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Why Humans Are the Sorriest of Species … Apocalyptic Foretellings Hidden in Myths of Eden, Prometheus, Pandora, Icarus, Cain and Abel: 21st Century and Its Discontents, Part 11
Kaleidoscope of Postmodern Life, Part Eleven: Prometheus, Meat-Eating, Pandora, Eden, the Apple, the Fall, Cain, Abel, and When and Why Human Life Became All About Work
Meat-Eating and Apocalypse…First Falls and Last
After writing the previous section on fire, meat, Prometheus, and Icarus, and in subsequent research into the Prometheus myth, I found there is far more connection in the myth to the eating of meat than I realized. 
Also, the myth’s elements underscore the idea in the previous article that in stealing fire/ eating meat, we set off the developments that would lead to our apocalyptic prognosis today. Further, it is clear that the Prometheus myth is the Greek analogue to the Judaic myth of Eden and the Fall, which supports my thinking that the apple in the Garden of Eden represents meat—meat eating…hunting…killing of planetmates.
The Greek Fall from Grace—Prometheus
Prometheus’s Meat Trick
In the Prometheus myth, the fire stealing started with a trick that Prometheus played on Zeus. Prometheus—midway between gods and men, a Titan—gave the god two offerings from which Zeus was to choose. He gave meat and bones. Zeus chose the bones, supposedly because it was packaged more attractively. This is said to be the basis for why humans eat meat, according to ancient understandings.
Zeus—Not Amused
But when Zeus realized the 
trick, he was pissed … understandably. He hid fire from humans in retribution. Subsequently, Prometheus stole the fire and gave it to mankind. But this angered Zeus even more. So, this time to take revenge, he sent the first woman, Pandora, to live with men.
Ha Ha … Very Funny, Zeus. Thanks a Lot for the Pandora
Pandora literally means “all gifts.” So it is that Pandora represents all the blessings that come with human advancement, represented by harnessing fire. But Pandora, as we all know, brings all troubles as well.
She carries a jar that, opened, releases all “evils, harsh pain and troublesome diseases which give men death.”
Pandora shuts the jar but it is too late, and many of the evils had already escaped. Interestingly, what remains in the closed jar along with the rest of the evils is hope. This is a theme that I return to again and again in this book and the subsequent one, The Great Reveal, in discussing what we need to do about our dire situation: That is, turn and face it, delve deeper into it and not turn away, for therein lies our only real hope.
Eden – the Biblical Fall – Life Becomes Endless Work and Struggle
But notice the parallels with the myth of Eden. In the Biblical rendering, the eating of the apple—which I say represents eating meat—results in the end of easy existence and that from then on humans survive only through “the sweat of one’s brow.”
The Original “Leisure Society”
Sure enough, the end of the nomadic and 
vegetarian existence of early humans—called the first “affluent society” because it required only three hours a day of work to garner what was needed for survival—occurs with the introduction of hunting, then agriculture, then husbandry. [The Great Reveal and Footnote 1]
Strenuous Living, Slavery to Survival
And in the Bible, we notice that immediately after Eden, the “second generation” of humans is seen working strenuously to survive as represented by Cain and Able, who were one a tiller of the soil and the other a herder of animals.
That not bad enough, but then after Cain slew Abel, like a second fall from grace God added an even greater load of hard work. Cain was told that to punish him, the earth that had soaked up the blood he’d spilled would resist aiding him in producing his crops and he and those who came after him would have strenuous work in eking sustenance from 
her and a hard life in simply surviving.
As an aside, notice how whenever we talk about the deepest structures of our mind—and myths provide a glimpse into that—we see the perinatal gestalt. For the Earth here—the placenta—is no longer rich, nourishing, and helpful but, as is the case for the prenate in the late stages of gestation, is impoverished of oxygen and nutrients and less vital, less supportive of one’s continued living.
