Victor MacGill

Victor MacGill's mother was a Theosophist and his father a Buddhist, but he was brought up in Nelson, New Zealand, by foster parents as an Anglican. On shifting to Christchurch, New Zealand, to attend university, he completed a BA in psychology and Maori studies. Through his interest in the indigenous culture of the Maori, his mind was opened to a different spiritual vision of life, and he began a lifelong journey of spirit. His interest in Maori mythology spread to examining the myths and legends of different cultures, allowing him to gain an understanding of the underlying principles expressed through all the world's myths. In 1995, he published When the Dragon Stirs: Healing Our Wounded Lives through Fairy Stories, Myths, and Legends.

He also began exploring other spiritual traditions, particularly including Buddhism, New Age, Spiritualism, and Theosophy. Victor became a deacon in the Maori Anglican Church, and then the president of the Theosophical Society in Dunedin, New Zealand.

In the 1990s, the death of his father in a car accident and the loss of his wife to cancer led to a reassessment of his beliefs and values. During this time, he came across Chaos Theory, Complexity Theory, and the works of Ken Wilber. Victor studied complexity, completing an MA through the University of Western Sydney in 2003, and has regularly attended complexity and systems conferences in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and USA, presenting papers at almost all the conferences.

Victor also attained a diploma in community and social work in 2003, which led to a career as a probation officer and program facilitator in prisons and in the community. After living in Australia for two years he has now returned to live in Nelson. He is completing a PhD through the University of the Sunshine Coast using complexity theory to research groups without a structured leadership.

His latest book, Gonna lay down my sword and shield, A complexity perspective on human evolution from a violent past to a compassionate future, took 17 years to write and brings together the understandings of this new area of science and the spiritual wisdom that has been with us for many millenia.

Gonna Lay Down My Sword and Shield suggests how we can we can create a better world. "This book is a part of my spiritual quest to understand the nature of being human. I saw our use of violence as the biggest impediment to our spiritual development and many simple unrealistic answers as to how to get past violence," says author Victor R.D. MacGill. "What I offer is only a very small part of the jigsaw puzzle that will help us move into the future."

"Gonna Lay Down My Sword and Shield is a clarion call to all people weary of warring ways and seeking broader, more humane and compassionate comprehension of the world. With poetic insight and scientific understanding, MacGill provides an accessible entrée for the thinking and caring person wishing to make sense of an increasingly complex and apparently chaotic world. MacGill provides perspective and example to illuminate the emerging realities of our times, ones which call for our highest potential to transcend the myths of struggle and strife by reaching for ones that elevate the human spirit and celebrate the human being. This is a book for the evolutionary human, the one who wishes to take on the mantle of evolutionary co-creator with all of life on Earth, and as such, is essential reading for our times." -Alexander Laszlo, Ph.D., president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS)

Raised in New Zealand, Victor R.D. MacGill is now a Ph.D. student undertaking a research project utilizing complex systems. This is his second book and was fifteen years in the making. Publisher's website: http://sbpra.com/VictorRDMacGill Author's website: http:// www.vmacgill.net