"There will be no baptizing of the internet or social media. How could there be?"
As the daily massgoer Marshall McLuhan said, "The medium is the message"—an extraordinarily powerful insight. (I'm pretty sure that at one level, what he had in mind was that God becoming incarnate in the medium of a human was itself the Message.) Anyway, I found myself scrolling through a Substack comment forum the other day, and it occurred to me that as far as the brain is concerned, digital scrolling is still digital scrolling—even if the content in question is fairly literate and intelligent. It degrades the attention, makes it harder to sit still and focus and read a book.
Nevertheless, there's a doubled-edged irony, I think. The Internet and social media may be intrinsically problematic; and yet it's good to read your essay on this social media platform, as well as to take your online classes. So it seems like there is *some* positive good in there somewhere, having to do with actual human communion, if it could be extracted from the rest of the trash. But I'm not sure.
Wonderful essay. I just read Blood Rites by Barbara Ehrenreich, written 30 years ago. She's recently written about her lifelong experiences like Wordsworth's spots of time, but in this she investigates our millions of years as prey animals and theorizes that warring begins in that history. Evolutionarily, we have behavioral and emotional subprograms that love blood sacrifice and warring with religious fervor. The nation became our "imagined community"for awhile, she says, though now we are up against globalist technofeudal utopians who are anti-nationalist and anti-human and anti-art, ant- literature,anti- Christianity, anti-white, anti-male, even anti-literacy and numeracy, and pro-disembodiment and mutilation, so rather than joining one of the sorcery-created cults, perhaps we take up creative arms as you say. We need a flag for the imagined community of Jerusalem with the cross at its center. The old hornets' nests in the park near me in winter got me imagining an armor made of hornets' nests, only with living hornets, a sort of Joan of Arc figure astride a white tailed deer in that armor.Not practical clearly, but the dispersed diaspora of those longing for Jerusalem might recognize one another through a flag.
Always great to hear from you, Cynthia--and I'm dying to hear where you live in Wayne County, I grew up on the westside of Detroit, I taught at Marygrove College in Detroit, and my wife and I lived in Belleville until about 11 years ago.
Can't wait for the third Book of Dust. Pullman is one of the few who understand the imaginal realm. Also Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, etcetera, etcetera...
For me your best post yet. To bring the imaginal to the real and the real to the imaginal as if one’s life depended on it had a potent effect. Thank you.
Woolpit is about 10 miles down the road from me here in Suffolk! They call it Silly Suffolk which apparently comes from the Vikings who when they landed here called it Selig Suffolk, which means Holy Suffolk! We have our fair share of Green Men and strange tales round these parts!
Too subtle and esoteric for this guy to completely grasp . I would have to be guided through with explanations of terms and concepts as I ask questions.
Although I really wonder about the digital being "unbaptizable". Maybe we're being called to make the attempt - because what's the alternative? I fear it's here to stay. And who are we to say that there are parts of what is that are impervious to the light?
"There will be no baptizing of the internet or social media. How could there be?"
As the daily massgoer Marshall McLuhan said, "The medium is the message"—an extraordinarily powerful insight. (I'm pretty sure that at one level, what he had in mind was that God becoming incarnate in the medium of a human was itself the Message.) Anyway, I found myself scrolling through a Substack comment forum the other day, and it occurred to me that as far as the brain is concerned, digital scrolling is still digital scrolling—even if the content in question is fairly literate and intelligent. It degrades the attention, makes it harder to sit still and focus and read a book.
Nevertheless, there's a doubled-edged irony, I think. The Internet and social media may be intrinsically problematic; and yet it's good to read your essay on this social media platform, as well as to take your online classes. So it seems like there is *some* positive good in there somewhere, having to do with actual human communion, if it could be extracted from the rest of the trash. But I'm not sure.
Jose Arguelles called this matrix inside the illusion the Dreamspell.
Says our natural timeline was hijacked and we have to get it back.
It's coming...
Wonderful essay. I just read Blood Rites by Barbara Ehrenreich, written 30 years ago. She's recently written about her lifelong experiences like Wordsworth's spots of time, but in this she investigates our millions of years as prey animals and theorizes that warring begins in that history. Evolutionarily, we have behavioral and emotional subprograms that love blood sacrifice and warring with religious fervor. The nation became our "imagined community"for awhile, she says, though now we are up against globalist technofeudal utopians who are anti-nationalist and anti-human and anti-art, ant- literature,anti- Christianity, anti-white, anti-male, even anti-literacy and numeracy, and pro-disembodiment and mutilation, so rather than joining one of the sorcery-created cults, perhaps we take up creative arms as you say. We need a flag for the imagined community of Jerusalem with the cross at its center. The old hornets' nests in the park near me in winter got me imagining an armor made of hornets' nests, only with living hornets, a sort of Joan of Arc figure astride a white tailed deer in that armor.Not practical clearly, but the dispersed diaspora of those longing for Jerusalem might recognize one another through a flag.
I love this essay!
Always great to hear from you, Cynthia--and I'm dying to hear where you live in Wayne County, I grew up on the westside of Detroit, I taught at Marygrove College in Detroit, and my wife and I lived in Belleville until about 11 years ago.
Also a passion of mine.
So many good stories...
Can't wait for the third Book of Dust. Pullman is one of the few who understand the imaginal realm. Also Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, etcetera, etcetera...
Good one, thanks!
I only saw the quote before but I find it interesting that in many ways your writing about what I was writing about in my recent post from another angle. I appreciate that though we may come from quite different places you point out the real crisis of our time. https://open.substack.com/pub/nasmith/p/what-rules-your-imagination-is-it-really-you?r=32csd0&utm_medium=ios
For me your best post yet. To bring the imaginal to the real and the real to the imaginal as if one’s life depended on it had a potent effect. Thank you.
Thank you, Anna
An excellent journey! Thank you.
Right back atcha
Majestic.
Woolpit is about 10 miles down the road from me here in Suffolk! They call it Silly Suffolk which apparently comes from the Vikings who when they landed here called it Selig Suffolk, which means Holy Suffolk! We have our fair share of Green Men and strange tales round these parts!
Strong words, like fire in the chest. Much needed for the time ahead.
“But the best way to fight dark movements on the Imagination, is with an Imagination of light.” Amen to this. Let it be so.
the Balinese have a saying: we have no art, we do everything as well as we can.
and while the Noosphere has loads of trash, it is where we found your work…
That was good magic 🐈⬛
Too subtle and esoteric for this guy to completely grasp . I would have to be guided through with explanations of terms and concepts as I ask questions.
Although I really wonder about the digital being "unbaptizable". Maybe we're being called to make the attempt - because what's the alternative? I fear it's here to stay. And who are we to say that there are parts of what is that are impervious to the light?
Thank you Michael. That one was really inspiring!
Myth is just truth spoken in language that holds less rule and law and more essence of resonance.
I have a space called The Hollow Tree where this has gone from a weird side project to a mythos complete with walking entities remembered.
Thank you so much for the time and energy you put into this piece. I’ll be reading it a second time.
Thanks, Amber.