Table Of Content

THE EVER- PRESENT ORIGIN JEAN GEBSER THE EVER- PRESENT ORIGIN Authorized Translation by Noel Barstad with Algis Mickunas PART ONE: Foundations of the Aperspectival World A Contribution to the History of the Awakening of Consciousness PART TWO: Manifestations of the Aperspectival World An Attempt at the Concretion of the Spiritual Ohio University Press Athens Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Gebser, Jean. The ever-present origin. Translation of: Ursprung and Gegenwart. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Contents: Foundations of the aperspectival world : a contribution to the history of the awakening of consciousness—Manifestations of the aperspectival world : an attempt at the concretion of the spiritual. 1. Civilization—History. 2. Civilization—Philosophy. 3. Intellectual life—History. 4. Civilization, Occidental. I. Title. CB83.G413 1984(cid:9) 901(cid:9) 83-2475 ISBN 0-8214-0219-6 ISBN 0-8214-0769-4 pbk. Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper 00 12 11 10(cid:9) 12 11 10 Ursprung and Gegenwart© 1949 and 1953 by Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt GmbH, Stuttgart English translation © 1985 by Noel Barstad All rights reserved. Contents Translator's Preface(cid:9) xv In memoriam Jean Gebser by Jean Keckeis(cid:9) xviii List of Illustrations(cid:9) xxiii Preface(cid:9) xxvii From the Preface to the Second Edition(cid:9) xxix From the Preface to the Paperbound Edition(cid:9) xxx PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS OF THE APERSPECTIVAL WORLD A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF THE AWAKENING OF CONSCIOUSNESS Editorial Note regarding the Annotations xxxii Chapter One: Fundamental Considerations 1 Origin and the Present 1—Mutations of Consciousness 2 — Aperspec- tivity and the Whole 3 — Individualism and Collectivism 3 — The Possi- bility of a New Awareness 4 — The Example of the Aztecs and the Spaniards 5 — The Transparency of the World 6 — Methodology and Diaphaneity 7 Chapter Two: The Three European Worlds 9 1. The Unperspectival World 9 Perspective and Space 9 — Spacelessness Synonymous with Egoless- ness; Cavern and Dolmen; Egypt and Greece 10 2. The Perspectival World 11 The Development of Perspective since Giotto 11 — Petrarch's Discovery of Landscape 12 — Petrarch's Letter about his Ascent of Mont Ventoux 13 — The History of Perspective as an Expression of the Awak- ening Awareness of Space 16 — Eight and Night 17 — Psychic Chain Reactions 17 — Positive and Negative Effects of Perspectivation 18 — v CONTENTS The Realization of Perspective in Thought by Leonardo da Vinci 19 — Space: the Theme of the Renaissance 21 — The Age of Segmentation after 1500 A.D.; Isolation and Collectivism 22 — Time Anxiety and the Flight from Time Resulting from the Conquest of Space 22 3. The Aperspectival World 23 Aperspectivity and Integrality 24 — The Moment and the Present; the Concretion of Time in the Work of Picasso and Braque as a Temporic Endeavor 24 — The Inflation of Time in Surrealism 26 — The Integral Character of the Temporic Portrait 27 Chapter Three: The Four Mutations of Consciousness 36 1. On Evolution, Development, and Mutation 36 The "New" invariably "above" the previous Reality 36 — The Idea of Evolution since Duns Scotus and Vico 37 — Mutation instead of Pro- gress; Plus and Minus Mutations 38 — The Theme of Mutations in Con- temporary Research 39 — Mutation and Development 40 — Psychic Inflation as a Threat to Presentiation 43 2. Origin or the Archaic Structure 43 Origin and Beginning 43 — Identity and Androgyny; Syncretisms and Encyclopedias; Wisdom and Knowledge; Man without Dreams 44 — The Archaic Identity of Man and Universe 45 3. The Magic Structure 45 The One-dimensionality of the Magic World 45 — Magic pars pro toto 46 — The Cavern: Magic "Space"; The Five Characteristics of Magic Man 48 — Magic Merging 49 — The Aura; Mouthlessness 55 — Magic: Doing without Consciousness 60 — The Ear: the Magic Organ 60 4. The Mythical Structure 61 Extrication from Vegetative Nature and the