I have been trying to compose a reply to this powerfully thought provoking essay for most of the day, I’ve read it twice and even while walking when most of the words I am searching for almost always flow into an order I am pleased with, nothing was seeping through. I’ve tried to finish a letter of my own… but still nothing. It happens, I guess, to us all.
Then I read this - included in something I’m working on… somehow it touched one of the many nuances I found in your words… that of language/understanding between animal and human….
‘Magic Words after Nalungiaq’
In the very earliest time, when both people and animals lived on earth, a person could become an animal if he wanted to and an animal could become a human being. Sometimes they were people and sometimes animals and there was no difference. All spoke the same language. That was the time when words were like magic. The human mind had mysterious powers. A word spoken by chance might have strange consequences. It would suddenly come alive and what people wanted to happen could happen — all you had to do was say it. Nobody could explain this: That’s the way it was.
(Translated from the Inuit by Edward Field)
I’d like to think, in this undeniably pivotal moment, that the way it was, will be the way again - a symbolic symbiotic migration towards deeper human understanding, not only of animals but all of nature.
I’m still in deep contemplation Jonathan, your intricately clever essay won’t leave me in peace…
I love that Inuit quote Susie (being that I'm quite susceptible to northern shamanistic thinking - I used Angakkuq visions in an earlier piece once.) I think that idea of a cyclical flow between species is deeply intuitive and sustainable (and truly alien to our current catastrophic era). Thanks for that. I'm going to dig around and read more from Nalungiaq.
And thanks so much for your generous words. I'm trying to build a vocabulary of philosophical contemplation's that are readable and flowing and interesting, and I'm not really too sure how successful this is, so I really appreciate your kind words.
I loved it too, though I don’t have your knowledge of Inuit traditions and beliefs, a note to self though is already written to learn more…!
Whatever your intention hidden within these missives Jonathan, all I can say is don’t stop, I am enchanted, mesmerized and captivated every time. I love that you make me think laterally, something I am not prone to do unless I read something that forces me. You force me with your prose… I love that!
He decided that you had been floating there, pondering, long enough . He checked your watch that you left on the rock, next to your pile of clothes. Jumped in the water and clambered on up to you with extra exuberance , startling you so you would go; “…under the water watching the world turn a frothing bubbling brown as the light refracts through a billion atoms and everything changes in a moment.”
Like he’s done so many times before. “Ok Dad, time to go home”, he thinks, without language.
It is a great image. I thought I might traipse out to some lake in the right light and sort out the image, then I thought Mmmm, let's see what Unsplash has. Boom. Nice.
So glad you enjoyed this E.T. And thank you for reading and commenting. Glad you're here :)
As I contemplated my response for the last number of hours, kidding, but I did read through a second time . I kept highlighting a different passage. Oh yes, this one says it all. Then, this one . I back it out. Change my quote. In the end, you know what you wrote and I ,am fascinated to be able to follow along, that is, on the second time around. I’ve included a couple of my many standouts. But to simplify it all , I couldn’t help thinking of a couple of lines written in a classic Barbara Streisand song ( totally taken out of context, by me).
“Can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time rewritten every line.”
“Today we can only guess how it felt to paint and witness cave paintings from inside the dark damp grotto because that specific blooming of symbolic thought that once tantalised the human mind in the Upper Paleolithic, has now gone extinct. We still experience the perpetual flood of symbolic meaning, but we no longer share a symbolic vocabulary of meaning and values with our ancient ancestors. That particular historical symbolic river of thought has formed an oxbow lake.”
“Everything is changing. A new oxbow lake is forming.”
I cannot call this finished, I do apologize for the length, unless I include the dog. He was an active participant, after all.
“He does not rearrange the world through symbolic nonsense. I wonder if somehow he has the advantage.”
Though he does not paw symbols into the dirt, I look at Ranger, and say to him, what are you thinking?
The dog, unbeknownst to him, always a partner in theory. Stand by your side. A willing companion of whatever relates to you. The cream in your coffee. A shadow to your thoughts. Happy to oblige . I just love dogs. Good boy Benny.
