I would rather escape into fantasy, than have to write about the open displays of antiSemitic behaviour we've seen in the UK and elsewhere since the attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
————-
We may understand that antiSemitism is an expression of fear; the antiSemite is in a state of terror.
—————-
Let us look at the timeline of human psychological evolution, as far as we know it.
Observing the behaviour of our children, we may see major events in our deep past which shaped our psychological evolution:
A the invention of lying; B a period of exaltation; C a huge natural catastrophe Three events which occurred in what George Frankl called the cultural infancy of our species, events which happened perhaps as much as 2 million years ago and which are marked in the behaviour of our infants now at 2, 3 and 3 1/2 years old.
The settlement at Olorgesaille, and conditions for our ancestors there, is marked by what is known as the latency period in our children between the ages of 6 or 7 and puberty at 13.
We do not know for how long the site at Olorgesaille was settled by our ancestors, nor when the site was abandoned; estimates vary wildly. However:
"In 2018, evidence dating to about 320,000 years ago was found at Olorgesailie of the early emergence of complex and modern behaviors, possibly associated with early Homo sapiens … The emergence of these behaviors … approximately corresponds to the earliest known Homo sapiens fossil remains from Africa … [It] is speculated that the site at Olorgesaille was abandoned 400,000 years ago and that homo sapiens emerged 200,000 to 300,000 years ago." Wikipedia Evidence has recently been found of volcanic activity in the area of Olorgesaille at around the time of the emergence of Homo sapiens, and we may understand that any such violent natural event would stir up the deeply hidden trauma of C, the Great Catastrophe. We may say with confidence that trauma was so devastating that our behaviour is dominated by it still. We may rationally speculate the Homo sapiens emerged having made the decision to fight - anything that they saw a threat. 60,000 years ago Homo sapiens first went to Australia, 46,000 years ago Australian megafauna became extinct; 40,000 years ago Neanderthal man became extinct. There is no conclusive evidence that Homo sapiens caused these extinctions, however the last ice age began around 40,000 years ago; our ancestors would have felt very threatened and would have looked for someone to blame; Homo sapiens who settled in Australia would have felt threatened by megafauna … And nature itself is seen as a threat and there is a lot of evidence that Homo sapiens, we, destroy nature itself, which we see as a threat.
———-- It is very difficult. Frankl's Proof: human nature is fundamentally good; all babies are born good and loving. And we know it, each one of us feels that goodness in ourselves. But then this terror arises, as if from outside ourselves, comes on us; there seem to be two common reactions to this 'alien' fear, a retreat into fantasy or rage. But the terror is within us and from us, and is a breakthrough of the repressed memory of the terror our ancestors experienced in the cultural infancy of our species at the Great Catastrophe.
Culture 2
A yelling and lying B ecstatic joy C the great catastrophe (these three events took place originally perhaps 2 million years ago)
D settlement at Olorgesaille (which lasted perhaps 400,000 years)
E emergences of homo sapiens - us (about 200,000 to 300,000 years ago)*
Olorgesaille was an extended maturation delay and we, homo sapiens, emerged with an ingrained tolerance of sexual gratification delay. From the trauma of C, the great cattastrophe, homo sapiens had an ingrained habit of sexual repression (I suggest that the work many or most were required to do at Olorgesaille was spiritually repressive, too).
We will observe that many modern terrorists (though not all; e.g. Putin of Russia) come from a culture which adheres to a very repressive form of religion.
It may not be too far from the facts to say that these terrorists are themselves very frightened, that they live in terror; it may be that they feelsafer when they terrorise others, and the claim that they want to please their God by terrorism may be sincere. It is certainly a fact that many people in England and Europe are dismayed by the realisation that the future could become dominated by the religion which has produced these terrorists.
The terror cannot be ignored or appeased, it cannot be anihilated; the terror must be recognised as, initially, the product of an ancient trauma buried so deeply in the unconscious of our species that it is supposed to be natural. When we recognise the terror for what it is, we begin to recover our senses.
————-- *I rewrite these five stages to remind myself of where ,in this work, we are.
Culture 3
My friend Abdul wouldn't last two minutes in the caliphate; he's far too intelligent and honest, far too kindly.
