARCH. ........................................................................ 49 FIGURE 6: THE CONTEXTUAL MODEL OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT DEMONSTRATES ITS RELATIONAL POSITION. ................ 51 FIGURE 7: OVERVIEW MAP OF THESIS DOCUMENT SUB-TOPICS, PART TWO. ........................................................... 54 FIGURE 8: CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES DOMAINS REPRESENTED—BY PERSONAL INTERNAL, EXTERNAL CULTURAL AND META- CONTEXTS. .................................................................................................................................... 66 FIGURE 9: CONSCIOUSNESS THEORIES - TOUCHPOINTS WITH PHENOMENOLOGY (IN SITU CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY) 2024. ......................................................................................................................................... 67 FIGURE 10: MODELLING THE PANPSYCHISM THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES (ZOOM TO READ). 68 FIGURE 11: SUMMARY OF MAJOR, CONTEMPORARY CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES. ..................................................... 69 FIGURE 12: IMPLICIT MEMORIES ARE AUTOMATIC AND DO NOT REQUIRE CONSCIOUS RECALL. .................................... 71 FIGURE 13: IMPLICIT MEMORIES RELATING TO CONSCIOUSNESS IN CULTURE—VIVIENNE TOBASSA EGGERS, 2024. ........ 72 FIGURE 14: EXPLICIT MEMORIES INVOLVE CONSCIOUS RECALL. ......................................................................... 73 FIGURE 15: EXPLICIT MEMORIES RELATING TO CONSCIOUSNESS IN CULTURE —VIVIENNE TOBASSA EGGERS, 2024. ....... 74 FIGURE 16: THE USE OF MEMORIES AND THEIR FUNCTION IN RELATIONSHIP TO DREAMING—VIVIENNE TOBASSA EGGERS, 2024. ......................................................................................................................................... 75 FIGURE 17: CULTURAL FUNCTION OF MEMORY—VIVIENNE TOBASSA EGGERS, 2024. ............................................. 76 FIGURE 18: FUNCTIONS OF CULTURAL MEMORY IN CONTEXTS OF RELATIONSHIPS—VIVIENNE TOBASSA EGGERS, 2024. .. 77 FIGURE 19: RELATIONSHIPS FUNCTION AND MEMORY USE IN CULTURE—VIVIENNE TOBASSA EGGERS, 2024. ............... 79 FIGURE 20: ADAPTED DIAGRAM OF THE HERO’S JOURNEY PROCESS IN POSITION ON THE ASTRONOMICAL PRECESSION CYCLE OF THE SUN AND MOON AND CONSTELLATIONS MARKED BY ANNUAL EQUINOXES AND SOLSTICES—VIVIENNE TOBASSA EGGERS 2024. .................................................................................................................. 99 FIGURE 21: QUOTATION OF AUSTRALIAN EXPLORER DAVID LINDSAY 1887. ........................................................ 119 FIGURE 22: AN ILLUSTRATION OF MANY SYMBOLS ASSOCIATED WITH WATER AS A SOURCE OF PRIMORDIAL CREATION. ... 129 FIGURE 23: AN ILLUSTRATION OF VARIOUS SYMBOLS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUN OR DIVINE RADIANT ENERGY. ............. 132 FIGURE 24: AN ILLUSTRATION OF MANY SYMBOLS ASSOCIATED WITH THE AXIS MUNDI, TREE, MOUNT, STAFF, TRIANGLE OR PYRAMID. ................................................................................................................................... 135 FIGURE 25: PROBLEM AND CONTEXTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND ITS STUDY. ........................................................ 141 FIGURE 26: KEY FINDINGS IN THESIS RESEARCH RESULTS. .............................................................................. 142 FIGURE 27: HYPOTHETICAL SUBMISSIONS FORMED OUT OF THESIS RESEARCH—VIVIENNE TOBASSA EGGERS, 2024. .... 143 1 Note: All figures, tables, diagrams and illustrations are the original work and copyright of the author, Vivienne Tobassa Eggers, 2024. Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 viii Glossary of Terms BP Before Present BCE Before Current Era KA Thousand Years Ago Local Pertaining to the individual. Non local External to the individual, usually in social contexts. The Other Pertaining to the cultural domain of Nature, Environment, Cosmos, Spiritual, Phenomenal Forces and anthropological contexts of cultural constructs that the individual connects with. Internal (domain) Interior realm, psyche, conscious and physiological ‘being’ of the individual life force. External (domain) External realm or reality the individual connects to from the mind and potentially shares with other individuals within context of ‘life’. Qualia The mind’s subjective, conscious experiences. Sometimes equated with phenomena experienced by humans. Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 ix Acknowledgements I extend gratitude to my supervisor Graeme Macrae who offered his consistent scholarly guidance. Graeme encouraged me to persevere with the academic progress of my personal 'chef d'oeuvre' and write my second forthcoming book publication that draws on this research. I acknowledge Professor Carolyn Morris for supporting a solid foundation of social anthropology theory in my degree-level years. I express gratitude to all others who genuinely offered kindness, fair assessment, and support on my journey. I also acknowledge the international universities that provided the additional courses in philosophy, neuropsychology, archaeology, and cultural astronomy I undertook during the three years of my research. I extend a personal acknowledgement to my daughter Sarah and my four beloved mokopuna (grandchildren) Ahija, Rehua, Kaiawa and Nehemia who carry my legacy of sacred traditions forward in life. Finally, I present a personal acknowledgement and gratitude to all the Indigenous people and Traditional wisdom keepers who have shared their valuable insights for a more harmonious, sustainable world. Personal Statement When deciding on this research topic, I directed my extensive professional computer science and management career in strategic change, communications, and culture. Early in the millennium, I emigrated from Australia to the United Kingdom to manage cultural change for an international corporation. This role included my first officially recognised international expertise as a Design Anthropologist. I spent my earlier career driving transformation in education, multi-cultural governance, and ‘user’ or ‘customer-centred’ design. I gained extensive social development skills working amongst tribal cultures. With global society opening to a new era of internet and web commerce, my unique technical skills and multi-cultural experience proved a rare match in the global search for strategic design. I managed the world’s first ‘real-time’ Instant Messenger and global e-commerce platform. Concurrently, I initiated the first customer-centred company Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 x organisation change and cultural assimilation. My consultancy successfully pioneered customer and cultural contexts for organisation and technology design. My accelerating career moved further into strategic management, corporate and good governance, human rights, and sustainability. However, I never deviated from my original passion for multicultural immersion, alternative learning, and sacred healing traditions. I engaged my personal development with additional vocational activities. These included Arts, Music, Design, and literary publishing. Early in the nineties, I studied natural health, cognitive science, and psychotherapies. I established a community centre that focused on cultural exchange and holistic personal development. I commenced my first professional exploration into metaphysics and the governance ‘realm’ of the ‘Sacred Feminine’. I delivered learning, workshops, seminars, and keynote speaking on personal transformation and featured on international television for my novel success. In 1997, a ‘call’ resounded from world Indigenous leaders, elders, and people. This challenge of ‘Mother Earth’ sustainability incited my mission of global charity work. In 2002, I committed to focus on Indigenous and ‘Sacred Feminine’ alternative knowledge systems. I travelled from London to South Africa by invitation of a global delegation. Spiritual Leader of Lakota Dakota Native American Nations. Chief Arvol Lookinghorse, PHD, founded a global movement ‘World Peace and Prayer Day’ with holy leaders, elders, and sustainability influencers. His mission leads change toward preserving Mother Earth. This multi-denominational charity with over eight million followers worldwide promotes the traditional wisdom sharing of Indigenous and Religious leaders. As water caretaker, Sacred Feminine spiritual emissary, and UK-based international coordinator, I strategized the delegation’s mission for peace, sustainability and cultural knowledge preservation and exchange. In 2008, Australian and subsequently New Zealand Indigenous tribes joined and hosted the core delegation of World Peace and Prayer Day. I concentrated on charity work in Southeast Asia until a serious health collapse ended my corporate consulting commitments. I undertook academic studies while recovering from an ongoing medical disability. I initially studied four master’s degrees in arts, Writing, Management and Sustainability, Law, and International Relations with a specialisation in International Law and Human Rights. During remission, I travelled to India for two research projects but collapsed in Indonesia on my return journey. While recovering in Asia, I continued academic work. United Nations Foundation and ASEAN representatives asked me to design a transformation strategy for underdeveloped countries undertaking economic transition. My resulting thought leadership in strategic sustainable development propelled my work into multicultural relationships. Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 xi Later returning to New Zealand, I consolidated my competencies and professional background with a recent degree major and a Master of Social Anthropology. I perceive the knowledge deficit I identify will benefit from awareness and application of the Sacred Feminine values and cultural consciousness. Three years ago, I started related anthropological research surrounding this topic. This autobiographical statement explains my trajectory towards qualifying as an anthropologist. I am a professional author, deeply committed to the Sacred Feminine, and cultural astronomy aspects of my research. This thesis underpins my life passion for exploring cultures, cosmology, metaphysics, and creative expression. These desires complement my vocational aspirations to champion Nature and peaceful harmony. I ultimately aim to contribute to our knowledge of origins and transcending codes of existence in culture and consciousness. part one THE WAY Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 2 Document Map Part One Figure 1: Overview map of thesis document chapters and sub-topics, part one. Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 3 chapter one INTRODUCTION Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 4 Chapter One INTRODUCTION About This chapter delivers an overview of the research project. In this section, I introduce the field of consciousness, the specific research topic and an initial statement of the research aims and objectives. In section two I provide a background of the research area and its contemporary establishment. I review the societal debate on consciousness and give anthropological contexts to reveal current trends in this area. Section three identifies the research question and focus. I introduce key theoretical concepts and terminology. I describe the current state of established research, including issues and a gap found while reviewing the literature. I rationalise why addressing this gap is worthwhile for social anthropology and general society. Section four specifies the research aims and objectives and discusses the specific thesis questions. I clarify the scope and outline discussion points. In section five I describe the study’s social, academic, and societal importance, advising the significance of contributing to the field of knowledge. Section six provides a conclusion to the chapter. I outline the potential research limitations and identify shortcomings experienced during design, conduct, and any steps toward mitigation. Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 5 Topic Overview The anthropology of consciousness involves the study of consciousness phenomena in cultures around the world. This topic is perceived as fundamental to life and cosmic existence by researchers who seek to advance societal comprehension of its features and issues. Scientific and academic methodologies often make experiential, experimental, conceptual, and cross-cultural comparative approaches to address broad and complex inquiries. Positioning research within the anthropology paradigm further supports historical and alternative ways of knowing. The sub- discipline respects cultural traditions, archaic roots, and consciousness expression. Anthropology fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and inclusivity. It proposes to add insights and questions about the human condition, life and existence. However, historical conjecture continues the debate about whether the source of consciousness is an internal human process or the influence of external phenomena represented in culture, religion and physics. A third perspective integrates both views, fuelling further debates over the source and constitutive driver. This ongoing disagreement creates a knowledge gap when researchers fail to find mutual ground to explain consciousness. The imposed limitations obstruct our engagement in holistic studies that seek the knowledge society needs to resolve big issues such as climate change and artificial intelligence. This study identifies and examines consciousness under empirical and theoretical frameworks that expose its presence in culture. The research adopts whole systems perspectives, examining consciousness as symbolism. I explore its nature, purpose, exchange and transformation in local and non-local aspects, cognition, and cross-cultural transmission. Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 6 Background to the Study “Adhesion to orthodoxy is always more profitable than dissent, but the future belongs to dissenters.” —J. Swanton, Anthropology of Consciousness 19522 Defining Consciousness As a substantially debated topic, studies on consciousness require agreement in definition. I am incited to write this paper, as the obscurity of meaning persists. Several factors contribute to this issue. Principally, consciousness is considered by multiple scientific disciplines, philosophy, and humanities. It is an ephemeral topic that throughout history has challenged society without a comprehensive explanation. To clarify, I cite a popular definition by philosopher Thomas Nagel.3 In 1974, Nagel delivered his influential concept of consciousness, stating: “What is it like to be a bat?”4 He implies consciousness is bound in the essence of subjectivity—of individual experience. As a ‘theory of the mind, there can be no theory’. Simply, consciousness is an individual’s self- awareness of ‘being’. Awareness is a personal cognition of what it is like to exist. We have no way of knowing another’s consciousness experience—forming an intangible mental concept of reality. Fundamentally, consciousness comprises awareness of internal and external existence. 2 Stephan A. Schwartz, "Boulders in the Stream: The Lineage and Founding of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness," Anthropology of Consciousness 32, no. 2 (2021), https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/anoc.12140, https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/anoc.12140. 3 J. I. Biro, "Consciousness and Subjectivity," Philosophical Issues 1 (1991), https://doi.org/10.2307/1522926, http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/stable/1522926. 4 Biro, "Consciousness and Subjectivity." Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 7 Foundational Understanding Consciousness explanations have attracted considerable debate. Often classing it with the mind and body, brain science sees it as a state of wakefulness or awareness. Early psychology highlights Carl Jung's5 ground-breaking theories on the collective unconscious, archetypes, and symbolism. His cross-cultural studies into dreaming, shamanism, and Eastern religions, have significantly influenced our perspectives. Some perceive his theories as mystical and philosophical opinions and exclude his work from contemporary studies.6 However, Jung's insights continue to guide researchers when reassessing traditional concepts with contemporary approaches. Beyond scientific discrediting, Jung’s psycho-social observations and analytic insights have made a prolific impact on our understanding of humanity. Advancing fields of neuroscience, cognition and dreaming now provide supporting scientific correlations to some of Jung’s concepts.7 Although correlations lack the required scientific ‘explanations’, they evidence tangible links for expanding research knowledge. Nagel’s8 paradoxical statements reflect a sentiment that by facilitating multi-disciplinary collaboration, anthropology has made significant inroads to reveal cultural worldviews, advance knowledge of consciousness, and therefore illuminate ‘what it is like to be’. Anthropological Contexts Consciousness presents as the essence of human nature but remains enigmatic in societal awareness. Despite recent advances in neuroscience, biological, cognitive science and physics, disparate interests ensure contextualisation remains non-qualified. Humans’ controlled access to unique mental states ensures that first-person, subjective experience—or ‘self-consciousness’— shapes our measure of awareness. However, we need personally interactive development of theoretical and conceptual frameworks for empirical scientific research.9 Contemporary studies are called for to learn more about consciousness from humanity’s cultural perspectives.10 A current 5 Carl Jung, Aspects of the Feminine (Princeton USA: Princeton University Press, 1983). 6 David Tacey, "Jung in the academy: devotions and resistances," Journal of Analytical Psychology 42, no. 2 (1997). 7 J Allan Hobson, "Dreaming," States of Brain and Mind (1988). 8 Thomas Nagel, "Mind-Dust or Magic? Panpsychism versus Emergence," Action Theory and Philosophy of Mind, 1990 (1990). 9 Tilo Kircher and Anthony S David, "Self-consciousness: an integrative approach from philosophy, psychopathology and the neurosciences," The self in neuroscience and psychiatry 1 (2003). 446 10 Matthew C Bronson and Tina R Fields, So what? Now what? The anthropology of consciousness responds to a world in crisis (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 8 deficit in this area occurs despite the early interests of anthropologists including Margaret Mead. Her studies of consciousness in gender studies include responses to the “Nature versus nurture” question, focussing on human developmental factors. The Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness (SAC) was founded for the recognition of non- local consciousness and cultural practices such as shamanism and psychic sensory phenomena.1 These topics have important interests for society. The SAC advises consciousness studies need attention outside of reductionist scientific frameworks. In the 1970s, Carlos Castaneda published his doctoral research after writing on altered states of reality. His challenge to anthropological traditions broke institutional constraints. Others have since followed his example and alternative consciousness now receives significant biological study. The emergent ‘Anthropology of Consciousness’ has thrived with the recognition of two major principles. First, that facets of consciousness exist beyond the constructs of time and space but are subjective to control and regulation. Second, universal and complex interconnection exists between all life forms. The motivation for a greater understanding of this phenomenon advances studies of human impulses, behaviours, and less perceptible features of cultures. Ultimately the field aims to foster transcendent insights and support spiritual maturity.11 Current Situation The field of consciousness studies has witnessed significant transformations in the past fifty years. Findings overturn traditional models that solely attribute consciousness to the mind and brain.12 Advances in neuroscience, physics, and biology have led to a paradigm shift, recognising consciousness as a complex, multi-dimensional phenomenon. Quantum physics places consciousness at the sub-atomic level within a unified field, reframing our understanding of cosmic existence and human function. The rapid pace of information restructuring, fuelled by innovative technologies and artificial intelligence, necessitates an ongoing review of our accepted knowledge. Ethnocentric bias and political divisiveness also influence societal perceptions of truth, prompting the re-evaluation of established theories and factual literature. 