Weird Tales, not only Howard’s special form of
muscular heroism, but the lithe animal passions of CL Moore, of frolicsome manoeuvres
in twilit vistas, represents a physical rebellion against the progressive
thinking fashioned by Henry Ford and others around the turn of the century that
equated happiness with material consumption
The 60s
represented a further rebellion against the exact same ethic, and went much
further in terms of popular culture (reaching the city of one million of
Woodstock). So why did the rebellion fail to render any perceptible change? Why
are things much worse now than in the 60s? For some of the reasons already
compiled.
For a start, the
material order is actually immaterial, comprising the electromagnetic universe
(cars will soon all be electric). This universe is not only very convincing (a reflection)
but is in the minds of acolytes or, more likely, their algorithms.
Not only that, but
their minds are under a numerical/monetary compulsion (Hyborian Bridge 62/1). The
more numerical they get, the more compulsive the minds – further convincing
acolytes of the materiality of this universe of the head so that, the more
immaterial the universe gets, the more convinced are the acolytes of its
materiality!
The best example of this is Katie Bouman’s black hole (Hyborian
Bridge 56). In purely physical terms this is a lewd image; but in the immaterial
terms of radio telescopes it’s just a fact with no physical meaning. This is the
exact opposite to the physical universe of the ancients, where figures and
animal shapes are imagined to form the constellations of the sky. Physical
meaning is everything, whereas in Katie Bouman’s case it means nothing, and so
the head is almost trapped by its own physique (body).
In a universe of the body the exact opposite is the case, since figures
are imagined to be there even if in “reality” apparently there’s nothing there.
Yes, but the physical universe doesn’t rely on verifiable proofs; what is there
is rhythm and shape and that is what you see (in the figures).
Similarly for the Roy Krenkel picture (C3
) of satyrs which
aren’t “real”, but primal rhythm and shape and strength of animal form
The immaterial universe (of modernity!) only appears real; it’s convincingly
real, too real since it supplies script without the primal rhythm of the
physical universe (see prev.) That is, the physical rotation of Earth against
the cosmos.
From that point of view, DNA is only a script for the physical universe -
not for the immaterial one – it’s not per se anything in itself.
Similarly, Hameroff (prev) sees consciousness as a thing in itself, independent
of the physical universe of motion in the cosmos.
The universe of movement is simple, primal, strong and nothing evokes it
better thanWeird Tales. Why? Because movement is a type of poetry, a
Homeric rise and fall of sun and moon over seas of green, a subtle grandeur
that no amount of obfuscation can evoke. Because it’s not information at all;
it’s actually the cosmic power (ontology) of the Earth spinning in space.
So, both meaning (physique) and ontology (being) are ignored by the
acolytes of the parallel universe of lenses (perspective and light Hyborian
Bridge 56). A parallel universe can be very convincing but it doesn’t change the
fact that a physical universe has meaning (epistemology) and power (ontology)
in the cosmos.
The human physique and conscience (religion) in a landscape where honour
exists (chivalry, see prev.) Where horses are not a thing of the past because
their high spirited ways are not hygienic information of vast lots (Drama1) but physique
and physical power in the world of dirt and cleanliness.
Physique is meaning and power (And God Created) and
implicates pursuits that emphasize the sexuality of the body (see Fulling Hyborian
Bridge 60). The formality of the pursuits (riding, threshing) and the
free-expression of the body-in-motion. Just like classical ballet, actually.
Where the body-in-motion has meaning, you are in the world of classical
structure (see prev on Claude Levi-Strauss).
Strength and love (life); blood (death) and physical desirability. Man is
attached to the stars via his physicality as the Earth twirls in space. Poetic
dance is one of the closest ways one can get to a cosmic destiny. Again, there
are no verifiable proofs because we are now in a physical universe, not one of
acolytes’ heads’ numerical compulsions.
This all smacks of folk-art since ballet is just a progression of
folk-dancing; maybe why Russians with a Cossack tradition are naturals? Youths
learn the folk styles (as Nureyev did) so that there is a continual link
between youth and ancient folk-art (see prev on Howard and his mother).
The two elements of life are very interrelatable, and maybe can be lost
sight of in a formal education. No lesser an authority than Madonna now says
that life is now too exhausting for an artist to grow and develop normally!
Taking away the ability to grow full stop. Folk relates the youth to the
cosmos, and this applies more to smaller countries like Estonia (maybe parts of
the US). Just as Howard’s mother related him to the ancient spirits, Weird Tales
was the folk/fairy tales of the 30s.
Opposed to the progressive immaterialism of autos (now electric) and TV
(now streaming) was the ancient, animal, caveman physicality of the cosmos,
where the primitive rules in triumph.
Tim Conrad art
Tim Conrad art