Overcoming Kronos and the restoration of Arta
The Inner Tyranny of Kronos
When it come to the culture war, the gender war and the various conflicts that are occurring within the culture at large, many might think this is just simply a matter of masculine versus feminine, order versus chaos, right versus left, and so on. However what is hidden within this is the real source of this conflict. Something that most humans miss, as they still operate within the world as most humans do, from the lens of the ego, and egoic consciousness. This also connects to the Apollonian-Dionysian dichotomy as well. Which seems to be on the surface something that is impossible to reconcile. Yet as I have realised in “The True Apollonian-Dionysian Dichotomy“ this is not such. I similarly cover this in depth in my new book called The Rebirth of Nyx.
The real war is not one merely about opinions, facts or ideas, let alone the narratives people buy into. These are the surface level egoic structures and narratives that are told about what the ego perceives as reality. What one could call the matrix, or the cosmos and mythos that people dwell within. This mythos shapes the world they inhabit, and itself is akin to a dream of sorts. A cosmic drama that humanity plays out. Not seeing how what Carl Jung called the shadow, which is unique in its contents on a personal level, but also shared between people in a civilisation, and even the level of humanity, is the source of these conflicts. That it is the wounding and dismemberment of the inner child within early childhood, by the structure of civilisation itself, and the tied mythos that is told about it, which sets up the entire cosmic drama itself. This sets the stage for the "shadow" (the unconscious, repressed parts of the self) to manifest in destructive ways.
The Kronian Mindset and the Super Ego
Now whilst from the point of view of humans, this seems to be the fight between the Apollonian and Dionysian, Order and Chaos, it is only so from what I call the Kronian structure that created the rigid egoic structure. Which is tied to what is called the Super Ego, and what really is Kronos, the shadow father. For those identified with the Kronian mindset and archetype, this itself seems like order and purity. Yet it is a self-imposed tyranny of the mind, which is similarly imposed on others. Some call this the inner critic, and others mistakenly call it God. Yet the Truth is that this inner critic itself is created through an original trauma, that is inflicted time again on each human child.
Cosmic Trauma and the Wounding of the Inner Child
Where the cosmic crime of dismemberment of Zagreus (infant Dionysus) or Yemo, is enacted upon the psyche of the child. Yet it is psychologically speaking a form of trauma that within civilisation has become normalised. As before the Piscean age our ancient ancestors whilst knowing of the concepts of Order and Chaos, did not have the concept of good and evil tied to both. This is itself a foreign concept imposed upon the psyche. Order and Chaos used to be a dance of renewal, where both forces had their place, balanced by the benevolent Jupiter and the Sovereignty Goddess Juno. Where she would sent the serpent as a test, and as a sign that the wholeness of the true cosmic order was lost. Chaos was a sign that the king was no longer whole. Though the Kronian ego, so the ego aligned with the super ego, sees wholeness as chaos, and tries to snuff it out, whilst it imposes a false order upon the world, that it calls falsely Order. One that does not honour Arta (truth, righteousness, order and right working), but is really based on falsehoods, fear and the projecting of its own chaos and shadow onto others.
The Hero’s Journey: Integration of the Primal Side
The task of the true hero, and the shared heroes journey, that the Koryos group, like the Fianna as well, undertook, was to integrate their primal side (the perceived chaos) outside of the societal norms of the time, exactly to foster wholeness. To integrate what Jungians would call the shadow, and also foster through this the healing of the inner child, as within this space the young men could be completely themselves, liberated, dedicated to a figure akin to Yemo (Dionysus), Faunus, Mars (think Wolf-Apollo and Wotan), and a Sovereignty Goddess akin to the Morrigan or Juno. The Koryos together with Wotan where the guardians of the cosmic order and Arta. This is a path of self-discovery and spiritual awakening. This is also a path that should not be done alone, but is a path of community and collective healing, as we can not do this on our own, as for instance the Fianna were a larger group as well.
The Role of the Sovereignty Goddess
The Sovereignty Goddess was a symbol of the Social Cohesion and Soul of the tribe, and a symbol of wholeness. She was the mediator between the wild and the civilised, and thus of utmost importance for both the Koryos and the Hieros Gamos. As it was exactly this wholeness that restores the cosmic order and with it Arta. Where the fight against chaos through mere external fighting in a Good versus Evil struggle without the necessary inner journey of the Koryos and their Katabasis (so going into the underworld) and Wilderness journey, only leads to self-deception, division and further fragmentation. This is not the way of the gods, but that of Kronos in his state of fear.
