“our entire modern world reflects that intense aversion to the truth that we are but one among many, not the center of it all. And that nature is a kind of prison from which we yearn to escape. Whether it’s factory farming, deep ocean oil drilling, genetic engineering, fracking or terraforming Mars², our entire world seems predicated on proving that we can break those bonds.” A therein lies the dark night of our collective soul. Trying to escape brings forth all the power over toxins. Can’t help but think of “if we surrendered to Earth’s intelligence…”.
Wow this line resonated: “I went along with the program to avoid rocking the boat, but I have been hearing the call to stop for so long.” But I’m going to sit with this essay rather than commenting with any particular formed thought because in a very tight container you managed to get me thinking deeply this morning, Julie.
This struck me like a gong: "...he despaired of ever throwing off 'the bonds that subject us to nature.'" It makes me think of a powerful article I read years ago in The Economist (of all places!) talking emphatically about how "Mother Earth's invisible hand" is part of everything everywhere, including nations' and global economies. By denying that we are part of the web--as most of our species has been taught to do by those who were also taught to do--we will indeed remain lost in the dark night of the soul (thanks to Leah Rampy above for writing that so poignantly!).
Yeah, isn’t that NUTS?? And yet the attitude persists. Terraforming Mars is a serious proposal?! Why not just stop ecociding and get to know our only true home, Earth?
Reading along. Thinking of Ged, from Ursula LeGuin's, A Wizard of EarthSea, who chases the shadow he conjured when he was too young to know better to the ends of the earth - and (spoiler alert for those who want to read the book. Stop here.) when he finally, in early middle age (he's 50, I think) catches it. It turns to face him and... it's him. That story reminds me of what you're playing with/working on here. To me, the shadow lives in the same realm as the angel or any other collective projection. Not that it is not real but that is made of slippery dream stuff and shapeshifts when we try to catch it in a jar - or an analysis. It exists in the mystery layer and that, it seems to me, is where it belongs. So as you are writing I am watching you cross into and out of that space with such facility and curiosity and grace. I am watching and learning. Thank you for this series.
Woah! Thank you for this reflection, Amy. Your comments triggered an idea for the novel I’m working on — early stages of a major revision. I had one of those a-ha! moments where a lot of pieces kind of crystallized into a tantalizing possibility. Elusive and mysterious, yes, but very exciting. The kind of energy one needs when embarking on a major creative undertaking. Maybe this whole shadow series is a warm-up or preparation for that larger project. . . . 🤔
Thanks for the link, Julie, and for finding space for my writing in this wonderful exploration of the light we find in the darkness. I'm really glad you're exploring how so much of what troubles us outwardly find its origins within.
Wilderness ceased being "home" and, according to the major religions, something to gain dominion over, several hundred generations ago for most of us. So it's going to be an uphill battle trying to reverse that, but I applaud the effort. Keep fighting the good fight.
For many of us our shadows are out in force in the world right now. Facing them every day is damn hard. What’s behind that tarp at the Kennedy Center anyway? 🤔
Yes, I think you're grappling with the great dilemma. I have framed the failure of the environmental movement to win over the business/political establishment (not much separation between the two, but we better hope it becomes wider - that was the basis of the golden decades, of social democracy, here and in Western Europe) to stopping global warming was tragic, because I portrayed the environmental movement, a bit idealistically but yet true, as the greatest political movement ever seen in the West if not the world. Why such a characterization? Because in terms of sheer numbers of citizens, and of organizations, and of geographical extent from local citizens fighting fracking to international non-profits trying to save the Amazon or the Boreal forest, or stop the trade in wildlife parts...well, I rest my case.
Part Two: Julie, what's in the shadow? We could choose Freud's pessimism - "Civilization and its Discontents" and the violence that came with the French Revolution, and the Russian (the later much worse) - the fear of the mob which was always aimed at the left but Mussolini corrected that, as did the Nazis in Weimar...and the Trumpian mob of Jan. 6, 2021...related, but its a huge topic, forgive me for compressing too greatly, the great wonders of nature's systems are in part, if not full truth, built upon food chains where a lot of "devouring" takes place. (Jamie Dimon: why are credit card interest rates 25%, not 10%?)...
You wrote of the great contradictions, polarities, nadir and zenith, winter and summer solistice...(my phrasing) - well, anthropologists probing "human nature" in the patterns of primates come up with two answers: innate violence and innate nurturing so maybe let's put "innate" on hold...nurture those within your own tribe (and bannish the dissenters like Socrates) and wage war on tribal rivals...for a nation with a statue of Liberty welcoming, we sure know how to withdraw the welcoming mat...and carry out mass deportations.