11 Ibid, 129-133 12 Schwartz, "Boulders in the Stream: The Lineage and Founding of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness." Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 9 In 2006, the SAC convened to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in consciousness research, addressing topics such as quantum mechanics, shamanism, and language. This move connects academia with public interests, amid growing concerns about artificial intelligence, global threats and climate change. Various sectors, including business, the military, and medicine have divested interests in consciousness studies. However, the need to improve multi-disciplinary engagement and public awareness remains. The SAC's commitment to ecological accountability and equity highlights the value of consolidating efforts towards collaborative initiatives. The Research Problem Humanity maintains a fundamental quest to understand existence. The intrinsic question of comprehending life and for many, the afterlife intersects with human purpose and action. Since our earliest knowledge of ancient history, societies have struggled with the need for existential explanations of how and why we experience the world around us and identify our presence in the world as a ‘self’. This is the definitive question that frames the study of consciousness. As a study contributed to by multi-disciplinary researchers, the division of interests has resulted in two main positions. One is the widely agreed problem that consciousness is derived from a physical basis but has no compelling explanation of how and why it arises.13 Philosopher David Chalmers describes this “hard problem [as] a full accounting of how subjective experience arises from these cerebral processes.” The other concern is why and how physical processes should give rise to a rich inner realm in the brain and body—yet extend beyond the person as a phenomenological experience. A deeper division exists between empirical explanations of science and theoretical frameworks of the mind, prominent in psychology from the theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.14 As science became our benchmark of knowledge legitimacy, the disparity between knowledge schools expanded. New-era scientists were reluctant to apply research foundations that risk reputational damage. However, despite criticism, the Jungian framework of conscious, unconscious, and collective consciousness informs many qualitative and empirical researchers. The framework gives 13 David J Chalmers, "The puzzle of conscious experience," Scientific American 273, no. 6 (1995). 14 Hobson, "Dreaming."1988) Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 10 widely accepted explanations of imaginal realms, the psyche, mental states, and alternative ways of knowing.15 Jung’s consciousness model containing archetypes within the human psyche is not scientifically implausible. His theories are based on extensive cross-cultural research and observations conducted alongside his experimental and reflective praxis.16 However, the need for testable ‘hard facts’ delivered through empirical data drives new research frameworks in brain science.17 Jung conducted extensive experiments on his clients and introspectively upon himself. However, his observational data is non-provable in a rationalist frame that seeks double-blind control, and experimental quantitative methodologies as the ‘gold standard’. In anthropology, researchers often rely on observational studies, including Clifford Geertz, who interpreted empirical ethnographies.18 Observation and analysis of behaviours, patterns and colloquial explanations deliver significant insights into unique and shared cultural worldviews. Additionally, many in the scientific community dismiss Jung's theoretical framework as purely a mental construct lacking physical representation or empirical evidence. Brain science, focusing on measurable elements like brain physiology, posits Jung's ideas about the supernatural and metaphysical as irrelevant remnants of Creationism.19 However, as neuroscience progresses,20 growing recognition of the connections between Jung's theories and neuroscience indicates that the rejection of his ideas may have been premature. Today’s interconnected world is characterised by complex societal issues and ecological challenges.21 The realisation emerges of the need to adopt holistic, interdisciplinary approaches to research. Sustainability and governance frameworks require holistic thinking to address the multifaceted issues regarding humanity and the environment. This paradigm shift highlights the importance of reviewing previously disregarded theories within the greater context. The SAC has recognised an urgent need to facilitate open ground for academics and researchers to position the big issue of consciousness as multi-disciplinary studies. Driving anthropological 15 Tacey, "Jung in the academy: devotions and resistances." 16 Carl Gustav Jung, Collected Works of CG Jung, Volume 8: The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche (Princeton University Press, 2024). 17 Anil K Seth and Tim Bayne, "Theories of consciousness," Nature Reviews Neuroscience 23, no. 7 (2022). 18 Clifford Geertz, The interpretation of cultures, vol. 5019 (Basic books, 1973). 19 Seth and Bayne, "Theories of consciousness." 20 Ibid, 440 21 Schwartz, "Boulders in the Stream: The Lineage and Founding of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness." Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 11 research is the question to be answered by both hard science and non-empirical researchers. As a necessary step towards reunifying a holistic knowledge view, we ask: Is consciousness an internal, or externally driven experience or both? Anthropology upholds that consciousness is experienced in the external ‘other’ or cultural domain. This generic question may be reduced to a central research problem asking: How and why have existential explanations by cultures been transferred as consciousness and reinforced cross-culturally throughout time and place? This research question forms the foundation of my study. Consciousness transmission has various features. However, SAC publicity highlights the requirement for studies focused on cultural phenomena specifically as a mechanism of consciousness. This examination will support our contemporary understanding. Research Aim, Objectives, and Questions Research Aim This research thesis examines consciousness with an emphasis on cultural perspectives. It examines the lack of contemporary, holistic approaches that study phenomenological, and cultural links with scientific theories. Research Objectives In this study, I examine elements of Jungian transpersonal theory involving consciousness, archetypes, and symbolism. I review its tribal customary succession and cross-cultural transmission. The central premise of my study is that the 'Great Mother's' archetypal mystery of the collective unconscious has played a fundamental role in shaping human values and culture. Expressly, I propose an alternative language transmission, communicated in symbolic messages. I validate the authenticity of this research statement and examine the implications. I case study symbolism that is commonly found in archaeological records, cosmology, and cultural astronomy. Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 12 By correlating associations with other theories of consciousness, I develop a conceptual framework that explores and clarifies transpersonal and cultural dimensions of consciousness as alternative explanations for human existence. Research Questions The scope of my research is delimited to seven apposite inquiries designed to extract insights into the aim and objectives of researching the anthropology of consciousness. First, I examine the themes and elements connecting Jung’s theories and other relevant discourses to the cultural expression of traits, values, and symbolism. I explore the intersection between Jungian transpersonal theory and cultural meaning. I identify thematic cultural elements aligning with Jung's theories on archetypes, symbolism, and consciousness. I seek to gain insights from empirical research into how certain cultural traits, values, and symbols reflect universal and local aspects of consciousness. I secondly analyse the general factors defining symbolism in the study. This phase interrogates the deeper elements of cultural symbolism and meaning-making. The approach identifies external factors in ‘the other’. I commonly use this term throughout my discussion, referring to the societal, psychological, environmental, and spiritual factors contributing to semiotics. My inquiry considers the existential forces that shape cultural symbolism, revealing how consciousness is interwoven in customary culture. In the third stage, I trace the origins of symbols. I analyse what they ‘speak to’ and how they reveal the relationship of consciousness with our early ancestors. I build comprehension of the cultural and cognitive dimensions in which these symbols emerged. My examination adds a temporal component to research, revealing the diachronic nature of consciousness in culture. My fourth step analyses the implications of the case-studied symbolic communications and their transmission in human lineages.22 I focus on a specific example, to extract the cross-cultural significance of the symbolism. I examine in detail how these symbols have been exchanged and transformed within various cultural scenarios. My analysis aims to expose patterns of cultural continuity or change. I adopt this approach towards a more comprehensive view of the role and value symbolism has in influencing the generational transmission of consciousness. 