Promethean Fall – Defiance is Punished by Hard Work, Like in Eden
And the Prometheus myth also has this same sequence as in Eden and the Fall of a defiance of the ways of Nature and God followed by a punishment and suffering, but also by strenuous work as being the lot of humans from then on. For as Hesiod relates the myth, Zeus did more than take fire from humans in revenge for being tricked out of the meat that Prometheus first deprived him of (and for that you can read that humans 
took from God/Nature the determination of life and death, which in our deciding to kill planetmates, we most assuredly did, see next post), but Zeus also took from humans “the means of life.”
And the consequences of this are similar to being cast out of Eden. For if fire 
had not been stolen…meat not eaten by humans…humans not adopted hunting, horticulture, husbandry, 
as Hesiod puts it, “you would easily do work enough in a day to supply you for a full year even without working; soon would you put away your rudder over the smoke, and the fields worked by ox and sturdy mule would run to waste.”
Continue with Deep Thoughts on The Fall – On Sacrifice, Dominion Over Death, Meat, and Murder … Beginning Our Apocalypse: 21st Century and Its Discontents, Part 12
Return to Sorry, Billy Joel, But We Did Start the Fire: Why Humans Are So Big on Burning…And Its Apocalyptic Prognosis For Us Today: 21st Century and Its Discontents, Part 10
Footnote
1. Excerpted from “From Hunting and Gathering to Sowing and Reaping”
Cultural evolution can be defined as the process of developing the tools and skills to deal with certain challenges. Therefore challenges present the key stimulus for any kind of development. The challenge to survive as a hunter/gatherers is not inconsiderable – and early humans met the challenge for hundreds of thousands of years, without depleting their natural environment. Agriculture was invented about 10000 years ago and many of the environmental crisis we face today are directly related to this paradigm shift, from the destruction of the world’s forests in order to grow crops, to the depletion of land due to monocultural plantations, to salination and a thousand other woes.
Early humans were nomads. They roamed within a certain range. Trespassing into another group’s range could result in conflict. However, due to population limits, each group’s range was quite extensive. It is often assumed that finding food must have been incredibly challenging and time consuming, yet, research has demonstrated that in favourable habitats only an average of 3h per day are needed to collect food, plus some more time for preparation. Anyone who has ever even partially lived on foraged foods knows that nature supplies plentifully – each thing in its season. It is also a popular idea to imagine that people were moving around constantly, only remaining in one place for a matter of days. But there is no reason to assume such restlessness. It seems far more likely that people would move from campground to campground in accordance with the seasons, in tune with the things they would find in each place. And it seems reasonable to assume that they would remain in each place long enough to gather and process for transport whatever gifts Mother Nature had offered. Only in areas that are particularly hostile, such as deserts or the circumpolar regions, would frequent moving be necessary since food supplies are less abundant.
(At the 1966 ‘Man the Hunter’ conference, Marshall Sahlins presented a paper entitled, “Notes on the Original Affluent Society,” in which he challenged the popular view of hunter-gatherers living lives “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short,” as Thomas Hobbes had put it in 1651. According to Sahlins, ethnographic data indicated that hunter-gatherers worked far fewer hours and enjoyed more leisure than typical members of industrial society, and they still ate well. Their “affluence” came from the idea that they are satisfied with very little in the material sense. This, he said, constituted a Zen economy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter-gatherer)
More at “From Hunting and Gathering to Sowing and Reaping” at http://www.sacredearth.com/ethnobotany/food/civilization.php
Continue with Deep Thoughts on The Fall – On Sacrifice, Dominion Over Death, Meat, and Murder … Beginning Our Apocalypse: 21st Century and Its Discontents, Part 12
Return to Sorry, Billy Joel, But We Did Start the Fire: Why Humans Are So Big on Burning…And Its Apocalyptic Prognosis For Us Today: 21st Century and Its Discontents, Part 10
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The Prasads — “Blessings” from Planetmates — point to a major overview of us humans extending over an incredibly long time: The Great Reveal, The Prasads Begin
The Great Reveal – Arranged by the Planetmates for the benefit of humans on the eve of the biggest challenge ever to face humans or even the planet at any time of its existence
The Prasads Begin – 1st Through 12th Prasad:
The Great Reveal, Chapters Nine thru Twenty – Links
The Great Reveal, Chapter Nine: The First Prasad – “Unapproved and Hidden”
Just released, here’s the latest. The Great Reveal–arranged by the Planetmates for the benefit of humans on the eve of the biggest challenge ever to face humans or even the planet at any time of its existence–is being released in snippets.