Ha! You tied together the oxbow lake bits! Perfect Lor (I was a bit pleased with that - like a callback in stand-up comedy :)
Benny's a thinker too. Although I'd love to know how that feels; to think without language. The same? Maybe we do that all the time then throw language at the thoughts as if language were there all along?
“There is a war being fought to decide which new symbols and ideas should rule for the next centuries. Which ideas should be nurtured and which should be drowned at birth. But it is not really a war, because inequality gives the powerful the tools to ram their desires onto an undefended world. The powerful force their will upon the world and throw deadly tantrums when they are resisted.” Michel Foucault would love this! It’s totally aligned with his theory of ‘knowledge and power’; of ‘discourses’; of the powerful as the ones who define the dominant discourses at any given time; of the indelible links between knowledge / discourses and power / the powerful. For me, Foucault is still one of the most important thinkers/philosophers of the C20. Love his books. ✨
That's a great observation James, yeah there is a Foucauldian knowledge and power bent to this. I wonder if I'm blending the Panopticon (where power is internalised and subjects police themselves) and more typical sovereign acts of domination? Thanks for making this point. i need to contemplate it a little :)
And thanks so much for reading and commenting James. Pleasure to have you here.
I was never into billiard but according to your line of thought I'm striking balls all the time. Helpless :)
Most of the time I feel that every moment is a pivotal moment and our life is a series of pivotal moments, each one so close to the other that we're under the illusion we're following a line. But I think your closing words depict much better our state in this life -- arms flailing in a frothy soup.
Thank you for this thought provoking / emotional bubbling post, Jonathan, I need to re-read this.
Thanks Fontini. I agree totally that every moment is pivotal, just like the microscopic is also the infinite, it's all perspectives I suppose. I'm finding myself thinking a lot about the relationships between thinking and being and the physical world at the moment. And in that I find everything is pivotal where we are both all powerful and enslaved by thought.
I know what you're talking about. Rare moments pop up that the physical world overtakes us but I'm not sure if we are ever free from thought.
I sense there is more coming on the topic and I would love to see where all this leads to (oops, there I go again, destinations and outcomes, sorry :)
Something in your words tells me that you're going to like Loren Eiseley's "The Unexpected Universe". I jolted somewhere a quote that I can't find right now. My not so powerful mind can't make the connection but there's something in that book -- but I may be wrong, it could be in any of his books... I will get back to you about this.
I've ordered that book. Liked the sound of it on the reviews. Anyone who goes around calling themselves and anthropologist, philosopher, nature writer is worth a try. Besides, your music suggestions have been spot on so far so...
In my view, this tale is so well based in truth. In a captivating and/but informative narrative, made all the more accessible by presence of the dog, it posits a philosophical view of 'to be or not to be' or 'what are we? Are we?' or 'I think therefore I am' or 'I am therefore I think' ... perhaps I put too much of my own thought into this comment but, if so, it is a result of the impact of your piece, Jonathan, so thank you. This, for me, is one of the best items I've read on this platform for some time. (Please don't get me wrong, anyone - that is not to say that I haven't read or appreciated much that I've read.)
I do try to pack (maybe too much) philosophical musing into my writings. I want them to be thought and feeling generators of some sort, with lots of metaphor and symbolism, that encourage taking a moment and contemplating life; Who are we, our thoughts or our actions? Is there a difference? Do concept and reality overlap? Can we change course and alter value systems that are destroying the physical world? Who is this so-called "we"? etc. etc.
I really appreciate your reading and commenting too, thanks. Keeps the wind in a writer's sails as you know :)
You are very welcome and, in my view, not too much philosophical musing. I also agree with your last sentence for it certainly does that for me, so thank *you*.
I have been trying to compose a reply to this powerfully thought provoking essay for most of the day, I’ve read it twice and even while walking when most of the words I am searching for almost always flow into an order I am pleased with, nothing was seeping through. I’ve tried to finish a letter of my own… but still nothing. It happens, I guess, to us all.
Then I read this - included in something I’m working on… somehow it touched one of the many nuances I found in your words… that of language/understanding between animal and human….