22 Appendix 1 and 2, Vivienne Tobassa Eggers Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 13 In the fifth stage, I probe the concept that humans have passed on symbolism as a mode of conscious awareness. I examine the mechanisms through which symbolism is socially shared. I analyse the cultural processes and dynamics involved in the transmission of symbolic meaning. I inquire into the ways cultural knowledge and meaning are perpetuated. I consider how symbols are affecting or being affected by phenomenological forces. My sixth action assesses what values and meanings are connected to the represented symbolism. I identify cultural variations and similarities. I analyse the relevance of cultural diversity, interpretations, and dynamic relationships with individual and cultural consciousness. As the final step, I synthesise and examine my findings concerning consciousness as a constitutive driver of culture. I consider responses to these objectives to support a transformational understanding of the research. I share a holistic perspective on the dynamic relationship between cultural symbolism and consciousness. My trajectory is toward clarifying internal and external driving factors, leading to comprehensive insights into how culture influences and reflects human experiences. Ultimately, I aim to contribute additional perspectives toward developing a holistic definition of consciousness and expand our understanding of its nature and presence. Scope I apply the research framework to one specific instance of symbolism transmission, based on my findings from an earlier research project. I conduct a comprehensive examination of a culturally shared consciousness scenario that connects existential meanings and lived experiences through alternative mechanisms. I discuss the findings of my research and a case example of primary symbols. Case study discussions, additional research literature reviews and supplemental projects formulated during my three years of research are promulgated in Appendix 123 and Appendix 2.24 Attempts to directly answer the greater questions on the agreed definition of consciousness, fall outside the scope of this research. Research delimitations are imposed from the current state of 23 Vivienne Tobassa Eggers, Appendix 1: Great Mother Star Cosmology Origins and Transmission Research Literature Review (Massey University, 2024 2021). 24 Vivienne Tobassa Eggers, Appendix 2: Star Songs, Symbolism and Thesis Addendum Materials Massey University (New Zealand, 2024). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 14 academic knowledge that is historically established on a platform of traditional literature. Many scholastic articles discuss the subjectivity, ethnocentrism, and anthropomorphism of past researchers. This research acknowledges that it is now widely known these conditions exist in the foundations of contemporary knowledge systems. My thesis discussion takes the position that the reader will have prior scholarly anthropological knowledge and familiarity with established terminology. My reflexive position is that rapidly changing knowledge systems do not need to anchor on fixed and outmoded thought. Therefore, I aim to apply contemporary knowledge perspectives and insights to robust historical research by reviewing literature with alternative and perhaps expansive insights. Significance This study will contribute to our knowledge of consciousness firstly by expanding anthropological discourse on cultural features. Secondly, by linking consciousness theories and contextual issues that may support further collaborative research. The research is important to improve understanding of traditional and alternative knowledge systems. I therefore focus examination of consciousness as a phenomenon connecting cultural ‘lived experience’. The findings may additionally support scientific studies examining internal ‘local’ and external ‘non-local’ features of consciousness. Cultural representation of consciousness as a communication implies human adaptive survival and resilience traits embedded in cross-culturally binding transmission—an enduring legacy throughout time and place. The anthropological study may therefore hold important insights towards recognising reinforced values. I target an ideal of holistic frameworks navigating toward resolving global problems for developing artificial intelligence technology, wellness, and general sustainable living in peaceful harmony. Limitations This study recognises several potential limitations of the research project. Firstly, the scope of this thesis narrows a conceptually broad topic into a segmented view. While this is a necessity in all research, I transparently acknowledge the findings are insufficient to prove or find ‘hard’ explanations of consciousness. Consequently, there is also a risk of making generalised Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 15 assumptions from a small example. To reduce the risks of overstating the findings and unfounded speculation, the research is designed as a concise second stage in a greater inquiry. It builds insights as stages and indicates rather than fully transcends the illumination of knowledge as a predominating new theory. However, it does propose new concepts and alternative frameworks as a forming hypothesis. Secondly, the research methodology is conducted on existing literature within a conceptual scaffold. The study is positioned in a cultural anthropological paradigm. Results will benefit from future ethnographic field inquiry. Future stages of research may use this thesis research objectives and conceptual model to explore phenomenological lived experience and deeper interpretive meanings. Richer contexts focused specifically on the research problem and objectives can be derived from directly engaging cultural interactions with symbolism and alternative knowledge systems. Future ethnographic projects using this thesis research as a comparative base model may mitigate this limitation. Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 16 chapter two LITERATURE REVIEW Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 17 Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW About This chapter introduces and discusses a review of critical texts and theorists. The review is structured according to the topic organisation. The initial phase comprises a summary and discussion of texts addressing consciousness. The longitudinal review spans ancient philosophies to contemporary discussions. I provide a concise overview of theories and perspectives that contextualise my research within the wider field of consciousness studies. My review examines cultural perspectives on consciousness as the central theme of my research. In subsequent sections, I discuss foundational texts informing my analysis of the research goals. I examine theories and comparative analyses of consciousness transmission within culture, particularly through archetypal and celestial symbolism. The discussion is structured into three main themes: the foundational theoretical framework, existing empirical research, and discourse addressing the identified research gap. By synthesising these categories, I demonstrate the cultural dimensions of consciousness transmission. Before conducting this research, I carried out extensive literature research and longitudinal analysis to build the necessary background for this thesis. This preliminary literature review project identifies, evidences, and traces the source of a ‘Celestial Mother’ cosmology. It anchors the current research by linking key symbolism transmission with archaeology, cultural records and Ancient DNA identified migrations. I cite references to the texts of the earlier review as Appendix 1.25 I cite references to the detailed discussions of cultural astronomy and a case example of symbolism as Appendix 2. 26 25 Eggers, Appendix 1: Great Mother Star Cosmology Origins and Transmission Research Literature Review. 26 Eggers, Appendix 2: Star Songs, Symbolism and Thesis Addendum Materials Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 18 THE STUDY OF CONSCIOUSNESS ‘What it is like…’ Finding a common definition: Film debate review The intellectual journey to understand what consciousness is and how it connects with our known universe is a deep and complex question that has challenged thinkers since the classical philosophies. In a 2023 debate at the Royal Institute of Philosophy, Philip Goff stated: “The mystery of Consciousness continues to be one of the most puzzling intellectual challenges of our time despite great progress in our scientific understanding of the brain, we still don’t have an explanation as to how electrochemical signalling could somehow produce the inner world of colours and sounds and smells and tastes that each of us embrace every second of waking life.” —P. Goff, Royal Institute of Philosophy November 202227 Goff expands his opening statement by describing a situation that he sees as a ‘miscategorisation’ in the set-up of studying consciousness. That is, the ‘hard problem of consciousness’ is a bid to explain how brains produce conscious awareness. Goff’s point alludes to the generally supported idea that consciousness is purely a physical problem and that any study should focus on this context to be of significant value. However, he perceives the root of the problem as philosophical rather than purely scientific, and aptly renames the ‘hard problem’ as the ‘mind-body problem’. He is unsurprisingly ensconced in the philosophies camp that reinstates the issue as a ‘philosophical