Awakening Awareness of the Soul 61 — Myth as Silence and Speech 64 — Mythologemes of Awakening Consciousness 69 — The Role of Wrath in the Bhagavadgita and the Iliad; "Am Odysseus" 71 — The Great "Nekyia" Accounts 72 — Life as a Dream (Chuang Tzu, Sophocles, Calderon, Shakespeare, Novalis, Virginia Woolf); the Mythologeme of the Birth of Athena 72 5. The Mental Structure 73 Ratio and Menis 74 — Disruption of the Mythic Circle by Directed Thought 75 — The Etymological Roots of the Mental Structure 76 — The Archaic Smile; the Direction of Writing as an Expression of Awak- ening Consciousness 78 — Law, Right, and Direction 79 — On the "Law of the Earth"; The Simultaneity of the Awakening of Consciousness in China, India, and Greece 79 — The Dionysia and Drama; Person and Mask; The Individual and the Chorus 81 — The Orphic Tablets 82 — The Mythical Connotative Abundance of Words and Initial Ontological Statements 83 — Mythologeme and Philosopheme 84 — The Rianno- damento; the Consequential Identification of Right and Correct; Polar- ity and Duality 85 — Trias and Trinity; Ancestor Worship and Child Worship 86 — Origin of the Symbol 87 — Symbol, Allegory, and For- mula 88 — Quantification, Sectorization, and Atomization; the Integra- tion of the Soul 89 — Buddhism and Christianity; The Northwest Shift of Centers of Culture 90 — The Theory of Projection in Plutarch; vi (cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9) CONTENTS relegio and religio 91 — St. Augustine 92 — The Riannodamento Com- pleted 93 — The Immoderation of the ratio 94 — Preconditions for the Continuance of the Earth; the Three Axioms of Being 96 97 6.(cid:9) The Integral Structure (cid:9) Traditionalists and Evolutionists 98 — The Concretion of Time 99 — Temporic Inceptions since Pontormo and Desargues 100 Chapter Four: Mutations as an Integral Phenomenon: an Intermediate 116 Summary(cid:9) 1.(cid:9) Cross-Sections through the Structures (cid:9) 116 The Interdependency of Dimensioning and Consciousness 117 — The Diaphainon; The Signs and Essence of the Structures 118 — The Pres- ence of Origin; the Symmetry of the Mutations 120 2.(cid:9) A Digression on the Unity of Primal Words (cid:9) 123 An Integral Examination of Language 123 — The Bivalence of the Roots; the Root Kinship of Cavern and Brightness 126 — Mirror Roots 127 — The Root Kinship of Deed and Death 128 — The Word "All" 129 3.(cid:9) A Provisional Statement of Account: Measure and Mass (cid:9) 129 The Four Symmetries of the Mutations 129 — Transcendence as Mere Spatial Extension 131 — Technology as a Material-physical Projec- tion 132 — The Anxiety and Cul-de-Sac of our Day 133 — The Itself 134 — Mystery and Destiny; The "Way" of Mankind 136 — Our Ego- consciousness 137 — The Realization of Death 138 f. — A Glance at a New "Landscape" 140 — The Possibilities of a New Bearing and Atti- tude 140 4.(cid:9) The Unique Character of the Structures (Additional Cross Sections) 143 Method and Diaphany 143 — Magic "Receptivity by the Ear" 145 —The Mythical Language of the Heart 145 — Irrationality, Rationality, Ara- tionality 147 — Idols, Gods, God; Ritual, Mysteries, Methods 147 — The Decline and Fall of Matriarchy 149 — Patriarchy 150 5.(cid:9) Concluding Summary: Man as the Integrality of His Mutations (cid:9) 152 Deliberation and Clarification 152 — The Deficient Effects of the Struc- tures in our Time 153 Chapter Five: The Space-Time Constitution of the Structures(cid:9) 162 1. The Space-Timelessness of the Magic Structure (cid:9) 162 The Magic Role of Prayer and the Miraculous Healings of Lourdes 163 2. The Temporicity of the Mythical Structure (cid:9) 165 The Polarity Principle 166 — The Movement of Temporicity 166 — The Circularity of Mythical Imagery 167 — The Mythologeme of Kronos 168 — Kronos as an Image of the Nocturnal World 168 — The Emergence of Temporicity from Timelessness 170 — The Significance of the Root Sounds K, L, and R 171 f. — On the Mirror Roots 172 3.