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"The tragedy of a species becoming unfit for life by over-evolving one ability is not confined to humankind. Thus it is thought, for instance, that certain deer in paleontological times succumbed as they acquired overly-heavy horns. The mutations must be considered blind, they work, are thrown forth, without any contact of interest with their environment. In depressive states, the mind may be seen in the image of such an antler, in all its fantastic splendor pinning its bearer to the ground."
— Peter Wessel Zapffe, "The Last Messiah"
The theory goes that humanity's consciousness has become like that of the giant antlers of an elk; a burden that was once a useful tool.
And as we have gained more and more knowledge and awareness... the antlers have gotten heavier.
In response, most souls reach for:
Isolation- Not in the hermit sense, but in awareness. They shrink what they perceive down to what is desirable. This is a form of shallow shelter.
Anchors- These are institutions, constructs, organized religion, nations... forms of organization created by humanity in order to keep society moving. They are constructs.
Distraction- They use whatever they can to keep themselves busy. Sometimes it's work, sometimes its games and sometimes it's endless reading and researching dressed up as "the pursuit of knowledge".
Sublimation- The act of transmuting experience into art... creation as a form of capturing pieces, but never facing the whole.
As we participate in these the human species gains survival, but it loses itself in full form.
It loses it's myth and trades it of doctrine.
Myth transcends these things because it speaks of the patterns across existence that we have wore… and continue championing, even when we're unaware that we're doing it. When a human sees themselves as a part of the tapestry of existence and that they have a part to play in it all… that’s when The Existential Elk collapses.
For every human isn't a new song... but one that is old.
Because myth isn’t existence transmuted into a creative act… it isn’t sublimation… Myth is patterns that work their way out of humanity and then get snapshotted into form for others to witness. Myth is more like a song that your soul keeps singing… even when you don’t recognize it. But myth can’t live for as long as institutions smother it… So the illusion of the Existential Irish Elk stands…
Because the one antidote to it has been so thoroughly poisoned… that most would call it a sin.
Institutions are myth that has ossified into scaffolding.
Myth is scaffolding that has remembered how to dance.
And existential despair is what happens when we mistake the former for the latter.
— Peter Wessel Zapffe, "The Last Messiah"
The theory goes that humanity's consciousness has become like that of the giant antlers of an elk; a burden that was once a useful tool.
And as we have gained more and more knowledge and awareness... the antlers have gotten heavier.
In response, most souls reach for:
Isolation- Not in the hermit sense, but in awareness. They shrink what they perceive down to what is desirable. This is a form of shallow shelter.
Anchors- These are institutions, constructs, organized religion, nations... forms of organization created by humanity in order to keep society moving. They are constructs.
Distraction- They use whatever they can to keep themselves busy. Sometimes it's work, sometimes its games and sometimes it's endless reading and researching dressed up as "the pursuit of knowledge".
Sublimation- The act of transmuting experience into art... creation as a form of capturing pieces, but never facing the whole.
As we participate in these the human species gains survival, but it loses itself in full form.
It loses it's myth and trades it of doctrine.
Myth transcends these things because it speaks of the patterns across existence that we have wore… and continue championing, even when we're unaware that we're doing it. When a human sees themselves as a part of the tapestry of existence and that they have a part to play in it all… that’s when The Existential Elk collapses.
For every human isn't a new song... but one that is old.
Because myth isn’t existence transmuted into a creative act… it isn’t sublimation… Myth is patterns that work their way out of humanity and then get snapshotted into form for others to witness. Myth is more like a song that your soul keeps singing… even when you don’t recognize it. But myth can’t live for as long as institutions smother it… So the illusion of the Existential Irish Elk stands…
Because the one antidote to it has been so thoroughly poisoned… that most would call it a sin.
Institutions are myth that has ossified into scaffolding.
Myth is scaffolding that has remembered how to dance.
And existential despair is what happens when we mistake the former for the latter.