Enantiodromia and The Reformation of The Individual
The Muliebral and the Masculous
The third axiom of The Way of Pathei-Mathos is:
That because of or following πάθει μάθος there
is or there can be a change in, a development of, the nature, the
character - the φύσις - of the person because of that
revealing and that appreciation (or re-appreciation) of the
numinous whose genesis is this πάθει μάθος, and which
appreciation of the numinous includes an awareness of why ὕβρις
is an error (often the error) of unbalance, of disrespect
or ignorance (of the numinous), of a going beyond the due limits,
and which ὕβρις itself is the genesis both of the τύραννος
and of the modern error of extremism. For the tyrannos and the
modern extremist (and their extremisms) embody and give rise to
and perpetuate ἔρις and thus are a cause of, or contribute
to and aid, suffering.
This change, this development of the individual, is or can be the
result of a process termed enantiodromia, which is the process of
perceiving, feeling, knowing, beyond causal appearance and the
separation-of-otherness and thus when what has become separated - or
has been incorrectly perceived as separated - returns to the
wholeness, the unity, from whence it came forth. When beings are
understood in their correct relation to Being, beyond the causal
abstraction of different/conflicting ideated opposites, a relation
manifest in the cosmic perspective and thus a knowing of ourselves
as but one fallible, microcosmic, fragile, mortal, biological nexion
connected to and not separate from all other Life.
An important and a necessary part of enantiodromia involves a
discovery, a knowing, an acceptance, and - as prelude - an interior
balancing within themselves, of what has hitherto been perceived and
designated as the apparent opposites described by terms such as
'muliebral' and 'masculous' [1]. A perception of opposites
manifested in ideations such as those concerning assumed traits of
character, and assumed or 'ideal' rôles, behaviour, and
occupations, assigned to each person, and especially historically in
the prejudice of how the rôle - the duty - of men is or should
be to lead, to control, to govern, to possess authority, to
dominate, to be master.
The discovery of enantiodromia is of how such a designated and
perceived dichotomy is but illusive, unnecessary, unhealthy,
appearance, and does not therefore express either the natural, the
real, nature (φύσις) of our personal character, our being,
or the real nature, the Φύσις, of Being itself. In
essence, this is the discovery, mentioned by Heraclitus [2],
concerning Πόλεμος and γινόμενα πάντα κατ΄ ἔριν καὶ
χρεώμενα; that all beings are naturally born - become
perceived as separate beings - because of ἔρις, and their
genesis (their 'father') is Πόλεμος.
Thus the strife, the discord, often engendered by an external
and by the internal (within the individual) clash between such
apparent opposites as the 'muliebral' and 'masculous' is one that
has naturally arisen due to misperception, due to the
separation-of-otherness, as a result of a purely causal, egoist,
apprehension of ourselves and of others; an error of perception
that, as previously mentioned, empathy and πάθει μάθος can
correct, and which correction reveals the truth of ψυχή and
a knowing of the cosmic perspective.
One practical consequence of this misapprehension, this error of ὕβρις,
concerning 'muliebral' and 'masculous' has been the distaste - even
the hatred - of certain ideologies and religions and individuals for
those whose personal love is for someone of the same gender. Another
practical consequence is and has been the error of extremism, where
what is masculous is emphasized to the detriment (internal, and
external) of what is muliebral, and where, for example, as in many
harsh ideologies, men and women are expected, encouraged - often
forced, as for example in fascism - to assume some rôle based
on or deriving from some manufactured abstraction, some ideation,
concerning what is assumed to be or has been posited as 'the ideal
man' or the 'ideal woman' in some idealized society or in some
idealized 'nation'.
Furthermore, given that these attributes of personal character that
have been termed 'muliebral' and 'masculous' are founded on an
illusive apprehension of beings and Being - and on ideations (such
as rôles, occupations, and so on) posited as a result of this
misapprehension - they not symbolic, or mythological, or
unconscious, or even archetypal in the sense of anima and animus.
A Natural Reformation
The balance attained by - which is - enantiodromia is that of simply
feeling, accepting, discovering, the empathic, the human, the
personal, scale of things and thus understanding our own
fallibility-of-knowing, our limitations as a human being; that, in
essence, αἰὼν παῖς ἐστι παίζων πεσσεύων· παιδὸς ἡ βασιληίη [3],
that τὰ δὲ πάντα οἰακίζει Κεραυνός [4] and that Φύσις
κρύπτεσθαι φιλεῖ [5].