(cid:9) The Spatial Emphasis of the Mental Structure (cid:9) 173 The Root of the Words meaning "Time"; Time as a Divider 173 — The Kronos Sacrifice of Dais: the Emergence of Time from Temporicity 174 — The Perversion of Time (The Divider is itself divided) and the Declas- sification of Time in Western Philosophy 178 — Thought as a Spatial Process, and the Spatial Emphasis of the Mental Structure 180 — The Beginning of Change in Space 181 vii CONTENTS Chapter Six: On the History of the Phenomena of Soul and Spirit(cid:9) 188 1. Methodological Considerations (cid:9) 188 Soul and Time, Thinking and Space 189 — The Apsychic and Amaterial Possibility of World 189 — On the "Representationality" of the Un- fathomable Psyche 189 f. 2. The Numinosum, Mana, and the Plurality of Souls (cid:9) 191 Previous Historical Theories 191 — History and the Numinosum 193 — Mana 194 — The Origin of the Concept of Soul 194 — Souls and the Soul; Spirits and the Spirit 197 — Life and Death as an Integral Present 199 — The Numinosum as a Magic Experience 201 f. — The Relocation of Numinous Provocation 202 — The Ability of Human Resonance 203 — Consciousness 203 — Erroneous Conclusions of Pos- tulating the "Unconscious" 204 — Intensification, not Expansion of Consciousness; Psychic Potencies and the Centering of the Ego 205 3. The Soul's Death-Pole (cid:9) 205 The Symbolism of the Death-Soul 206 — The Egyptian Soul-Bird and the Angels 207 — Sirens and Muses; Death-Soul and Death Instinct 208 — The Mythologization of Psychology and Physics 209 — The Egyptian Sail as a Symbol for the Soul; The Lunar Character of the Soul in the Vedic, Egyptian, and Greek Traditions 210 — The Ambivalence of Each Pole of the Soul 214 4. The Soul's Life-Pole (cid:9) 215 The Symbolism of the Life-Pole 216 — The Water Symbolism for the Life Pole 217 — Water as a Trauma of Mankind 219 5. The Symbol of Soul (cid:9) 219 The Chinese T'ai-Ki; the Pre-Tellurian Origin of Primal Symbols; Estimative and Living Knowledge 220 — Life and Death are not Anti- thetical 224 — The Winged Dolphin as a Greek Symbol for Soul 225 — The Journeys to Hades 226 — The Living Knowledge of the Soul 226 6. On the Symbolism of the Spirit (cid:9) 229 Souls and Spirits 229 — Early Concepts of Spirit; the Symbolism of the Spirit 230 — Spirit and Intellect 231 — Spirits, Spirit, and the Spiritual 232 Chapter Seven: The Previous Forms of Realization and Thought(cid:9) 248- 1. Dimensioning and Realization (cid:9) 248 The Dependency of Realization on the Dimensioning of the Particular Structure 249 — The Constitutional Differences of the Individual Forms of Realization 250 2. Vital Experiencing and Undergone or Psychic Experience (cid:9) 250 Vital Experiencing as a Magic Form of Realization 250 — Undergone Experience as a Mythical Form of Realization 251 3. Oceanic Thinking (cid:9) 252 Circular Thinking; Oceanos and the World as an Island 252 — Oceanic Thinking 252 4. Perspectival Thinking (cid:9) 255 The Birth of Mental Thought 255 — The Concept of Perspectivity 255 f. — The Visual Pyramid and the Conceptual Pyramid 256 — The Spatiality of Thinking 258 viii CONTENTS 259 5. Paradoxical Thinking Paradox 259 — The Intersecting Parallels 260 — Left-Right Inversion 261 — The Awakening of the Left 262 — Women's Rights 262 — Left Values in Contemporary Painting; Diaphany and Verition of the World 263 Chapter Eight: The Foundations of the Aperspectival World 267 1. The Ever-Present Origin (Complementing Cross Sections) 267 The Non-conceptual Nature of the Aperspectival World 267 — The Perception and Impartation of Truth as Aperspectival Forms of Realiza- tion 268 — Forms of Bond and Proligio; Praeligio; Origin as Present 271 2. Summation and Prospect 271 The Possibilities for a New Mutation 272 — Superseding psychic and material Atomization; Mankind's Itself-Consciousness 273 — The Liber- ation from "Time:" Origin and Present 273 PART TWO: MANIFESTATIONS OF THE APERSPECTIVAL WORLD AN ATTEMPT AT THE CONCRETION OF THE SPIRITUAL 277 Author's Comment(cid:9) 279 Interim Word(cid:9) Chapter One: The Irruption of Time(cid:9) 283 1. The Awakening Consciousness of Freedom from Time (cid:9) 283 The Various Time-Forms 284 — The Complexity