I’m sure that some of you will have already seen it, but Rhyd Wildermuth has published a thoughtful essay on the demonic in which he responds to my last piece. He started writing his article before I published mine, and he covers a lot of other ground too. It is far more than just a response to me.
It’s a deep piece of writing, especially in its extended discussion of shame and politics:
Ressentiment says “I am not happy, therefore you must not be allowed to be happy,” but as I noted in The Vampiric Gaze (and which Kirkegaard particularly notes), it ultimately says “I cannot act and therefore you shall not be allowed to act.” The “wet blanket” or “stick in the mud” state of the person in ressentiment is physical: you get the sense that the fire of life has gone out of them, but rather than being merely depressed they are actively seek to douse the fires of others…
…The spirit of ressentiment is quite malevolent, and its ultimate goal seems to be the destruction of the genius in both the Roman and the modern understandings of the word. The person who shines too bright, who ventures too far, who builds too well or creates too beautifully is a genius because he or she has a particularly profound genius.
There’s a lot here, and I don’t want to respond to it just now: in part because I am still digesting it and in part because I’m in the middle of writing a post on another topic. I would encourage anyone who found my post interesting to wander over and read it though. Where else would you find a thoughtful marxist druid tying demons, Joan of Arc, and going to the gym together into one seamless narrative?
Thank you for pointing out Rhyd’s interesting piece. I feel this whole topic of demons and spirits is very much needing a context and a reflection that is not just leaning on social theory and/or wild-guessing. Bringing some context by way of pagan is good but I feel it is not enough and might be simplistic. I suggest we invite other voices from the ranks of Christian theology - which is our western context and it is from this context that a lot of the discussion is being raised. I do not mean the opinions of some well intended church goer but people who have in-depth knowledge of a whole system or cosmology where these “demons” are just one little part of it. Some of these people are also versed in depth psychology, which is a very important aspect not just to be added but to be integrated in the discussion. I feel the actualisation of ethics and morality in the 21st century is a big thing and yes, bring the esoteric knowledge, but let’s do it with breath and depth.
We are a tricky little creature to figure out, ain't we?