I received this; they call it “The First Prasad,” so no doubt there will be more to follow. Stay tuned. I’ll continue to update here with whatever I find out, as soon as I find out.
“We thought it would help if…the one and only constant…was the hole in their understanding of the the Nature of All”
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMANS
There were always those of you, many from even the past, whose names and words you would know; these trailblazers into truth’s jungles, these gardeners of consciousness….
More – Ch 9 First Prasad
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The Great Reveal, Chapter Ten: The Second Prasad – Truth Become Invisible
“Real hope” and “challenge” are the words I am hearing most often, as I seek to position myself closer and closer.
The Missives are arriving randomly-timed but with regularity. We could be on the verge of something big. The Prasads so far seem to point to some major overview of us humans 
extending over an incredibly long time, not to mention the possibilities that arise from this first ever category of a “species” for a source. Anything can happen but the indications are that it is to our benefit; Prasad is the Sanskrit word for a blessing from a saint or a divine being.
I’ll stay on top of this. I’ll make sure whatever I get, whatever it says, I will post. Of this, I make my solemn vow. It’s beginning to feel that I should make that sort of commitment, lest I should be tempted to shy from parts that I, myself, might want to slant or overlook. It’s guaranteed that something this big isn’t going to be all complimentary; but it must also be said that I’ve received assurances that while shining a bright light, the Missives are far more positive than they are critical….
More – Ch 10 Second Prasad
***
The Great Reveal, Chapter Eleven: The Third Prasad – Humans Only Half Ready for Life at Birth
Over 25,000 years Have Humans of All Cultures at All Times Been Immunized From Even an Inkling of the Unapproved and Hidden
Human’s Planetmates pull off the greatest reveal of all time: Over 25,000 years have humans of all cultures at all times been immunized from even an inkling of the Unapproved and Hidden. This refusal (fear) to know the deepest truths of all has been a big part of why it is humans who can do so much against even their own interests. But with all lives in the balance, they are no longer allowed their ignorance. The Truth ends up being something humans would fear: It shows the lie to all human’s vanity. But it also reveals the most wonderful truth that could ever, ever be even imagined….
More – Ch 11 Third Prasad
***
The Great Reveal, Chapter Twelve: The Fourth Prasad – Origins of Ego – Human Superiority a Defense Against Actual Inferiority Relative to Planetmates (Animal Kingdom)
Swan was First Consciousness at The Fourth Prasad.
"[T]his superiority defense against the underlying inferiority feelings is built up increasingly to beat back into the Unapproved and Hidden the nagging reality of your confused, unsteady consciousness."
This peculiar trait of being half born is nowhere, among humans, seen to be of any consequence. When noted, it is spun as evidence supporting your belief in your superiority over all others.
But the belief itself was a spawn of that difference of being not ready at birth, dependent and vulnerable, and therefore owing one’s very life to the sufficient ministrations of fully growns….
More – Ch 12 Fourth Prasad
***
The Great Reveal, Chapter Thirteen: The Fifth Prasad – Your “Wordism,” A Word Cave Prison
PlanetMates tell us “Your Wordism–is an aberration causing you to never really hear or understand each other.”
