Kali Yuga

While each civilisation has characteristics particular to itself, its own type of art, architecture and mathematics, they have analogous cycles of birth, flourishing, decline and death. Typically, the cycle of decline is marked by religious scepticism, seen as scientific or progressive, materialism, and the rise of the merchant class with its money ethics, over traditional classes based on birth and with obligations to duty. Family and children are seen as a burden rather than as assuring continuity of one’s lineage.

The Hindu text Visnu Purana, describes the Kali Yuga in terms that could just as well have been written by a contemporary critic of Western society:

“Wealth (inner) and piety (following one’s dharma) will decrease day by day until the whole world will be entirely depraved. Then property alone will confer rank; material wealth will be the only source of devotion; passion will be the sole bond between the sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation…

“Earth will be venerated for its mineral treasures…

“He who gives away much money will be the master of men, and family descent will no longer be a title of supremacy…

“Men will fix their desires upon riches, even though dishonestly acquired”.73

Hesiod wrote of ages of culture, and the predominant human type of each age, as a degenerating fall from Divinity to lower levels of being:

“Or if you will, I will sum you up another tale well and skilfully - and do you lay it up in your heart, - how the gods and mortal men sprang from one source.

“First of all the deathless gods who dwell on Olympus made a golden race of mortal men who lived in the time of Cronos when he was reigning in heaven. And they lived like gods without sorrow of heart, remote and free from toil and grief: miserable age rested not on them; but with legs and arms never failing they made merry with feasting beyond the reach of all evils. When they died, it was as though they were overcome with sleep, and they had all good things; for the fruitful earth unforced bare them fruit abundantly and without stint. They dwelt in ease and peace upon their lands with many good things, rich in flocks and loved by the blessed gods.

“But after earth had covered this generation - they are called pure spirits dwelling on the earth, and are kindly, delivering from harm, and guardians of mortal men; for they roam everywhere over the earth, clothed in mist and keep watch on judgements and cruel deeds, givers of wealth; for this royal right also they received; - then they who dwell on Olympus made a second generation which was of silver and less noble by far. It was like the golden race neither in body nor in spirit. A child was brought up at his good mother’s side a hundred years, an utter simpleton, playing childishly in his own home. But when they were full grown and were come to the full measure of their prime, they lived only a little time in sorrow because of their foolishness, for they could not keep from sinning and from wronging one another, nor would they serve the immortals, nor sacrifice on the holy altars of the blessed ones as it is right for men to do wherever they dwell. Then Zeus the son of Cronos was angry and put them away, because they would not give honour to the blessed gods who live on Olympus.

“But when earth had covered this generation also—they are called blessed spirits of the underworld by men, and, though they are of second order, yet honour attends them also—Zeus the Father made a third generation of mortal men, a brazen race, sprung from ash-trees; and it was in no way equal to the silver age, but was terrible and strong. They loved the lamentable works of Ares and deeds of violence; they ate no bread, but were hard of heart like adamant, fearful men. Great was their strength and unconquerable the arms which grew from their shoulders on their strong limbs.

Their armour was of bronze, and their houses of bronze, and of bronze were their implements: there was no black iron. These were destroyed by their own hands and passed to the dank house of chill Hades, and left no name: terrible though they were, black Death seized them, and they left the bright light of the sun.

“But when earth had covered this generation also, Zeus the son of Cronos made yet another, the fourth, upon the fruitful earth, which was nobler and more righteous, a god-like race of hero-men who are called demi-gods, the race before our own, throughout the boundless earth. Grim war and dread battle destroyed a part of them, some in the land of Cadmus at seven-gated Thebe when they fought for the flocks of Oedipus, and some, when it had brought them in ships over the great sea gulf to Troy for rich-haired Helen’s sake: there death’s end enshrouded a part of them. But to the others father Zeus the son of Cronos gave a living and an abode apart from men, and made them dwell at the ends of earth. And they live untouched by sorrow in the islands of the blessed along the shore of deep swirling Ocean, happy heroes for whom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit flourishing thrice a year, far from the deathless gods, and Cronos rules over them; for the father of men and gods released him from his bonds. And these last equally have honour and glory.