‘Magic Words after Nalungiaq’
In the very earliest time, when both people and animals lived on earth, a person could become an animal if he wanted to and an animal could become a human being. Sometimes they were people and sometimes animals and there was no difference. All spoke the same language. That was the time when words were like magic. The human mind had mysterious powers. A word spoken by chance might have strange consequences. It would suddenly come alive and what people wanted to happen could happen — all you had to do was say it. Nobody could explain this: That’s the way it was.
(Translated from the Inuit by Edward Field)
I’d like to think, in this undeniably pivotal moment, that the way it was, will be the way again - a symbolic symbiotic migration towards deeper human understanding, not only of animals but all of nature.
I’m still in deep contemplation Jonathan, your intricately clever essay won’t leave me in peace…
I love that Inuit quote Susie (being that I'm quite susceptible to northern shamanistic thinking - I used Angakkuq visions in an earlier piece once.) I think that idea of a cyclical flow between species is deeply intuitive and sustainable (and truly alien to our current catastrophic era). Thanks for that. I'm going to dig around and read more from Nalungiaq.
And thanks so much for your generous words. I'm trying to build a vocabulary of philosophical contemplation's that are readable and flowing and interesting, and I'm not really too sure how successful this is, so I really appreciate your kind words.
I loved it too, though I don’t have your knowledge of Inuit traditions and beliefs, a note to self though is already written to learn more…!
Whatever your intention hidden within these missives Jonathan, all I can say is don’t stop, I am enchanted, mesmerized and captivated every time. I love that you make me think laterally, something I am not prone to do unless I read something that forces me. You force me with your prose… I love that!
Enjoy your Sunday. 🍃
Perfect. Thank you. I shall continue and try and say something useful/enjoyable/readable/fun :)
She's says it all for me Jonathan. Really very good writing, thanks.
Ah, dear friend, it is such a pleasure to watch your talents flourish and grow. Xx
🙏🏼
Of course Benny is a thinker. And so smart too.
He decided that you had been floating there, pondering, long enough . He checked your watch that you left on the rock, next to your pile of clothes. Jumped in the water and clambered on up to you with extra exuberance , startling you so you would go; “…under the water watching the world turn a frothing bubbling brown as the light refracts through a billion atoms and everything changes in a moment.”
Like he’s done so many times before. “Ok Dad, time to go home”, he thinks, without language.
“ I could use a few biscuits.”
“Dad, come.”
Not a million miles from reality
Right side up is upside down. The chosen image is perfect. Enjoyed every bit of this, especially the ending.
It is a great image. I thought I might traipse out to some lake in the right light and sort out the image, then I thought Mmmm, let's see what Unsplash has. Boom. Nice.
So glad you enjoyed this E.T. And thank you for reading and commenting. Glad you're here :)
Glad to be here! 😎
As I contemplated my response for the last number of hours, kidding, but I did read through a second time . I kept highlighting a different passage. Oh yes, this one says it all. Then, this one . I back it out. Change my quote. In the end, you know what you wrote and I ,am fascinated to be able to follow along, that is, on the second time around. I’ve included a couple of my many standouts. But to simplify it all , I couldn’t help thinking of a couple of lines written in a classic Barbara Streisand song ( totally taken out of context, by me).
“Can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time rewritten every line.”
“Today we can only guess how it felt to paint and witness cave paintings from inside the dark damp grotto because that specific blooming of symbolic thought that once tantalised the human mind in the Upper Paleolithic, has now gone extinct. We still experience the perpetual flood of symbolic meaning, but we no longer share a symbolic vocabulary of meaning and values with our ancient ancestors. That particular historical symbolic river of thought has formed an oxbow lake.”
“Everything is changing. A new oxbow lake is forming.”
I cannot call this finished, I do apologize for the length, unless I include the dog. He was an active participant, after all.
“He does not rearrange the world through symbolic nonsense. I wonder if somehow he has the advantage.”
Though he does not paw symbols into the dirt, I look at Ranger, and say to him, what are you thinking?