challenge’ seeking to fuse these mind-body aspects in a single unified theory of reality. In the debate of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, the need for an anthropological ‘cultural’ viewpoint was not completely overlooked. However, it was not represented in the multi- 27 Royal Institute of Philosophy Debate published March 2023 Chair Riula Shar BBC, Annual Lecture of Philosophers of International Standing. https://youtu.be/vjvLQ7GKxBE?si=rJmjPm9NPtANpuFy see also https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org https://youtu.be/vjvLQ7GKxBE?si=rJmjPm9NPtANpuFy https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org/ Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 19 disciplinary speaker panel. After the discussion, the moderator noted the need for cultural perspectives and many audience members asked culturally oriented questions. Many may have sympathised with Thomas Nagel’s28 ‘What it is like’ comment to know the experience of ‘being’ something. However, by default, the anthropological ‘home’ for the study of consciousness is indelibly connected with a culture and environmental context that may also represent cross-cultural features. In this domain, the study may involve phenomena, experience, and ‘qualia’. These form the nature, content, subjective and inter-subjective experiences of life and existence as culturally connected interactions. Positioning within a Methodological Frame Goff highlights three potential frames to situate consciousness studies. Option one is ‘materialism.’ This approach is favoured by ‘hard problem’ scientists who believe that consciousness arises from physical brain and bodily processes. The second option is ‘panpsychism’, which turns the materialist statement around by stating that consciousness is the pre-existing foundation of existence from which the physical world arises. Option three is dualism, where proponents perceive ‘special laws of Nature called ‘psychophysical laws’, connecting consciousness and materiality as co-existing, equal constructs. Goff asserts that “the only logical choice that can potentially accommodate all studies regardless of material, mental, or dualistic approaches is panpsychism.”29 Panpsychism The literature in this review involves the examination and discussion of the historic and contemporary development of panpsychism. The texts involve various theories, models and methods that form the holistic context of panpsychism as a metatheory that claims a fundamental feature of the universe is consciousness. In “Panpsychism, The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness”30 Goff, William Seager and Sean Allen-Hermanson describe panpsychism as “the view that mentality is fundamental and ubiquitous 28 Thomas Nagel, "What is it like to be a bat?," Theories of Mind: An Introductory Reader (2006). 29 Royal Institute of Philosophy Debate published March 2023 Chair Riula Shar BBC, Annual Lecture of Philosophers of International Standing. https://youtu.be/vjvLQ7GKxBE?si=rJmjPm9NPtANpuFy see also https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org 30 Philip Goff, "Panpsychism," in The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness, ed. Velmans (Blackwell, 2017). https://youtu.be/vjvLQ7GKxBE?si=rJmjPm9NPtANpuFy https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org/ Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 20 in the natural world.” In contemporary revival, this statement describes the fundamental fabric of existence as consciousness. Everything else arises out of this formation and is interconnected. Goff et. al.31 describe the rich history of panpsychism rooted in the philosophies, where it was inherently connected with Greek philosopher Thales. Later, it connects to notions of the ‘soul’ by proponents including Aristotle, who Goff cites as saying: “Some say a soul is mingled in the whole universe, which is perhaps why Thales thought that everything is full of gods”. The history of this thinking requires deeper consideration. During the 1700s, panpsychism was challenged by the introduction of mechanistic theories rendered by Descartes, Newton, and Galileo’s mathematisation of Nature and human experiences of her qualia. In place of Newton’s total denial, Descartes found a place for secondary qualities to exist within the soul. This step gave rise to a radical Cartesian Dualism. Its theme is that there are fundamentally two distinct and separate substances in the person of mind and body. Spinoza and Leibniz advocated for a metaphysical separation between the body and soul, and their many qualities. In “Panpsychism Reconsidered: A Historical and Philosophical Overview”32 David Skrbina writes “in the coming of analytic philosophy and logical positivism in the early 20th century, panpsychism was driven down, and then largely forgotten for nearly a century.” Skrbina’s observation refers to the popular rejection of panpsychism but also to the theory’s resurgence in recent history. Seager (Ed.) in The Routledge Handbook of Panpsychism33 consolidates contributors who reflect similar discussions surrounding the topic. A wide range of ideas related to panpsychism are discussed by contributors in twenty-eight chapters. Discussions are divided into several themes, including historical reflections, various forms of panpsychism, critical alternatives to panpsychism, and viewpoints on panpsychism’s feasibility. The historical accounts cover ancient Greek philosophy, Buddhist thought, Early Modern philosophy, and the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The work discusses the panpsychist view of many forms of consciousness in the universe. It explores differing worldviews and theories including subjective physicalism, cognitive pluralism, Russellian monism, and neutral monism. The literature also addresses questions about causation, quantum mechanics, and the combination problem. Overall, this work reveals the 31 ibid 32 David Skrbina, "Panpsychism Reconsidered: A Historical and Philosophical Overview," in The Routledge Handbook of Panpsychism (Routledge, 2019). 33 William E Seager, The Routledge handbook of panpsychism (Routledge, 2019). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 21 extensive adoption of panpsychism belief throughout history. The meta-theoretical framework’s sub-varietal features are discussed in Appendix 2.34 In the philosophy debate,35 Louise Antony, who is a specialist in epistemology and feminism, responded with valid points advocating functional and ‘top-down’ strategies to undertake consciousness studies. Antony suggests an initial functional analysis of the ‘higher order’ role of consciousness. She submits a broad examination of what it does and how it is integrated at the psychological functional level with factors such as perception, attention, and memory reason. She believes this panpsychism framework may facilitate studies on lower-level structures as individual research projects building towards performing higher-level functions. Debate on these theories also reveals some willingness by multi-disciplinary researchers to engage in holistic collaboration for overarching themes found in consciousness studies. Thomas Nagel proposes the adoption of panpsychism to avoid “emergent properties of a complex system— fundamental macro-level properties which may not be intelligibly derived from the properties of its parts.”36 David Chalmers37, renowned for describing the study of consciousness as a “hard problem”, is an advocate of panpsychism. The term refers to failing to make empirical explanations about human experience and ‘why’ it is ‘like to be that’ of Nagel’s bat analogy.38 This research significantly agrees with Goff’s panpsychism sympathies. However, not for the sake of a viewpoint in the ongoing debate. Instead, for the seemingly frequent omission of anthropological discussions concerning the definition, shape, and nature of consciousness in its external expression—that is, in culture. My research clarifies the agreement with associating panpsychism in Goff’s discussions39 and the consensual perspectives of contemporary scholars whose literature has informed my analysis.40 34 Eggers, Appendix 2: Star Songs, Symbolism and Thesis Addendum Materials 35 Royal Institute of Philosophy Debate published March 2023 Chair Riula Shar BBC, Annual Lecture of Philosophers of International Standing. https://youtu.be/vjvLQ7GKxBE?si=rJmjPm9NPtANpuFy see also https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org 36 Nagel, "Mind-Dust or Magic? Panpsychism versus Emergence." 2-4 37 David Chalmers, "The hard problem of consciousness," The Blackwell companion to consciousness (2017). 38 Nagel, "What is it like to be a bat?." 39 Goff, "Panpsychism." 40 Godehard Brüntrup, "Emergent panpsychism," Panpsychism. Contemporary Perspectives. Oxford 48 (2016). https://youtu.be/vjvLQ7GKxBE?si=rJmjPm9NPtANpuFy https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org/ Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 22 THE RESEARCH POSITION Societal discussion continues to debate an agreed definition of consciousness. My research focuses on anthropological discourse to pivot the study of consciousness within socio-cultural contexts. My position may be likened to Husserl’s description: “pure phenomenology with its emphasis upon returning to the things”.41 This statement observes that anthropology has its segmented interests in the topic of consciousness. These specific ‘things’ are connected but expand beyond philosophical origins and personally bound psychology, which may account for being overlooked in societal representation. I next give more context to how the field has sought to address this issue. Situating a Methodological Framework for Anthropological Study The anthropology of consciousness has an array of perspectives involving relevant studies. In “Introduction: Anthropologies of Consciousness”42 Michael Winkelman provides a systems perspective overview of the contexts of explicit consciousness studies and implicit anthropologies—such as altered states of consciousness. He highlights concerns relevant to other terms, including perception, cognition, thought, and cultural worldviews. Winkelman highlights ways that the development of consciousness is facilitated by social forces that drive awareness. He discusses issues encountered with altered states of consciousness, the therapeutic applications of psychedelics and the potential roles of shamanic ritual in addressing drug addiction, contemporary soul loss, and other conditions. He describes the biological bases of altered states of consciousness when associated with religious rituals and their adaptive effects. These often transition studies of the occult and conventional anthropologies of consciousness. 