October - November 2001
Oydsseus Scorpius
"...In that catastrophe no one
was dealt a heavier blow than I, who pass my days in mourning
for the best of husbands..." [Penelope to the minstrel Phemius
2, Homer, Odyssey 1.340]
SCORPIO, THE EIGHTH SIGN
of the Western zodiac, is the realm of consciousness presumed
by modern astrologers to cover sex, death, control, transformation,
marriage and money transactions, such as inheritance and investments.
People born under this sign are believed to have special powers,
and are among the most often feared by those with a little knowledge
of astrology. I ask the Scorpios in the reading audience: can
we blame these bigots?
Looking closely, it's clear that Scorpio
is the sign of the mysteries of birth and death: of genesis and
surrender. The astrological interpretation above is what we have
made of precious existence, having grown up in societies run
by terrified, crusading gluttons for power whose minds are overrun
with religious guilt. Astrology, on its least visionary level,
is a set of observations of such a reality.
If we want to understand how this all
happened, just rent a room in a motel, bring the hottest, hardest,
wettest, willingest person you know, crawl into bed and open
the drawer of the nightstand, where you will find a Bible placed
by the Gideons International, "spreading God's holy word"
but for sure, not your legs. There, you can read many things
about the wrath and judgment of God upon sinners, which ends
in the orgasmic conclusion known as the Book of Revelation,
in which the world is destroyed in a horrendous, plague- and
pestilence-beseiged, multidimensional war called the Apocalypse,
in which all manner of strange creatures rise up from hell and
participate, and in which God wields Satan in his hand like a
weapon: and it's all because you're about to fuck. Even if just
you want to fuck, or are thinking about fucking, you're in for
deep big big trouble, cum Judgment Day.
It is often said by theologians and
religious-types that man usurps the power of God. Well, here's
how I view it. Religion has usurped the power of humanity and
assigned it to a fictitious version of god. Then certain people
pretend to have the power of that god, or to be the only ones
in touch with him, and he is always a him. Yet human beings are
the only creative force we know of which can create other human
beings. The rest is mythology, conjecture, speculation or pure
manipulative bullshit designed to make you feel weak, guilty,
shameful, detesting of yourself and willing to live in subservience,
pay war taxes and go to war.
If the two of you fuck in that hotel
bed, under the right circumstances, there's a fair chance that
a child will be born, and you have done the work of God: creating
humanity in the image of humanity. You have created life. This
is what I would call power. But there is a greater chance that
you will feel alive because fucking celebrates the life force.
The only way to have a world with endless
war is to make life and pleasure bad, and death good. By living
in a world where death is extolled as a virtue and sex is punished
as a sin, whether we think we believe this or not, we create
a horrendous imbalance, and in our misery, struggle, depression,
isolation and fear of one another, we live with that imbalance,
if you can call it living. In our destruction of our planet,
stewing in poisons, eating poisons, and thinking poisons, we
try to live with the imbalance as well.
By denying passion and creation, we
deny the power that sex has to change us, and leave death as
the only legitimate force for progress. Hey, if you want to die,
you'll have your chance. But meanwhile...
What those who strive for world power
know they fear is the reality that Eros is a more powerful force
than the death they play with and profit from. It is more powerful
to them as individuals, having the power to bring them to their
knees, metaphorically and otherwise, and it's more powerful in
the course of nature. Life always prevails over death.
I ask all young men 18-30ish: would
you rather be drafted and murder Afghanis in the brutal winter
of central Asia, or be fucked by Kali?
Wait -- better not answer.