Ancient Culture # 10: The Apocalypse
-For the Uncensored!
For every generation, there’s this fascination with the end of the world. The end of the world is a scary proposition. This has appeared in many forms in Ancient Culture. For the Norse, there’s the Ragnarok, where is found in the Prose and Poetic Edda. Edda, which originated in the 13th century, is the handbook of Norse Mythology. Ragnarok is found in the Völupsa, translated from Ursula Dronke, as a female seer tells Odin,
Fylliz fiǫrvi feigra manna,
rýðr ragna siǫt rauðom dreyra.
Svǫrt verða sólskin of sumor eptir,
veðr ǫll válynd. Vitoð ér enn, eða hvat?
It sates itself on the life-blood of fated men,
paints red the powers' homes with crimson gore.
Black become the sun's beams in the summers that follow,
weathers all treacherous. Do you still seek to know? And what?[i]
What has come to pass is that the Apocalypse has always been a primary source of uncertainty in mythology.
What the Apocalypse stands to mean for most is the end of all things. The experience that we have will not save us from death. Most of the time Apocalypse is the end of all things we hold dear. We can’t bring our possessions with us. We can’t fight our way out of it. If man could cure diseases, we could live forever, and like that saying goes, “There’s more money in treating a disease than curing it.”
But such as this requires more knowledge as the contingency plan as we have, there is none. No one would want to know the end as it makes us all uncomfortable. It reminds us of our mortality. It’s the reason why you never hang out with that one friend who spouted death and probably listened to sad music in the dark. You think that life, through hard work is going to help you achieve and buy all the things you want. It won’t fill the empty consumerist heart you have, and nothing will stop the end.
That’s what most people don’t like to hear. But this is not a new subject in ancient culture. Death is not a surprise to any culture. The Mayans sacrificed untold millions because instead of calling it eugenics, they thought that they displeased the Gods. Much of religion could be thought of opiate of the masses. The understatement of the century is: we are all going to die, but it’s not new. Dying is not new and the ancient culture try to increase an understanding of the Apocalypse.
Much of death in Ancient culture is the final perspective of what a life can lead. Many who lead wealthy lives will not be able to bring it with them. Each generation sees a different meaning for each.
Ancient culture used magic and symbolism before science entered the conversation, and explanations of death in ancient culture are represented by various symbolism. The Plague, A Flood, and a new beginning that would create such paradise anew. It seems to be related to weather and famine, in some cultures, and also a small form of eugenics with human sacrifice. What much of Apocalypse can be gathered from ancient texts is a few positions. It either should calm you that you’re going to die or you’re going to obsess on it.
When you lose a job, it’s the same feeling. When you have to make more money to keep up your wealthy lifestyle but then lose your job, it can feel like the end. But in ancient culture, they looked at it literally. The end of existence, in ancient culture, can also lead to rebirth of new life.
The Phoenix, in Greek Mythology, represents a perspective of rebirth. When you lose that old self in order to find your new self is one sense an end to an old life. Something must be sacrificed in order for you to achieve victory. An argument could be made that Jesus sacrifices his body of his own free will to appease God, but with his resurrection, is like the Phoenix, ascending to Heaven. So it does introduce the idea of life after death. The idea that a child should become an adult. He should get rid of his toys in order to have financial independence is a modern myth of Apocalypse, to a lesser degree. Or a farmer must become a warrior in order to protect his village and he must learn from a great warrior, like in Akira Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai.” Even the Nicholas Cage movie Knowing manages to address the issues of human knowledge and how we really can’t stop the apocalypse. Therefore addressing the fallacy of human knowledge and how disbelief is part of human nature, and universal culture.
What this proves is that no matter what story you can find, death will always happen, but to not make it a small point. The existence of the Apocalypse is meant to teach us how much we have to hold on and fight for, until we perish, and if we live, we can drink beer and tell tales. If we lose, we’re legends. As Morgan said in Berserk, “A Legend for a Legend.”
[i]Dronke, Ursula (Trans.) (1997). The Poetic Edda: Volume II: Mythological Poems. Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-811181-9. P. 18.
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 19 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline, Apocalypse Soldier, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His next series, City of Sand is out now:https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/city-of-sand/hardcover/product-rke9jz.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. Every little bit helps in the war against Big Tech. Thanks for reading.