This is getting too long. Let me conclude with a recommendation of Philipp Blom again, this time his grappling with the great and conflicted legacy (shadow and light) of the Enlightenment - "A Wicked Company: The Forgotten Radicalism of the European Enlightenment" - a 2010 work.
It was radical because it threated the Church's monopoly on wisdom - A Christianity which used the rack and worse to enforce its monopoly and was knee deep if not higher in owning property like any good "feudal lord." Protestantism not much better. It was losing its monopoly on education if not morals as the Age of Discovery brought new civilizations to light, including some which seemed to be a gentler improvement on Europe's - Tahiti anyone?
And light and darkness? How often have the centuries after the 18th spoken of the "Light" or the "Flame" of the Enlightenment going out? In the 1914-1945 horrors? In the MAGA movement of purges, retribution and crushing those who get in the way?
Good stuff Julie, still a lot of disagreement about human "nature" and what it implies when we come up with different answers...or maybe more difficult to handle...a hybrid consisting of shadow and light? (And the dilemmas set off by the Frankfort School - Eros and Society - Marcuse the optimist over what would happen when the "restraints" were loosened, or removed entirely? The great culture clashes between the 1960's and the Moral Majority reaction...Trump and Epstein blurring the lines for the MAGA rank and file in rural America? Why - Trump strains "rational" inquiry to the limit...
Just a footnote to what I wrote above: when the societal restraints are lifted, what emerges? From today's perspective, on the left, the horrors of the Tate Bros. (see Heidi Blakes New Yorker long article) or a bit mellower, back to the early American Utopians, John Humphrey Noyes Oneida saga as one example. Hawthorne's cold bucket of water: "The Blithdale Romance."
On my longer comments and about JHN, many feminists would disagree, and even about the extent of nurturing under primitive "patriarchy." Always controversy over the division of labor between the sexes. Glad it's all been solved today with Solomonic division of the tasks. (!)
But agreement on the emergence of Alex Jones and Tate bros. types more likely. I would hope so. Beware of calls for the release of the "instincts" and hold the "Reason" cries.
Brilliant, Julie. Brilliant.
“our entire modern world reflects that intense aversion to the truth that we are but one among many, not the center of it all. And that nature is a kind of prison from which we yearn to escape. Whether it’s factory farming, deep ocean oil drilling, genetic engineering, fracking or terraforming Mars², our entire world seems predicated on proving that we can break those bonds.” A therein lies the dark night of our collective soul. Trying to escape brings forth all the power over toxins. Can’t help but think of “if we surrendered to Earth’s intelligence…”.
So simple. So hard.
Our next Live conversation?
Yes! Would love to dig further with you and Camilla
Shall we cage, fence in
fiery fierce dragons, or
feed them, free to fly?
🙌
Wow this line resonated: “I went along with the program to avoid rocking the boat, but I have been hearing the call to stop for so long.” But I’m going to sit with this essay rather than commenting with any particular formed thought because in a very tight container you managed to get me thinking deeply this morning, Julie.
Ah, thanks so much Stephanie. I’m so glad it resonates. ❤️
This struck me like a gong: "...he despaired of ever throwing off 'the bonds that subject us to nature.'" It makes me think of a powerful article I read years ago in The Economist (of all places!) talking emphatically about how "Mother Earth's invisible hand" is part of everything everywhere, including nations' and global economies. By denying that we are part of the web--as most of our species has been taught to do by those who were also taught to do--we will indeed remain lost in the dark night of the soul (thanks to Leah Rampy above for writing that so poignantly!).
Yeah, isn’t that NUTS?? And yet the attitude persists. Terraforming Mars is a serious proposal?! Why not just stop ecociding and get to know our only true home, Earth?
Love love that Rilke quote, Julie!
Isn’t it a gem?! 🧡
Reading along. Thinking of Ged, from Ursula LeGuin's, A Wizard of EarthSea, who chases the shadow he conjured when he was too young to know better to the ends of the earth - and (spoiler alert for those who want to read the book. Stop here.) when he finally, in early middle age (he's 50, I think) catches it. It turns to face him and... it's him. That story reminds me of what you're playing with/working on here. To me, the shadow lives in the same realm as the angel or any other collective projection. Not that it is not real but that is made of slippery dream stuff and shapeshifts when we try to catch it in a jar - or an analysis. It exists in the mystery layer and that, it seems to me, is where it belongs. So as you are writing I am watching you cross into and out of that space with such facility and curiosity and grace. I am watching and learning. Thank you for this series.
Woah! Thank you for this reflection, Amy. Your comments triggered an idea for the novel I’m working on — early stages of a major revision. I had one of those a-ha! moments where a lot of pieces kind of crystallized into a tantalizing possibility. Elusive and mysterious, yes, but very exciting. The kind of energy one needs when embarking on a major creative undertaking. Maybe this whole shadow series is a warm-up or preparation for that larger project. . . . 🤔
Thanks for the link, Julie, and for finding space for my writing in this wonderful exploration of the light we find in the darkness. I'm really glad you're exploring how so much of what troubles us outwardly find its origins within.
