Space Weather and Bursts of Creativity: Axial Age. A View from the 21st Century

— Works published in the last decades on the phenomenon of the Axial Age, a simultaneous burst of creativity in 6th–4th centuries BC in Europe, India, and China, are analyzed on a broad interdisciplinary basis. The synchronous bursts of spiritual activity in the 15th and 17th centuries in Europe and China, which coincided with the grand minima of solar activity (Spörer and Maunder minima), are also considered. The connection between creativity and other known grand minima and maxima of solar activity is analyzed (Murray’s indices are used). It is found that creativity in the rational sphere is stimulated during grand minima. For the humanitarian sphere, a similar stimulation is observed during the grand maxima, when they increase and decrease. The reference dates of the Axial Age are specified on the basis of the statistical approach. When comparing these dates with variations of solar activity, it is found that one of the peaks of creativity coincides with the grand minimum of 360 BC, the other coincides with a short maximum of about 450 BC. The beginning of the uplift should probably be attributed to the grand minimum of 765 BC. A stimulating space psychotropic factor acts globally. Therefore, it is quite justified to look for other examples of bursts of creative energy in the world historical process. The main properties of the psychotropic factor are considered on the material of classical solar cycles, i.e., 11 and 22 years. The data concerning creativity, quasi-periodic changes of stylistic features in the visual arts, and emotional state are summarized. Ideological parallels of the Axial Age are discussed in the context of C.G. Jung’s reflections on synchronicity. Using data from electromagnetic biophysics and neurophysiology, the physical nature of the psychotropic space factor is discussed. It is unequivocally identified with very low frequency radio waves of magnetospheric origin and infrasound.