This is highly reminiscent of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” imho. Especially, “your minds — suffused and distracted with a non-stop stream of non-sensical repetitions of word symbols – imprison and isolate you in a world of swirling mental “bookmarks” of reality, tagged to, but only dimly reflective of What’s Real, and keeping you blind to the wondrous reality itself in which other beings live in clarity of purpose and life meaning, and with direct intra- and interspecies and inter-entity communication….”
More – Ch 13 Fifth Prasad
***
The Great Reveal, Chapter Fourteen: The Sixth Prasad – Ego as Opiate
Twisted Unwholesome Roots, Wrong-gettedness
Below is the entire text of what I received. Oh, yes. I’m sure everyone will just love the hell out of what the planetmates are saying now!! (ha ha ha!!!)
Fox was First Consciousness at The Sixth Prasad.
"This mitigation [of your lack, your scar] is accomplished through the creation of an alien consciousness construct which serves to both separate humans from the realization of your lack...also it serves as an alternate but OPPOSITE construction of self—opposite from the truth of your nature...."
So instead of the truth that, for reasons unknown, you were unfortunate enough to be deprived of the full and perfect nurturing of a near perfect divine Nature, as other species are, until they are ready to be in flesh… instead of the obvious truth — obvious to all other species — that this prematurity leaves a scar of hurt and rejection, for starters; but also, helplessness and hopelessness, second; and third, that this occurs right at the beginning of known flesh existence so as to create the very unusually twisted unwholesome roots of humans….
More – Ch 14 Sixth Prasad
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The Great Reveal, Chapter Fifteen: The Seventh Prasad – Becoming Human, Bipedalism Caused Birth Pain
Ego, Water Foraging, Standing, Bipedalism, Narrow Pelvis, 20-Month Gestation, Pain
Turtle Is First Consciousness at The Seventh Prasad.
“[T]he caretakers ... parents ... become both the models and the delivery systems for this diminishment and perfect wrongness of Consciousness.”
Instrumental in creating this Ego are the caretakers, the fully growns, often but not always the parents, especially the mother initially. The fully growns become both the models and the delivery systems for this diminishment and perfect wrongness of Consciousness.
Of course, humans were not humans for millions of years; your predecessors were Planetmates and Earth Citizens like us. There came a time when small groups of your forebears, living near swamps and oceans and gathering their food in the shallow waters, spent long periods of time in that water….
More – Ch 15 Seventh Prasad
***
The Great Reveal, Chapter Sixteen: The Eighth Prasad. Straying from Nature – Prosperity Won Out Over Happiness for Early Humans
So giving birth prematurely and bipedalism had survival advantages….
Survival won out over healthy, happy newborns and relatively pain-free births.
Leopard was First Consciousness at The Eighth Prasad.
"It is at the point when narrow pelvises, nine-month gestations, birth pain and trauma for mothers and newborns, and dependency on caregivers for survival for the first few years of life became the norm that you began to be separate from all other Earth Citizens and began the process of becoming human."
All these factors acted on each other for millions of years: Wide-pelvis mothers giving birth to healthy, twenty-month gestated newborns vied against the economic pressures for females to give birth earlier and become more productive as a forager sooner as well as to be bipedal and be able to carry more with the hands and….
More – Ch 16 Eighth Prasad
***
The Great Reveal, Chapter Seventeen: The Ninth Prasad – Eden and the Fall…Harmony with Nature, Early Humans, Foragers
Harmony with Nature, Early Humans, Foragers
Toad was First Consciousness at The Ninth Prasad.
"[T]his long tranquil time was destined to end...the gap between natural functioning and twisted, backwards human functioning widened."
For a very long period these early humans lived in harmony with Nature as foragers and nomads and as non-savage Earth Citizens. Your earliest ancestors did not even eat Earth Citizen flesh; while even some Planetmates do that.
But this long tranquil time was destined to end. As gestations became shorter and more time was needed in the dependent state before the newborn could function much for itself, the gap between natural functioning and twisted, backwards human functioning widened….