He was Muslim, he had a council flat in Lambs Conduit Street, and we were friends. Thinking about it, he was probably a refugee, but he didn't talk about himself, nor ask about me; we were just friends, not close, but firm friends. We met in 1974, perhaps, though I don't remember the circumstances, nor much of what we did when we met, which wasn't often. In winter 1981 or 82, I was working in a shop, very nice but down the 'wrong' end of Kentish Town Road; it was dark, about 5.30pm, when a group of lads came in, maybe to thieve stuff, as happened quite often; but before I could start worrying, Abdul, whom I hadn't seen for a couple of years, came into the shop, and simply by his calm presence, caused the lads to go away. That was probably the last time I saw him and I don't remember much else about him, but I woke up this morning thinking of him.
Abdul was the first Muslim met and I know that his God would not be happy if he called for global jihad and murdered people.
But our friendship is perhaps somewhat beside the point which is that we, homo sapiens, are all afraid. We all, more or less, live in fear of the unacknowledged, repressed memory of a very traumatic event that happened 2 million tears ago. We often refer to it; we say, 'It must never happen again,' but we cause conflict and then say, 'It's happening again,' without the least realisation that we have caused the new disaster. We, homo sapiens, make it happen. We make the conditions.
It goes on all over the world. Look at England now - and we're firmly discouraged from speaking about it, to openly discuss what is troubling us, which makes thinking about our concerns difficult (so we self-censor), which drives our difficulties into the unconscious, which causes hysteria and conspiracy theories and anger, which help to make the conditions for 'it' to 'happen' yet again.
For the purposes of this work, it has been very helpful for me to have a clear view of so many different races of people now in England: it is obvious that homo sapiens is, all of us are disturbed and not just one nation or race.
England is a multi-racial country. It was mostly English in London and the country when I grew up. Over the decades, many groups and individuals from different countries came, by invitation, and naturally brought their different cultures and cultural practices with them. There were some frictions, naturally, some English people had reservations, and immigrants travelling half way across the world, naturally felt alien. But we were doing okay.
The major difficulty is that not all cultural practices are acceptable everywhere, and the Human Right Act (1998) now looks very like appeasement.
Culture 4
As a species, we are suffering from an ancient trauma, which is unacknowledged and therefore untreated, and which was first endured by our ancestors, in the cultural infancy of our species.
Individually, we feel it has nothing to do with us, but the effects of this ancient trauma are in each of us; the ways we live and behave as a species are conditioned by its effects.
For the past 16 years I've been writing this work, and there's not much more I can do. We could, as a species, overcome our psychological disability, but that seems unlikely at the moment: the human world is in more than usual turmoil and nations are preparing for war, again, that it, those nations which are not at war now.
Another reason that it is unlikely we will, as a species, work to help ourselves is that it is difficult to do such work, and where is the will to free ourselves of this ancient distress?
Something very bad did happen to our ancestors in ancient times, and we have been frightened ever since, frightened that it will happen again. But there is nothing there now, and it is time to let that ancient fear go. Let it go. Live and breathe.
It's Personal
Very personal; and most important.
I always felt better after having sex. When I was 17 and for the next years, I had great fun having plenty of sex. Young people in the late 1960s and early 1970s did; everyone my age was friendly and close. It was really nice.
When I was a bit older, a man loved me. He was lovely, and we were committed to each other. We had sex, but it was better described as making love. Once, in our long and stable relationship, I felt the workings of my genitals inside my body. (Later, I did tell George that the cervix moved, but he told me it didn't, which made me think.) On only one occasion did I feel, consciously, the workings of my genitals, and in a stable and loving relationship.
Is that usual? I don't know. Men have their organs of generation on the outside, the penis and testes, and they're happy with that, or seem to be. Of course, men keep their equipment covered (by law), but it's all there and not mysterious. But women have everything inside, pretty much, and reached down a long tunnel so it is mysterious. That's the way it is, and has to be to protect the baby. But, you see, it is inconvenient in other ways.
(George was wrong, by the way: the cervix does move, it comes forward to meet the penis, all designed by nature, of course, but the fact that he denied it does show a widespread ignorance, or perhaps shows a conventional 'niceness' in regard to female sexuality. His denial began a process in my understanding, so all to the good.)
Increasingly, I see that female sexuality is of the greatest importance to home sapiens; and, apart from the babies, everything else is a distraction.
