The "Story of Separation" is presented as an "old Story" or dominant narrative framework in contrast to a "larger Story of Self, a Story of Interbeing". It is the story we live within, often unconsciously, shaped by social and economic forces. The Story of Separation encompasses several interconnected dimensions: 1. **Separation from the Divine, Origin, or Essential Being:** Mythology and theology explore fundamental separations from a state of original unity or connection. Creation stories often depict an initial unity followed by a separation, such as the splitting of heaven and earth, or male and female, leading to a need to find a way back to unity. In Plato's Symposium, Aristophanes tells a legend of original creatures composed of what are now two human beings (male/female, male/male, female/female) who were split by the gods and now seek to reunite with their other halves. An ancient Hindu text also describes the Self separating into man and wife, leaving the body as only half. In the Genesis story, eating the forbidden fruit is presented as the act of disobedience through which man became the initiator of his own life, but it also signifies a separation from God. The Orthodox understanding views the expulsion from Paradise as a radical modification of God's original world, a lapse into a "subnatural" materialized space-time universe, signifying a profound discontinuity. This separation from God can be seen as a consequence of humanity eating from the tree of knowledge, while God's separation from humanity is linked to humanity not eating from the tree of life. Some spiritual traditions, like Greek gnosticism, understand exile as the soul's plight, separated from its origin (the One), needing to be overcome to return to the origin. Similarly, in Kabbalah, a primordial exile or self-banishment within divinity itself results in a fundamental displacement where all being is in exile and in need of redemption. Schelling's concept of the "first dislocation" describes human consciousness being fatally torn away from its entanglement with God, thrown out of the inside, a displacement from the center to the periphery. This original separation from essential being is a prerequisite for the mythological process. The transition from the supra-historical state to the historical and mythological is termed "crisis" (separation) or "katabole" (throwing down, casting away from oneself). Mysticism, science, and myth are seen as constituting themselves simultaneously through a violent tearing apart, or katabole. 2. **Separation from Others:** The Story of Separation involves disconnection and alienation in interpersonal relationships and from humanity as a whole. Levinas argues against the "Myth of the Isolated Mind," derived from the Cartesian distinction of subject and object, which attributes to humans a mode of being detached from the physical world and other humans. This myth leads to alienation from nature, others, and one's own subjectivity. Sartre describes consciousness invariably encountering the alterity of the Other across an experience of alienation. This alienation before the Other is ontological and unavoidable, an affective nonfreedom. The intrusion of the other makes the self's being "at home" problematic, causing uncanniness and exiling the self from its situation as a center. Shame, for Sartre, is shame of oneself before the Other, indicating their inseparable yet separate structures. The Me-as-object functions as both a bond with the Other and a symbol of absolute separation. Hell, in Sartre's play _No Exit_, is described as "other people," reflecting the idea that one's view of oneself is limited by the points of view of others, hindering freedom. Forced exits from relationships, groups, or organizations cause emotional discomfort and a feeling of being out of control, as others dictate terms and redefine one's identity and social arrangements. Jung notes that while the individuation process leads to becoming an "in-dividual," it should result in broader collective relationships rather than isolation. He also highlights that bridging the distance between people in a relationship requires finding an optimal distance by trial and error, as forcing closeness can lead to violation and resentment. Within Shakespearean plays, characters can be cut off from social interaction at the end. The "law of placement" in dialogism suggests that self and other perceive the world from different unique positions in time and space, meaning that even in the same event, the experience is different for each. 3. **Separation from Self:** This dimension involves feeling disconnected or estranged from one's own being, essence, or potential. Sartre states that freedom, manifested through anguish, is characterized by a constantly renewed obligation to remake the Self, and man is always separated by a nothingness from his essence, which is "what has been". Anguish is the apprehension of the self existing in a perpetual mode of detachment from what is. Time is presented as a force that separates the individual from their desires, from what they wish to be, from what they have been, and from themselves. Although time separates, it is also a special type of separation, a division that reunites. The cleavage inherent in being leads to separation only through the For-itself's presence to being, revealing the indifference of being. The "Myth of the Isolated Mind" also encompasses alienation from one's own subjectivity. Rank's theory of separation-individuation, elaborated by Mahler, stems from the idea of birth trauma and being "thrown into being". This state defines humans by two basic anxieties: life fear (threatening challenges out there, encouraging return to a secure state/participation) and death fear (fear of losing autonomous self/individuation if returning to the secure state). Individuation is the psychological/existential birth, a personal work involving balancing participation (ocnophilia) and individuation (philobatism). Jung discusses the "loss of soul" among primitives, a dissociation from the instinctive psyche linked to conscious one-sidedness, seen as an exaggeration of normal processes. He emphasizes that individuation is the process of becoming one's own self, realizing potential wholeness and destiny, which requires the conscious mind to confront the unconscious. It involves an internal process of integration. Apprehending the other can lead to an "alter-ation" or "othering" of the self, a form of separation from oneself. Ricœur notes that the unity of the subject facing multiple truths (like science and culture) is experienced as feeling torn. Shakespeare explores estrangement from self and the concept of being "undividable". The idea of losing oneself to find oneself is presented as part of stage performance and a character's journey. Banishment can be seen as a sign of this rupture or breaking away. 4. **Separation within Narrative and Structure:** The concept of separation also manifests in the structure and themes of stories. Narratives can present phenomena from different, sometimes conflicting, perspectives, as seen in the polyphonic nature of the Gilgamesh epic where characters offer dual perspectives on events. Storytelling is seen as a way to connect actions and consequences to make moral judgments, acknowledging that the significance of consequences can change. The structure of traditional stories and rituals often follows a pattern of separation, initiation, and return. For example, the heroic narrative involves separation from the community, descent, ascent, and return. Fairy tales utilize exile as an intensified form of dispatch. Shakespearean romance plots involve shipwreck, loss, and eventual reunion. "Divorce" can symbolize broader separation or disunion. Derrida points out that the idea of an "entire story" is elusive, as an account necessarily interrupts itself, making it impossible to fully grasp from an objective viewpoint. The Story of Separation, in summary, encompasses the sense of being fundamentally disconnected – from the divine, from other people, from nature, and from one's own integrated self. It is the narrative lens through which the world is often perceived, leading to treating things and people as separate entities or resources. Overcoming this story involves healing the wounds of Separation, moving toward the "Story of Interbeing," and finding unexpected realms of reunion. This transition requires conscious effort, confronting old patterns, and often involves moments of crisis, loss, or breakdown that destabilize the existing narrative and open up a "space between stories" where truth can be accessed. Stepping into and remaining in the new story of interbeing is challenging and often requires mutual support.