I love these metaphors and this explanation of our current state of affairs. It helps me tie together a bunch of my own thoughts and feelings.
This letting the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil become dominant in our brains and our civilization is what leads to the emotionless abstract reasoning that Oswald Spengler says is a signifier of the last stage in a civilization. The ToKoGaE has effectively strangled off the creative, artistc, intuitive Tree of Life that connects us to the universe and God.
This explains the devotion to technology and “progress,” and how enamoured we are with our power over the world. We have become so abstract that many of us spent the majority of our days immersed in a digital universe of pixels on screens.
I like the image of the Ouroboros being the left hemisphere mistaking itself for the world–and therefore, God. There is the expression “Get out of your head”, basically advice to get your head out of your head and reconnect with the world.
The snake eating its tail is also a symbol of the cycle of life, of death and rebirth, which works on the larger scale, our civilizational decline. As this Fall proceeds, the seeds for the next civilization will be born by those who can achieve and maintain and pass along some of that missing harmony between the two hemispheres.
Mark, thank you so much for this incredibly thoughtful and synthesizing comment. You’ve taken the metaphors and truly run with them, adding layers of depth I only hinted at.
You’re absolutely right to bring in Spengler. His concept of a civilization’s late stage—where it becomes dominated by a cold, abstract, “Megapolis-minded” intellect, detached from the intuitive and the organic—is a perfect historical and philosophical echo of the “Tree of Knowledge” hemisphere running amok. It’s the left brain not just dominating the individual, but becoming the paradigm for an entire culture, leading to what he called "Faustian" exhaustion. Your point about technology, progress, and our immersion in a pixelated abstraction is precisely that Spenglerian winter in action. We’ve built a world in the image of that dominant, reductive hemisphere.
And I love your extension of the Ouroboros. “Get out of your head” is indeed the perfect, simple antidote to that self-cannibalizing loop. The snake eating its tail isn’t just a symbol of error; as you note, it’s also one of cycles. The necessary death and rebirth. That’s the hopeful glimmer in this whole messy process: the decline contains the seeds. The very extremity of the imbalance might be what forces, or calls forth, a return to that missing harmony (enantiodromia). It won’t be preserved by the dominant system, but by those who, as you so beautifully put it, can “achieve and maintain and pass along” a different way of being.
You’ve given me a lot to chew on, especially regarding Spengler. I’ll have to revisit him. If it was good enough for Kissinger to give Nixon, perhaps I can muster the focus for another attempt! I did write about him once: https://wendywilliamson.substack.com/p/the-book-that-kissinger-gave-nixon and I still think about why Kissinger gave Nixon that book. Maybe you have some thoughts on the matter.
Thank you again, Mark. This kind of engagement—where a reader connects the dots to their own knowledge and expands the idea—is what makes writing this so rewarding. I’m deeply grateful for your support.
I took out <i>Decline of the West</i> from my library, and kept it many moons past the due date. I skipped around in there a lot, but I too found it difficult to stay with it for any length of time, so much of my understanding is of the condensed Cliffnotes variety that got distilled from his work and is floating around.
As to why Kissinger gave a copy to Nixon, I guess since it was the basis of so much of his world view, he thought it would be a good idea for the boss to get on the same page. I found a citation that claims Kissinger said it was to to ‘emphasize the manifestation of events’.
But of course Henry was not known for his lack of hubris, and he felt that, as a statesman, he could manipulate the world and the manifestation of events, and therefore help circumvent Spengler's inevitable denouement. As a 20th century man with plenty of power, it's no surprise that he would think this way, a total left-brain, Tree of Knowledge notion.
Yesterday’s piece was for the benefit of the left brain readers and as your genius realized this morning, some of your right side readers were still scratching their heads, and sorely needed a right side version! Well done; they’ve both wonderful!
Thanks, Fred! I did have one more epiphany I added... "In the end, the serpent was never an external tempter. It was the closed loop of the left hemisphere that mistakes itself for the world—the Ouroboros, eternally consuming its own tail. The serpent doesn't lead you to temptation; it leads you into itself, into the loop where you are tricked into devouring your own potential. The serpent is the Ouroboros. Let that sink in." I didn't want you to miss it. :) Have a beautiful day!
This is great. I just finished reading The Master and His Emissary, so to come across your reflection on it is a pleasant surprise. He (and you) describe well what so many are experiencing today -- the profound sense of alienation from each other and from ourselves. I look forward to reading more!