Before
We know some things about the history our early ancestors before the time we've been concentrating on here: it is estimated that our ape ancestors split from the chimpanzees 8 million years ago; they left the forests, perhaps 4 million years ago; they started to walk upright ?millions of years ago - all dates are estimates and subject to change - but there is very much that we don't know
————--
It is estimated that 25% of babies suffer infant colic, a distressing condition for which there is no obvious cause, which may start at 6 weeks old, rarely continues beyond 1 year and doesn't seem to have long term effects. We may understand infant colic is phylogenic, that something happened perhaps 4 or 5 million years ago which badly affected many of our ancestors, but certainly not all.
It is commonly agreed that bipedalism, walking upright, has the severe disadvantage of making human birth more difficult and painful. It is not agreed how long ago humans began walking upright, and we will consider that the adaptation took a very long time to achieve. It seems most likely that our ancestors would evolve a safe and easy method of birth, while adapting to walking; and I suggest that the difficulties that women endure while giving birth are due mainly to the phylogenic psychological traumas that we have looked at here, and the ways in which our ancestors sought to deal with the traumas.
The other apes, all the other creatures alive at the time of the traumas also suffered alongside our ancestors but seem to have recovered better than we have. A striking difference seems to be that we invented lying and fantasy: we, our ancestors, made up stories about what had happened to them, invented monsters and so made the impact of trauma much worse.
Culture 5
Antisemitism is infantile. A common complaint among antisemites is, 'They call themselves God's Chosen people.'
Ms XY told me this the other day, to explain her antisemitism. Ms XY is 70 years old; as a baby she was neglected, her parents were too busy to look after her properly; she is bright and lively but uneducated; she remembers her childhood, but doesn't recognise that she was hurt, damaged by conditions of emotional neglect; she still feels that pain and she wants to be chosen. Ms XY wants to be God's Chosen and doesn't understand why she isn't.
XY, and others like her, denies that she is antisemitic. She feels neglected and is dominated by that feeling from infancy; she feels she is unfairly treated; she says a lot of common antisemitic memes but feels good in herself - she doesn't feel is bad bad, mummy says she's a good girl - she knows antisemitism is bad so obviously she isn't antisemitic.
Many people, including XY, hate unfairness. Without education, without wise teachers, XY has taught herself from books; she has a great respect for the printed word; she believes it when what she reads supports what she feels. She has read that the British founded the state of Israel but that this was unfair on the Palestinians, (she has also read that the British were antisemitic, citing a story about a British Lord who saved a Jewish boy and his aunt from the Nazis)… XY is not actually stupid but her thinking is dominated by infantile feelings.
Culture 6
It seems to me that, underneath the fury and blind hatred, many, perhaps most antisemites are very similar to Ms XY: neglected little children who don't understand why they are not chosen.
And why are the Jews the Chosen People? Because theywere chosen to give the Idea of the One God to the world; they had the Idea and didn't keep it secret; they shared it with the world, but the world seems to be frightened … Why? Because the Idea of the One God leads to directly to freedom of thought. And the idea of freedom of thought frightens adults who were neglected little children. Why? Perhaps because neglected infants grow up without confidence in themselves.
—————--
Omniscient, all wise; Omnipotent, all powerful; Omnipresent, everywhere. God created everything in his own image and likeness, and, though He has no face or form and you cannot see Him, you can see him everywhere in His Creation. You are free to talk directly to God, without having to go through a priest, and knowing that immediately gives freedom of thought: God is in the mind, is in your own mind, and you are free to explore your own mind.
The first commandment is, You must have no other gods but Me, and again this allows freedom from distraction, allows one to explore one's own thoughts and ideas.
The Idea of the One God seems to me to be almost a given in nature, and provides the means to understand what is natural, a route to the reality of the sublime.
Who else should think for me? Who knows better than I what it is to be me? Who else can see what I see, feel what I experience, know what I have learnt?
It seems to me that Judaism is all about freedom; but for as long as there have been Jews there have been antisemites, men and women who are afraid of freedom, who teach their children to be afraid … Why? Because homo sapiens is a badly frightened species.
The Idea of the One God provides the means to free ourselves from our dreadful fear.
Culture 7
The Civil Commission has published its report on the unspeakable acts of sexual violence committed by Hamas against Israeli woman on 7 October 2023.
In the Sunday Times yesterday, an article by Camilla Long details some of the crimes of Hamas against these Jewish women; I read, then skimmed the article, the horror was almost overwhelming and I could clearly understand Netanyahu's policy. I wanted every Muslim expelled from this country, sent out of Europe …
The behaviour of these men is monstrous, but they are human: it is possible to unravel their motives. There is one motive for such acts: Hamas are afraid.
