A great piece and very well argued, and I appreciate your calling out the "reenchanted Christians" for continuing to look down on New Agers who never allowed themselves to become disenchanted in the first place.
Unfortunately I still think Christianity is fundamentally incapable of something like this. Its first great project in Europe was to eradicate the local gods and spirits, and it simply is not possible for Christianity to build a relationship with these gods and spirits without first – at the very least – apologising to them. For one thing, I don't see any Christians offering to make this apology, not even the kookiest reenchantment enjoyers. For another, I don't see how any Christian church could make such an apology without undermining the very deepest bedrock of its doctrine and alienating all of its most sincere believers.
You can blame industrial postmodernity if you want, but Japan wasn't the only country to modernise without disenchanting itself. A Chinese tech entrepreneur just opened an enormous Taoist university teaching alchemy and divination, and the average Saudi cybersecurity engineer is a devout Muslim who still maintains an effortless, unthinking relationship with the djinn. It's not so much that the Shinto world is uniquely resistant to disenchantment, but that Christendom is uniquely vulnerable to it.
There are the true hierarchy of spirits united to the Will of God in Nature, the false ones of ancient poetic speculation, and then the one from the pit of Hell. A Catholic seeking a life of Liturgical Realism (aka reenchantment) has no need of apology to a false or ursurpatory species and genus of spirits.
Even if you did apologise, it wouldn't mean anything until the Church itself apologised – and even *that* would only be the bare minimum, the beginning of a centuries-long process of making amends. Obviously none of this is ever going to happen. But by all means enjoy your worldbuilding, and I look forward to hearing the next term you come up with once "Liturgical Realism" falls out of fashion.
Pardon, I meant the Catholic Church has no need to apologize to spirits that either don’t exist, are a case of mistaken identity (meaning through ancient poetic speculation they mistook a true or ursurpatory entity to be something they arbitrarily assigned an identity to), or are demonic.
The pagans were the worldbuilders and idol-makers. Christ’s instauration of all things will continue unapologetically and without y’all’s permission.
I would benefit greatly from a clarification of what is meant by “animism” in this piece. Only because it doesn’t seem to have a univocal meaning. Do you mean it in a philosophical or ethnological sense?
By contrast the multi-various animistic traditions are based on the premise that everything and everyone are inter-connected and to one degree or another informed/sustained by various forms/practices of contemplation and ecstasy
Or go further back. You mention neo-Platonism, but that's already kind of too much enmeshed with the human (Socrates tells us in the Phaedrus that he doesn't get out of Athens much; he's not used to being in the fields) - which of course, along with immaterial souls, was part of what made it acceptable to Christianity. Stoicism, with its focus on creative Nature, and 'living according to nature,' offers many of us what I think you portray here.
My people were drilled out of this by the Chinese Rites controversy about this kind of synthesis did happen in Latin America. I'm really envious of cultures that got to do this. That's why I'm straight up dual faith Chinese polytheist and Evangelical Protestant.
Welcoming the full experience of Life Force in all its forms seems best.
Wonderful. This will reward re-reading. We should meet!
Certainly, are you in the U.K.?
Until mid-May, when I return to Japan.
Seldom does a substack essay keep me reading on right to the edge of the appendix. Well done to the author for providing so many worthy meditations!
Beautiful and seductive writing and I’m only on the second paragraph. Is it safe to go further?
A great piece and very well argued, and I appreciate your calling out the "reenchanted Christians" for continuing to look down on New Agers who never allowed themselves to become disenchanted in the first place.
Unfortunately I still think Christianity is fundamentally incapable of something like this. Its first great project in Europe was to eradicate the local gods and spirits, and it simply is not possible for Christianity to build a relationship with these gods and spirits without first – at the very least – apologising to them. For one thing, I don't see any Christians offering to make this apology, not even the kookiest reenchantment enjoyers. For another, I don't see how any Christian church could make such an apology without undermining the very deepest bedrock of its doctrine and alienating all of its most sincere believers.
You can blame industrial postmodernity if you want, but Japan wasn't the only country to modernise without disenchanting itself. A Chinese tech entrepreneur just opened an enormous Taoist university teaching alchemy and divination, and the average Saudi cybersecurity engineer is a devout Muslim who still maintains an effortless, unthinking relationship with the djinn. It's not so much that the Shinto world is uniquely resistant to disenchantment, but that Christendom is uniquely vulnerable to it.
There are the true hierarchy of spirits united to the Will of God in Nature, the false ones of ancient poetic speculation, and then the one from the pit of Hell. A Catholic seeking a life of Liturgical Realism (aka reenchantment) has no need of apology to a false or ursurpatory species and genus of spirits.
Even if you did apologise, it wouldn't mean anything until the Church itself apologised – and even *that* would only be the bare minimum, the beginning of a centuries-long process of making amends. Obviously none of this is ever going to happen. But by all means enjoy your worldbuilding, and I look forward to hearing the next term you come up with once "Liturgical Realism" falls out of fashion.
Pardon, I meant the Catholic Church has no need to apologize to spirits that either don’t exist, are a case of mistaken identity (meaning through ancient poetic speculation they mistook a true or ursurpatory entity to be something they arbitrarily assigned an identity to), or are demonic.
The pagans were the worldbuilders and idol-makers. Christ’s instauration of all things will continue unapologetically and without y’all’s permission.
Gay as fuck, national socialism truth nuked more shaloms. We must go back.
I would benefit greatly from a clarification of what is meant by “animism” in this piece. Only because it doesn’t seem to have a univocal meaning. Do you mean it in a philosophical or ethnological sense?
Western culture (in particular) including its religion is based on three destructive premises.
We are intrinsically separate from God, nature and each other.
http://beezone.com/current/three_great_myths.html
There is also a prohibition against anyone becoming to "mystical" and having anything to do with higher (yogic) forms of knowledge & Realization
http://www.dabase.org/up-1-3.htm
By contrast the multi-various animistic traditions are based on the premise that everything and everyone are inter-connected and to one degree or another informed/sustained by various forms/practices of contemplation and ecstasy
http://www.fnmzoo.org/wisdom-teaching/a-contemplative-state-of-exaltation
http://beezone.com/current/cultureofecstasy.html
Or go further back. You mention neo-Platonism, but that's already kind of too much enmeshed with the human (Socrates tells us in the Phaedrus that he doesn't get out of Athens much; he's not used to being in the fields) - which of course, along with immaterial souls, was part of what made it acceptable to Christianity. Stoicism, with its focus on creative Nature, and 'living according to nature,' offers many of us what I think you portray here.
My people were drilled out of this by the Chinese Rites controversy about this kind of synthesis did happen in Latin America. I'm really envious of cultures that got to do this. That's why I'm straight up dual faith Chinese polytheist and Evangelical Protestant.
Well done!