ABSTRACT
The “Wizard” is a metaphor for healing the split between reason, emotion, and instinct by integrating cognitive and emotional capabilities, both at the level of individuals and society. This implies a partnership between different parts of each person’s mind as well as between different people. Eisler (The Power of Partnership) discusses how to structure different social institutions in ways that emphasize equal partnership between participants rather than rank orderings and domination. An argument is made that partnership interactions involve better brain function than dominator interactions (Eisler and Levine, Brain and Mind, 2002, 3, 9–52; Levine, Utopian Studies, 2009, 20, 249–274).
What would a society based more strongly on partnership interactions be like? It can be illustrated by fictional societies in three utopian novels ─ Callenbach’s Ecotopia, Huxley’s Island, and Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time. These fictional societies are similar in many ways: enhanced mutual trust; emotional openness; fluid family structure; gender equality; mediation of conflicts; and widespread creativity. The chapter reviews the implications of partnership in several spheres of life: religion, psychotherapy, politics, economics, family, and sex.
Scientific understanding is compatible with meaning and with a certain type of spirituality. This is a spirituality that is not based on priestly authority but is open to inquiry (Lerner, The Left Hand of God). Conversely, science needs to embrace values and a sense of wonder (Levine, review of Daniel Dennett’s book in Tikkun, 2006).
