BETWEEN TWO GRAVITIES

In a relativistic civilization too many people have an unfortunate tendency to regard soul and spirit as synonymous, and primarily because, being relative themselves, they fail to distinguish between the subatomic and the supra-atomic, as regards the two most antithetical absolutes conceivable. They speak of the Father and the Holy Spirit, but they don't regard the latter as being radically different from - indeed, opposite to - the former. They may agree that 'God is spirit', but are only too ready to treat soul as identical with spirit, and thus to see in fire or flame not pure soul but pure spirit! This is in effect to confound the Diabolic with the Divine!

We are familiar with terms such as divine Providence, divine Creator, God the Father, and so on, but not many of us bother to question whether the terms in question really do apply to the Divine or whether, on the contrary, there is a clear distinction between what is or would literally be divine and what has traditionally been considered such. A monarch may justify his rule by reference to 'Divine Right', but is it really God, considered literally as transcendent spirit, or a metaphorically relative divinity which, if the truth were known, is less truly divine than effectively diabolic or, rather, archdiabolic?

What is the difference, you may wonder, between the diabolic and the archdiabolic? It is the difference, I maintain, between the Devil and the Creator. In other words, between a 'fallen angel' and the primary 'angel' from which, in a manner of speaking, it 'fell'. Transposed from the theological to the scientific plane, this becomes the difference between the sun and the governing star at the centre of the Galaxy - in short, between a petty peripheral star and the great central one. Objectively considered, the sun (Satan) is no more evil than the governing star (the Creator); it is just that, from a subjective standpoint, the sun, being much closer to the world, has more influence on us and can therefore be accorded, in theological reckoning, a diabolic status. The governing star, which is at a much greater distance from the earth, becomes entitled, by contrast, to a 'divine' status; though I should like to distinguish it from what, as transcendent spirit, would literally be divine. By comparison to the divinity of the supra-atomic, the 'divinity' of the subatomic can only be described in terms of the archdiabolic when pertaining to the Creator-equivalent central star of any particular galaxy.

If size and strength more than galactic position (though the two are of course linked) determines the distinction between the archdiabolic and the diabolic, viz. the Creator and Satan, then what they both have in common as stars is a subatomic constitution, as implying proton-proton reactions. This is the quality of pure soul, the most negative sensation. By contrast, the quality of pure spirit, as pertaining to the supra-atomic, is electron-electron attractions, the most positive awareness. This is no mean distinction! It signifies the beginning and the end of evolution - the one beneath, the other above the atomic compromise of temporal matter. Such a compromise, manifesting itself on all levels of earthly life, is only subject to radical change in man, and then on a class-evolutionary basis. Pagan/aristocratic man lived in an atomic compromise biased towards protons. Christian/bourgeois man lives in an atomic compromise balanced between protons and electrons. Transcendental/proletarian man will live in an atomic compromise biased towards electrons. The first class-stage signified a radical stemming from the Diabolic Alpha. The second class-stage, in whichever phase, signifies a moderate stemming from the Diabolic Alpha and a no-less moderate aspiration towards the Divine Omega. The third and final class-stage will signify a radical aspiration towards the Divine Omega. All forms of diabolism, whether conscious or unconscious, direct or indirect, will be completely alien to it. Consequently, such a society can only be atheistic with regard to such a concept as the Creator.

Man betrays himself at every stage of his evolution, not just in terms of worship and/or self-realization, but also in terms of his art, science, politics, sexuality, dress, even architecture. I use the verb 'betrays' in the sense of revealing his evolutionary position at any given time, and one of the most striking forms of betrayal is indeed to be found in his architecture, about which I should like to theorize a little.

There is no clearer, more striking architectural indication of a society radically stemming from the Diabolic Alpha than through the use of conical or pyramidal forms. Such forms indicate a high regard for the gravitational force of the sun as they taper to a point high above the heads of men. A particularly striking example is afforded by the pyramids of ancient Egypt, which are triangular in design as they taper to a point from three sides. It cannot surprise us that the ancient Egyptians, besides being animal-worshippers, were confirmed sun-worshippers, and no greater concession to solar gravity could be imagined than that evinced by each of the main pyramids, originally erected as tombs to the Pharaohs. Even the Aztec civilization of Central America, despite its overtly diabolical integrity, bespeaks a degree of evolutionary improvement on the architectural monuments of ancient Egypt, to the extent that the pyramidal forms taper to a point in step-wise, vertical/horizontal progression, suggestive of an indirect rather than a direct concession to the sun's gravitational force. Other instances of a society radically stemming from the Diabolic Alpha are not difficult to find, and even certain Native American tribes, with their pre-architectural quasi-nomadic lifestyles, could be cited as a people whose conical dwellings, or wigwams, betrayed a shamelessly direct concession to solar gravity. Given the fact that these wigwams were more usually conical than triangular, we may ascribe to Native Americans a spiritual approach to the Diabolic Alpha, an approach similar, in effect, to the revolution in architectural style wrought by the dome in late-pagan and early-Christian Europe - the tapering somehow less radical because curvilinear.