Thanks, Jason. It’s one of those lenses where, once you start to look, you tend to see it everywhere. 😬
Wilderness ceased being "home" and, according to the major religions, something to gain dominion over, several hundred generations ago for most of us. So it's going to be an uphill battle trying to reverse that, but I applaud the effort. Keep fighting the good fight.
True true
For many of us our shadows are out in force in the world right now. Facing them every day is damn hard. What’s behind that tarp at the Kennedy Center anyway? 🤔
Hmmmm 🤔
Julie this post is inspired. I re-stacked almost every paragraph before re-stacking the whole thing♥️🔥🙏
p.s. that song gives such a beautiful heart lift, thanks for sharing it!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Camilla!! Many thanks for sharing. I get chills every time I listen to the song. ❤️🙌
Yes, I think you're grappling with the great dilemma. I have framed the failure of the environmental movement to win over the business/political establishment (not much separation between the two, but we better hope it becomes wider - that was the basis of the golden decades, of social democracy, here and in Western Europe) to stopping global warming was tragic, because I portrayed the environmental movement, a bit idealistically but yet true, as the greatest political movement ever seen in the West if not the world. Why such a characterization? Because in terms of sheer numbers of citizens, and of organizations, and of geographical extent from local citizens fighting fracking to international non-profits trying to save the Amazon or the Boreal forest, or stop the trade in wildlife parts...well, I rest my case.
Part Two: Julie, what's in the shadow? We could choose Freud's pessimism - "Civilization and its Discontents" and the violence that came with the French Revolution, and the Russian (the later much worse) - the fear of the mob which was always aimed at the left but Mussolini corrected that, as did the Nazis in Weimar...and the Trumpian mob of Jan. 6, 2021...related, but its a huge topic, forgive me for compressing too greatly, the great wonders of nature's systems are in part, if not full truth, built upon food chains where a lot of "devouring" takes place. (Jamie Dimon: why are credit card interest rates 25%, not 10%?)...
You wrote of the great contradictions, polarities, nadir and zenith, winter and summer solistice...(my phrasing) - well, anthropologists probing "human nature" in the patterns of primates come up with two answers: innate violence and innate nurturing so maybe let's put "innate" on hold...nurture those within your own tribe (and bannish the dissenters like Socrates) and wage war on tribal rivals...for a nation with a statue of Liberty welcoming, we sure know how to withdraw the welcoming mat...and carry out mass deportations.
This is getting too long. Let me conclude with a recommendation of Philipp Blom again, this time his grappling with the great and conflicted legacy (shadow and light) of the Enlightenment - "A Wicked Company: The Forgotten Radicalism of the European Enlightenment" - a 2010 work.
It was radical because it threated the Church's monopoly on wisdom - A Christianity which used the rack and worse to enforce its monopoly and was knee deep if not higher in owning property like any good "feudal lord." Protestantism not much better. It was losing its monopoly on education if not morals as the Age of Discovery brought new civilizations to light, including some which seemed to be a gentler improvement on Europe's - Tahiti anyone?
And light and darkness? How often have the centuries after the 18th spoken of the "Light" or the "Flame" of the Enlightenment going out? In the 1914-1945 horrors? In the MAGA movement of purges, retribution and crushing those who get in the way?
Good stuff Julie, still a lot of disagreement about human "nature" and what it implies when we come up with different answers...or maybe more difficult to handle...a hybrid consisting of shadow and light? (And the dilemmas set off by the Frankfort School - Eros and Society - Marcuse the optimist over what would happen when the "restraints" were loosened, or removed entirely? The great culture clashes between the 1960's and the Moral Majority reaction...Trump and Epstein blurring the lines for the MAGA rank and file in rural America? Why - Trump strains "rational" inquiry to the limit...
Just a footnote to what I wrote above: when the societal restraints are lifted, what emerges? From today's perspective, on the left, the horrors of the Tate Bros. (see Heidi Blakes New Yorker long article) or a bit mellower, back to the early American Utopians, John Humphrey Noyes Oneida saga as one example. Hawthorne's cold bucket of water: "The Blithdale Romance."
On my longer comments and about JHN, many feminists would disagree, and even about the extent of nurturing under primitive "patriarchy." Always controversy over the division of labor between the sexes. Glad it's all been solved today with Solomonic division of the tasks. (!)
But agreement on the emergence of Alex Jones and Tate bros. types more likely. I would hope so. Beware of calls for the release of the "instincts" and hold the "Reason" cries.