“All people of the world, when left in their indigenous, native state, hold an animistic polytheist worldview. That definition should be expanded, however, to include ancestor veneration. The reverence of ancestors is, arguably, the very earliest form of religion and it goes hand in hand with animism. In an animistic worldview, it is believed that spirits dwell all around us in nature. Indeed, we view ourselves as within the natural paradigm instead of above it or outside of it. Animists believe that not only do animals have a spirit, but elements, inanimate objects, and even naturally occurring phenomena have spirits attached to them. Therefore, within this worldview, when our loved ones pass from physical life, their spirits continue to dwell among us and can intercede in our lives.”
― Carolyn Emerick, Cultural Mythos & the Return of the Ethnikos
Image: Celestite by Louis Dyer
― Carolyn Emerick, Cultural Mythos & the Return of the Ethnikos
Image: Celestite by Louis Dyer
“Max Weber, in his famous 1904 book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, gave a startling name to one of the realities of modern life: “the disenchantment of the world.” Weber was a sociologist who studied the impact of industrial society on human thought. Before scientific materialism seized the imagination of Western culture, he pointed out, people saw the world around them as a place full of magic, where trees and stones could speak, birds traced out the shape of the future in their flight, and those who knew the secret could sense and shape the flow of enchantment in the world around them. This living, breathing, magical world was one of the first casualties of the Industrial Revolution. As materialist beliefs spread, magic trickled out of the world, transforming it—at least in most people’s minds—into a mass of lifeless matter.”
― John Michael Greer, The Druid Magic Handbook: Ritual Magic Rooted in the Living Earth
Image: The Soul of the Soulless City by Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
― John Michael Greer, The Druid Magic Handbook: Ritual Magic Rooted in the Living Earth
Image: The Soul of the Soulless City by Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
“We seem to live in a world of concurrent tools and systems. Every natural thing seems to have an artificial, often digital equivalent; mimicry. To match the human brain we have a computer’s processor and memory. For herbal medicines we have drugs. For community we have smartphones and ‘social media’. For wood we have plastic. For courting we have ‘Tinder’. For sex we have porn. For legs and horses we have cars and bikes. For live entertainment, recorded music and video. Instead of rivers we have motorways.”
― Dan Capp (The Fyrgen), Novel Vs. Counterfeit Technologies
Note: Following Dave Martel's discourse on the Mechanurge, Heiðrūn delves into this topic delivering astute observations on the man-machine dichotomy. She illuminates the distinction between benevolent and malevolent technology, and advises on the ways in which we can preserve the natural balance amidst the unrelenting advance of the mechanized world. Listen Here.
Find out more about Heiðrūn's work at: freefolk.org
Image: The Pact by Anyma
― Dan Capp (The Fyrgen), Novel Vs. Counterfeit Technologies
Note: Following Dave Martel's discourse on the Mechanurge, Heiðrūn delves into this topic delivering astute observations on the man-machine dichotomy. She illuminates the distinction between benevolent and malevolent technology, and advises on the ways in which we can preserve the natural balance amidst the unrelenting advance of the mechanized world. Listen Here.
Find out more about Heiðrūn's work at: freefolk.org
Image: The Pact by Anyma
The Mystery of the Grail: Industrial Society and the Disenchantment of the Earth
In the language of medieval romance, the Grail legend speaks of a truth that transcends time and space speaking directly to the deepest longings of the human heart.
The Grail legend emerged at a time when industrial society was just beginning to take shape, and it is no coincidence that this tale of spiritual quest and redemption came to the fore at a time when materialism threatened to engulf the world. Many modern scholars and researchers have been drawn to the Grail legend as they like others before have recognised that industrial society and its consequences have been a disaster for the human races.
American scholar and countercultural historian Theodore Roszak in his work, Where the Wasteland Ends, critiques the artificial environment created by the urban-industrial revolution, and the type of politics and consciousness that have emerged as a result. If it weren’t for industrial society it simply wouldn’t be possible for the absurdist ideologies that consistently defy the natural order to emerge and take hold within the public consciousness. A meaningful connection with the natural world would be the antidote to such a sickness.