With regard to the bourgeois stage of evolution, the acknowledgement of a transcendental ethos having reduced man's commitment to the Diabolic Alpha (in whichever manifestation) and imposed on him a moderate aspiration, through Christ, towards the Divine Omega, the 'Kingdom Within', we find that architectural styles came to mirror this dualistic integrity by the new emphasis placed on the vertical, gravitation-defying character of walls in their relation to stories, which accords with Christian respect for the transcendent. And yet a concession to gravitational force, whether from the sun or the central star of the Galaxy, was still in order and appertained to the tapering design of roofs, with or without turrets, so that a compromise was effected, in accordance with Christian dualistic principles, between the diabolic-affirming and the diabolic-defying, as regards the diagonal roof and the vertical walls, variations on the former according with the epochal/class integrity of the buildings in question.

This brings us, I think, to the exclusively gravity-defying architecture of the late-twentieth century and beyond, many of the most conspicuous examples of which can be found in the USA, which, though aligned with Western civilization and effectively a bourgeois/proletarian nation, upholds a considerable number of proletarian tendencies, some of which are quite civilized. With this transcendental architecture, as I shall call it, man has turned his back on the diabolic and pursued a gravity-defying style of building that maintains unbroken allegiance to the vertical, as the parallel sides of these skyscrapers terminate in the horizontality of a flat roof. So gravity-defying are some of these buildings that, not content to defy the sun, they also seem to float clear of the ground, as in Van der Rohe's work employing steel supports reminiscent of stilts. Whether or not a central 'block' support is employed at the base of the building, the general impression created by such works is of the transcendent, as of a building engrossed in the gravity-defying achievement of levitation.

As to the formal shapes employed, I would maintain that angular or rectilinear walls betray a materialist approach to modern architecture, cylindrical or curvilinear walls a spiritualist approach. Probably the best approach of all, from a religious standpoint, would be the use of a curvilinear design pressing upwardly outwards, as implying a spiritual expansion, and I know of no better example than the church designed by Le Corbusier, namely Notre Dame en Haut, which, while not exactly harmonizing with the Catholic religion, suggests the possibility of future development in the context of religious architecture, as applying to the eventual erection of meditation centres - the appropriate type of religious buildings for a transcendental civilization. Thus it may well transpire that a strict distinction between the secular and the religious will be upheld, as between rectilinear and curvilinear styles.

Having briefly theorized on the relations of architecture to man's evolutionary position, I should like to conclude this essay by drawing attention to another context, often overlooked, in which either a concession to gravitational force or a denial of it is maintained, and with regard, in contrast to the above, to the gravitational force of the earth's molten core - namely, with regard to footwear and trousers. For just as a concession to the sun's gravity induces a proliferation of architectural styles tapering, in various degrees, upwards, so the parallel concession to that of the earth's molten core induces a proliferation of footwear and legwear tapering downwards, either literally or metaphorically to a point. In the case of legwear, as I have called it, a conspicuous example of this downwards-tapering is afforded by the importance men once ascribed to leggings and tight, knee-length stockings, which contrasted with their short, baggy trousers (breeches) in such a way as to suggest what I have described as a concession to the earth's gravitational force, and thus to betray a sartorial integrity, whether pagan or aristocratic, stemming from the Diabolic Alpha. In the case of footwear, we can have no hesitation in defining high-heeled and pointed shoes as indicative of a similar trend, though one more conspicuously pervasive among women than men, and not least of all in our own time!

This brings us to the point that, as with architecture, footwear and legwear will undergo a corresponding change in favour of gravity-defying or transcending styles ... with the progression from aristocratic to bourgeois and, finally, proletarian stages of evolutionary development. If straight trousers and slightly downwards-tapering heels on shoes attest to a bourgeois stage of compromise or neutral relationship to the earth's gravity, then it need not surprise us to discover that flared trousers and slightly upwards-tapering heels attest to a proletarian stage relevant to a gravity-defying transcendental society. In an extreme relativistic civilization, such as exists in the bourgeois/proletarian West, one can encounter virtually any style of footwear or legwear; though the style generally worn by any given person will correspond to his basic class, not to mention sexual, allegiance. We may infer from this that while such a heterogeneous situation accords with the everywhichway integrity of relativistic civilization, no such heterogeneity could be encouraged in an absolutist civilization, where only gravity-defying trousers and shoes would be permissible, in accordance with its transcendental essence. It is therefore highly unlikely that high-heels and downwards-tapering trousers would continue to be worn in a civilized proletarian society. On the contrary, only such clothing as betokened man's freedom from diabolism, and thereby attested to an absolute aspiration towards the Divine Omega.