Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book…
© Mahabodhi Burton
3 minute read
This excerpt is from the chapter ‘The Woke Mind Virus,’ and it follows on from the section on taking offence.
Uroboric incest
This desire for white liberals to ‘disappear’ and abase themselves when faced with the accusation of ‘white privilege’ is an aspect of being drawn down into unconsciousness: it reminds me of the concept of uroboric incest[1] which Erich Neumann explores in The Origin and History of Consciousness,[2] where he says:
‘Many forms of nostalgia and longing signify no more than a return to uroboric incest and self-dissolution, from the unio mystica of the saint to the drunkard’s craving for unconsciousness and the “death-romanticism” of the Germanic races.’
‘Uroboric incest is a form of entry into the mother, of union with her, and it stands in sharp contrast to other and later forms of incest. In uroboric incest, the emphasis upon pleasure and love is in no sense active, it is more a desire to be dissolved and absorbed; passively one lets oneself be taken, sinks into the pleroma [the totality of divine powers], melts away in the ocean of pleasure—a Libestod [love death]. The Great Mother takes the little child back into herself.’
The uroboros is and ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.[3]
In a blog post by eirboe entitled ‘Alcoholism and the Urorobos, a reason to drink?’[4] the author says how the very numbness in his body when drunk brought Neumann’s description of uroboric incest to mind,
‘As well as [Jordan] Peterson’s lectures on Adam and Eve, as uroboric incest is basically what he describes the Fall was from. Getting drunk is becoming unconscious of your own “nakedness” and vulnerability, becoming unconscious of your own struggle between right and wrong. It’s not until the next morning, with a terrible hangover, that you realize what you did the night before was probably both dangerous and wrong. But the freedom of not knowing that for a few hours!’
Uroboric incest is an unhealthy and sometimes pathological relationship that a person has to their unconscious; it is a refusing to take on the burden of consciousness and instead desiring to remain unconscious. Uroboric incest can be understood as a love of the unconscious; refusing to take on a higher level of consciousness when demands are placed upon us can be a natural reaction, as consciousness can be an onerous obligation. But consequences can emerge if person refuses to enter into life consciously and instead remains unconscious: remaining unconscious may be easier than facing conscious realization but it is unrealistic because life poses challenges that demand a full consciousness of the situation. As Carl Jung says;
‘When we must deal with problems, we instinctively resist trying the way that leads through obscurity and darkness. We wish to hear only of unequivocal results, and completely forget that these results can only be brought about when we have ventured into and emerged again from the darkness. But to penetrate the darkness we must summon all the powers of enlightenment that consciousness can offer.’[5]
But it is advisable to take on the difficulties of consciousness heroically, because only by becoming conscious of our problems will we be able to take action.
‘To straddle that fundamental duality is to be balanced: to have one foot firmly planted in order and security, and the other in chaos, possibility, growth and adventure. When life suddenly reveals itself as intense, gripping and meaningful; when time passes, and you’re so engrossed in what you’re doing you don’t notice—it is there and then that you are located precisely on the border between order and chaos.’[6]
For a healthy balance in life, one foot needs to be planted in the known; and the other in the unknown. However, when people experience too much unknown, or are under stress, depressed or anxious, they often reach for the bottle (or the phone) to retreat into unconsciousness; to the known; the familiar. Woke and Safetyism signify a return to uroboric incest: a sinking into the warm bath of comforting ideology or impracticable caution: all the time being blissfully unaware of the negative consequences.
That warm bath may already be present, in terms of privilege: Andrew Doyle is the creator of the fictitious character Titania McGrath, who, writing as Titania, is the author of the book ‘Woke: A Guide to Social Justice.’ Doyle taught the Shakespeare option at Oxford University, then left and spent a period in teaching in schools. Asked by Dave Rubin, how ‘woke’ is Oxford generally, Doyle replied:
‘There is evidence to suggest that the most privileged students; the richest, are far more likely to be social justice activists. Spiked Online does a survey of universities every year and every single year it is determined that the ones who are the worst offenders when it comes to censorship, when it comes to free speech, tend to be from the kids who are the poshest. So, it’s not really surprising that you get the woke elements at Oxford, but as a caveat to that I would say, that I do talks at universities around the country and what I’ve noticed is the kids are often great; they are often not the snowflakes that people make them out to be, they want to be challenged, they want to hear the other side, even if they don’t necessarily agree. It is generally the academics. I did a talk at a university recently where the students were great, they wanted to be challenged, but then the Politics department refused to publicize my appearance, because they said any talk that was an antithetical to the woke culture was against their diversity policy.’[7]
This chapter goes on to talk about Buddhism and Guilt.
[1] Here is a brief explanation of Uroboric Incest on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq5qQwI370A
[2] Free audio version available here, Erich Neumann – The Origins and History of Consciousness, Part I. T.P.M. Bernssen. YouTube. 6 August 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGObo8O-XaA&t=2585s
[3] See ‘Ouroboros.’ Wikipedia. Accessed 7 February 2024.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros
[4] See blog post ‘Alcoholism and the Urorobos, a reason to drink?’
[5] Carl Jung; ‘The Stages of Life’ (1930). In CW 8: The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche. p752.
[6] Jordan B. Peterson. (2018) 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. Allen Lane.
[7] ‘Titania McGrath: the insane jokes that have come true (pt. 1). Andrew Doyle. Politics.’ The Rubin Report. YouTube.
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