41 Charles D. Laughlin, "Intersubjectivity, Empathy, Life-World, and the Social Brain: The Relevance of Husserlian Neurophenomenology for the Anthropology of Consciousness," Anthropology of Consciousness 34, no. 1 (2023), https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/anoc.12171, https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/anoc.12171. 42 Michael Winkelman, "Introduction: Anthropologies of consciousness," Time and Mind 3, no. 2 (2010). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 23 Winkelman’s introduction provides examples of studies and theorists who undertake external anthropologies of consciousness. He refers to Throop and Laughlin43 who comprehensively engage with the history and progression of anthropological consciousness studies. Subfields in anthropology study consciousness related to cognition, thought, perception, and other internally related processes. Winkelman describes a ‘five-field anthropology’ that addresses critical areas: “Palaeontology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, and applied anthropology.”44 Each subfield has diverse approaches to consciousness studies. For example, palaeontology relates to the evolution of consciousness in general and specifically to human consciousness. Linguistic anthropology features the role of language in the formation of experience, perception, and consciousness. Archaeology connects material culture with different forms of consciousness in human history, and social or cultural anthropology is concerned with human relationships and explaining the cultural worldview, customs, and roles of shamanistic traditions for altering consciousness. Included are ethnic, social, class, political, historical, and other variant forms. The fifth field of applied anthropology undertakes ethnographic research of technologies for altering consciousness concerning contemporary issues. Winkelman states that a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of consciousness and its relationship to human evolution, culture, and social context is achieved when involving five-field approaches. I note these may be carried out as specialist contributions to broader studies and collaborative multi-disciplinary frameworks. Winkelman’s introduction to the interdisciplinary nature and the various ways in which anthropologists have engaged with the concept of consciousness gives a grounded view towards how the field may approach future studies. He emphasises the importance of examining the broader questions of self, identity, and social contexts. His theme is consciousness as a ‘knowing system’. I identify two additional subfields of the anthropology of consciousness as critical to this research. The first is phenomenology, primarily founded by philosopher Husserl and innovated by his counterpart Heidegger.45 Phenomenology, meaning ‘that which appears’ is a thought school emphasising subjective experience and intersubjectivity as the way individuals perceive and interpret consciousness. 43 C Jason Throop and Charles D Laughlin, "Anthropology of consciousness," in Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness, ed. Moscovitch and Thompson Zelazo (UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007). 44 Winkelman, "Introduction: Anthropologies of consciousness." 45 Richard Schacht, "Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology," Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition 23, no. 5 (1972). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 24 Husserl’s alternative philosophy to truth aligns more with Eastern traditional systems than Western traditions. It concerns understanding consciousness in its raw form, taking first-hand subjective experience as the starting point, rather than the objective world of Nature. Phenomenology provides a robust framework to explore the lived experiences of individuals within specific cultural contexts. The method of approach involves the concept of ‘bracketing’ as a phenomenological reduction to set aside our filters and judgements and perceive the essence of experience. Experience may be interior or exterior, within the dreaming or imaginal realms. Alternatively, it may be a ‘real’ physical experience, as the significance returns to the intentionality of consciousness and its ‘aboutness’ in its relationship to the phenomenon. The process includes eidetic reduction as an imaginal variation to consider possible attributes and identify its essence as ‘truth’. Heidegger alternatively theorises the ’knowledge’ of essences that is founded on the philosophical tradition as a way of knowing. Phenomenology significantly influences anthropologists including Michael Jackson.46 His ethnographies and discourse meaningfully inform my research in this way. His work is discussed in the research gap section of this review. The second and primary subfield is symbolic anthropology. It focuses on the role of symbols, rituals, and myths in shaping cultural meanings. By exploring cultural contexts of symbolic phenomena, I highlight alternative perspectives that transition to meaning-making. My research is supported by the founding symbolic theory of Clifford Geertz,47 and I am further influenced by Maurice Bloch’s48 discourse concerning the materiality of symbolism. I discuss their theoretical positions in the empirical research section of this literature review. In summary, this discussion reveals anthropological perspectives towards studying consciousness. I perceive that situating these approaches within the panpsychism metatheoretical frame facilitates holistic assessment. It may also accommodate future related studies. This strategy recognises the interconnectedness of diverse cultural dimensions where transpersonal experiences are expressed. My research draws on the earlier basis of Sacred Feminine as a persistent transmission of symbolism from a celestial origin and explores the experiential facets of archetypal metaphors. 46 Michael Jackson, "“Myths/Histories/Lives”," in Minima Ethnographica (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998). 47 Clifford Geertz, Myth, symbol, and culture (Norton, 1972). 48 Maurice Bloch, "Symbols, Song, Dance and Features of Articulation Is religion an extreme form of traditional authority?," European Journal of Sociology/Archives européennes de sociologie 15, no. 1 (1974). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 25 CONSCIOUSNESS CULTURAL TRANSMISSION Foundation of Theory In the next sections, I discuss founding theories informing my research on consciousness transmission. These focus on the cultural domain, connecting archetypal and celestial symbolism. The Great Mother Archetype In "Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious," Jung49 explores the dimensions of the collective unconscious. His insights into archetypes, such as the self and the anima, support my inquiry into the archetypal Great Mother. The research is positioned to examine meaning-making out of phenomena derived from celestial symbolism.50 Jung's concept of the collective unconscious facilitates insights into the cultural transmission of symbolism involving a universal ‘collective consciousness.’51 Despite the scientific controversy, I observe from reviewing the volume of related studies that his psychological concept finds wide agreement. However, his work endures significant criticism. It relies on subjective conclusions to make the connection between the mental world and cross-cultural belief systems. The latter have been empirically revealed with extensive ethnography. Two significant critics are La Barre and Herskovits. Drake52 advises La Barre has some appreciation for Jung but describes his work as “pretending that archetypes are inherited phylogenetically, whereas ethnographic evidence supports they are ontologically inherited.” This point of non-biological inheritance through social processes is a pivotal motivation for my strategy of research. Herskovits’ criticism is more related to Jung’s psychological portrayal of cultural archetypes. He reminds the profession that Jung, in the shadow of Plato, is not the inventor of archetypal forms. I examine Jung’s mix of empirical and subjective theories in this and 49 Carl Gustav Jung, "The archetypes and the collective unconscious " Trans. RFC Hull. Princeton: Princeton University Press 9 (1968). 50 Jung, "The archetypes and the collective unconscious ". 51 CG Jung, The Symbolic Life: Miscellaneous Writing, vol. 18, Bollingen Series XX, original …, (USA: Princeton University Press 1977). 52 Carlos C Drake, "Jung and his critics," The Journal of American Folklore 80, no. 318 (1967). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 26 subsequent works under another context. My object is to address the fundamental elements and review the possibility of alternative explanations, or an additional system involved. Jung53 proposed that archetypes are in the collective unconscious as a deep layer of an individual’s psyche. These are universal symbols and patterns commonly shared, regardless of upbringing. Jung proposed that people innately carry archetypes as evolutionary phylogeny.54 The common forms are shared across place and time as aspects of human experience. Jung believed a mentally derived framework holds these motifs comprising myth, religion, dreams, and art that support an individual to understand their reality. Archetypes may include characters, themes, and motifs as symbolism. The central archetype of 'The Mother' arises with both positive and negative attributes. The Mother archetype signifies the image of feminine life-giving, nurturing, and protective qualities. The archetype is not exclusively the individual mother of personal relationships. It carries a deeper, universal depiction of the tending and cultivating qualities that humans find essential for development and survival. This archetype identifies a person’s perception and relationship to mothering experiences. The 'Great Mother’55 is the primordial progenitor expression of the ‘Mother’ archetype defined by Jung. His psychoanalytical perspective saw her as a collective cultural experience of motherhood and influence on childhood development. 