In brief Kairos is:
- The time of transition;
- The right and proper time;
- The time of opportunity;
- The will to invent. It is a homonym in Greek for chiros, which means ‘hands’.
- It also has a similar sound to Chiron - the planet of the wounded healer.
We asked a world famous philospher, educator and greek scholar, Jean Houston for advice on what the word kairos could mean and this is her reply.
"Kairos - the loaded time when change and transformation can happen. In Kairos times, when evolutionary jumps are happening, personal and universal patterns and necessity come together.
In human terms there is a surrender or agreement, whether this comes as inspiration or ecstatic trance or as a result of long hours of study and search - however this happens it is the energizing of the entelechy (the dynamic purpose which is also the universal purpose). When the two come together, content arises from the inner world, from the Mind of the Maker. A contact point is bridged and energy jumps across the arc. When this happens you have joined a larger universe, made a transition to another state of being.
When whole systems and cultures are in transition, and so in transmission, incredible depths of culture and personality can be probed - the Mind of the Maker is at hand. Minds are firing. The rising of the depths. The return of indigenous cultures, myths and archetypes, stories to hold the pattern through which the Mind of the Maker can emerge and the great evolutionary event can occur."
Information on Jean Houston
For the last thirty years, philosopher and educator, Jean Houston, has been in the forefront of efforts to bring new knowledge from psychology and neuroscience into education and human development programs. She has taught at universities throughout the United States and in many other countries. Dr.Houston has worked with governmental agencies and the United Nations and has been a keynote speaker at innumerable conferences and gatherings of business, scientific, educational and other leaders.
We would like to express our appreciation to Jean Houston for the above information.
We also want to express our gratitude to Richard Pavek and other bodywork theorists for their contributions to the origins of Kairos.