The dog, unbeknownst to him, always a partner in theory. Stand by your side. A willing companion of whatever relates to you. The cream in your coffee. A shadow to your thoughts. Happy to oblige . I just love dogs. Good boy Benny.
Ha! You tied together the oxbow lake bits! Perfect Lor (I was a bit pleased with that - like a callback in stand-up comedy :)
Benny's a thinker too. Although I'd love to know how that feels; to think without language. The same? Maybe we do that all the time then throw language at the thoughts as if language were there all along?
🙏🏽
“There is a war being fought to decide which new symbols and ideas should rule for the next centuries. Which ideas should be nurtured and which should be drowned at birth. But it is not really a war, because inequality gives the powerful the tools to ram their desires onto an undefended world. The powerful force their will upon the world and throw deadly tantrums when they are resisted.” Michel Foucault would love this! It’s totally aligned with his theory of ‘knowledge and power’; of ‘discourses’; of the powerful as the ones who define the dominant discourses at any given time; of the indelible links between knowledge / discourses and power / the powerful. For me, Foucault is still one of the most important thinkers/philosophers of the C20. Love his books. ✨
That's a great observation James, yeah there is a Foucauldian knowledge and power bent to this. I wonder if I'm blending the Panopticon (where power is internalised and subjects police themselves) and more typical sovereign acts of domination? Thanks for making this point. i need to contemplate it a little :)
And thanks so much for reading and commenting James. Pleasure to have you here.
I was never into billiard but according to your line of thought I'm striking balls all the time. Helpless :)
Most of the time I feel that every moment is a pivotal moment and our life is a series of pivotal moments, each one so close to the other that we're under the illusion we're following a line. But I think your closing words depict much better our state in this life -- arms flailing in a frothy soup.
Thank you for this thought provoking / emotional bubbling post, Jonathan, I need to re-read this.
Thanks Fontini. I agree totally that every moment is pivotal, just like the microscopic is also the infinite, it's all perspectives I suppose. I'm finding myself thinking a lot about the relationships between thinking and being and the physical world at the moment. And in that I find everything is pivotal where we are both all powerful and enslaved by thought.
I know what you're talking about. Rare moments pop up that the physical world overtakes us but I'm not sure if we are ever free from thought.
I sense there is more coming on the topic and I would love to see where all this leads to (oops, there I go again, destinations and outcomes, sorry :)
Something in your words tells me that you're going to like Loren Eiseley's "The Unexpected Universe". I jolted somewhere a quote that I can't find right now. My not so powerful mind can't make the connection but there's something in that book -- but I may be wrong, it could be in any of his books... I will get back to you about this.
I've ordered that book. Liked the sound of it on the reviews. Anyone who goes around calling themselves and anthropologist, philosopher, nature writer is worth a try. Besides, your music suggestions have been spot on so far so...
Oh, I'm thrilled--I lured you to Eiseleys' universe! Do let me know what you think of the book once you read it.
In my view, this tale is so well based in truth. In a captivating and/but informative narrative, made all the more accessible by presence of the dog, it posits a philosophical view of 'to be or not to be' or 'what are we? Are we?' or 'I think therefore I am' or 'I am therefore I think' ... perhaps I put too much of my own thought into this comment but, if so, it is a result of the impact of your piece, Jonathan, so thank you. This, for me, is one of the best items I've read on this platform for some time. (Please don't get me wrong, anyone - that is not to say that I haven't read or appreciated much that I've read.)
Take care. Stay safe. ☮️
Thank you so much NSC.
I do try to pack (maybe too much) philosophical musing into my writings. I want them to be thought and feeling generators of some sort, with lots of metaphor and symbolism, that encourage taking a moment and contemplating life; Who are we, our thoughts or our actions? Is there a difference? Do concept and reality overlap? Can we change course and alter value systems that are destroying the physical world? Who is this so-called "we"? etc. etc.
I really appreciate your reading and commenting too, thanks. Keeps the wind in a writer's sails as you know :)
You are very welcome and, in my view, not too much philosophical musing. I also agree with your last sentence for it certainly does that for me, so thank *you*.