NMR ISSUE 41

And Ye Harm None
Astrological Forecast 41
Candlemas Ritual
Editorial 41
Elephant
Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot
Flora Faery
Hummingbird
Letters 41
Moon
Mother Earth
Mythic Image
Perseverance
Spirit Doll Charms
The Big Book o' Shadows
The Kabalah in Everyday Use
The Legend of the Maiden
The Magic of Receiving
The Wise Woman Energy
Walking into Animal Presence
Weekend with Hans

Articles
Authors
Rituals
Book Reviews
NMR Issues
NMR Covers

The Mythic Image
of the Duality of Consciousness

Alex Miller-Mignone

In the ancient Mesopotamian myth of Marduk's slaying of Tiamat we find the core version of the Judeo-Christian theme of the fall from grace through the recognition of duality. Tiamat, goddess of the primal abyss, the void of chaos from which all the gods emerged, was depicted as a great dragon encircling and encompassing all known creation. As such She represents that great ground of being; pure, undifferentiated consciousness, from which the vital energies of the human psyche (otherwise known as the gods) ensue. One of these powers, Marduk, did battle with the great Tiamat, slew Her, filleted Her from head to tail, and with the two halves created the heaven and the earth, the primal geocosmic duality. We can see this as an early representation also of the dividing of the brain (unified consciousness) as the two hemispheres, left and right, each with its respective functions. The dragon imagery passes from Babylonia to the surrounding cultures, and is somewhat watered down. Tiamat the dragon becomes the world-encircling and sustaining Ophis serpent of the Egyptians, Leviathan of the Gnostics, and the Ouroboros of the Greeks. The cosmos-shaking event of Tiamat's defeat by Marduk becomes translated into the rather less crucial initiatory tests of the Hindu god Indra defeating Vritra, and Greek Zeus' battle with Typhon. At last the imagery passes into ancient Hebrew literature with the first book of Genesis, and poor Tiamat has become the original snake in the grass, Her adversaries now mere gullible mortals, themselves the creations of a God wholly other and separate from His works.

There is a clear descent here, but the fall is not so much from grace as from truth. The snake has long been a symbol both of female creative energy and male generative power, and the serpent and dragon (especially in oriental cultures) are acknowledged and admired for their wisdom—a wisdom which in the West has more of the flavor of false cunning than wise advice. But there is a deeper, more pregnant divergence from the myth's origin to its eventual retelling in Genesis.

In the original, the god Marduk overcomes the primal life force and by His acts creates the duality of opposites. In Genesis, that duality already exists; it is only by taking the advice of the snake, lowest of the low of God's creations, that humanity recognizes these opposites. In Marduk's case, the creation of duality is a direct result of His empowerment; Adam and Eve are dispossessed of the paradise of Eden merely for acknowledging this division of right and wrong, good and evil, self and other. How can we explain this twist of mythology, so fraught with now global consequences as nature-isolated, left-brain dominated Western humans hurtle toward their seeming destruction? More important, how do we rectify the error so late in the game? At this eleventh hour, far from seeking yet another deus ex machina (or perhaps deus as machina), can we perhaps pull a deus ex antiquitas out of Man's collective magico-mythical hat that will yet save us?

Perhaps. The answer may lie somewhere in the subsequent mythologies dealing with this split in consciousness. In the Sumerian myth of Inanna and Erishkegal we find one of the earliest images of how these two powers, masculine and feminine, light and dark, left and right brain, relate to one another.

Inanna and Erishkegal are sisters; Inanna is Queen of Heaven, the realm of light and life, Erishkegal is Queen of the Underworld, the realm of darkness and death. When Inanna's husband dies, She descends to Her sister's realm to plead for His return. What ensues is a step by step divestiture of the accoutrements of the light: first Inanna is stripped naked, then ridiculed, beaten, and at last killed. Through it all She remains stoic yet compassionate of Her sister's feelings. Eventually Erishkegal, Her wrath appeased by Inanna's acceptance and lack of resistance to Her brutal treatment, revives the goddess and allows Her to return to the light world, although She refuses to restore Inanna's husband, making Him Her own consort instead.

