"But our post-apocalyptic stories also remind us that we always find the transformative, regenerative power we need by coming back to our humanity, embedding ourselves in an embodied reality, and deepening our intimacy with one another."
I wish I had a firmer grasp on how to incept this at a rate faster than "one person at a time."
Good article, but PLEASE: It's called "the Book of Revelation" or (better) "The Revelation to St. John of Patmos." NOT "the book of revelations" (sic). Cringe!
It never ceases to amaze me that someone whose overconfidence in their scholastic aptitude can write a piece like this without once mentioning Velikovsky. These traumas of which you speak did not happen millions of years ago, but, as Anthony Peratt has demonstrated convincingly, mere thousands. And they persist in nearly all of our "pastimes" which are provenated from our "past times," as Barry Nevitt holds... without so much as a handful of listeners. You can't even find his books in libraries, except for the one he wrote with Marshall McLuhan. And the "Tetrad" which has been credited to McLuhan is actually a Nevitt discovery. All of this begs the question as to why Immanuel, Barry, Dwardu Cardona, David N. Talbott, and many others have been successfully suppressed.
I'd suggest you start by taking a look at thess videos by and about Tony, which resulted in his "cancellation" by the very community he helped found at Los Alamos.
Many thanks Ali for your post(s) - I'm really grateful and feel very nourished-challenged-inspired by the ways you read contemporary movies as myth and connect/do such reading through them psychology concepts, somatic/body work, psychedelic research, philosophy and your own (dis)embodied experiences. I also enjoyed reading your book - congratulations on getting it all our t/here!
I was left thinking (also following others' post of yours) of this book, The ends of the world by Brazilian philosopher Deborah Danowski and anthropologist Eduardo Vivieros de Castro (https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-ends-of-the-world--9781509503971). It reads contemporary films, philosophy and climate change/anthropocene as myth and contrast them with Amerindian (Lowland south American philosophical/mythical thought. There are a couple of provocative essays of theirs on eflux (which is worth a more general read if you are not familiar with it):
They have some interesting reflections/insights with relation moderns' notion of 'the social (contract)', culture/nature, body, apocalypse, humanity etc. and how we can seek inspiration, critical distance from opening ourselves to the thought/practices of those other-than-modern, whether in Europe, South America, Africa, China.
Wishing you a good winter season and new year went it comes. I look forward to reading more in the coming year.
What a wonderful, rich article. You pulled threads from so many angles, it really created a much broader and layered sensibility than the typical "people believe the apocalypse is coming" commentary. I was surprised you didn't mention Netflix's "Don't look up." Especially in terms of our "newly discovered" inability to unite around a common cause as part of the hopelessness that has overtaken so many in regard to the state of the environment. Anyway, fantastic essay, I've shared it with a number of friends.
You did it again Ali. I don't know how you keep these coming. But I am grateful for whatever it ist that is moving through you. And for your placing your gifs in the service of it. I am also grateful that you are looking at popular culture with your inimitable lens. Among other things, it helps me feel less guilty when I watch netflix instead of picking up a book!
“we always find the transformative, regenerative power we need by coming back to our humanity, embedding ourselves in an embodied reality, and deepening our intimacy with one another.”
This is the answer that wisdom brings us to. Over and over again. I think of it as “forward facing remembering.” And I feel called to continue to kindle one of those thousand fires that are needed as we work to practice, remember, and live in this way, together.
“They also warn of the dangers of losing the civilisation we’ve taken so long to build, and the social contracts that allow us to collaborate and thrive together.” And we must heed the warning. And protect all we can protect. But do so without delusion. Civilizations collapse. That is a feature they all hold in common.
Like Margaret Wheatley says, the question then becomes “who do we choose to be?” Here. Today. In the anthropocene. During the sixth great extinction. She encourages us to build islands of sanity. I read is as “keep one of the thousand fires.”
Finally, I often remind my friends that we come from people who already faced the apocalypse. The indigenous people of the America’s. The African people who survived the Middle Passage. Europeans who survived the Romans, and the Plague.
There is something that cannot be taken from us. Because it is in our very make up. In the memory you speak of. Thanks for helping us remember.
Wonderful documentary on Pleistocene Park in northern Siberia where a Russian scientist is showing how reintroducing grazing animals to this land lowers the temperature of the permafrost and could give us more years before it melts and results in the full catastrophe. This is the most wonderful film I have seen, not just in the science being done there, but also in its beauty, humor, grit, and the incredible notion that life can rescue life.
One young man recently Injected Psilocybin into his bloodstream and ‘let the Mycelium take the wheel’ from the inside out...it actually started colonizing inside his body, along with a severe infection that nearly killed him.
I think the existential fear you're tapping into here is actually of the decay and collapse of the mythology that supports Western hegemony. The 'free lunch' for the US and its allies that economic, military and political dominance has given its citizens is coming to an end - I think that is what we all know in our bones and fear. We would do well to remember that this is an American and European existential crisis - the global majority have reason for optimism as the emerging multipolar world that is rapidly appearing will be much safer, stable, fairer and prosperous.
"But our post-apocalyptic stories also remind us that we always find the transformative, regenerative power we need by coming back to our humanity, embedding ourselves in an embodied reality, and deepening our intimacy with one another."