56 But Jung also understood her as the symbolic manifestation of the Mother Goddess—although he was careful to clarify this primary aspect as a widespread cultural observance. In this regard, she appears more as a duality extension of the ‘Mother’ archetype. Jung described her as “nurturing and loving, but also capricious, and mysterious”. 57 Her deific projection arises throughout human experience in the many cosmologies, myths, and narratives of Sacred Feminine. The primaeval goddess gives birth to the universe and all life out of formless essence or chaos. The Great Mother is of cosmological origins, beyond the inner psychic representation allocated by Jung’s archetypal descriptions. Her motif is entangled with the celestial life-giving waters. She represents the creation of salt and sweet waters divided by the firmament. Her procreative powers Hobson, "Dreaming." 322-324 53 Jung. C, ‘The Archetypes, and the Collective Unconscious’, 2014. 54 Drake, "Jung and his critics." 323 Hobson, "Dreaming." 322-324 55 Jung. C, ‘The Archetypes, and the Collective Unconscious’, 2014. 56 David Waldron, "Great Mother," in Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion (Springer, 2020). 57 Carl Gustav Jung, "The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Bollingen Series XX," Trans. RFC Hull. Princeton: Princeton University Press (1968). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 27 over chaos and energy ensure cosmic order as she oversees the spiritual dimensions and mortal life, where she guides the souls of those departing Earthly existence. She transforms into the Earth Mother, where she holds the biosphere and all species within as a form of exchange from the Sacred to the profane.58 In her new state, she connects fertility, birth, and the cycles of Nature to human life. These traits of the Great Mother archetype shape her metaphorical role in symbolism, central to the research of cultural consciousness. In "The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype,"59 Erich Neumann explores the Great Mother as the primordial image of the Sacred Feminine. He makes clear that analytical psychology is not speaking of her in “any concrete image existing in space and time but to an inward image in the human psyche”. However, this “psychic phenomenon” is expressed in iconic figures, myths, and artistic culture. Neumann reveals her paradoxical cultural representation as the maternal goddess and the fearsome monster.60 These are aspects of her awesome power over life and destruction that perpetuates in eternal cycles. Her representation as the “uroboros” or circular snake biting its tail, symbolises these cycles from origins, where human consciousness and ego were undeveloped and then grew into eternity. Paradoxes are binary oppositions contained within the central meaning. Neumann describes matriarchal and patriarchal principles and the associated interaction between personal and transpersonal realms as a dialectical relationship of growth. Neumann states the Great Mother represents eternity as unconscious that is unknown. The ‘self’ archetype represents the child’s growing consciousness. Neumann's deep insights on the internal psychic nature of spiritual symbols support my understanding of the archetypal Great Mother as she presents within the ‘Celestial Waters of Life’ cosmology and the collective feminine unconscious. Joseph Campbell61 adopts many of Neumann and Jung's ideas when exploring cross-cultural mythology. Campbell associates the ‘Mother’ archetype with the Goddess, particularly concerning myths and religions where the feminine is revered as a source of life. Campbell expands upon Jung's archetypes in the collective unconscious of 'themes'. He describes the Goddess in the epic theme 'Hero’s Journey'. He proposes this ‘monomyth’ is a story of common symbols and cyclic events marking a universal narrative that every person, in every culture experiences. 58 Mircea Eliade, The sacred and the profane: The nature of religion, vol. 81 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1959). 59 Erich Neumann, The great mother: An analysis of the archetype, vol. 14 (Princeton University Press, 2015). 9-17 60 Erich Neumann, "The Great Mother, an Analysis of theArchetype, Bollingen Series XLVII," (New York: Pantheon Books, 1955).24-38, 89, 176, 210 61 Carl G Jung, The Portable Jung (New York: Penguin, 1976). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 28 Marija Gimbutas in "The Language of the Goddess"62 shows her extensive research on ancient goddess traditions. Her work offers integral insights into cultural expressions of the Great Mother archetype. Her theory of a generative and destructive representation of the Sacred Feminine empowers deeper perceptions of symbolic transmission and meaning-making. By analysing artefacts, rituals, and myths associated with the Great Goddess, Gimbutas’ archaeological lens gives discerning views into diverse cultural studies. However, she has attracted controversial debate and criticism for making subjective assumptions.63 The application of her work has become unpopular with non-feminist scholars for its systemic discreditation. Recently, one of her most prominent contenders, Lord Colin Renfrew, offered a public apology for being ‘wrong’ about her migration theories—now proven with Ancient DNA technologies. In "The Hero with a Thousand Faces"64 Joseph Campbell describes a cross-cultural approach comparing symbolism, in the universal motifs and archetypal patterns found in mythology narratives.65 His concept of the monomyth proposes a common thematic narrative of symbolic metaphor that presents as cultural cosmology and mythology. Campbell states the motif gives variant but consistent explanations of human experiences. These involve deeper symbols contained within the psyche that often relate to cosmology and its transmission.66 Campbell's wealth of cultural insights offers deeper perspectives of the Great Mother archetype embodied within the collective consciousness. I extensively discuss Campbell’s motif of comparative mythology and share an alternative perspective throughout this research. I will further expand upon the significance of his monomyth concerning cultural astronomy, cosmology, and psychosocial connections. The founding literature and relevant contributions provide a conceptual understanding of the archetypal Great Mother and her primordial significance within the “Celestial Waters of Life” cosmology. This literature review gives a basis for further analysis of the transpersonal relationship between the self, the socio-cultural domain, and the universal collective consciousness. Here, symbols of the Great Mother archetype may present within the panpsychism meta-framework that encapsulates the research. 62 Marija Gimbutas, The language of the Goddess:[unearthing the hidden symbols of Western civilization] (Harper & Row, 1989). 63 Charlene Spretnak, "Anatomy of a backlash: Concerning the work of Marija Gimbutas," The Journal of Archaeomythology 7, no. Special Issue (2011). 64 Joseph Campbell, The hero with a thousand faces, 3rd ed., Collected works of Joseph Campbell., (Novato, Calif.: New World Library, 2008). 65Ibid, 89. 66 Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers, The power of myth (Anchor, 1991). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 29 Empirical Research Symbolic Anthropology The foundations of symbolic anthropology can be traced back to the work of Neo-Kantian philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey.67 Dilthey is renowned for his contribution to the "Nature versus nurture" debate, which positions a distinction between the traditional natural and human sciences. He contends that while universal explanations may be feasible for natural phenomena, they can only partially explain the complexities of human history and experience. In "The Rise of Hermeneutics,”68 Dilthey emphasises the importance of understanding lived experience. This concept holds internal and external perspectives. He proposes that true self-understanding requires a person’s mediation from external factors. He perceives human sciences assist our analysis of the interactions between individuals and non-local systems that shape society. Dilthey’s work inspired Edmund Husserl. Husserl also favoured existentialism, deconstruction, poststructuralism, and postmodernity. He perceived that Natural Sciences were actually “unsuitable for the study of cultural life”. This belief incited his development of ‘subjectively’ observing the human behaviours of ‘lived experiences’.69 He favoured the empirical study of ‘outward’ human behaviours. He saw these influenced by human perceptions and actions. Max Weber is another advocate of hermeneutics whose writings featured a literary resurgence during the 1960s. In ‘Selections in Translations’70 he conveys an ‘anti-positivist’ position in the social science tradition of hermeneutics, saying: “Sociology attempts the interpretive understanding of social action to arrive at a causal explanation.” Weber engages hermeneutics as the study of meaning, particularly in literary texts that apply both interpretive and post-modernist cultural explanations. Another founder of symbolic anthropology was Arnold Van Gennep. “The Rites of Passage” is his pivotal work on ritual that details the framework of ‘preliminal, liminal and post-liminal states of 67 Rudolf A Makkreel, "Dilthey and universal hermeneutics: the status of the human sciences," Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology 16, no. 3 (1985). 