The mythic image presented here is one of the two halves of consciousness as opposed, yet related, and in some underlying sense equivalent, since both mythic representatives are female. But though equivalent, they are definitely not equal, for Inanna represents the light, or left brain, consistently defers to Her dark, right brained sister, accepting humiliation and even destruction without a murmur. The dark power reveals itself in its most terrible and terrifying aspect, yet in the end the image softens to one of almost benevolence.

When the myth becomes translated to Ancient Egypt we find the symbolism of the union of duality represented by Osiris and Isis, respectively God of the Dead and the Great Mother, one of a group of brother/sister and husband/wife pairs that dominate classical mythology. Osiris is twice slain by His jealous brother Set, the Egyptian personification of evil. After the first slaying, Isis searches for His body and, having found it, revives it to a semblance of life, becoming pregnant through its renewed warmth. The child of this union is Horus, a solar deity, who represents the true Self. Set finds Osiris' helpless form and, enraged, tears the body into fourteen pieces, scattering them along the Nile. Isis collects and reunites thirteen of the pieces, but the fourteenth, the phallus, She never finds; and, unable to bring life again to the incomplete Osiris, Isis embalms and then immortalizes Him (which is not quite the same thing as reviving Him).

In the image of Osiris and Isis we see the two halves of consciousness, Osiris, although male, personifying the dark, feminine, right brain, and Isis the light, masculine, left brain. As siblings They are created of the same stuff, that is, the same engendering power creates them both, as with Inanna and Erishkegal. But here, through Their marriage, we see that in addition to a natural, biological connection, there is also a union of choice; the two halves of consciousness come together willingly to create a third entity, Horus, the Self, or personal identity. And yet, again, the two halves are not entirely equal. The action of the myth is dominated throughout by Isis (representing the left brain); and it is in fact the masculine portion of consciousness which gives birth to the Self (although it is not possible for Isis to do so without the at least passive connivance of the dark, right brain Osiris). Osiris as the feminine half of consciousness is seen to be dependent on the masculine for its continued existence, while Isis as the masculine is an image of eternal light and life, revivifying Osiris and giving birth to Horus. Unlike the Sumerian version, light predominates, and is seen as ever supportive, ever nurturing; while darkness, though immortal, is depicted as dependent and vulnerable to attack. It is the masculine, left brain which sustains and creates life and identity; the feminine, right brain is wholly indebted to it.

It is important to note here the splitting of evil from darkness with the antagonism between Set and Osiris. Osiris, though dark, is never depicted as evil, unlike earlier versions where the evil and the good of the dark side are acknowledged as interwoven and inextricable. The character of Set firmly attaches all evil aspects of darkness to himself, thus severing a vital link with the power of the dark in its full majesty, a truly terrifying, if only subjectively evil, image.

Finally with the Greek Myth of Kore/Persephone, we find an image of the two halves of consciousness as united in one flesh, in one image. Persephone the Goddess of the Underworld, Lady of the Darkness, is seen to be an outgrowth of Kore the Maiden of Light. The two remain in perfect balance as the mature Persephone divides Her time and attention equally between the upper and lower realms, the worlds of light and darkness, conscious and subconscious, left and right brains. Note, too, that Persephone's coming into Her power is a direct result of Her dramatic, albeit unwilling, confrontation of the dark within Herself on the occasion of Hades' abduction and rape of Her. The harmonious union of these opposites is the central theme of the Mysteries of Eleusis, secret rites celebrated to honor Demeter and Persephone, and the central framework of the classic Greek esoteric philosophies.

Conclusion

These ancient metaphors offer us images that can help us unite the two sides to our soul and end our present nightmare of alienation. The meanings of these and other ancient myths are entirely relevant to the biggest problems we are facing today. Seeking the spirit of the old religions can help us to reintegrate our psyches, and thus our selves with our environment. When we research the myths of our ancestors, we should look and feel for the heart of each story. Let them help us in our growth and the reattainment of balance.