In Wolfram's Parzival, the Grail Castle lies in the Wasteland, which is called la Terre Gaste. This serves as a striking symbol of the modern Western culture's self-absorbed narcissism, dead-end culture and toxic ideologies, which have led to the extensive destruction of the natural world. It is worth noting that the Wasteland of the 12th Century differed considerably from what we confront today, both internally and externally. However, the artificial nature of the environment especially for those within the ruling class at the time certainly has correspondence with our current plight, with the artificial inorganic quality of existence inducing a sickness throughout the land.
Today, as we confront new challenges and threats to our collective well-being, the Grail legend still continues to speak to us in profound and meaningful ways. It reminds us of the importance of the natural world, spiritual connection and the need for community. The Grail mystery invites us to strip back the veil imposed upon us and re-enchant the wastelands with life, magic and wonder once again.
In the language of medieval romance, the Grail legend speaks of a truth that transcends time and space speaking directly to the deepest longings of the human heart.
The Grail legend emerged at a time when industrial society was just beginning to take shape, and it is no coincidence that this tale of spiritual quest and redemption came to the fore at a time when materialism threatened to engulf the world. Many modern scholars and researchers have been drawn to the Grail legend as they like others before have recognised that industrial society and its consequences have been a disaster for the human races.
American scholar and countercultural historian Theodore Roszak in his work, Where the Wasteland Ends, critiques the artificial environment created by the urban-industrial revolution, and the type of politics and consciousness that have emerged as a result. If it weren’t for industrial society it simply wouldn’t be possible for the absurdist ideologies that consistently defy the natural order to emerge and take hold within the public consciousness. A meaningful connection with the natural world would be the antidote to such a sickness.
In Wolfram's Parzival, the Grail Castle lies in the Wasteland, which is called la Terre Gaste. This serves as a striking symbol of the modern Western culture's self-absorbed narcissism, dead-end culture and toxic ideologies, which have led to the extensive destruction of the natural world. It is worth noting that the Wasteland of the 12th Century differed considerably from what we confront today, both internally and externally. However, the artificial nature of the environment especially for those within the ruling class at the time certainly has correspondence with our current plight, with the artificial inorganic quality of existence inducing a sickness throughout the land.
Today, as we confront new challenges and threats to our collective well-being, the Grail legend still continues to speak to us in profound and meaningful ways. It reminds us of the importance of the natural world, spiritual connection and the need for community. The Grail mystery invites us to strip back the veil imposed upon us and re-enchant the wastelands with life, magic and wonder once again.
"The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”
― T.H White, The Once and Future King
Image: King Arthur and Excalibur by N. C. Wyeth
― T.H White, The Once and Future King
Image: King Arthur and Excalibur by N. C. Wyeth
“It is a mistake to suppose that all men, or at least all Englishmen, want to be free. On the contrary, if freedom entails responsibility, many of them want none of it. They would happily exchange their liberty for a modest (if illusory) security.”
― Theodore Dalrymple, Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass
Image: Alone by Anon
― Theodore Dalrymple, Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass
Image: Alone by Anon
“The narrative illusion introduces a ‘mind virus’, which is a syntactical contagion that spreads through communicative vectors and colonises the cognitive biases of the targeted individual’s psychology, thus transforming the mental processes of that target.”
― James Scott
Notes: Throughout history, numerous thinkers have made astute observations about reality and the human condition that are strikingly similar to the conclusions reached by the Gnostics over 2000 years ago. The idea of a "narrative illusion" that spreads like a virus through communication, altering the mental processes of those affected strongly resembles the ‘archontic infection’ identified by the Gnostics. The Gnostics however went one step further and identified the source of these ‘illusions’ and their terrestrial proxies which is why their movement and writings were extirpated from the historical record.
