Another Post on Becoming Animal

William Blake's Ancient of Days

My last post () caught the attention of a writer and former history professor named Calvin Luther Martin. Mr. Martin sent me a copy of his new book, , which I received and enjoyed in gratitude. It’s less a book and more a meditation or prayer or poem, a collage of classical references and original thought, images and words, ideas and dreams.

It took me several readings to digest and I’m sure I’ve only just scratched the surface, yet. Reading number three I did in front of the computer in order to Google some of the remarkable references. Still there are allusions I don’t understand…what exactly was Descartes’ crackup? And what did St. Paul mean when he said he was poised to know as he was known?

But, the bulk of the work is about the two-sided coin of human consciousness and animal consciousness: “where the wild things are and where the domesticated things are.” Mr. Martin’s own “crackup”–as he calls those rare moments in life where real insight cuts through the veil, the glass is cracked, and the meaning of things is suddenly clear to body, mind, and spirit–happened in Alaska when a man handed him a slip of paper on which was written, “I am a puffin.” Mr. Martin says of the moment: “He was not being charming. Nor poetical. Nor metaphorical. He wasn’t grinning. He meant it.” These experiences are so rare. They are primal and elemental, two qualities we have all but erased in our daily life.

It is often the case for me that the emergence of certain “themes” signals a tremor beneath the surface of the culture that will eventually lead to something greater, something noteworthy. This emphasis on animals, animal spirits, and shape shifting is new and not something I understand just yet. But, I have found it personally instructive (and healing) recently to ponder my own animal nature and to try and sense it in those around me. Most of the time, I am shocked at how decidedly human we all are as we sit around conference tables and trade meaningless business babble. But, every once in a while someone I encounter moves in such a way, or speaks in such a way, or otherwise expresses himself in such a way that there is a glimpse of something else, a flash of something uncivilized in the best possible way…in these moments the truth is revealed, Maybe it’s true that for most of us the crackup won’t come in one fell swoop, but as a series of mini fault lines showing gradually on the polished exterior of life. If that’s the case, the best we can do is pay attention.