Ierrellus wrote:pilgrim-seeker_tom wrote:Ierrellus wrote:T. S. Eliot, in his later years, converted to Catholicism because he found ritual to be a necessity--for him that is.
Ritual constructs neural pathways in our brain ... a basic building block ... lego comes to mind.

So, how could "the epoch of ritual", if it is basic, be coming to a close?
Good question Ierrellus ... thanks!
More importantly ... questions imply interest ... even if the interest is simply to debunk a claim.
The word 'epoch' is a unit of time ... how much time is inferred with context.
1) Nesting the words "language" and "rituals" in the same sentence suggests a very long time.
2) A new epoch ... in the same context ... logically would require a very long transition period ... Age of Transition ... Liminal Space ...
The word liminal comes from the Latin word limen, meaning threshold – any point or place of entering or beginning. A liminal space is the time between the ‘what was’ and the ‘next.’ It is a place of transition, waiting, and not knowing.
Source:
https://inaliminalspace.org/about-us/wh ... nal-space/ Note the words "waiting and not knowing" in the above quote ... ergo ... I have no definitive answer to your question.
Though ... familiar imagery ... I do have.

The image that came to mind when reflecting on your question is:

- Puppet-Master.jpg (230.45 KiB) Viewed 321 times
The human brain ... like the puppet in the above image ... is malleable. Examples of our puppet masters are peers, family, culture and so on. The transmission vehicle(strings in the above image) being principally audio and visual ... the consequence being the construction of well traveled neural pathways in our brain.
The above imagery and comments illustrate the need for an intermediary agency ... a puppet master. The coming epoch will have no need for an intermediary agency ... akin to Pierre Teirhard Chardin's "Omega Point"
Mathematical physicist Frank Tipler generalizes[6] Teilhard's term Omega Point to describe what he maintains is the ultimate fate of the universe required by the laws of physics: roughly, Tipler argues that quantum mechanics is inconsistent unless the future of every point in spacetime contains an intelligent observer to collapse the wavefunction, and that the only way for this to happen is if the Universe is closed (that is, it will collapse to a single point) and yet contains observers with a "God-like" ability to perform an unbounded series of observations in finite time.
"Do not be influenced by the importance of the writer, and whether his learning be great or small; but let the love of pure truth draw you to read. Do not inquire, “Who said this?” but pay attention to what is said”
Thomas Kempis 1380-1471