Where to hide these days? In what recession of memory? It is certainly a comfortable one, in which nothing has changed. But by now it is already the memory of a memory and so far the road is a twisted clew of synapses. Childhood is the safest destination, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to get there.
“Even the smallest flower has its roots in infinity.” It’s a phrase from a book I recently just opened (Das Sanduhrbuch by Ernst Jünger). If I remember correctly, so said Borges, that you can read the history of the entire Universe in the spots of a leopard.
I do not know what others believe, but when I think of this idea, although magnificent, it seems very tiring. Most likely, it is the fatigue that made me think that in a way, what makes us people special, is our freshness. None of us are ancient. Yes, we have the same eons in the back, but this is of little interest to us. The unconscious, yes, is ancient. But consciousness is new. It suddenly appears, at one point, and disappears just as suddenly, after only a few decades. Decades, not millennia, not millions, not billions of years. We have no time to get tired, to get old, to stiffen. And we are our consciences and nothing else. Everything else is repeatable, every feature, every eye color, every shade of hair, every trace of temperament, every gesture, every word, every whim, all of this is found in many people. But consciousness is always unique and very lonely, unfortunately! It’s good that we have empathy from time to time, so at least we suspect that there are other consciences around us, and luckily we stay young. I suspect that Jünger’s flower is unconscious. Otherwise I can not explain how it supports the boundlessness of its roots.
Painting by Vladimir-Kush
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Yes consciousness is unique. And Camus mentioned that the Absurd was the briefness of human life. He died absurdly in a car accident with his friend Gallimard. Just remembered a poem by Borges, about Christ on a cross, “What use is to me that this man suffered on the cross if I’m suffering now?” It may sound selfish, but lemme find the poem… on my shelves… B. Borges… “Cristo en la cruz y otros poemas”. Must be on the net, and you probably get translation.
Au revoir.
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Oh, how much I love Borges! He has a short poem about the moon that has haunted me for years.
La Luna (J.L.Borges)
Hay tanta soledad en ese oro.
La luna de las noches no es la luna
que vio el primer Adán. Los largos siglos
de la vigilia humana la han colmado
de antiguo llanto. Mírala. Es tu espejo.
It was told that just before his death, Plato had a dream in which he appeared as a marvelous white swan – the bird sacred to the god Apollo – jumping from tree to tree, evading hunters who strove in vain to hunt him down with their arrows. Simmias, one of Socrates’ followers, interpreted the hunters in Plato’s dream to represent those who attempt and fail to decipher his thought. I assume that this interpretation of Plato’s dream can be applied to Borges’ labyrinthine work and thought as well. Thank you very much!
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Gracias a ti. (Hablas Español también entonces?)
I will think about the interpretation next time I re-read Borges.
Felices sueños.
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No, unfortunately I don’t speak Spanish, but it sounds very Romanian :))) (At least, to me, it seems so!)
” Luna
E atât de multă solitudine în aurul acesta.
Luna nopților nu e aceeași
Cu cea văzută de Adam cel dintâi. Lungile veacuri
De vigilență umană, au umplut-o
cu cânt străvechi. Privește-o. Îți e oglindă.” 🙂
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It is a cousin language. You guys descend from Roman colons. And I speak or understand all Romance languages, except Romanian. I understand some “changes”, like the suffix “itate” = “idad” = “ité”. I understand Multu, Multa = moult in old French. But I think you also have Slavic imports (You say “da” for “si”). that complicate things for me. I will copy your Romanian version together with the Spanish one and compare. Au revoir
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Yes, we are kind of cousins, but the Roman Empire has conquered only 17% of Dacia … Romania has a much older civilization and history than that …If you go to Belgium this year or next year until April, the Europalia Festival is dedicated to Romania …
https://europalia.eu/en
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I will try to learn more of Romania. Multumesc for the tips. Bon week-end mon amie.
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Danke, gleichfalls!
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Unfortunately, Belgium is out this year, we will spend xmas and New Year in Tullum. And won’t go to Europe until July. 🙂
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Just compared the two versions. Fantastic. I understand more. Merci
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Haha,…Foarte, foarte bine! 😉
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Très bien? 🙂
Yours is a challenging language…
Although… once used to say:
Fort bien…
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Yes “très bien” or fort bien… I know that Italians use “molto bene” … I know that Italians use “molt bene”, we use “mult bine!” as a wish addressed to someone…
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Yes, très bien, or “fort bien”… I know that Italians use “molto bene”, or ” muy bien” in Spanish …we use “mult bine!” as a wish addressed to someone….:-)
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I need to spend a few months in Romania… 😉
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Yes, a great idea!
Romania is an extraordinarily beautiful country! Prince Charles spends about half a year in Romania every year … If you want to know more about us, you can watch “Wild Carpathia” on YouTube, a series about Romania made by the BBC….And the BBC narrator Charlie Otlley, fell in love with Romania and a beautiful Romanian girl, 🙂 and bought property in Transylvania … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKV6qPYDqwE&list=PLX-LY-4jDsWb6gb46x5PGBcoh3WpsQzPA
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Duly noted. So Charles has a castle in the Carpathes? 😉
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Yes, he restored some old boyar mansions…If you want you can even be his guest…:)..(I’m not kidding) 🙂
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Humans consciousness is intriguing and with the physics formula of “The arrow of time”, there might be something there….or not.
This was deep, I think you put dynamite on my brain, you burned my last neuron. Good.
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Consciousness is a debatable topic that has no concrete definition. It is not observable nor is it measurable in any way that we can define to this point.
It is a beautiful expression in German – “Es gibt nichts, was es nicht gibt” – there is nothing that does not exist… So, if it is to consider the “arrow of time” it means that: “All that you must do, you’ve already done”. How reassuring the thought that we were once giants, that we were once perfect and somehow immortal, that, if there is no evidence that we have lived, no one can say precisely that we have died…:)..I like this idea! … Thank you! 🙂
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