“We must marvel at the beast that moves about. ”
It is important to read the two previous posts entitled Silk-Laden Predators in order to enjoy this essay to the fullest. Also, familiarize yourself with pertinent Davidian notions by clicking on the embedded links within the essay. - DAVID
The hunger for philosophy is a great indicator of the second face's will to life. This hunger acts as a balm to a life of self-brutality, betrayal, tyranny, and mendacity. Detached intellectualism is more valuable than unconscious despair. The second face calls out from beneath urging us to be artists and engineers. It commands us to transform and overcome despair.
“When the second face of the philosopher arises, the crowd will always slander that face as demonic.”
“There is a great hormesis which we must ally with. Depression as a stimulant for thinkers. There is great value in maintaining a tragic disposition. What ought to be cries out from below. A second face rises to annihilate the anemic persona which has been a most unjust warden.” - David Delt. “The Artist Says Yes.”
When one chooses to abbreviate their own consciousness in an effort to alleviate suffering, a repression of all shadows occurs. A more noble response exists. Environments of betrayal, internal strife, and the shadowy elements of the psyche can actually be recognized as great stimuli that excite the entire machine. When one chooses to posture themselves as the apprehender and master of such environments, internal resistances, and shadows they subject themselves to the resentful glares of the crowd who view such overcomers as demonic figures. Such opposition is not without merit — after all, the actualized individual is a frightful archive of all shadowy elements of the psyche. The chariots of Dionysus spur the id and ego forward in tandem, creating a grisly entity that inspires fear in many.
“the future is the primary modality of the individual who moves-in-the-world without fear.”
When the second face of the philosopher arises, the crowd will always slander that face as demonic. This libel is a projection of their own resentful nature and an attempt to destroy what they could never build. The actualization of individualty by another is always a reminder of their inability to do so. Their weak will and lowly spirits foster permanent envy which can never be exorcised. This envy emerges from ressentiment, a murderous pathology which, oftentimes, can never be undone.
“envy emerges from ressentiment, a murderous pathology which, oftentimes, can never be undone.”
The terror of the individual, to the herd, is in its decision to move forward in the world as an unstoppable force spurred on by a will to power and a personality forged by and in truth. It is easy to view such an individual as a sum of these two parts only — both personality and will to power. This is an error, for man is always more than the sum of his parts. Man must move through the world as gestalt.
The total individual is a terrifying entity when we consider the symphony of elements that constitute its moving-in-the-world. We must marvel at the beast that moves about. Sub-personalities, biological motivational systems, sub-biological impulses, independent and procedural memory systems, imagination, will to power, rationale, consciousness — they all dwell in ebony and ivory temples creating not only a whole, but something that is more than a whole. Being an individual is the epitome of disagreeing with the crowd. In the destruction of persona, and the activation of the noble will, the sickness of agreeableness is exorcised. The exorcism of the sickness of agreeableness involves the discovery of all machinations and histories that have lead to the grooming of the slave. All slave moralities must be reconciled in order to move forward as the-one-who-is-more-than-one. Man must become gestalt. In Energy of Betrayal I state:
“As man moves forward in such environments without fear the future becomes his primary modality. Meanwhile, a war must be waged with the past simultaneously, for the environment of betrayal has illuminated a history of grooming— consciousness illuminates the devastating damage accrued and left over from being subject to the grooming of one's being, as a slave.
The discovery of this grooming acts as a visceral prompt to cast off all installed slave moralities by subscribing to and activating all inherently noble strivings— such strivings reside deep within the labyrinth of the psyche and organism requiring one to descend while simultaneously aiming to create a bright future which lies ahead. In this descending a second face is discovered and excavated. In this mode, one resembles Janus, the god of two faces who surveys both the past and future.” - David Delt. “Energy of Betrayal.”
The will to power and life is preceded by a will to destroy. This destruction is aimed at all externalities which have been designed to stifle a mighty spirit. This notion is detailed in Will To Destroy:
“There is an insistence within us, beyond all information, that the will can be fulfilled. This hope leads us to avail ourselves to philosophy; not to build a new temple as one might imagine — but first, to destroy all inadequacies installed within us by an inhuman social order and culture. This is where anger and regret must be combatted with love and fidelity to the Self. We must be kind to ourselves in the face of evil.” - David Delt. “The Will To Destroy.”
“revenge is not the goal — being is.”
Additionaly, progress spurred on by personality, and not mere persona, is predicated on moving-in-the-world as a master, and no longer as a slave. When a slave is groomed it is necessary to teach them how to see. The face of Janus empowers one to reconcile all betrayals and utilize such grievances as fuel for improvement. This utilization of the energy of betrayal contains no resentment nor is it driven by ressentiment. for revenge is not the primary goal — being is.
Make no mistake. We must reject the temptation to adopt destruction and creation as polarities. Binary thinking is a detriment to the fulfillment of the ultimate mission. Both destruction and creation must occur together. “In my notions on atrrition I state:
“We must reclaim the worn away elements of our identity. The petrification of such elements signifies their capacity to be catalysts of actualized identity, thus making them integral to the process of self-actualization. A most urgent rediscovery occurs leading to a restoration of ashlar, adding to the totality of personhood for the human organism.” - David Delt. “Attrition. Rough to Perfect Ashlar.”
This war within is in essence an internal civil war. The ascendant shadow is always criticized by the former self. Although the shadow is not the totality of our unconsciousness, it contains little known attributes of the ego, thus leading to warfare in which the double dragon of alienation must be overcome. Moving-in-the-world as an individual is the result of a resolution of such a war.
The face of Janus becomes more terrifying when both the first and second face merge together and look forward, producing a predatory gaze that induces fear in all lesser beings. For both faces to merge together means that the failures of one’s past have been metabolized as fuel for true progress and predation. The us and they which reside in the past is rectified within the predatory philosopher and projected onto all that it surveys. As stated in the essay There Was No Us, “Your gaze determines the appearance of a thing and the world — for the gaze is a projection of what resides within.” There is no force that can stop the predatory philosopher from apprehending its prey — wisdom and truth. Again, “The hunger for philosophy is a great indicator of the second face's will to life. This hunger acts as a balm to a life of self-brutality, betrayal, tyranny, and mendacity.” Furthermore, environments of betrayal can actually be recognized as a great stimulus that excites the entire machine.
It is the telos of new philosophers to move-in-the-world as complete atavists, losing nothing while gaining all things. Again, the future is the primary modality of the individual who moves-in-the-world without fear. This mode of being is not only a noble one, but is essentially artistic.
All philosophers are wrestlers. Workers in the field of the universe. Choose labor.
“Being an individual is the epitome of disagreeing with the crowd.”