Haunting reflections from our first Fireside chat in Cabiria
Last night I had the pleasure of visiting a number of long term supporters of our artistic mission. The Cabiri has begun presenting “Fireside chats” with our Patreon supporters, so as to keep them connected to our work as we move forward in these unpredictable times. I joined our managing director Charly McCreary and choreographer Nate Dryden as we discussed where we have been, where we are now and where we hope to go in the second half of 2020.
Very rapidly we moved in the direction of myth and folklore as it relates to the current moment. Charly and Nate both have a very strong pull to the descent mythos such as Inanna’s trip to the underworld, or the long frost of the Hittite god Hahimas. However I found myself drawn to some different directions, some were about decay, some were about duty and some were about delight. I would like to share that moment from our discussion.
When a participant asked me where I think we are right now, I responded that I think we are on the cusp of something really terrible. Quite honestly, I think it will be something we have not yet seen coming. This is a year we can not predict. In January we could not imagine march, in March we could not imagine June… what is in August, what is in December?
Sure things might get better, and I hope I am pleasantly surprised, but while we continue to find dissent and no reconciliation, I see horrifying clouds on the horizon. Despite the song, it is always darkest… before the storm. And in that satori one should see the need for the calming whispers of the mythopoeic muse that stands beside us.
To face such difficulty, I feel we should think on myths of cleansing, folkore of overcoming and the rites of inspiration.
In the Popol Vuh, there is a demon bird, known as Vucub Caquix… This being is a (likely pre) Mayan diety that the hero brothers slay in their dominance over nature. And while the Mayan anthrocentric image is evil, the older archetype infers a much different being.
In the animistic tales, 7McCaw is known as the bird that cleanses the world, and he arrives after times of great tumult to a feast that sits before him. As with all cosmogonic stories, indigenous peoples realize that the world has cycles, and what was stability will often come crashing down. 7McCaw is the bird that comes when that fall is over… who arrives in a world where the fecund has fallen to decay, and begins to feast on the corpses of the fallen.
No matter what happens, when this is over we will have a lot of cleaning up to do. Much of what is behind us of the old world will be dead, be it people we have loved or aspects of life that simply are no more. As a performing artist, I see this as a tremendous upheaval, and as a storyteller I wonder what we can do to move on to a place where community gathers. As we walk onward into the new world, we need to embrace 7McCaw as he rips away and devours the old. It is only after he flies away sated that the new earth can begin. It will not be an easy time.
Now onward to who we are in this moment and what we must do for our communities. For that I gave my audience a task to seek out some Romani folklore.
In the lore of the Carpathian nomadic tribes, there is a very unique hero named Jack… often the youngest brother, and not possessing the usual heroic typology, he is somewhat of an every-man but one that has a strong sense of giving.
In several tales you will find him heading along in a rather foolish way when he encounters a kingdom that is beset by some misfortune. And on the inevitable path of overcoming the giant or the witch or the dragon… Jack more often than not discovers the solution through finding a unique way his skill applies to the solution.
While often the tales entertain with Jack as an irreverent trickster figure or a fool, a message encoded in this character is the creative and unique solution that is often overlooked. When I look out on all of the good things that are happening, this is a path many people are doing and it is uplifting. So I encourage all who are not looking out for their secret solution to help out right now. Read some adventure tales of the fool and to step forward with earnest and naive hope. There is much work to be done, kingdoms to be saved and blessings to be found. But to do so, may require a unique type of hero's path.
And to add to this, we are at the apogee of fundamental structural change in our worlds. I see folks looking for their traditional heroes, but in this world the giant has paralyzed the King, the Witch has frozen the world. The standard architecture will not be the place of recovery. This is the time to look for the Jacks, the unconventional solutions. If we simply look to our usual heroes, I fear we will miss the fulcrum and tip in a direction we do not wish to go.
It takes a leap of faith to trust the Jack, but it is a leap that we must take right now.
Cleansing the soul, fulfilling the tasks and finally… healing the heart. My final thought travels to ancient Japan and the goddess Amaterasu. In the Kojiki, Amaterasu is terrified by her brother Susano-o’s antics and she runs and hides in a cave.
Now being the goddess of the sun, the world goes dark and all life suffers. The Kami try to force Amaterasu out of the cave with little success. It is not until Omokane (who is kind of a “Jack” in their cosmogony) comes up with an idea of a festival that the gods find a solution. Hearing the raucous dancing and revelry, Amaterasu peaks out of the cave and is delighted and flies up once more to the sky.
As we get through this, it will not just be our heroic acts and deep cleansing that usher us to a better tomorrow. We will need a deep celebration to bring the light back into the world. More over, we must let the energy of the celebration reach deep into the cave where our internal light is hiding, and allow ourselves to be drawn out so we can rise and join Amaterasu in the sun. She will be waiting.
After the fireside chat was over I had a strong desire to go to capitol hill. But something tugs at me to stay home, stay safe. At my core I am still a scientist and I cannot ignore the feeling that we are teetering in our response to the pandemic. Yes we are in a period of great cultural change, and yet each one of us must weigh the costs of taking part in the actions that are filling our nation. It is a hard decision.
The next morning I woke to some interesting graphs from Trevor Bedford and Steve Millman, they were unsettling:
Millman’s post came sort of out of nowhere, he is not a person I have been following; people were sharing it, but it makes reasonable sense and the graph says it all. Due to the dissent in our country and the agitation that is creating conflict, we may not see two contagion bell curves, we may simply see a steepening. It is terrifying to me.
Now Millman claims to be an amateur data analyst, and I get that, many of us are. But his work looks solid and even if he is off, it provides a sobering reflection on the coming second surge. We did not expect people to throw the quarantine to the wind, but that is where we we find ourselves.
Bedford is not an amateur data analyst, he is an associate at Fred Hutchinson’s computational biology department. His report in early March saved thousands, if not millions of lives.
Right now he is looking at the effect of the protests on contagion and like Millman, it is scary.
I think we cannot ignore that we are going to see some hard times ahead. I played with their numbers casually and in my worst case scenario we may see three times the number die protesting police brutality this year as we see die annually from police brutality in the USA. It is a disturbing possibility to reflect upon… but as think about this, I also think - if not now, when? People will simply keep dying until we address the violence in our society.
So we must appreciate the sacrifice the protesters are making. For a certain small percentage, this is a terrible sacrifice.
I agree with Millman beseeching protesters to quarantine themselves for 14 days from those who are especially susceptible to the virus. Do not kill the ones that you love by your actions.
It is a dark time ahead. As we reflected on myth and folklore last night, I realized that my daily experience has been far more pragmatic than usual. But realizing the disconnect with the mythopoeic brought that world storming back upon me. The gods are watching us right now as they move the pieces on their cosmic chess board. We are nowhere near this game being played out, but we do live in potentially one of the most interesting times in history.
Bad times coming, stay safe, think forward.
And hey.. if you want to come to the next FIRESIDE CHAT… find us on Patreon and become a supporter. The Cabiri do amazing work,and we fully plan to be there on the other side of this. The world needs myth more than ever before.
https://www.patreon.com/thecabiri
Audi Ignis Vocem
