The TAO of E Pluribus Unum

About this poem

At the innermost depth of the collective unconscious, there is the instinctual innate human realization that we are, as a people, as as world, as a universe , as a species, collectively One — one people, one race, one universal intelligence, recognized and acknowledged philosophically as TAO. All other thoughts or socially constructed conceptualizations must therefore be illusive, and even impacted historically by hegemonic goals and intentions of social and cultural domination, pitting some ethnic groups against others less politically or militarily armored and equipped. As a counterpoint, the wisdom and philosophy of TAO asserts the celebration of Oneness, of “Unum” and of Wholeness as the desired goal of nature. In social and political organizations. the celebration of Oneness is the celebration of E Pluribus Unum made manifest from that which, in essence, in the physical world, appears in un-manifested form as the phenomenon of the many, of multiplicity. This very phenomenon ironically masks or disguises the underlying unity that inheres throughout the universe. The utterance, E Pluribus Unum, is a Latin phrase which translates to “out of many, one,” and is the official motto of the United States of America. Coincidentally, it is also the motto of the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica which, on August 3, 1962, adopted that phrase in celebration of its impending independence from Great Britain, obtained on August 6, 1962. It is argued that the motto, E Pluribus Unum, is an utterance that has surfaced to humanity as a therapeutic archetypal formula or recipe from the collective unconscious. This very formulaic phrase is attributed to the Roman poet, Virgil (circa 70 BC-19 BC), who presumably employed it in his writings. What is more certain, is that that very phrase is historically attested in Cicero’s “De Officiis” treatise (circa 44 BC). Certainly, it is not too far fetched to argue that the ancient Latin phrase, E Pluribus Unum, presents itself to humanity, in the past, as well as today, as a harbinger or divine messenger of the prophesies and healing properties of the collective unconscious. This haiku poem, E Pluribus Unum, celebrates Oneness as the Divine Right of Humanity. more »