They would deny it. Without doubt they see themselves as heroes; big, strong men, full of fire, on a holy mission, in a holy war. But their acts reveal their fear and we must recognise their fear, and the nature of their fear. It is our job.
Hitler, Hamas and all the other terrorists through history are homo sapiens and homo sapiens is afraid, emerged afraid from a long evolution haunted by fear. I wish I were clever and could demonstrate; I wish I were a genius and could prove it. But I can only say it, write it: homo sapiens is a frightened beast.
Judaism challenges that inbred fear, gives the world the One God. Jews are the messengers of freedom.
The terrorists have fear pumped into them from infancy; they are taught that freedom is dangerous.
The world needs an Ayatollah in Iran who understands that freedom is a blessing and that God wants human beings to be free.
NB Culture 7
The Wikipedia article notes doubts about the Civil Commission report. However, it seems very clear that sexual violence against women was committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and during the captivity of hostages. There is no doubt that sexual violence is often used as a weapon.
——————--
Culture 8
October 1973 the front cover of the Evening Standard changed overnight from our brave Israeli boys to our poor Arab boys. It took me a while to smell the oil beneath. What is the relationship between the media and government? I think we should be told.
It's my job to find out how we got into this mess, so it is my business, before you condemn me as a busybody, a fool, a meddler. Do you have any idea what this present antisemitism is doing to the soul of England? Of Europe? Do the people know what they're getting themselves into? And why doesn't parliament take a firm, strong, honest and reassuring, stand? Is it because we're still in hock to oil? but worse now that we're drowning in it.
It's no one's fault. Oh, but we're in a mess. We must have the courage to look in order to try and free ourselves.
——————--
There is a 3,000 year old outrage among some Islamists* who think they are the chosen people, because Ishmael was older than Isaac; and think along the lines, 'Ishmael is the first born, therefore he takes precedence over Isaac; the Jews lied and they still lie…' It is unclear how widespread this view is among Muslims.
Among the English antisemites, there is a glee; even a sense of carnival; like small defiant children who know it's naughty but want to do it anyway; they want to be free; and don't see that the One God is the way to freedom. It's simple, but the antisemites can't see that; and feel along the lines, 'all that God stuff, stupid; much more fun to gang up and kill the Jews'.
Everyone wants to be free of the restraints that bind us. Everyone wants to be chosen; loved; held in mummy's warm and nourishing embrace, and then to be free to explore and enjoy the world we live in, certain that she will always support us. But that's not how homo sapiens is, that's not how we do things.
When it's all over, as it will be, then looking at the horror they have been part of, people will feel bad, but they'll be in denial… it weren't me, mister. I never done it. S'not fair… like little children in the playground.
And it all starts in the cultural infancy of our species when our ancestors were traumatised by a natural catastrophe, which is too terrifying to face. Terrorism, antisemitism provides a distraction from the reality. It's all tragic.
—————--
* see The Three Faces of Monotheism by George Frankl, the secttion on Islam.
Culture 9
Most Christians worship the brutal and bloody sacrifice of their young god; many Muslims are ruled, in the name of Allah, by excessively harsh and bloody laws. It is clear that both these religions keep very strong links to the old religion of vengeance, dominated by the angry goddess.
In the mythical trial of Orestes, Athena (goddess of wisdom) drove the Erinnyes (agents of the goddess of blood vengeance) underground, telling them that men would still worship them. Athena was right: deep in the unconscious minds of many men, blood vengeance is still worshipped. It is an error to suppose, because we don't openly worship the angry goddess now, that she doesn't still haunt humanity.
We recognise the goddess as the female principle, and have examined the question and origins of why she is angry. We know that the mother is most important. We recognise that the very angry mother is a cause of great fear to her child. We may readily understand that the angry goddess, the infuriated female principle, is a cause of terror to her people.
The Christian worship of the crucified Christ, the harsh Islamic laws, are evidence of the worship of the angry goddess.
Judaism challenges the power of the angry goddess, and thus frightens those Christians and Muslims who still worship her, and appease her great power with their blood sacrifices.
In Biblical times, when the Jewish nation was attacked, the people fought back. In the centuries of persecution when they had no nation, they couldn't fight back but they endured and kept true to God; now they have a nation again and when they are attacked the people of Israel fight back, and what else should they do? It's a very serious question.