Image: The Running Man by Ralph Brillhart
― James Scott
Notes: Throughout history, numerous thinkers have made astute observations about reality and the human condition that are strikingly similar to the conclusions reached by the Gnostics over 2000 years ago. The idea of a "narrative illusion" that spreads like a virus through communication, altering the mental processes of those affected strongly resembles the ‘archontic infection’ identified by the Gnostics. The Gnostics however went one step further and identified the source of these ‘illusions’ and their terrestrial proxies which is why their movement and writings were extirpated from the historical record.
Image: The Running Man by Ralph Brillhart
"Nothing in this world operates the way you think it does. Banks do not loan money, governments are not empowered to protect you, the police department is not there to serve you, institutions of higher learning, colleges and educational institutes, are not there to educate you. The entire superstructure of civilisation in the Western world is a combination of brilliantly put together and planned, well-planned, schemes to direct the minds of the people in such a way as to serve their masters."
― Jordan Maxwell
Image: Rat Race by Steve Cutts
― Jordan Maxwell
Image: Rat Race by Steve Cutts
“To be disconnected from your ancestors is to become a dried leaf that blows aimlessly in the wind, easily shaken, easily programmed. Come back to your roots, come back to your ancient path and the tree of knowledge created by the ancestors, that the globalists have fought so hard to take from us. The old Gods never went away, and they are rising.”
― Fiona Ædgar, Road to Algiz
Image: Protection by Brian Froud
Notes: If you would like to learn more about Fiona’s work check out her Astrology channel here and new Pagan channel here. View more of her writings and various services including heathen astrology here.
― Fiona Ædgar, Road to Algiz
Image: Protection by Brian Froud
Notes: If you would like to learn more about Fiona’s work check out her Astrology channel here and new Pagan channel here. View more of her writings and various services including heathen astrology here.
“For more than 99 percent of human history, the world was enchanted and man saw himself as an integral part of it. The complete reversal of this perception in a mere four hundred years or so has destroyed the continuity of the human experience and the integrity of the human psyche. It has very nearly wrecked the planet as well. The only hope, or so it seems to me, lies in a reenchantment of the world.”
― Morris Berman, The Reenchantment of the World
Image: Psyche Entering Cupid’s Garden by John William Waterhouse
― Morris Berman, The Reenchantment of the World
Image: Psyche Entering Cupid’s Garden by John William Waterhouse
The Mystery of the Grail: T.S Elliot’s Modern Waste Land
The symbolic flexibility of the Grail has never been more apparent than in the tumultuous landscape of the 20th century. It reflects the major concerns of a Western world grappling with the scars of industrialisation, war, and the decline of religion. Among the themes most resonant with the Grail in this era was the concept of the wasteland. In the aftermath of the First World War, a new wasteland emerged, forged by the industrialised scale slaughter of Europeans.
The Grail legend played a pivotal role in T.S. Eliot's poetic masterpiece, The Waste Land, revised and edited by the legendary Ezra Pound. Many regard this work, penned in 1922, as one of the most significant poems of the 20th century. Eliot's work can be seen in a sense as a poetic manifestation of Oswald Spengler’s influential treatise, "Decline of the West” which was also published in 1922. However, Eliot’s vision is characterized by a somewhat less pessimistic and fatalistic outlook with the suggestion of the possibility of halting or even reversing decline.
Eliot’s notes on the poem reveal his debt to Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance, a work that explores ancient fertility and vegetation rites, particularly as they relate to the Grail stories.
The poem is less concerned with the Grail itself and instead hones in on the lack of spirituality and sacred qualities in contemporary society. Eliot focuses on an exploration of the character of the wounded Fisher King and his realm, now laid to waste in the aftermath of his injury, which has rendered both himself and his kingdom infertile. The Fisher King is transported by Eliot from a medieval kingdom and placed amidst the barren, urban wasteland of London, fishing in a canal behind a gas house. Through this character study, Eliot highlights the broader social and cultural malaise of the contemporary world, where materialism and scientific rationalism have supplanted religious faith and traditional values.
