Image from Rah Xephon
Lyrics from Afro Celt Sound System: "Release"
Don't argue amongst yourselves
Because of the loss of me
I'm sitting amongst yourselves
Don't think you can't see me
Don't argue amongst yourselves
Because of the loss of me
I haven't gone anywhere
but out of my body
Reach out and you'll touch me
Make effort to speak to me
Call out and you'll hear me
Be happy for me
[Ullean pipe solo]
Don't argue amongst yourselves
Because of the loss of me
I haven't gone anywhere
but out of my body
Reach out and you'll touch me
Make effort to speak to me
Call out and you'll hear me
Be happy for me
Reach out and you'll touch me
Make effort to speak to me
Call out and you'll hear me
Be happy for me
Lyrics from Afro Celt Sound System: "Release"
Don't argue amongst yourselves
Because of the loss of me
I'm sitting amongst yourselves
Don't think you can't see me
Don't argue amongst yourselves
Because of the loss of me
I haven't gone anywhere
but out of my body
Reach out and you'll touch me
Make effort to speak to me
Call out and you'll hear me
Be happy for me
[Ullean pipe solo]
Don't argue amongst yourselves
Because of the loss of me
I haven't gone anywhere
but out of my body
Reach out and you'll touch me
Make effort to speak to me
Call out and you'll hear me
Be happy for me
Reach out and you'll touch me
Make effort to speak to me
Call out and you'll hear me
Be happy for me
The issue of consciousness and the confrontation of the age old senex, who is exhausted, yet full of meaning meets with the inflammable element of desire. Briefly sketched out. This myth has one of its earliest antecedents that we have recorded in the Wolkstien and Kramer translation of the "Huluppu Tree": "when heaven and earth were split":
Inanna and the Huluppu Tree
In the first days, in the very first days,
In the first nights, in the very first nights,
In the first years, in the very first years,
In the first days when everything needed was brought into being,
In the first days when everything needed was properly nourished,
When bread was baked in the shrines of the land,
And bread was tasted in the homes of the land,
When heaven had moved away from earth,
And earth had separated from heaven,
And the name of man was fixed;
When the Sky God, An, had carried off the heavens,
And the Air God, Enlil, had carried off the earth,
When the Queen of the Great Below, Ereshkigal, was given the underworld for her domain.
At that time, it was planted, a tree, a single tree, by the banks of the Great River,
Enki, the Father, did plant the Huluppu-tree,
The God of Wisdom, he planted it by the banks of the Euphrates,
Before he set sail, before the Father departed for the underworld.
The tree was nurtured by the waters of the Euphrates
the very waters that carried Enki to the sea
Small windstones were tossed against him;
Large hailstones were hurled up against him;
Like onrushing turtles,
They charged the keel of Enki's boat.
The whirling South Wind arose and blew upon the tree,
Pulling at its roots and ripping at its branches,
Until the waters of the Euphrates carried it away.
A young woman who walked in fear of no man,
and would not be owned,
Plucked the tree from the river and spoke:
"I shall bring this tree to Uruk.
I shall plant this tree in my holy garden."
The image of splitting goes back to the origin of the words of all inquiry in our civilization: Science, Consciousness and Conscience (one should add that it might be useful to add some of the speculations of Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash
which relate to the origin of modern consciousness and a fascinating fictionalizing of Mesopotamian myth):
skei-
DEFINITION: To cut, split. Extension of sek-.
Derivatives include science, nice, shit, schism, sheath, ski, and esquire.
