ēthos anthropōi daimōn. — Diels fragment 119 (in Agamben & Heller-Roazen 1999) which is translated as, the character (ēthos) of a human (anthropōi) is the daimōn, or sometimes the character of a person is Fate, and the variation An individuals character is their fate (idem “Man’s character is his fate”).
Two days ago, I picked up a letter that was written to me a little under a year ago. It may or may not have been a breakup letter — it was somewhat ambiguous, to myself, and the writer. But I’ve read this letter several times since receiving it, and each time it brings clarity as I pick up some new wisdom that I didn’t quite catch before.
This time, I read through a sentence, and it stopped me in my tracks.
“I don’t claim to know how you manifest evil…”
Before I explain..
You see, people can only meet you as far as they have met themselves. And clearly, the letter presented to me went a little over my head.
Because the previous four times I had read this sentence, the only response I could ever muster was, ‘Yeah, whatever. Fuck off.’
That was purely a reluctance to understand the blatant honesty that was staring at me in the face. And a complete unwillingness to acknowledge that I, too, was very much a part of the problem.
Mature, I know.
But this time, with my Lemurian Seed crystal clutched in my left hand, the Lemurian elders were listening and helping me to achieve more clarity. The sentence looked entirely different. As if I had some new experience that gave this sentence a brand new meaning. It sparked a whole new reaction, but I had no idea what or why.
Finally, considering that it was time to thank the letter for all it’s taught me and part ways with it once and for all. (Read: burn it in a dramatic release ceremony) I decided it was far too important. I knew it contained a labyrinth of messages and realisations about my selfish behaviours in my last relationship.
Back in the drawer, it goes.
In my meditation that night, I placed one Lemurian Seed Quartz on my heart and another on my 3rd Eye to fall asleep that way. As I was drifting to sleep no less than 15 minutes, I felt a sharp electric shock that hurled me from my bed.
***
I remember looking at the crystals the day I received them. At the ridges and grooves wondering what sacred messages and codes it was holding onto for my self-healing.
The meaning of the Lemurian Seed quartz traces back to Ancient Lemuria; a civilisation much like the Atlantis but more spiritually and peacefully inclined.
The crystals are ethereal. They are rough to the touch, cloudy yet clear and they look as if they have a story to tell. The ridges and indentations are said to represent keyholes that can unlock the magic that existed within the Lemurian civilisation.
They call them, the Record Keepers. The crystals are encoded with the Vibrations of Lemurian consciousness and its celestial dimension, holding onto the treasures of wisdom and sacred messages of their time.
***
In shock and awe, I put the crystals away and fell straight to sleep.
This morning, at 5.30 am, I hurled yet again from my bed. This time no electric shock. But I was driven to my laptop with such urgency as I soon came to discover I was about to transmit the message I needed to hear for my self-healing.
So, enjoy.
Our emotions are signifiers that something needs to be dealt with — not externally but internally. This is a non-negotiable fact.
Often, we feel anger but shun it out of guilt, knowing that we shouldn’t allow whatever it is to anger us.
But brushing any of our emotions away removes the core of our human potential. In the spiritual or new-age communities, and in people up levelling their awareness (waiting for them to get passed that ego-centric phase), feeling angry is an absolute no.
You might be familiar with the saying, ‘I am not responsible for your emotions.’ When you know this deep in your core to be the truth, but you cannot deny unrest within, what do you do with your hurt and anger? And where does it go?
Inevitably we are turning the finger that we’ve pointed elsewhere right back at us. Sometimes it births healthy processing of emotions, and other times it doesn’t.
Fredrich Nietzsche has by far been the most relatable philosopher and guiding wisdom in my recent years. He says,
“Be careful, lest in casting out your demons, you exorcise the very best in you.”
Fredrich Nietzsche
I’ve written this on post-it notes and stuck them to my laptop and mirror. It’s been the opening quote in many of my journals and made the cover on my phone wallpaper.
But the very best of times when I need to hear it most, Nietzsche himself manifests about an inch from my face — pointing two fingers at me, whenever I point one at someone else.
It has been the most significant reminder to express my damn self because I had spent far too many years holding it all in at the whim of others around me.
Inadvertently, Nietzsche has been my teacher. While navigating vast waves of emotion these last few years, this quote stops me from exerting and suppressing my evil thoughts and instead, encourages me to search for the source within and get to work.
