ABSTRACT
The idea of the apocalypse can be read as a process in which the spiritual self "bursts through" into manifestation. The Book of Revelation operates in this mode, and is one of the most visionary works of literature, as well as one of the most dangerous if read from a fundamentalist point of view. Revelation has given rise to much religious enthusiasm and madness, to sects that have eagerly awaited the end of the world, and to cults that have prophesied the eclipse of humanity and the rise of the faithful to a new life in eternal paradise. Violence describes the destruction necessary to initiate the vital creative process of individuation, and the Self is "violent" because it is experienced as an overwhelming force that violates the self-containment of the ego, and forces the ego, often against its will, into a new identity.