1a. shin1, from Old English scinu, shin, shinbone (< “piece cut off”); b. chine, from Old French eschine, backbone, piece of meat with part of the backbone. Both a and b from Germanic suffixed form *ski-n-. 2. science, scilicet, sciolism; adscititious, conscience, conscious, nescience, nice, omniscient, plebiscite, prescient, from Latin scre, to know (< “to separate one thing from another,” “discern.”) 3. Suffixed zero-grade form *skiy-en-. skean, from Old Irish scan, knife. 4. Extended root *skeid-. a. (i) shit; gobshite, from Old English *sctan, to defecate; (ii) skate3; blatherskite, from Old Norse skta, to defecate; (iii) shyster, from Old High German skzzan, to defecate. (i)–(iii) all from Germanic *sktan, to separate, defecate; b. suffixed zero-grade form *sk(h)id-yo-. schism, schist, schizo-, from Greek skhizein, to split; c. nasalized zero-grade form *ski-n-d-. scission; exscind, prescind, rescind, from Latin scindere, to split. 5. Extended root *skeit-. a. (i) shed1, from Old English scadan, to separate, from Germanic *skaith-, *skaidan; (ii) sheath, from Old English scath, sheath (< “split stick”), perhaps from Germanic *skaith-; b. ski, from Old Norse skdh, log, stick, snowshoe, from Germanic *skdam; c. o-grade form *skoit-. écu, escudo, escutcheon, esquire, scudo, scutum, squire, from Latin sctum, shield (< “board”). 6. Extended root *skeip-. a. sheave2, from Middle English sheve, pulley (< “piece of wood with grooves”); b. skive, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse skfa, to slice, split; c. shiver2, from Middle English shivere, scivre, splinter, possibly from a Low German source akin to Middle Low German schever, splinter. a–c all from Germanic *skif-. (Pokorny ski- 919.) http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE464.html
This fundamental split lies at the core of consciousness:
"Jaynes theorized that a shift from bicameralism marked the beginning of introspection and consciousness as we know it today. According to Jaynes, this bicameral mentality began malfunctioning or "breaking down" during the second millennium BC. He speculates that primitive ancient societies tended to collapse periodically (as in Egypt's Old Kingdom and the periodically vanishing cities of the Mayas) due to increased societal complexity that could not be sustained by this bicameral mindset. The mass migrations of the second millennium BC created a rash of unexpected situations and stresses that required ancient minds to become more flexible and creative. Self-awareness, or consciousness, was the culturally evolved solution to this problem. Thus cultural necessity (that of interacting with migrating tribes, or surviving as a member of such) forced humanity to become self-aware or perish. Thus consciousness, like bicamerality, emerged as a neurological adaptation to social complexity. "Jaynes further argues that divination, prayer and oracles arose during this breakdown period, in an attempt to summon instructions from the "gods" whose voices could no longer be heard.[3] The consultation of special bicamerally operative individuals, or of casting lots and so forth, was a response to this loss, a transitional era depicted for example in the book of 1 Samuel. It was also evidenced in children who could communicate with the gods, but as their neurology was set by language and society they gradually lost that ability. Those who continued prophesying, being bicameral according to Jaynes, could be killed." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Consciousness_in_the_Breakdown_of_the_Bicameral_Mind
Finally there is Jung:
Today humanity, as never before, is split into two apparently irreconcilable halves. The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner contradictions, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposite halves. – C.G. Jung, 1959 Collected Works 9,II, para. 126
This is the externalization of the split: the projection outward into the world is the most dangerous part as I have mentioned below. The goal is to carry this split. But this requires suffering in our own imaginations each the precariousness of the situation: between depression and compulsion, between the humiliation of the masculine principle, the paternal principal of defrayal, the deferral of desire (incest taboo according to Freud) which is civilization [the root of civilization is "Kei-" (first entry), root name of "Shiva," god of ascetics, and also of what is "held auspicious, or most dear"; but it is also the origin of "cemetery" and of the "hidden"... perhaps of A-ides himself].
And there is something difficult and dangerous about the gaining of consciousness that immediately implies deferral of desire: release and renunciation stand behind this, and so does Gelassenheit. But such "releasement" is only real in the face of the split. Technology grants ever increasing gratification of desire, and therefore threatens the return of the incest dragon once again: this would presuppose that the only manner to continue the existence of a "world" as we cherish it would be to carry this essential split into the heart of any further "development" or "progress" of consciousness.
Inanna and the Huluppu Tree
In the first days, in the very first days,
In the first nights, in the very first nights,
In the first years, in the very first years,
In the first days when everything needed was brought into being,
In the first days when everything needed was properly nourished,
When bread was baked in the shrines of the land,
And bread was tasted in the homes of the land,
When heaven had moved away from earth,
And earth had separated from heaven,
And the name of man was fixed;
When the Sky God, An, had carried off the heavens,
And the Air God, Enlil, had carried off the earth,
When the Queen of the Great Below, Ereshkigal, was given the underworld for her domain.
At that time, it was planted, a tree, a single tree, by the banks of the Great River,
Enki, the Father, did plant the Huluppu-tree,
The God of Wisdom, he planted it by the banks of the Euphrates,
Before he set sail, before the Father departed for the underworld.
The tree was nurtured by the waters of the Euphrates
the very waters that carried Enki to the sea
Small windstones were tossed against him;
Large hailstones were hurled up against him;
Like onrushing turtles,
They charged the keel of Enki's boat.
The whirling South Wind arose and blew upon the tree,
Pulling at its roots and ripping at its branches,
Until the waters of the Euphrates carried it away.
A young woman who walked in fear of no man,
and would not be owned,
Plucked the tree from the river and spoke:
"I shall bring this tree to Uruk.
I shall plant this tree in my holy garden."