I’ve learned that our demon needs to be honed, not killed.
Acknowledged, not shunned.
Dignified, not shamed.
Likewise, our dark side needs a voice, a channel, a platform, and a healthy place to exist. Not a place to hide and indeed not a place to manifest in rage.
Acting out in rage has rarely proven to do anything to understand the feelings or conditions of our anger.
But our anger can become a tool for converting immense negative feelings into something transformational if we process it in the right way — by taking the creative approach.
Expressing your anger can heal the world.
The constructive and positive relationship between anger and creativity can be that which heals not just ourselves but the whole of humanity.
It’s not just about giving a voice to our own emotion but that of the collective. When we heal ourselves, we heal others too.
It’s no coincidence that those with open channels to creativity — artists, actors, musicians and other creatives — almost always respond to the obligatory call. They are forever sharing their art, music and mind with the world, and utilising the daimonic energy to create change and transform it into healing messages.
And the same goes for environmentalists, human rights activist and other game-changers that precede to create change with anger as their fuel.
Creativity gives us permission to feel and express. And that heals.
Anger is an energy vehicle; not a destination.
The first association we tend to make with anger is that for it to be worthwhile, it has to manifest exclusively in violence, rage or destruction. But here’s another concept taken from Greek Philosophy, which is all my rage at the moment.
Daimon is the Greek term for ‘darker side of our being’ or ‘to be motivated by a spiritual force, genius or inspiration’ or ‘the dynamic unrest that exists within us.’ Definitions got fancier the more I learned of this word.
So it is much less the attribute of the darker side itself; instead, it’s the process that runs alongside it.
If demonic is only concerned with destructiveness, then daimonic introduces the element of creativity, drive and the force that leads us to destruction or expression. The daimon is a moving element. It’s an energy that needs transmuting.
With creativity coming into force, the daimonic considers creativity and rage to be on either side of the same source. Not opposite sides of a spectrum.
In other words, anger doesn’t have to manifest in rage, violence or destruction. It can very successfully be revealed in constructive and creative expression.
We are the source navigating our anger, and we decide how it manifests.
A Jungian analysis also recognises the paradox of creativity and destructiveness.
“Evil is of fundamental importance also in the creative process.”
Liliane Frey-Rohn
There is a massive correlation between evil and creativity as it also pertains to the availability of suitable conduits for self-expression.
I have found myself in times of no awareness, where my emotions found no safe place to manifest. My suppressed emotions led to rage towards myself, and it resulted in copious amounts of self-harm and neglect over seven years.
I let my daimon burn me from the inside out because I didn’t know what else to do with it.
It’s the sort of energy that needs addressing. To be confronted and awakened. It has and always will be a tremendous source of energy that has the potential to be unstoppable and unsuppressible.
Minimising or eradicating the daimonic will only lead to dynamic unrest within.
Whenever self-expression becomes a necessity — think about your own experiences to see how easily this can manifest — the daimonic demands an outlet. If a positive and healthy outlet is not defined, you will see evil (or the closeness of it) display in whichever mode of expression the daimonic sees fit.
It can be anything from oversleeping to violence to binge eating to cheating. There is no end in the way we can harmfully express ourselves.
But when you allow yourself to be swept up in a creative process, in a way that encourages and nurtures the daimonic process, which is freeing and liberating, destructive impact and evil are minimised.
These kinds of creative outlets allow us to put a little order to the internal chaos while freeing the daimonic.
Having healthy conduits for self-expression will allow you to transmute your anger for the highest good. It will help you come to better terms with your experience here on earth.
The call to self-expression through creativity is CRUCIAL.
As most of us consciously make an effort not to act out in rage, we wind up suppressing our anger. This does result eventually in manifesting evil somehow, somewhere, unconsciously or consciously.
How you let the daimonic permeate your being will conclude whether you self-destruct or self-express. And that’s when Nietzsche visits me. To remind me to channel my evil, deal with my demon, and to love this unconscious aspect of my personality.
Casting out your daimonic is never the answer because as Nietzsche says, you’ll exorcise the very best in you.
Our emotions, our anger, our dark side, our daimon, we have it all. And it is the most significant source of creative energy you could ever imagine.
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