In Ennead, Plotinus explains something that is of importance here. He stated that the fable of Narcissus is an emblem of one who rushes to the contemplation of sensible (phenomenal) forms as if they were perfect realities, when at the same time they are nothing more than like beautiful images appearing in water, fallacious and vain. Thus failing to see through projections and seeing the true world. In a similar manner those who serve the shadow father Kronos, are not akin to the Koryos or restoring Arta, but fall into deception and falsehood. It does not unite masculine and feminine in the Hieros Gamos, let alone lead to the birth of new life. It is a path towards death and as Nietzsche aptly wrote is a “will to perish”. It is the death drive turned outward onto the world, instead of the true inner death and transformation that it takes to align with the cosmic order and Arta.
Deception of the Kronian Ego: The Path of Death
Olympiodorus, the Neo-Platonic Philosopher, also stated “At the start, our irrational side is like the Titans, destroying our rational and higher self. When we neglect our intuitive intellect, which is hidden within us and connects us to both the lower and higher aspects of ourselves, we become like the Titans (or traitors to ourselves). But when we align ourselves with this intuitive aspect, we become like Bacchus, in control and in harmony with our irrational side.” It is this Titanic nature of the Kronian ego, that is controlled by the inner critic and super ego, that leads to self-betrayal and the division and fragmentation of the cosmic order of the world. Or in other worlds it leads to the spiral of scapegoating and alienation we see within modern culture, with its need for perfection, false purity, and the tied division, such as the gender war, the general opposition of all our brothers and sisters against each other. Where it rewards those most aligned with the nature of Kronos. Those that are spiritually empty, driven by fear, greed and lack of humanity. They are not at all those who uphold Arta, Truth, Goodness and Beauty, but are akin to the Titans. Traitors to their true selves, and with it traitors to what it means to be human.
Those who seem like gods (the ultra-wealthy) are not at all spiritually or emotionally wealthy. Instead, they are "poor" in the deeper sense because they lack a true connection to their humanity and the well-being of others. They are not those who uphold the symbolic balance the Sovereignty Goddess represents, the balance between humanity and nature, the civilised and the wild, and the social cohesion of the civilisation. They are consumed by fear and greed, which is the psychological and spiritual illness of "solar madness." Or what Carl Jung would have called Ego-Inflation. Thus they have become akin to dragons, or those struck by dragon sickness in the stories of J.R.R. Tolkien. And it is this Ego-Inflation and denial of the shadow, that makes them fragmented beings, ever hungry for more wealth.
Restoring Arta and True Cosmic Order
If we are to restore Arta and the true order, that leads to social cohesion that brings about freedom, justice and a real sense of community, belonging and meaning, and the healthy families we seek, we ought to go inward first. Only if we heed the call of the Koryos and Wotan, and do what they did, have this Katabasis (underworld or wilderness journey), the journey into what the Jungians call the unconscious and face the wounded inner child, and reclaim our primal inner wolf, can we truly restore the order of the gods. Whilst this inner journey is not easy and takes courage, it is what frees us from the inner chains of Kronos, the inner critic that keeps us shackled in this Kronian mindset, that keeps even well-meaning pagans stuck in Christian thinking. So to be truly free we have to face the internalized fears, repressions, and thus also the modern conditioning that keeps us trapped in the kingdom of Kronos, and keeps the true Gods repressed within, turned into demons, and not their true glory.
Yet we have to remember that Kronos when Zeus and the gods gathered, fled like the coward he really is, and let the other titans fight for him instead. If we are freed from this inner critic, that keeps us tied to this un-pagan mindset, we can never truly bring back the glory of the gods. I feel that if we ought to honour our pagan ancestors, that we as true pagans, should free ourselves of these shackles that bind us, as if we were Fenrir trapped until Ragnarok. So for the pagans out there that come across my message, I hope you consider it, as doing this in my eyes is to honour the gods, and bring glory upon us, to take this arduous journey within, and help other fellow pagans to be freed from this, and restore the gods to their rightful place. Thus through this journey, we can reclaim our true strength, our connection with the gods, and our rightful place in the cosmic order.