The image of splitting goes back to the origin of the words of all inquiry in our civilization: Science, Consciousness and Conscience (one should add that it might be useful to add some of the speculations of Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash
which relate to the origin of modern consciousness and a fascinating fictionalizing of Mesopotamian myth):
skei-
DEFINITION: To cut, split. Extension of sek-.
Derivatives include science, nice, shit, schism, sheath, ski, and esquire.
1a. shin1, from Old English scinu, shin, shinbone (< “piece cut off”); b. chine, from Old French eschine, backbone, piece of meat with part of the backbone. Both a and b from Germanic suffixed form *ski-n-. 2. science, scilicet, sciolism; adscititious, conscience, conscious, nescience, nice, omniscient, plebiscite, prescient, from Latin scre, to know (< “to separate one thing from another,” “discern.”) 3. Suffixed zero-grade form *skiy-en-. skean, from Old Irish scan, knife. 4. Extended root *skeid-. a. (i) shit; gobshite, from Old English *sctan, to defecate; (ii) skate3; blatherskite, from Old Norse skta, to defecate; (iii) shyster, from Old High German skzzan, to defecate. (i)–(iii) all from Germanic *sktan, to separate, defecate; b. suffixed zero-grade form *sk(h)id-yo-. schism, schist, schizo-, from Greek skhizein, to split; c. nasalized zero-grade form *ski-n-d-. scission; exscind, prescind, rescind, from Latin scindere, to split. 5. Extended root *skeit-. a. (i) shed1, from Old English scadan, to separate, from Germanic *skaith-, *skaidan; (ii) sheath, from Old English scath, sheath (< “split stick”), perhaps from Germanic *skaith-; b. ski, from Old Norse skdh, log, stick, snowshoe, from Germanic *skdam; c. o-grade form *skoit-. écu, escudo, escutcheon, esquire, scudo, scutum, squire, from Latin sctum, shield (< “board”). 6. Extended root *skeip-. a. sheave2, from Middle English sheve, pulley (< “piece of wood with grooves”); b. skive, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse skfa, to slice, split; c. shiver2, from Middle English shivere, scivre, splinter, possibly from a Low German source akin to Middle Low German schever, splinter. a–c all from Germanic *skif-. (Pokorny ski- 919.) http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE464.html
This fundamental split lies at the core of consciousness:
"Jaynes theorized that a shift from bicameralism marked the beginning of introspection and consciousness as we know it today. According to Jaynes, this bicameral mentality began malfunctioning or "breaking down" during the second millennium BC. He speculates that primitive ancient societies tended to collapse periodically (as in Egypt's Old Kingdom and the periodically vanishing cities of the Mayas) due to increased societal complexity that could not be sustained by this bicameral mindset. The mass migrations of the second millennium BC created a rash of unexpected situations and stresses that required ancient minds to become more flexible and creative. Self-awareness, or consciousness, was the culturally evolved solution to this problem. Thus cultural necessity (that of interacting with migrating tribes, or surviving as a member of such) forced humanity to become self-aware or perish. Thus consciousness, like bicamerality, emerged as a neurological adaptation to social complexity. "Jaynes further argues that divination, prayer and oracles arose during this breakdown period, in an attempt to summon instructions from the "gods" whose voices could no longer be heard.[3] The consultation of special bicamerally operative individuals, or of casting lots and so forth, was a response to this loss, a transitional era depicted for example in the book of 1 Samuel. It was also evidenced in children who could communicate with the gods, but as their neurology was set by language and society they gradually lost that ability. Those who continued prophesying, being bicameral according to Jaynes, could be killed." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Consciousness_in_the_Breakdown_of_the_Bicameral_Mind
Finally there is Jung:
Today humanity, as never before, is split into two apparently irreconcilable halves. The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner contradictions, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposite halves. – C.G. Jung, 1959 Collected Works 9,II, para. 126
This is the externalization of the split: the projection outward into the world is the most dangerous part as I have mentioned below. The goal is to carry this split. But this requires suffering in our own imaginations each the precariousness of the situation: between depression and compulsion, between the humiliation of the masculine principle, the paternal principal of defrayal, the deferral of desire (incest taboo according to Freud) which is civilization [the root of civilization is "Kei-" (first entry), root name of "Shiva," god of ascetics, and also of what is "held auspicious, or most dear"; but it is also the origin of "cemetery" and of the "hidden"... perhaps of A-ides himself].
And there is something difficult and dangerous about the gaining of consciousness that immediately implies deferral of desire: release and renunciation stand behind this, and so does Gelassenheit. But such "releasement" is only real in the face of the split. Technology grants ever increasing gratification of desire, and therefore threatens the return of the incest dragon once again: this would presuppose that the only manner to continue the existence of a "world" as we cherish it would be to carry this essential split into the heart of any further "development" or "progress" of consciousness.
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