Culture 10
A young woman has a step-daughter, 4, and a step-son, 8; she forces the little girl to get into a bath of scalding hot water; the child suffers serious burns and dies five days later in hospital. The woman forces her step-son to lie, and the little girl's death is declared accidental. 48 years later, the step-son, now a man in his 50s, walks into a police station and tells them what had happened. The woman, now 67 years old, has been tried and found guilty and will be sentenced in due course. But why did she kill that little girl? What was she thinking?
We are born good and loving; and that is our natural state, our birthright; it is in us, in all of us. To torture, to kill a child should be impossible. It is natural to protect babies, to feel affection for the young. But, in our species, that natural goodness and love is repressed, blocked. The good and loving energy is blocked and we are twisted, emotionally deformed. It is horrible.
She was a good looking young woman, bold, sassy, desirable. It seems likely that the little girl evoked repressed memories of her own childhood, that her step-daughter reminded the woman of her own true self, and it was too painful; she loved herself but had been taught that was wrong, dangerous; and her feelings for the child threatened to overthrown the skin, the social cover she had grown to protect herself, to hide inside; the young woman was so disturbed that had to destroy the child to protect herself.
And that is what homo sapiens does, and has done for two hundred thousand years or more, that is what we have evolved to do: we turn aside from love. And it is our 'wisdom'.
Culture 11
The first time I baby sat was for a young couple; the baby was maybe 6 weeks old; as soon as the parents left, the baby started crying; she was inconsolable; all I could do was to hold her. So I held her until they came back.
It occurs to me that homo sapiens, as a whole, is like that baby and needs to be held, comforted, until mummy comes home. Of course, homo sapiens isn't one entity, so how would it work?
Then it occurred to me that the idea of the One God , Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, is precisely the comfort homo sapiens very much needs.
If only we understood.
Culture 12
The One God allows us to be our true selves. The idea is brilliant. We know from Frankl's Proof that we are fundamentally good and that all babies are born good and loving; therefore we know that our true selves are good and loving. Our species has been desperately confused; the idea of the One God provides the way to reality: in essence we are a reflection of God; fundamentally, God is us.
It is very simple, but also very difficult. If I understood, I could easily explain, but I don't and I can't.
Whether or not God exists, I really cannot say, but the idea of God certainly exists (although the moral philosophers would perhaps have arguments); there are many ideas of God, probably as many different ideas of God as there are different individuals thinking about God, and to some extent every idea of God is, must be personal. I know that the idea of God to which I was introduced when I was a toddler opened my mind and was delightful, and seemed to me completely right; completely; every aspect: Omniscient (all wise) - difficult words were translated int English) - Omnipotent (all powerful), Omnipresent (everywhere); he created men and women in his own image and likeness, he created the world and everything in it and though you can't see him as he has no face or form, you can see him everywhere in everything. He has no name, but we may call him God. (As far as I remember that was what the Rabbi said.) And it was wonderful.
It felt right; and it still does, an abstract in our concrete world; an idea limitless, vast, and so good. A universe to explore. I love that idea of God and would be very much poorer without it.
Culture 13
One more thing of great importance I learnt from that talk on the radio is that we are allowed to argue with God.
George Frankl much later told me that God wants us to argue and debate with him; and when you argue with God, you are thinking for yourself.
———-
George once said that his idea of heaven was to sit at the table and talk to God. My idea of heaven is to be free to talk with friends, like George, to exchange ideas, to laugh; free to love; free, to be free.
Culture 14
It shouldn't be this difficult. We, homo sapiens, have got life wrong. You know it as well as I do.
Our fear of death, which I share, is very difficult to understand. Life is … there is really no … Life and death are a cycle, stages, as it were, of being. I'm sure this has been explained many times but it's new to me and I'm trying to put words to what is a feeling, perhaps an instinct, that has been dormant within me, perhaps crushed by the experience of being human. I wouldn't be surprised; I've spent a lot of my life hiding, from 'them': my mother and sisters, teachers and on and on; now I'm afraid of the kind people, who are poised to 'care' and keep me alive as a human for as long as possible - how will I ever …? Oh dear. Well, that's by the bye.
Contrary to the way we interpret it, life is interesting, exciting and pleasurable, loving. When we understand that, we will lose our fear of dying, and will recognise that death is simply another stage of living. And, though we have had the more or less horrible experience of being human, death will free us; I know this. We will be free.
That may be the cause of our fear of death. Freedom frightens us.