More – Ch 17 Ninth Prasad
***
The Great Reveal, Chapter Eighteen: The Tenth Prasad. Descent Into Savagery Begins…Becoming Controlling, Becoming Killers
You first began your fearful, deluded controlling when you added Planetmate flesh to your former vegetarian diet
Pig was First Consciousness at The Tenth Prasad.
"Your descent into aggression and savagery started here, because when you learned how to kill fellow Planetmates...it was not too long before you began to be able to kill each other."
Rather than the natural state of being, awareness, and bliss, your state of omnipresent fear caused you to be ever more unable to accept the gifts of life and survival on Nature’s terms, which were uncertain, but on the other hand, adventurous and surprising. It is the state we enjoy and find blissful and playful and always interesting. Your fear made you unable to bear the uncertain state. So, being impatient, and therefore unwilling to receive sustenance and nurturing on Nature’s timetable, you first began taking control of when you would be nourished by adding planetmate flesh to your former vegetarian diet.
Your descent into aggression and savagery started here, because when you learned how to kill fellow planetmates, which had not been in your nature prior to the prematurity trauma and your constant adult state of tension, it was not too long before you began to be able to kill each other….
More – Ch 18 Tenth Prasad
***
The Great Reveal, Chapter Nineteen: The Eleventh Prasad. “Agrarian Revolution” – Interference in Flora Empire
Interference..in Nature..you decided to extend control over the Flora Empire of Earth Citizens
Goat was First Consciousness at The Eleventh Prasad.
"[Y]ou next expressed your impatience with the divine flow by controlling the vegetarian side of your food resources by instigating horticulture."
Once you started hunting planetmates for food and killing your own out of fear of scarcity of resources, the next step towards ever more control of what Nature/the Divine provide naturally was facilitated. In terms of the well-being of planetmates, the planet, and the survival of humans, this was the direst development.
Borne of increasing lack of faith in Divine Providence, you next expressed your impatience with the divine flow by controlling the vegetarian side of your food resources by instigating horticulture. Through horticulture you extended your control — we would say interference….
More – Ch 19 Eleventh Prasad
***
The Great Reveal, Chapter Twenty: The Twelfth Prasad. Husbandry and Sedentary Ways – Enslavement of Earth Citizens
Planetmates plucked from Nature’s perfect blueprint, set to your ends, driven by your brains crazed from early trauma.
Cow was First Consciousness at The Twelfth Prasad.
"[Y]our control of both Flora and Fauna in this way required the most drastic change in your way of life—one that would be the sole root of the apocalypse that we see looming before us all."
Incidentally, it was not long after this “conquering” of the Flora Empire that you began to extend your control over some Planetmates in exactly the same way. You captured, enslaved, and set their life cycles to fit yours. The who, what, when, where, and how of their lives were plucked from Nature’s perfect blueprint and set to your ends—the ends driven by your fear, obsession to control…
More – Ch 20 Twelfth Prasad
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The Sixteenth Prasad, of “The Great Reveal” by The Planetmates: “The Rich Begin Calling the Tune..25,000 B.C.”
The Sixteenth Prasad – “Accumulating Things, Dominating Others”
The other dire consequence of your adoption of sedentary, non-nomadic life ways was the ability to gather more
Starfish Is First Consciousness at The 16th Prasad
“things” – not just food but all kinds of “things” – for you did not have to carry what you owned, like a nomad would. When you ceased wandering and set up more permanent abodes, you enabled the gathering and storage of much more than you could possibly need.
This had effects on your unplanetmate-like greed and your unplanetmate-like desire to control, now – sadly, even this – others of your own species.
Those of you who gathered more or accumulated more, by whatever means, could have more “say” and would have more sway over those who gathered less. Big Accumulators were able to control the actions and behavior of Small Accumulators because of their ability to use their excess accumulation to gift or reward those whose actions fit with their ends.