I love these metaphors and this explanation of our current state of affairs. It helps me tie together a bunch of my own thoughts and feelings.
This letting the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil become dominant in our brains and our civilization is what leads to the emotionless abstract reasoning that Oswald Spengler says is a signifier of the last stage in a civilization. The ToKoGaE has effectively strangled off the creative, artistc, intuitive Tree of Life that connects us to the universe and God.
This explains the devotion to technology and “progress,” and how enamoured we are with our power over the world. We have become so abstract that many of us spent the majority of our days immersed in a digital universe of pixels on screens.
I like the image of the Ouroboros being the left hemisphere mistaking itself for the world–and therefore, God. There is the expression “Get out of your head”, basically advice to get your head out of your head and reconnect with the world.
The snake eating its tail is also a symbol of the cycle of life, of death and rebirth, which works on the larger scale, our civilizational decline. As this Fall proceeds, the seeds for the next civilization will be born by those who can achieve and maintain and pass along some of that missing harmony between the two hemispheres.
Mark, thank you so much for this incredibly thoughtful and synthesizing comment. You’ve taken the metaphors and truly run with them, adding layers of depth I only hinted at.
You’re absolutely right to bring in Spengler. His concept of a civilization’s late stage—where it becomes dominated by a cold, abstract, “Megapolis-minded” intellect, detached from the intuitive and the organic—is a perfect historical and philosophical echo of the “Tree of Knowledge” hemisphere running amok. It’s the left brain not just dominating the individual, but becoming the paradigm for an entire culture, leading to what he called "Faustian" exhaustion. Your point about technology, progress, and our immersion in a pixelated abstraction is precisely that Spenglerian winter in action. We’ve built a world in the image of that dominant, reductive hemisphere.
And I love your extension of the Ouroboros. “Get out of your head” is indeed the perfect, simple antidote to that self-cannibalizing loop. The snake eating its tail isn’t just a symbol of error; as you note, it’s also one of cycles. The necessary death and rebirth. That’s the hopeful glimmer in this whole messy process: the decline contains the seeds. The very extremity of the imbalance might be what forces, or calls forth, a return to that missing harmony (enantiodromia). It won’t be preserved by the dominant system, but by those who, as you so beautifully put it, can “achieve and maintain and pass along” a different way of being.
You’ve given me a lot to chew on, especially regarding Spengler. I’ll have to revisit him. If it was good enough for Kissinger to give Nixon, perhaps I can muster the focus for another attempt! I did write about him once: https://wendywilliamson.substack.com/p/the-book-that-kissinger-gave-nixon and I still think about why Kissinger gave Nixon that book. Maybe you have some thoughts on the matter.
Thank you again, Mark. This kind of engagement—where a reader connects the dots to their own knowledge and expands the idea—is what makes writing this so rewarding. I’m deeply grateful for your support.
All the best,
Wendy
I took out <i>Decline of the West</i> from my library, and kept it many moons past the due date. I skipped around in there a lot, but I too found it difficult to stay with it for any length of time, so much of my understanding is of the condensed Cliffnotes variety that got distilled from his work and is floating around.
As to why Kissinger gave a copy to Nixon, I guess since it was the basis of so much of his world view, he thought it would be a good idea for the boss to get on the same page. I found a citation that claims Kissinger said it was to to ‘emphasize the manifestation of events’.
But of course Henry was not known for his lack of hubris, and he felt that, as a statesman, he could manipulate the world and the manifestation of events, and therefore help circumvent Spengler's inevitable denouement. As a 20th century man with plenty of power, it's no surprise that he would think this way, a total left-brain, Tree of Knowledge notion.
Yesterday’s piece was for the benefit of the left brain readers and as your genius realized this morning, some of your right side readers were still scratching their heads, and sorely needed a right side version! Well done; they’ve both wonderful!
Thanks, Fred! I did have one more epiphany I added... "In the end, the serpent was never an external tempter. It was the closed loop of the left hemisphere that mistakes itself for the world—the Ouroboros, eternally consuming its own tail. The serpent doesn't lead you to temptation; it leads you into itself, into the loop where you are tricked into devouring your own potential. The serpent is the Ouroboros. Let that sink in." I didn't want you to miss it. :) Have a beautiful day!
This is great. I just finished reading The Master and His Emissary, so to come across your reflection on it is a pleasant surprise. He (and you) describe well what so many are experiencing today -- the profound sense of alienation from each other and from ourselves. I look forward to reading more!
That’s a real compliment—thank you. I’m really glad you’re here.
Wow! Love this!