of "Time" 285 — Time as an Acategorical Magnitude; System and Systasis 286 — The Revalua- tion of the Time Concept at the Outset of our Century 286 — Time Anxiety as a Symptom of our Epoch 288 — Time-Freedom 289 2. The Awakening Consciousness of Integrity or the Whole (cid:9) 289 Purely Spatial Reality 290 — Europe's Decisive Role 290 — Three Exam- ples 291 — Preconditions for the Awakening Consciousness of the Whole 292 Chapter Two: The New Mutation(cid:9) 294 1. The Climate of the New Mutation(cid:9) 294 Mutational Periods as Times of Disruption 295 — The Future in us and in the World 296 — The Mistaken Anthropocentric Belief 299 — Pres- ence and Efficacy 300 2. The Theme of the New Mutation(cid:9) 301 How did the Steam Engine come to be discovered? 301 — The Consoli- dation of Spatial Consciousness made possible the New Mutation 302 — Time as an Intensity 304 — Agricultural and Craft Cultures 305 — The Loss of Nature and Culture 306 — "Time," the Theme of the New Mutation 306 3. The New Form of Statement (cid:9) 306 Hufeland's "New Strength of Spirit" 307 — The Manifestational Forms of Time; Temporal Things cannot be Spatially fixed 308 — Philoso- pheme and Eteologeme; Systasis and Synairesis 309 f. ix CONTENTS (cid:9) Chapter Three: The Nature of Creativity 313 (cid:9) 1. Creativity as an Originary Phenomenon 313 The Inadequacy of the Psychological Explanation 313 — Statements from the "Book of Changes" 314 — "The Primal Depths of the Uni- verse" 315 (cid:9) 2. The Nature and Transformation of Poetry 316 The Significance of the "Muse" 317 — The Muse, Musing, and "Must" 317 — The Muse as a Divinity of the Well-springs, a Power of Life, and a Creative Force 318 — The Siren (an Anti-Muse) and Rilke 320 — The Individualization of Literature in Lyric Poetry 320 — Htilder- lin's Decisive Step 323 — The "Supersession of Time" by Hofmannsthal, and the "Taming of the Muses" by Baudelaire 324 — Mallarme's "New Obligation" 325 — Valery's "Extreme Self-Consciousness" 326 — T. S. Eliot's Rejection of the Muses and His Freedom from Ego 326 f. — Hux- ley and "Time Must have a Stop" 328 — Eluard and Hagen 328 — Today's Altered Creative Relationship as a Demonstration of the New Structure of Consciousness 330 (cid:9) Chapter Four: The New Concepts 334 (cid:9) 1. Inceptions of the New Consciousness 334 The Spiritual Inception; The Physical Inception 335 — Man is Predi- cated; The New Dogma of Mary 339 (cid:9) 2. The Fourth Dimension 340 The Fourth Dimension is Time-Freedom 340 — N. Hartmann's "Dimen- sional Categories"; The Non-Euclidian Geometry of Gauss 341 — The History of the Fourth Dimension; Einstein; The Supersensory as a Fourth Dimension 342 — The Four-Fold Discovery of Non-Euclidian Geometry; Gauss and Petrarch 343 — Lambert's "Imaginary Sphere" 345 — The Magic Adaptation of the Fourth Dimension 348 — The Mythical Adaptation 349 — The Mental Adaptation 351 — The "Queen of the Sciences" 354 — On the Essence of Time-Freedom 355 (cid:9) 3. Temporics 356 Temporics: The Concern With Time 356 — The Non-conceptual Nature of Time 358 — Today's Time Anxiety 359 — The Overwhelming Effect of Time Repressed 359 — Key Words of Aperspectivity 361 Chapter Five: Manifestations of the Aperspectival World (I): (cid:9) The Natural Sciences 367 (cid:9) 1. Mathematics and Physics 367 Descartes and Desargues, Galileo and Newton; Speiser's Set Theory and Hilbert's System of Axioms 368 — The End of the Mechanistic World-View of Classical Physics 370 — The Theme of Time in Physics; The Quantum of Action 371 — Heisenberg's Law; the Age of the Uni- verse 373 — Heisenberg's "Paradoxes of the Time Concept;" The Supersession of Dualism by the New Physics 374 f. — The (Arational) Non-Visualizable Nature of the Present-Day World-View in Physics 376 (cid:9) 2. Biology 379 Time as a Quality 381 — Vitalism and Totalitarianism 382 — Portmann's Recognition of the Spatio-Temporal Structure of all Forms of Life 382 — The Supersession of Dualism in Biology 384 — Its Emphasis on Inter- connections instead of Divisions; The Arational Perception of Life 385