Jul 28, 2023·edited Jul 28, 2023Liked by Librarian of Celaeno
Iron is a male material, spiritually speaking - it must be shaped under duress and using force, but while it then becomes malleable, that malleability is conditional and the iron is never not dangerous to the smith or moulder - it retains its bite and will burn you for disrespecting it. It also retains loyalty to the hand wielding it only if that hand returns the loyalty is the form of respect and care.
So too does wood, despite wood most assuredly being a female material, spiritually speaking. Wood gives. Food and shelter, but only if cared for and protected. Only if handled with skill developed in acceptance of its quirks and nature.
Iron can be shaped by will and force to be almost anything. Wood must be selected for a specific purpose. For a window-spar, you do not pick the same type or even the same part of the tree as for aload-bearing beam.
And when you combine wood and iron, so the sturdy yet flexible haft holds steady the heavy and sharpened head of the axe, miracles are made as when Oden and his brothers made Ask and Embla, the first humans, and gave them life, spirit and wisdom.
Edit: Oh dear, I just got so swept up by inspiration from reading and replying to/commenting on your post, I plum forgot to say thank you for it!
Thank you and you are very correct about the spiritual aspects of those materials. Wood I think of as a paradigm of a kind of 'familial' substance. Unlike stone or metal, plant life has the quality of being able to reproduce itself; homes are made of wood, built by men and maintained by women, etc. To go along with the classic Riddle of Steel, I created some Paradoxes of Iron that I will throw out to my students when we visit the weight room at the school, stuff like "Iron is your student, it moves under your direction; Iron is your teacher, it punishes mistakes." I like to think it helps them understand the spiritual dimensions of lifting.
I know that I personally have stopped with the pointing and shrieking, trying to react to the world around. Instead, I want to build. To have and see something true. To help create the world I want
To have a life that is not metaphorically plastic.
I somehow misremembered this old REM song as “Shiny Plastic People” (https://youtu.be/luZGmaEhxAs), but the song gives that superficial “love me” attitude that the present Plastic age gives. In considering its actual title, I am reminded that plastic does not really shine like metal or jewels. It is flat and dull whereas other metals and ways of life are vibrant and radiant. Keep up the great insights! I greatly enjoy your insights.
Thank you very much. Michael Stipe once said in an interview that that song was a “cartoon,” which I thought was interesting. He was offering it as a kind of parody of visual saccharine offered to children in exchange for their attention and advocacy on behalf of their products to their parents. The lyrics just describe the process stripped to its essence with a cheerfully cynical tune.
Yes, the original REM music video I checked out was so off putting and fake that I didn’t want to post it, lol. Also, I think I combined the song in my mind with “Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead who were #PlasticPilled way back in 1995 (https://youtu.be/n5h0qHwNrHk). Their music video puts the viewer in a shopping cart implying we are the plastic goods sold and bought. The goods of the aisles are all bright neon appealing to kids as well.
I think that’s the point; the video has a kind of uncanny valley effect, especially with the lovely Kate Pierson dancing in a little red dress in a way that is incongruent with the kiddy affect.
They definitely put some thought into that video, and "uncanny valley effect" is an apt description. As I recall, there was also an old man pedaling away to keep the fake background scenery scrolling past, for the benefit of all these childishly shiny happy people dancing and prancing around. The changing backdrop makes it look like they're moving forward when they're not. The old man is the only one doing any work, and his work is completely pointless. (This is making me want to watch it again.)
Now I’m going to listen to Driver 8, Night Swimming, It’s the End of The World as We Know It, and Strange Currencies, in that order. Then Day Sleeper and Bad Day after that.
I think I will have to binge-listen REM myself soon. I've been on a Smiths kick lately: that's another band that seemed to routinely go for that "uncanny valley effect," with catchy melodies and Morrissey's soft, soothing vocals paired with morbid and even gruesome lyrics.
This is the first time I've ever seen someone categorize literal building materials as masculine or feminine, but somehow (as always) you made it make perfect sense
Another epic post my friend. You continue to deliver banger after banger.
This absolutely nails the zeitgeist of our age. A lot of those with worldviews similar to ours, whether you call it a reactionary, right-wing, conservative (puke), traditional, or Christian, have been going mad trying to find authenticity and realness in these plastic times of ours. I concur with your conclusions and recommendation: we are not looking backwards, but are looking up, so it’s best to start moving close to the source of everything.
Thank you very much. It’s my hope with all of my writing to make sense of the world for the benefit of others. The feedback I’ve gotten has been both useful and encouraging, and I hope to keep writing for a long time.
I go back and forth on people like him. The negative is that he is a pimp and an exploiter of women. The positives are that RW ideas get seeded into the public consciousness and whatever energy the system spends going after shutting him down is energy not spent on more worthwhile targets. He also has the willingness and ability to make media figures look stupid, which is a plus. As a whole, though, I would say he not one to emulate, for the reasons I mention in the article.
Iron is a male material, spiritually speaking - it must be shaped under duress and using force, but while it then becomes malleable, that malleability is conditional and the iron is never not dangerous to the smith or moulder - it retains its bite and will burn you for disrespecting it. It also retains loyalty to the hand wielding it only if that hand returns the loyalty is the form of respect and care.
So too does wood, despite wood most assuredly being a female material, spiritually speaking. Wood gives. Food and shelter, but only if cared for and protected. Only if handled with skill developed in acceptance of its quirks and nature.