(to be continued)
This video is a reading of The Sixteenth Prasad, as received from The Planetmates — what I’m calling “Accumulating Things, Dominating Others” — with additional explanation, context, and some commentary by SillyMickel Adzema.
The issues highlighted in the commentary concern the ways that our change of lifeways from nomadic to sedentary led to the ability to accumulate more possessions than one would ever need and how this excessive accumulation led naturally to another cancerous branch on the tree of obsessive, fearful control the branch of controlling, now, even other humans. This control of other humans derived from the ability of those who were Big Accumulators to reward and gift using their excessive store of things — Smaller Accumulators in exchange for their cooperation. Thus this enabled people to buy off other people for the first time in humans history, but it also led to an increasing diminishment of consciousness of the human species over that which humans had previously. This diminishment of consciousness was tragic and has had dire repercussions extending right up to today, as is being made ever clearer by The Planetmates.
Paraphrase/ Elaboration/ Abstract of “The Sixteenth Prasad” — “Accumulating Things, Dominating Others,” by SillyMickel Adzema
Your adoption of a non-nomadic lifestyle had other pernicious consequences. When you became sedentary – staying in one place and growing your food, eventually corralling other planetmates, and so on – you were able, for the first time in your long evolutionary history, to accumulate. You were able to store food, but other kinds of “things” as well. This was because when you were nomadic you, naturally, had to carry everything you wanted to “own”; whereas when you “nested” you not only did not have to carry possessions but you were able to create and build storage areas to protect your accumulations. In this way you gathered and stored more than you could ever possibly need.
But it did not end there, because this development led to another cancerous outgrowth in your increasing addiction to controlling your experiences as opposed to discovering the adventure that divinity would have for your development and furthering on the path back to unity with divinity.
This tragic, life-diminishing spinoff of your ability to gather and accumulate excessive “things” was a desire to control even those of your own species: Your fellow humans became the last targets of your mania for control — added to your desires to control your experiences, the timing of events, your sustenance and food sources…which involved controlling your planetmates of the Flora and Fauna Kingdoms of Consciousness…your lifestyles, i.e., becoming sedentary, and so on.
Your unplanetmate-like desire to control expanded your unplanetmate-like greed, and, sadly, you saw that gathering more enabled you to control the actions of those of you who gathered less. It was not long before some of your kind discerned that by gathering and storing excessively – becoming Big Accumulators – they could have more say and more sway over those who were Small Accumulators.
Small Accumulators were not necessarily less able to gather more. Keep in mind that gathering more required an obsession and preoccupation with that, thus it required an unremitting focus on what is now called greed, manipulation, and power. So the more congenial and less crazed and obsessed of your kind would not wish this, especially as it required the relinquishing of the other pursuits of life not involving accumulation – e.g., the relational, emotional, spiritual, and creative pursuits.
Many — who would choose to accumulate only that which was needed to sustain life and little more, so that time would be available for more fulfilling pursuits — thought the narrowing of focus to simply possessing more a sad diminishment of experience, which it was.
But this choice to use some of one’s time in the pursuit of a fulfilling life, as opposed to just the pursuit of piles of “things,” also left them vulnerable to the Big Accumulators who could tempt and persuade the Small Accumulators to act in concert with them through promises of gifts and rewards, taken from their stores of excessive accumulation.
The stage was set for Big Accumulators, who had accepted a reduced spiritual and personal richness for a richness of “things,” to overpower and silence the voices of those who refused such a diminished richness of experience and narrowing of their personality – a narrowing of personality that left out the grandeur of existence more for them than for any other “thing” of Consciousness – living or “nonliving” – on this planet.
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The links below bring you to an mp3 clip — the audio portion only — of the video above, containing the reading of The 16th Prasad with some commentary and context provided by SillyMickel Adzema:
The 16th Prasad, \”Accumulating And Dominating\” Of \”The Great Reveal\” By The Planetmates
The Great Reveal by SillyMickel & the PlanetMates 