Which in practical terms simply amounts to understanding, knowing,
Being and the genesis, the φύσις, of beings. Or, expressed
in terms of the philosophy of pathei-mathos, it amounts to wu-wei,
and to the understanding that 'what and who' are out of range of our
empathy and what and who we have no personal knowledge of, is and
are of no concern, of no passionate relevance, for us, because
'beyond the control, the influence' of our own fallible,
error-prone, nature, and should thus be regarded 'without
prejudice', as 'innocent', and the subject of no opinion, no
ideations, by us. That is, we accept empathy and pathei-mathos as
our guide, and (i) we do not speculate about, do not manufacture our
own ideations about, those whom and that which are beyond the purveu
of our empathy; and (ii) we do not accept the ideations/abstractions
of others concerning those whom and that which are beyond the purveu
of our empathy, and who and which we have no direct personal
experience of.
Thus the process, the
discovery, the reformation, is a natural one that does not involve
any theory, or dogma, or praxis, or require any faith or belief of
any kind. There is the personal cultivation of empathy and wu-wei,
and that is all. How then - for those not having endured a personal
πάθει μάθος - might empathy and wu-wei be cultivated, and
thus how might the natural balance be found/restored, thus allowing
ψυχή to flourish, bringing ἁρμονίη and σωφρονεῖν?
We might let go of ideations, of causal abstractions, many or
most of which only serve to try and distinguish us from them,
from other living-beings, human or otherwise, and thus increase
our illusion of separation. We might consider, ponder on, the
cosmic perspective and learn to value tolerance and humility. We
might muse on innocence and the nature of the good, for the good
is simply what is fair; what is compassionate, what inclines us to
appreciate the numinous and understand why ὕβρις is an
error of unbalance. We might consider why, for example, the bad is
just bad φύσις. Or a natural consequence
of undeveloped, unformed, not-mature, unreformed φύσις.
Of a lack of empathy, of a lack of εὐταξία,
of little or no appreciation of, of no personal
experience of, the numinous, leading thus to individuals doing
what is unfair; what is harsh and unfeeling; what intentionally
causes or contributes to suffering.
We could, for example, and perhaps importantly, learn from the
culture of our society and that of others, for correctly
appreciated such culture - as manifest, for example, in
literature, music, memoirs, poetry, history, Art, and sometimes in
myths and legends and religious allegories - is but the
recorded/aural pathei-mathos and empathic understanding of others
over decades, centuries, millennia.
David Myatt
April 2012 ce
This essay forms Part Three of the text Recuyle
of The Philosophy of Pathei-Mathos
Notes:
[1] The term muliebral derives from the classical Latin word muliebris,
and in the context The Numinous Way/The Way of Pathei-Mathos
refers to those positive traits, abilities, and qualities that are
conventionally and historically associated with women, such as
empathy, sensitivity, gentleness, compassion, and a desire to love
and be loved over and above a desire for conflict/adventure/war.
The counterpart to muliebral is masculous, which is used to refer
to certain traits, abilities, and qualities that are
conventionally and historically associated with men, such as
competitiveness, aggression, a certain harshness, the desire to
organize/control, and a desire for adventure and/or for
conflict/war/violence/competition over and above personal love and
culture.
Extremist ideologies manifest an unbalanced, an excessive,
masculous nature.
Masculous is from the Latin masculus and occurs, for
example, in some seventeenth century works such as one by William
Struther: ” This is not only the language of Canaan, but also the
masculous Schiboleth.” True Happines, or, King Davids Choice:
Begunne In Sermons, And Now Digested Into A Treatise.
Edinbvrgh, 1633
[2] Fragments 53 and 80
53: Πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς, καὶ
τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς ἔδειξε τοὺς δὲ ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς μὲν δούλους
ἐποίησε τοὺς δὲ ἐλευθέρους.
Polemos our genesis, governing us all to bring forth some gods,
some mortal beings with some unfettered yet others kept bound.
80: εἰδέναι δὲ χρὴ τὸν πόλεμον ἐόντα ξυνόν, καὶ δίκην ἔριν,
καὶ γινόμενα πάντα κατ΄ ἔριν καὶ χρεώμενα [χρεών]
One should be aware that Polemos pervades, with discord δίκη,
and that beings are naturally born by discord.
[3] Fragment 52: For Aeon, we are a game, pieces moved on some
board: since, in this world of ours, we are but children.
[4] Fragment 64: All beings are guided by Lightning
[5] Fragment 123: Concealment accompanies Physis