Iron can be shaped by will and force to be almost anything. Wood must be selected for a specific purpose. For a window-spar, you do not pick the same type or even the same part of the tree as for aload-bearing beam.
And when you combine wood and iron, so the sturdy yet flexible haft holds steady the heavy and sharpened head of the axe, miracles are made as when Oden and his brothers made Ask and Embla, the first humans, and gave them life, spirit and wisdom.
Edit: Oh dear, I just got so swept up by inspiration from reading and replying to/commenting on your post, I plum forgot to say thank you for it!
Thank you and you are very correct about the spiritual aspects of those materials. Wood I think of as a paradigm of a kind of 'familial' substance. Unlike stone or metal, plant life has the quality of being able to reproduce itself; homes are made of wood, built by men and maintained by women, etc. To go along with the classic Riddle of Steel, I created some Paradoxes of Iron that I will throw out to my students when we visit the weight room at the school, stuff like "Iron is your student, it moves under your direction; Iron is your teacher, it punishes mistakes." I like to think it helps them understand the spiritual dimensions of lifting.
I know that I personally have stopped with the pointing and shrieking, trying to react to the world around. Instead, I want to build. To have and see something true. To help create the world I want
To have a life that is not metaphorically plastic.
Thank you for this essay.
Thank you for the kind words, but thank you more for the effort you put in to make the world better.
I somehow misremembered this old REM song as “Shiny Plastic People” (https://youtu.be/luZGmaEhxAs), but the song gives that superficial “love me” attitude that the present Plastic age gives. In considering its actual title, I am reminded that plastic does not really shine like metal or jewels. It is flat and dull whereas other metals and ways of life are vibrant and radiant. Keep up the great insights! I greatly enjoy your insights.
Thank you very much. Michael Stipe once said in an interview that that song was a “cartoon,” which I thought was interesting. He was offering it as a kind of parody of visual saccharine offered to children in exchange for their attention and advocacy on behalf of their products to their parents. The lyrics just describe the process stripped to its essence with a cheerfully cynical tune.
Yes, the original REM music video I checked out was so off putting and fake that I didn’t want to post it, lol. Also, I think I combined the song in my mind with “Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead who were #PlasticPilled way back in 1995 (https://youtu.be/n5h0qHwNrHk). Their music video puts the viewer in a shopping cart implying we are the plastic goods sold and bought. The goods of the aisles are all bright neon appealing to kids as well.
I think that’s the point; the video has a kind of uncanny valley effect, especially with the lovely Kate Pierson dancing in a little red dress in a way that is incongruent with the kiddy affect.
They definitely put some thought into that video, and "uncanny valley effect" is an apt description. As I recall, there was also an old man pedaling away to keep the fake background scenery scrolling past, for the benefit of all these childishly shiny happy people dancing and prancing around. The changing backdrop makes it look like they're moving forward when they're not. The old man is the only one doing any work, and his work is completely pointless. (This is making me want to watch it again.)
Now I’m going to listen to Driver 8, Night Swimming, It’s the End of The World as We Know It, and Strange Currencies, in that order. Then Day Sleeper and Bad Day after that.
I think I will have to binge-listen REM myself soon. I've been on a Smiths kick lately: that's another band that seemed to routinely go for that "uncanny valley effect," with catchy melodies and Morrissey's soft, soothing vocals paired with morbid and even gruesome lyrics.
For me, it's "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead
"Plastic Gangsters" by the 4 Skins, for me if I'm picking a song with english lyrics.
This is the first time I've ever seen someone categorize literal building materials as masculine or feminine, but somehow (as always) you made it make perfect sense
Another epic post my friend. You continue to deliver banger after banger.
This absolutely nails the zeitgeist of our age. A lot of those with worldviews similar to ours, whether you call it a reactionary, right-wing, conservative (puke), traditional, or Christian, have been going mad trying to find authenticity and realness in these plastic times of ours. I concur with your conclusions and recommendation: we are not looking backwards, but are looking up, so it’s best to start moving close to the source of everything.
A+ post.
Thank you very much. It’s my hope with all of my writing to make sense of the world for the benefit of others. The feedback I’ve gotten has been both useful and encouraging, and I hope to keep writing for a long time.
Yes Andrew Tate is such a plastic man. He needs to be ejected from dissident right discourse, not lionized.
I go back and forth on people like him. The negative is that he is a pimp and an exploiter of women. The positives are that RW ideas get seeded into the public consciousness and whatever energy the system spends going after shutting him down is energy not spent on more worthwhile targets. He also has the willingness and ability to make media figures look stupid, which is a plus. As a whole, though, I would say he not one to emulate, for the reasons I mention in the article.
He's a dead end just like the GOP. Far better to unite the romantic rebels against the simulation regardless of their belief system IMO.
Interesting ideas. Hmmmm......
Check out The Mothers of Invention’s song, “Plastic People off of their 2nd Album “Absolutely Free” (1967)
https://youtu.be/SKTFfT4sMhQ?si=bdHykFSEuFSbc9fO
This is fantastic, thanks man
Thank you for the kind feedback.
Awesome job.
I’m in awe of your ability to write such observations. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thank you very much. I'm always grateful when people revisit my older work.
I didn’t even realize it was older until you pointed that out just now! 😂
It sounds like you are on the right track.