The Mark of Demian

The title character in Herman Hesse's first popular novel, released in 1919, is not the narrator. The story is told by the thoroughly imperfect young Sinclair, who stumbles and questions his way through life, occasionally -- and thankfully for him -- along the same path with the tall boy named Max Demian.

Demian convinces Sinclair early in their intertwined lives that many within the human population are descended from the original bad boy, none other than Cain himself. He is certain that he is among the company, and is pretty sure Sinclair bears 'The Mark' as well.

Somewhere along the course of their life-long conversation, Demian shares the following, and I remember how much it changed me when I first read it 20 years ago, so I'm just gonna let the Hermanator hold the wheel while I light up the italics ...

"We who bore the mark might well be considered by the rest of the world as strange, even as insane and dangerous. We had awoken, or were awakening, and we were striving for an ever perfect state of wakefulness, whereas the ambition and quest for happiness of the others consisted of linking their opinions, ideals, and duties, their life and happiness, ever more closely with those of the herd. They, too, strove; they, too showed signs of strength and greatness. But as we saw it, whereas we marked men represented Nature's determination to create something new, individual, and forward-looking, the others lived in the determination to stay the same. For them mankind--which they loved as much as we did--was a fully formed entity that had to be preserved and protected. For us mankind was a distant future toward which we were all journeying, whose aspect no one knew, whose laws weren't written down anywhere."

I'm not going to try to presume to be able to say it any better than that.

Where is there a better description of the people who are here to make the world better? It just happens that Hesse believed that the Children of Cain got a bad rap in the original Comedown, and in this particular story he went ahead and let them be the good guys for a change.

With that aside, where do you fall, or should I say 'Fall?'

"A distant future to which we are all journeying..." Hell yeah, Double-H.

I have one more tidbit for you about Herman Hesse. According to the About the Author at the back of Demian, Hesse had a rough couple years before he wrote this first of many great books. He spent a year in a 'sanitorium' and underwent psychoanalysis. With whom you might ask? None other than Mr. Synchronicity himself, Carl Jung. They do say she's a small world don't they?

They oughta sell tickets.

Elmer Fudd's Magic Helmet

December 1 for the last post? Wow. Several have been started, I assure you. They just seem to be hitting the cutting room floor most of the time. Evidently, this one survived.

I watched a show on the Science Channel called 'Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman,' (as though Morgan Freeman's vast knowledge of Wormhole theory was just assumed.) Anyway, they were talking about my favorite topic on this one: Religion.

The segment I saw involved The God Helmet.

Apparently, this fellow can concentrate energy on a specific area of the head/brain and stimulate a religious experience. Fast forward to the heavy part, if this sensation is real -- which it certainly seemed to be to the girl in the video -- does it mean that we conjure up a supernatural entity from inside our head, OR does the magnet thing fire up our transmitter from which we "Tap In" to the universal or spiritual? Wow again.

I have had, over the course of my life, what I consider to be religious experiences. I don't feel the need to go into the details, but the connections were -- to me -- significant enough to provide a certain measure of comfort and assurance about a greater level of existence beyond this one. I saw and, more importantly I believe, felt something more. More than once. Now, this God Helmet has got me wondering whether I just turned on the light switch in the right part of my brain.

What if Moses or Muhammad just stimulated the right part of their brain? John the Baptist? Joan of Arc? Jesus? Black Elk? The list goes on and on.

Whatever is going on in our brains when we think or feel or believe anything, is complicated. I don't have time (or is it the brain) to try and understand the science any deeper than to say that I believe itty bits of goo called neurotransmitters are passed across a non-touching junction called a synapse to get information from storage to working memory. These info bits are flying together, like Zeus' lightning bolts, from all over your brain to meet up in a place where they can be Vulcanized together into a genuinely thinkable thought.

The girl in the video believed that there was a presence in the room with her. Either she or the researcher decided to call it a supernatural presence that was conjured through that spot in her brain. It could just as easily be called a hallucination caused by that motorcycle helmet on her head. And what is a vision if not a hallucination so real that it is internally believed to Be Real.

The difference is that internal thing. In my experience, it was a feeling throughout my body and soul. I think it was more than the brain.

But how would I know?

That's where the Faith comes in.

Now you're going to tell me that if you mash a different button on the God Helmet, you can turn off the Faith too.

That would be great, thanks. Could you let me know before I Tivo it?

I don't think I'm going to let the helmet bother me too much more. I'm sure that plenty of people will worry about it for me. I'm going to keep an eye out for that helmet Elmer wore when he actually Killed the Wabbit, that thing looks just as powerful and twice as fashionable.