Eliot paints a harrowing picture of a questing knight journeying to the Grail chapel through a waterless desert landscape, suffering from thirst and fatigue. Upon finding the ruined chapel, a storm breaks, and the flash of lightning ushers in the life-renewing force of rain. This allusion to the return of water echoes the revival of the Fisher King's lands. In the final portion of the poem, however, the King appears to suffer from a kind of powerless inertia, musing:
"Fishing, with the arid plain behind me,
Shall I at least put my lands in order?"
Eliot, a professed Conservative and Royalist, lamented the collapse of the traditional, hierarchical and classical social order that characterized post-First World War Europe. Eliot channels the despair and sense of chaotic disorder that dominated at that time infusing the work with a deep sense of anxiety and hopelessness. The increasingly secular society of the early 20th century was becoming more sterile, vacuous, and culturally arid. Sexual relationships are portrayed as empty and meaningless, serving as symbols of this spiritual drought.
However, despite its bleak outlook The Waste Land does offer a rare glimmer of hope in its final section. In this concluding section, Eliot employs a language that speaks to the possibility of a spiritual awakening and the hope of redemption. He attempts to fuse together the insights of the East and the West in a manner that transcends the boundaries of dogma and doctrine, creating a space for the possibility of an emergence of a more comprehensive and holistic worldview.
The symbolic flexibility of the Grail has never been more apparent than in the tumultuous landscape of the 20th century. It reflects the major concerns of a Western world grappling with the scars of industrialisation, war, and the decline of religion. Among the themes most resonant with the Grail in this era was the concept of the wasteland. In the aftermath of the First World War, a new wasteland emerged, forged by the industrialised scale slaughter of Europeans.
The Grail legend played a pivotal role in T.S. Eliot's poetic masterpiece, The Waste Land, revised and edited by the legendary Ezra Pound. Many regard this work, penned in 1922, as one of the most significant poems of the 20th century. Eliot's work can be seen in a sense as a poetic manifestation of Oswald Spengler’s influential treatise, "Decline of the West” which was also published in 1922. However, Eliot’s vision is characterized by a somewhat less pessimistic and fatalistic outlook with the suggestion of the possibility of halting or even reversing decline.
Eliot’s notes on the poem reveal his debt to Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance, a work that explores ancient fertility and vegetation rites, particularly as they relate to the Grail stories.
The poem is less concerned with the Grail itself and instead hones in on the lack of spirituality and sacred qualities in contemporary society. Eliot focuses on an exploration of the character of the wounded Fisher King and his realm, now laid to waste in the aftermath of his injury, which has rendered both himself and his kingdom infertile. The Fisher King is transported by Eliot from a medieval kingdom and placed amidst the barren, urban wasteland of London, fishing in a canal behind a gas house. Through this character study, Eliot highlights the broader social and cultural malaise of the contemporary world, where materialism and scientific rationalism have supplanted religious faith and traditional values.
Eliot paints a harrowing picture of a questing knight journeying to the Grail chapel through a waterless desert landscape, suffering from thirst and fatigue. Upon finding the ruined chapel, a storm breaks, and the flash of lightning ushers in the life-renewing force of rain. This allusion to the return of water echoes the revival of the Fisher King's lands. In the final portion of the poem, however, the King appears to suffer from a kind of powerless inertia, musing:
"Fishing, with the arid plain behind me,
Shall I at least put my lands in order?"
Eliot, a professed Conservative and Royalist, lamented the collapse of the traditional, hierarchical and classical social order that characterized post-First World War Europe. Eliot channels the despair and sense of chaotic disorder that dominated at that time infusing the work with a deep sense of anxiety and hopelessness. The increasingly secular society of the early 20th century was becoming more sterile, vacuous, and culturally arid. Sexual relationships are portrayed as empty and meaningless, serving as symbols of this spiritual drought.
However, despite its bleak outlook The Waste Land does offer a rare glimmer of hope in its final section. In this concluding section, Eliot employs a language that speaks to the possibility of a spiritual awakening and the hope of redemption. He attempts to fuse together the insights of the East and the West in a manner that transcends the boundaries of dogma and doctrine, creating a space for the possibility of an emergence of a more comprehensive and holistic worldview.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable.”