68 Wilhelm Dilthey, Wilhelm dilthey: selected works, volume iv: hermeneutics and the study of history, vol. 4 (Princeton University Press, 2010). 69 Edmund Husserl, Ideas pertaining to a pure phenomenology and to a phenomenological philosophy: First book: General introduction to a pure phenomenology, vol. 2 (Springer Science & Business Media, 2012). 70 Max Weber, Max Weber: selections in translation (Cambridge University Press, 1978). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 30 consciousness.’71 The importance of his legacy was reinstated by British anthropologist Victor Turner, after the acclaim of Levi-Strauss’ structuralism and the revivalist period. Turner was an early symbolic anthropologist. He was greatly influenced by Emile Durkheim’s proposition that human cultures form out of a psychological need for togetherness and therefore organically achieve social cohesion. Turner conducted ethnographic field research amongst the Ndembu people in Zambia, undertaking comparative research in ritual and cultural performance.72 He established the centrality of ritual symbolism in maintaining social order—a point that has further significance to this research. Turner believed social order naturally wants to break down and return to chaos, but the installation and reinforcement of social rules, symbolism and mediation with ‘the other’ in states of consciousness, provokes the reinstatement of social order and longevity of cultural worldviews.73 Turner later wrote “Schism and Continuity in an African Society“.74 This is another significant work expanding his structuralist and structural functionalism background into symbolic anthropology’s emergent frameworks. Turner was informed by structuralist views including those of Levi-Strauss. However, he viewed social unity as a problem and a struggle for societies. His belief that maintaining social values is not an innate trait of human behaviour, justified the reason to have social constructs of symbolism. In this paradigm, symbols are used as tools by societies to construe and reinforce social meanings and ‘lived experience’. Cultural reinforcement conveys the idea that humans are otherwise vulnerable to natural phenomena. Turner believed symbols may hold complex, multiple representations and metaphors that individuals experience internally and non-locally. Despite these multi-faceted features, symbolic significance always intrinsically links individuals to the social worldview. Rites of passage are enacted and participated in groups to engage and mediate between dimensions of the material worlds and other realms of conscious existence. Liminal states in ritual eventually realise a state of ‘communitas’ where participants arrive at a transcendent state of awareness, which blends a collective unity. Turner expresses ritualistic liminal states are “chaotic ‘anti-structure’ necessary to bring transcendence into a new state of being”. Turner’s research covered the linguistic and cognitive anthropological nature of symbols.75 Influenced by Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, Turner saw semiotics relate to symbolic relationships and their 71 Arnold Van Gennep, The rites of passage (Routledge, 2013). 72 Victor Witter Turner, The forest of symbols: Aspects of Ndembu ritual, vol. 101 (Cornell University Press, 1967). 73 Victor Turner and Roger D Abrahams, The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure (Routledge, 2017). 74 Victor Turner, Schism and continuity in an African society: A study of Ndembu village life (Routledge, 2020). 75 Victor Turner, "Symbolic studies," Annual review of anthropology 4, no. 1 (1975). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 31 representation. He identifies the activities, behaviours and processes involving signs or iconography that are important when studying symbols in ‘communication’. This area forms a major intersection with my research and the depth psychology of Jung’s76 semiotic comprehension in his study of archetypes. “One way to narrow the scope of culture ... is to focus on the complex networks of meanings that are both the products of thinking and provide the contexts for thinking.” —Maurice Bloch, quoting Clifford Geertz in “The Interpretation of Cultures.” 1973 Clifford Geertz is the founder of Interpretive Anthropology. This system emphasising ‘meaning’ rather than ‘structure’ in cultural studies, is a movement away from Levi-Strauss’ traditions. Inspired by the Boasian writings of Clyde Kluckohn, Geertz followed in the intellectual lineage of Max Weber and was influenced by Dilthey when he presented "The Interpretation of Cultures".77 In this work, Geertz identifies the central theme of Interpretive Anthropology as the core of culture is a set of moral values. Geertz describes his rationale behind this system: “study of culture is not an experimental science in search of law, rather an interpretive one in search of meaning”. He was moving away from the materialist approach in the study of the culture. Anthro has always been a dialectic between materialist and meaning-based approaches. This lens corresponds with the world “as it is” and the world being “as it should be” which is the observable part of the world. In this work, Geertz describes the Balinese Cockfight.78 which conveys multiple messages within the society. It conveys a cultural ethos which demonstrates competition and status amongst high-ranking males who put their prized cocks into the village arena in a ‘fight to the death’. The ritual of the cockfight forms a metaphor for social relations, in which Balinese people “tell themselves about themselves”. Participants may settle their social debts through this ritual which is symbolically performed for ‘public force’ and reinforcing social cohesion. In this work, Geertz states “Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance, that he himself has spun”. 76 Jung, "The archetypes and the collective unconscious ". 77 Geertz, The interpretation of cultures, 5019. 1973 78 Clifford Geertz, "Deep play: Notes on the Balinese cockfight," Daedalus (1972). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 32 Geertz maintains the system of semiotics but stipulates that meaning is not found in the individual but is a network of ‘significations that are on public display’. In “Thick Description"79 Geertz gives more detail into the process of interpreting culture as text. Here, the societal expression of symbols, rituals, and behaviours can be studied. Ethnography is the central feature of this method. Immersion into the culture, participating in the culture and then using a literary process of correlating ‘textual piles of meaning’ analyses the themes and patterns of the culture to convey their deeper meaning through vivid ethnographic writing. The literary approach to analysis involves very descriptive and immersive writing as a life-like manuscript to unravel the various layers or webs of meaning performed in rituals. Geertz’s symbolic interpretive method specifies local cultural ethnography but offers links to Jung’s universal phenomenon of consciousness80 In his many cultural observations, Jung81 also acknowledges the societal practice of connecting with archetypal symbolism and ritualistic sharing of social meanings. However, Jung does not systematically examine the symbolism in its group relationship and meaning. Maurice Bloch may have been influenced by many of Geertz’s ideas. However, his exploration of symbols, rituals, and the interpretive nature of anthropology, provides additional perspectives. Bloch has made significant contributions towards anthropology’s understanding of symbolism as it relates to physical elements in culture. His major criticisms of Geertz relate to concerns that the interpretive process developed may overlook these material aspects. In "How We Think They Think"82 Bloch shares detailed insights into the interpretation of symbols, their meaning, and the symbolic enactment of cultural practices. He emphasises the aspects of culture that are material and discusses an active embodiment and manipulation of symbolism for individual and social expressions of power. Bloch connects consciousness with cognition when he approaches cultural expression in the material world. Therefore, he adds a layer of explicit meanings in social practices to the deeper, implicit layer of metaphor. He establishes that material culture is dynamic and not purely a record of fixed objects and their utility. In Bloch’s view material culture imbibes the life and forces of social relationships, through primary, and active components in the creation and communication of meaning-making. Cultural physical 79 Clifford Geertz, "Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture 1973," (1973). 80 Carl Gustav Jung, The archetypes and the collective unconscious (Routledge, 2014). 81 Jung, The archetypes and the collective unconscious. 82 Maurice EF Bloch, How we think they think: Anthropological approaches to cognition, memory, and literacy (Routledge, 2018). Sacred Star Songs: Cultural Contexts as Symbolic Transmission Vivienne Tobassa Eggers 2024 33 artefacts signify social power, status, and prowess within the complexities of social organisation. Possession of certain ritual artefacts conveys symbolic privilege and social abilities to perform roles of power connection and mediation with ‘the other’ to construct and reinforce meaning-making. The artefacts alone become symbols of embodied power and force. They form mechanisms to transfer and exchange cultural consciousness via relationships to social values. My research references the insights of anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss surrounding symbolism, shamanism, and totems in traditional tribal societies.83 Lévi-Strauss has made significant contributions to the study of culture and human societies. His work is p