“And again far-seeing Zeus made yet another generation, the fifth, of men who are upon the bounteous earth.

“Thereafter, would that I were not among the men of the fifth generation, but either had died before or been born afterwards. For now truly is a race of iron, and men never rest from labour and sorrow by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay sore trouble upon them. But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some good mingled with their evils. And Zeus will destroy this race of mortal men also when they come to have grey hair on the temples at their birth. The father will not agree with his children, nor the children with their father, nor guest with his host, nor comrade with comrade; nor will brother be dear to brother as aforetime. Men will dishonour their parents as they grow quickly old, and will carp at them, chiding them with bitter words, hard-hearted they, not knowing the fear of the gods. They will not repay their aged parents the cost their nurture, for might shall be their right: and one man will sack another’s city. There will be no favour for the man who keeps his oath or for the just or for the good; but rather men will praise the evil-doer and his violent dealing. Strength will be right and reverence will cease to be; and the wicked will hurt the worthy man, speaking false words against him, and will swear an oath upon them. Envy, foul-mouthed, delighting in evil, with scowling face, will go along with wretched men one and all. And then Aidos and Nemesis, with their sweet forms wrapped in white robes, will go from the wide-pathed earth and forsake mankind to join the company of the deathless gods: and bitter sorrows will be left for mortal men, and there will be no help against evil”.74

The Revelation of John has a similar account of the end cycle of a world-encompassing civilisation, descriptive of today’s “modern civilisation”. Using the analogy of a prior fallen civilisation, the figure of the Whore of Babylon is evoked to describe a world system that has amassed great power and wealth, that is devoid of a spiritual nexus and that is in the throes of collapse. “Babylon the great is fallen,” exclaims the prophet. The “habitation of devils and of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." 75

 John of Patmos was declaring that the future world civilisation he was visualising, a civilisation based on wealth and power, is spiritually and morally bankrupt. It is the end cycle of a civilisation when outward glamour, wealth, excess, and hedonism predominate. St. John sees this Late civilisation in terms of a world power to which all pay tribute. There have been fanciful interpretations, especially by Pentecostals, in calling this The Vatican, or the European Union. Contemporary political observers might today see this world empire as being manifested in the world outreach of the USA. That this end cycle manifests as a world empire is shown by John’s Revelation: “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies”.76

Here John sees this world empire as receiving the homage of most nations (“the kings of the earth”), and as being the basis of a world financial and economic system (“the merchants of the earth…”). The nexus around which this “civilisation” is based is therefore described as being that of money rather than Divinity. In keeping with the traditional outlook, John’s Revelation foresees the crumbling to decay and death of this godless empire, with plagues, death and mourning, “utterly burned”, with the “kings of the earth” who have ingratiated themselves with this empire lamenting its end, along with the merchants.77

John reminds us that the basis of this neo-Babylonian civilisation in its end cycle is that of commerce. The merchants lament its demise because the commerce will no longer be conducted in gold and silver, precious metals and the symbols of opulence.78 John’s Revelation states that it is the merchants who rule this world empire, just as Spengler said that mercantile values dominate civilisations in their “Winter” cycle. John described the merchants in this civilisation as “the great men of the earth” who rule the earth, “for by their sorceries were all nations deceived”.79

This end-system is plutocracy. The banking system on which it is based has been described as “sorcery”. After the apocalyptic end of this civilisation John foresaw a new thousand year civilisation. One is not compelled to believe in the Christian faith to recognise the efficacy of John’s “prophecy”; any more than one must accept Hinduism or Norse paganism, to see the exactitude of their prophecies on end-cycles. John understood the unfolding of history from a traditional perceptive, as did the sages of other faiths and cultures, and his descriptions accord precisely with the present situation.

73 Vishnu Purana , 310.
74 Hesiod, “The Story of the Ages of Man”, Works and Days, ca. 700 B.C.
75 Revelation of John, 18:2.
76 Ibid., 18: 3.
77 Ibid., 18: 8-10.
78 Ibid., 18: 12.
79 Ibid., 18: 23.

Kerry Bolton
The Decline and Fall of Civilizations