The Drygand is embedded in the Great Tree, in the thickness of the bole, where it enters the earth.
When the Tree is threatened, He comes forth, to stand with sharp nails, ready.
The Shaggy Mythos is evolving Deep Ecology religion, creative intuitive as well as rational intellectual, which draws on worldwide mythology and folklore as well as scholarly labors of thought, to uncover and reveal the truth of things. Herein you will learn of Feorgen of the Wyke, the Drygand and his Lode, the Searuvel and Dilgoth, and of the Menning and its Menschen, who all play their part in the titanic struggle of our time to save the Biosphere and thus ourselves-as-Ecological-Self.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Regeneration of the Bones
In primitive times, hunters would save the bones of their prey, and plant them respectfully in the earth so that new animals would be grown from them, magically, ensuring a continuing supply of game.
Similarly, in shamanic cultures, which were of hunters or herders, at least originally, there was the mythic notion that the young shaman-to-be must be devoured, stripped of his flesh, stripped to the bones, and from these marrow-bones, a new body regrows, of shamanic substance-- crystalline, clear and shining. It is a rebirth, with a new "body of light", as a new-fledged shaman in a new world.
This myth of regrowth from the bones, in its many cultural evolutions, was widespread in the ancient world. A good, smallish book about it is Weston La Barre's Muelos: a Stone Age Superstition about Sexuality.
Recently, it occurred to me that the Romantic Movement could be seen as involving a stripping of the flesh-- a rejection of the elite, high civilization of the Enlightenment characterized by order, reason, high-flown manners, and refinement, to go back to a lower level, of the simple common-folk, with their traditional ways and wisdom, which by contrast with the artificial elaborations of the Enlightenment was like the bones of civilization-- stark, simple, yet authentic, honest, vital, even magical. And many of the Romantics could be said to be trying to regrow a new (organic!) body of civilization from this archaic stock, and get it right this time. Well, the results were a mix of the wonderful and terrible, and we're still living with them.
Now, if we see that we are, perforce, in the Age of Ecology, in which the current global civilization is obviously destroying Life on Earth, and that fundamental changes are required if there is to be any hope that an intact Biosphere and some kind of human presence will survive, then it is very like the situation at the end of the 18th century, with the Enlightenment and the Romantic Movement in opposition. In fact, our global civilization is a direct development of the Enlightenment civilization, two centuries on, as the Ecology Movement is of the Romantic Movement-- only now the stakes are drastically higher.
And I see this powerful myth of the regrowth of a new, superior body from the bones of the old one to fit our present situation, just as with the old Romantic Movement. Now we must develop-- regrow-- a new global civilization-- and it must be global, because the Biosphere is global, and not ethno-centric/nationalist like with the Romantic Movement-- and the determining, driving idea, the "marrow" of it, must be Ecology-- that is, how we can live on this planet without destroying it. It is a very simple idea, easy to see its truth, that therefore we must make a new ecological civilization, and we must get it right, which requires that we use whatever will be necessary and reject whatever is a hindrance, or harmful, which means using our intelligence, knowledge, and science as well as inspiration, intuition, and old wisdom-- everything we can bring to this terrific Work, but all with great discrimination, so that we get it right.
Similarly, in shamanic cultures, which were of hunters or herders, at least originally, there was the mythic notion that the young shaman-to-be must be devoured, stripped of his flesh, stripped to the bones, and from these marrow-bones, a new body regrows, of shamanic substance-- crystalline, clear and shining. It is a rebirth, with a new "body of light", as a new-fledged shaman in a new world.
This myth of regrowth from the bones, in its many cultural evolutions, was widespread in the ancient world. A good, smallish book about it is Weston La Barre's Muelos: a Stone Age Superstition about Sexuality.
Recently, it occurred to me that the Romantic Movement could be seen as involving a stripping of the flesh-- a rejection of the elite, high civilization of the Enlightenment characterized by order, reason, high-flown manners, and refinement, to go back to a lower level, of the simple common-folk, with their traditional ways and wisdom, which by contrast with the artificial elaborations of the Enlightenment was like the bones of civilization-- stark, simple, yet authentic, honest, vital, even magical. And many of the Romantics could be said to be trying to regrow a new (organic!) body of civilization from this archaic stock, and get it right this time. Well, the results were a mix of the wonderful and terrible, and we're still living with them.
Now, if we see that we are, perforce, in the Age of Ecology, in which the current global civilization is obviously destroying Life on Earth, and that fundamental changes are required if there is to be any hope that an intact Biosphere and some kind of human presence will survive, then it is very like the situation at the end of the 18th century, with the Enlightenment and the Romantic Movement in opposition. In fact, our global civilization is a direct development of the Enlightenment civilization, two centuries on, as the Ecology Movement is of the Romantic Movement-- only now the stakes are drastically higher.
And I see this powerful myth of the regrowth of a new, superior body from the bones of the old one to fit our present situation, just as with the old Romantic Movement. Now we must develop-- regrow-- a new global civilization-- and it must be global, because the Biosphere is global, and not ethno-centric/nationalist like with the Romantic Movement-- and the determining, driving idea, the "marrow" of it, must be Ecology-- that is, how we can live on this planet without destroying it. It is a very simple idea, easy to see its truth, that therefore we must make a new ecological civilization, and we must get it right, which requires that we use whatever will be necessary and reject whatever is a hindrance, or harmful, which means using our intelligence, knowledge, and science as well as inspiration, intuition, and old wisdom-- everything we can bring to this terrific Work, but all with great discrimination, so that we get it right.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Taken
In folklore, the Elves take a normal baby and leave a changeling in its stead. This is noticed when the child turns-out to be strange-- withdrawn, addled, fey, or otherwise undesirable.
