unknowable – Dreamyoga

“Cormorant is a contraction probably derived from Latin corvus marinus, “sea raven”; in the early 19th century, the similarly derived spelling “corvorant” was sometimes used. Cormoran is the Cornish name of the sea giant in the tale of Jack the Giant Killer. Indeed, “sea raven” or analogous terms were the usual terms for cormorants in Germanic languages until after the Middle Ages. The French explorer André Thévet commented in 1558: “the beak [is] similar to that of a cormorant or other corvid”, which demonstrates that the erroneous belief that the birds were related to ravens lasted at least to the 16th century.”

Of late we have had a cormorant on the bank of the pond between it and the river. Today there were two, they looked to be a breeding pair. At the same time heron the larger has been in the water. The heron is more nervous than the cormorants who must be Breton morvran. Having a pair in the garden is a first for us. I can get within twenty metres when they are on land. They just watch me. The heron would have flown off if I get that close. Cormorants fly better than herons and take off is quicker.

I should look to the cormorant totem.

Cormorants are diving birds at home in water and air. They dive deep into the watery depths. They co-parent. They shit good fertilizer. The Chinese train them to fish for them. They are at the smart end of the bird family.

Depending on whom you read this totem is about diving deep into the unknown confident that you will find morsels there. It is about looking deeper for solutions and answers. Looking deeper to fathom more profound meaning. It also about balancing air and water.

I am a little bit puzzled because it is tricky for me to imagine something which is far into the unknown for me. Perhaps I am blasé. I have had some experiences that many might consider strange, weird etc…

At first pass whatever it is that might be unknown seems likely to be proximal unknown as opposed to distal unknown. That is the sort of unknown which lies well within the normal remit of human folly and various sociopolitical interaction. There may be unexpected but that can differ from completely unknown.

Personally I have no pressing things which need to be solved. I am not in need of answers or explanations.

Upcoming on the cards is, for now, still my hip operation. This could bring up something unknown from the depths and need hidden reserves from me. I am due another prostate specific antigen test and a whole heap of preoperative blood tests. I expect that my iron levels will have increased a bit more in line with the general rustiness of my body.

An obvious unknown or rather a forgotten might be living without pain in my right hip.

The thing about the unknown is that it is by definition unknown. The deep unknown lies close in perceptual “space” to the unknowable. That would be an interesting turn up for the books. I am game.

Something which is just another unfamiliar variant of human folly is the more likely.

We shall see…

Many do not know with humility where for them the known ends and the unknown begins.

Moreover, their assessment of what is known may be inaccurate in that they imagine they know more than they actually do. Anyone who has taught undergraduate science can testify that there are many students who imagine they know more than they do. They may be confident and exhibit braggadocio concerning their knowledge. They may even pass exams and imagine a mastery over a subject when in fact they have just passed an exam. A qualification is not synonymous with full knowledge. The measured knowledge is qualified to a yard stick. Knowledge begins post exam in its subsequent application. When you have to teach something in public, then you learn. Each time you teach it a new facet, previously un-noted, may be revealed. You could say that teaching is also a process of learning for the so-called teacher.

It stands to reason then, that the scale and scope of the unknown can not even be estimated. Therefore, it cannot be factored in, in a reliable way. There may be some things, concepts and states of awareness which are unknowable, particularly so while in meaty carnate human form.

You do not know what you don’t know and are, by definition, unaware of the gaping hole in your knowledge. Though you may self-diagnose prematurely as omniscient. There are many who imagine themselves smart and with wide, deep and profound knowledge of life, the universe and everything.

To give a trite example what it feels like to be dead is unknown when alive, yet because we all die, it is not unknowable because we all get a chance to experience it. The level to which we are conscious in the death state may be variable. We don’t know for sure.

In the new age literature, I encounter many who talk about the buddhic and atmic planes or awarenesses. There is a certainty in language which is not necessarily backed up by personal experience. It is for them a theory, a hypothesis and not an experiential reality. In the blue books opus direct and continued experience of these states, in the model hypothesis, is as a result of initiation and evolution.

Humans like to model in their own image and may draw glowing enlightened figures, perhaps partially because states of awareness and consciousness of highly abstract natures are not easily diagrammatically rendered. In the Ancient Wisdom traditions, the atmic “plane” is sometime referred to as the nirvanic plane, implying it is the awareness of the post nirvanic being lacking a causal vehicle having blown it off. They may fail to imagine awe and the austere nature of universe, perhaps they imagine a soft radiant glow, with comforting pastel shades. Cosmogenesis is not nice and fluffy; it is cosmic and violent beyond comprehension. The scope is far beyond human experience. We can just do our best to observe, model and understand.

For a scientist the use of the two dimensional nomenclature of plane is very unhelpful and distracting. Plane implies matter and physicality {excluding imaginary numbers}. When I have been reading these things, I find that the legacy nomenclature from the Victorian mediums and early twentieth century occultists off putting and something which I need to put to one side to get to the gist. The use of etheric “plane” instead of emotional is old fashioned.

I have seen the word Toltec described as man of knowledge and uttered with a bit of awe. I have yet to meet a so-called Toltec who can solve Schrödinger’s equation for a particle in a three dimensional box. Tens of thousands of undergraduates do this every year. There is a whopping great gap in knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology and engineering, in my opinion. They may have knowledge but it is far from complete.

Similarly, many scientists may profess profound knowledge. They may pooh-pooh magic, chakras, ghosts and exorcism. They may even soap box. I’ll wager that I could spend the wee small hours in a haunted house with them and have significantly less fear. Even though ghosts do not exist, of course. If I started to do a rite of exorcism, they would probably shit their pants.

Both groups have the unknown and the extent of it is also unknown. I could play on words and say that the extent of the unknown is the unknowable for any give life because we can only map out so much unknown in ~ 85 standard earth years.

I’ll make a statement; it is common for human beings to imagine themselves more knowledgeable than they actually are. There is an arrogance which is out of proportion with their tens of kilograms of meat measured against a planetary and cosmic scale. Yet they have trouble not being adamant and assertive about things which they know little or nothing about.

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Do you know where the unknown for you starts?

Have you an inkling of just how vast that unknown is for you?

Tag: unknowable

The Cormorant Totem – Morvran – Morfran – Bilidowcar

The Unknown and The Unknowable