― H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy, 1949
Image: The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David
― H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy, 1949
Image: The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David
“Jung compared the absence of the gods to a dry riverbed: their shapes remain, but devoid of the energy and substance that would make them live among us as they used to. What we await is the energy and substance to flow once more into the forms.”
— Stephen E. Flowers (Edred Thorsson)
Image: August Malström
— Stephen E. Flowers (Edred Thorsson)
Image: August Malström
Forwarded from The Fyrgen • ᚫᛚᚢ:ᚢᛚᚫ
Is the Old English word 'scop' related to the verb 'scapan', which comes to us in modern English as 'shapen'? My friend Hwitgeard urges caution on this connection, but it nevertheless offers food-for-thought.
A scop is a storyteller, and for the Anglo-Saxons, to tell a story is to weave a spell - to shapen the reality of those who listen. I've heard it said that the Celts of Britain told tall tales which are rarely proven factually true; but it doesn't matter. Those tales were true for those tribes, and became their reality.
Fast forward to our current struggle, where we've been plied with science-fiction for decades, often dystopian. Is it any wonder that what seemed far-fetched and confined to the realm of 'entertainment' is manifesting? These are stories... spells... which whether by design or not, shape our reality. And when the Hidden Hand shows itself, far from marking the end of its control, it reaffirms the narrative which we find ourselves swept along by. We must weave our own 'spell'.
A scop is a storyteller, and for the Anglo-Saxons, to tell a story is to weave a spell - to shapen the reality of those who listen. I've heard it said that the Celts of Britain told tall tales which are rarely proven factually true; but it doesn't matter. Those tales were true for those tribes, and became their reality.
Fast forward to our current struggle, where we've been plied with science-fiction for decades, often dystopian. Is it any wonder that what seemed far-fetched and confined to the realm of 'entertainment' is manifesting? These are stories... spells... which whether by design or not, shape our reality. And when the Hidden Hand shows itself, far from marking the end of its control, it reaffirms the narrative which we find ourselves swept along by. We must weave our own 'spell'.
“The collective and the group members do not experience the world objectively, but mythologically, in archetypal images and symbols; and their reaction to it is archetypal, instinctive, and unconscious, not individual and conscious.”
― Erich Neumann
Notes: The idea of experiencing the world through archetypal images and symbols is rooted in the theories of psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Jung asserted that archetypes are universal patterns of behaviour and imagery that are reflected in myths, dreams, and religious beliefs providing a framework for how individuals perceive and interact with the world around them.
Jung also believed that the collective unconscious, a shared reservoir of archetypal images and symbols, plays a significant role in shaping behaviour and thoughts. This collective unconscious is the source of the archetypes that often subconsciously guide the group's perception and response to the world, as opposed to individual conscious thought.
Image: The Bard Bayan by Viktor Vasnetsov
― Erich Neumann
Notes: The idea of experiencing the world through archetypal images and symbols is rooted in the theories of psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Jung asserted that archetypes are universal patterns of behaviour and imagery that are reflected in myths, dreams, and religious beliefs providing a framework for how individuals perceive and interact with the world around them.
Jung also believed that the collective unconscious, a shared reservoir of archetypal images and symbols, plays a significant role in shaping behaviour and thoughts. This collective unconscious is the source of the archetypes that often subconsciously guide the group's perception and response to the world, as opposed to individual conscious thought.
Image: The Bard Bayan by Viktor Vasnetsov
“The dark ages still reign over all humanity, and the depth and persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear. This Dark Ages prison has no steel bars, chains, or locks. Instead, it is locked by mis-orientation and built of misinformation… We are powerfully imprisoned in these Dark Ages simply by the terms in which we have been conditioned to think.”
―Buckminster Fuller
Image: Study for a Head (1952) by Francis Bacon
―Buckminster Fuller
Image: Study for a Head (1952) by Francis Bacon