This is typical of Humans-- they get it wrong. Why would the Elves want normal babies? In fact, the baby is not exchanged, but changed by the mysterious "elvish influence", from Human to Elf, which makes it an alien among Humans, so of course it doesn't seem like everyone else. And the change isn't necessarily made all at once, to a baby in a cradle. Often, nothing is noticeably strange until the onset of puberty, when there is suddenly much more to influence. But influence can be effective into the mature years-- that "mid-life crisis"?
And where it used to be "taken by the Elves", it has become "taken by Aliens", which is just Humans updating their wrongness-- in the world of nuclear warfare and all the other wonders of science and technology, natural beings like Elves no longer signify, but futuristic space-craft carrying humanoids do, so...
But as in the olden days, most of those "taken" are just confused people and/or liars. In reality, those benefiting from elvish influence keep that to themselves, and since no-one believes in Elves anymore, no one sees an Elf-changeling; instead, it's a person with autism or some other modern syndrome. However, changelings can spot each other pretty readily, and they often make their true identity obvious to their fellows in various improvised ways. The thing is-- many changelings don't know what they are, from how they are, if they haven't been told, but they know it's something, and they're on the look-out for others like themselves.
So, if you haven't been told, I'll tell you here-- yes, you are probably an Elf-changeling, and even if, strictly speaking, you are not, it doesn't matter-- if you are elvish, you are, to all intents and purposes, an Elf. But it's not so much a matter of identity-- ultimately, elvish is as elvish does, and, to some extent, you can choose elvishness. In fact, you must choose it, and work at it, because, surrounded by Humans and the world they have made, you are heavily influenced (corrupted) by them. And until you have become well and truly an Elf, it can be a hard road for you to travel. Sooner or later, though, you encounter others of your sort-- not always the blessing it might seem, so take care-- there are Elves and Elves (and faked Elves). But don't go traumatic-- trust yourself. Remember-- self-possessed self-reliance will get you through most things, generally. You need to get your direction from within-- the outer stuff will sort itself out with a little applied intelligence. As an Elf, you are an agent of change, perhaps a secret agent. Though you may in time fall-in with other Elves, you will never be a herd-animal, and much relies on your inner access to things that the Herd knows nothing about-- so you had better get down to that, before anything else, and you'll be fine. And someday, you yourself will have developed the inner substance which can influence those you come upon with themselves a latent bent toward elvishness, helping them along.
Until then, fellow, Go Deep! And use what you have brought back from there to work in the real world for the coming of the Edhli-menning!
This is typical of Humans-- they get it wrong. Why would the Elves want normal babies? In fact, the baby is not exchanged, but changed by the mysterious "elvish influence", from Human to Elf, which makes it an alien among Humans, so of course it doesn't seem like everyone else. And the change isn't necessarily made all at once, to a baby in a cradle. Often, nothing is noticeably strange until the onset of puberty, when there is suddenly much more to influence. But influence can be effective into the mature years-- that "mid-life crisis"?
And where it used to be "taken by the Elves", it has become "taken by Aliens", which is just Humans updating their wrongness-- in the world of nuclear warfare and all the other wonders of science and technology, natural beings like Elves no longer signify, but futuristic space-craft carrying humanoids do, so...
But as in the olden days, most of those "taken" are just confused people and/or liars. In reality, those benefiting from elvish influence keep that to themselves, and since no-one believes in Elves anymore, no one sees an Elf-changeling; instead, it's a person with autism or some other modern syndrome. However, changelings can spot each other pretty readily, and they often make their true identity obvious to their fellows in various improvised ways. The thing is-- many changelings don't know what they are, from how they are, if they haven't been told, but they know it's something, and they're on the look-out for others like themselves.
So, if you haven't been told, I'll tell you here-- yes, you are probably an Elf-changeling, and even if, strictly speaking, you are not, it doesn't matter-- if you are elvish, you are, to all intents and purposes, an Elf. But it's not so much a matter of identity-- ultimately, elvish is as elvish does, and, to some extent, you can choose elvishness. In fact, you must choose it, and work at it, because, surrounded by Humans and the world they have made, you are heavily influenced (corrupted) by them. And until you have become well and truly an Elf, it can be a hard road for you to travel. Sooner or later, though, you encounter others of your sort-- not always the blessing it might seem, so take care-- there are Elves and Elves (and faked Elves). But don't go traumatic-- trust yourself. Remember-- self-possessed self-reliance will get you through most things, generally. You need to get your direction from within-- the outer stuff will sort itself out with a little applied intelligence. As an Elf, you are an agent of change, perhaps a secret agent. Though you may in time fall-in with other Elves, you will never be a herd-animal, and much relies on your inner access to things that the Herd knows nothing about-- so you had better get down to that, before anything else, and you'll be fine. And someday, you yourself will have developed the inner substance which can influence those you come upon with themselves a latent bent toward elvishness, helping them along.
Until then, fellow, Go Deep! And use what you have brought back from there to work in the real world for the coming of the Edhli-menning!