I wish I had a firmer grasp on how to incept this at a rate faster than "one person at a time."
Good article, but PLEASE: It's called "the Book of Revelation" or (better) "The Revelation to St. John of Patmos." NOT "the book of revelations" (sic). Cringe!
LOVED this ❤️
It never ceases to amaze me that someone whose overconfidence in their scholastic aptitude can write a piece like this without once mentioning Velikovsky. These traumas of which you speak did not happen millions of years ago, but, as Anthony Peratt has demonstrated convincingly, mere thousands. And they persist in nearly all of our "pastimes" which are provenated from our "past times," as Barry Nevitt holds... without so much as a handful of listeners. You can't even find his books in libraries, except for the one he wrote with Marshall McLuhan. And the "Tetrad" which has been credited to McLuhan is actually a Nevitt discovery. All of this begs the question as to why Immanuel, Barry, Dwardu Cardona, David N. Talbott, and many others have been successfully suppressed.
I'd suggest you start by taking a look at thess videos by and about Tony, which resulted in his "cancellation" by the very community he helped found at Los Alamos.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=anthony+peratt+website
Can’t wait to see what all the social-psycho-physical nutrients you have been ingesting and composting will sprout in your own sci-fi!!
Many thanks Ali for your post(s) - I'm really grateful and feel very nourished-challenged-inspired by the ways you read contemporary movies as myth and connect/do such reading through them psychology concepts, somatic/body work, psychedelic research, philosophy and your own (dis)embodied experiences. I also enjoyed reading your book - congratulations on getting it all our t/here!
I was left thinking (also following others' post of yours) of this book, The ends of the world by Brazilian philosopher Deborah Danowski and anthropologist Eduardo Vivieros de Castro (https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-ends-of-the-world--9781509503971). It reads contemporary films, philosophy and climate change/anthropocene as myth and contrast them with Amerindian (Lowland south American philosophical/mythical thought. There are a couple of provocative essays of theirs on eflux (which is worth a more general read if you are not familiar with it):
https://www.e-flux.com/journal/65/336486/is-there-any-world-to-come/
https://www.e-flux.com/journal/114/364412/the-past-is-yet-to-come/
They have some interesting reflections/insights with relation moderns' notion of 'the social (contract)', culture/nature, body, apocalypse, humanity etc. and how we can seek inspiration, critical distance from opening ourselves to the thought/practices of those other-than-modern, whether in Europe, South America, Africa, China.
Wishing you a good winter season and new year went it comes. I look forward to reading more in the coming year.
Warmth to you and all who read and post here.
What a wonderful, rich article. You pulled threads from so many angles, it really created a much broader and layered sensibility than the typical "people believe the apocalypse is coming" commentary. I was surprised you didn't mention Netflix's "Don't look up." Especially in terms of our "newly discovered" inability to unite around a common cause as part of the hopelessness that has overtaken so many in regard to the state of the environment. Anyway, fantastic essay, I've shared it with a number of friends.
You did it again Ali. I don't know how you keep these coming. But I am grateful for whatever it ist that is moving through you. And for your placing your gifs in the service of it. I am also grateful that you are looking at popular culture with your inimitable lens. Among other things, it helps me feel less guilty when I watch netflix instead of picking up a book!
“we always find the transformative, regenerative power we need by coming back to our humanity, embedding ourselves in an embodied reality, and deepening our intimacy with one another.”
This is the answer that wisdom brings us to. Over and over again. I think of it as “forward facing remembering.” And I feel called to continue to kindle one of those thousand fires that are needed as we work to practice, remember, and live in this way, together.
“They also warn of the dangers of losing the civilisation we’ve taken so long to build, and the social contracts that allow us to collaborate and thrive together.” And we must heed the warning. And protect all we can protect. But do so without delusion. Civilizations collapse. That is a feature they all hold in common.
Like Margaret Wheatley says, the question then becomes “who do we choose to be?” Here. Today. In the anthropocene. During the sixth great extinction. She encourages us to build islands of sanity. I read is as “keep one of the thousand fires.”
Finally, I often remind my friends that we come from people who already faced the apocalypse. The indigenous people of the America’s. The African people who survived the Middle Passage. Europeans who survived the Romans, and the Plague.
There is something that cannot be taken from us. Because it is in our very make up. In the memory you speak of. Thanks for helping us remember.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ucmiJiEHJ4
Wonderful documentary on Pleistocene Park in northern Siberia where a Russian scientist is showing how reintroducing grazing animals to this land lowers the temperature of the permafrost and could give us more years before it melts and results in the full catastrophe. This is the most wonderful film I have seen, not just in the science being done there, but also in its beauty, humor, grit, and the incredible notion that life can rescue life.
One young man recently Injected Psilocybin into his bloodstream and ‘let the Mycelium take the wheel’ from the inside out...it actually started colonizing inside his body, along with a severe infection that nearly killed him.
I think the existential fear you're tapping into here is actually of the decay and collapse of the mythology that supports Western hegemony. The 'free lunch' for the US and its allies that economic, military and political dominance has given its citizens is coming to an end - I think that is what we all know in our bones and fear. We would do well to remember that this is an American and European existential crisis - the global majority have reason for optimism as the emerging multipolar world that is rapidly appearing will be much safer, stable, fairer and prosperous.