CYCLE SIXTEEN

1. Materialism is the anti-unnatural mode of primacy, which stands to the unnatural mode of supremacy, viz. fundamentalism, as negative metachemistry to positive metachemistry.

2. Realism is the anti-supernatural mode of primacy, which stands to the supernatural mode of supremacy, viz. nonconformism, as negative chemistry to positive chemistry.

3. Naturalism is the antinatural mode of primacy, which stands to the natural mode of supremacy, viz. humanism, as negative physics to positive physics.

4. Idealism is the anti-subnatural mode of primacy, which stands to the subnatural mode of supremacy, viz. transcendentalism, as negative metaphysics to positive metaphysics.

5. One could speak of the materialism of the Antidevil and/or Antihell as against the fundamentalism of the Devil and/or Hell, whether in relation to primary or to secondary orders of the same.

6. One could speak of the realism of the antiwoman and/or antipurgatory as against the nonconformism of woman and/or purgatory, whether in relation to primary or to secondary orders of the same.

7. One could speak of the naturalism of the antiman and/or anti-earth as against the humanism of man and/or the earth, whether in relation to primary or to secondary orders of the same.

8. One could speak of the idealism of the Antigod and/or Antiheaven as against the transcendentalism of God and/or Heaven, whether in relation to primary or to secondary orders of the same.

9. Either way, primacy attaches to the inorganic as a manifestation of Antinature, whereas supremacy attaches to the organic as a manifestation of Nature, whether in terms of metachemical unnature, which is fiery; of chemical supernature, which is watery; of physical nature, which is vegetative; or of metaphysical subnature, which is airy.

10. All that is primal, whether cosmic or geologic, noumenal or phenomenal, signifies in human life not merely a divided self but that which is against the self, as though symptomatic of iron in the soul. If the self is positive in its organic supremacy, then what may be called the antiself is negative in its inorganic primacy, and it is the eclipse of the self by the antiself which causes negative values to prevail at the expense of their positive counterparts

11. If the self is organic and the antiself inorganic, then the antiself is not so much a part or aspect of the self as something that runs contrary to it, like the cosmic to the universal or the geologic to the personal. We do not have divided selves in the sense of self being naturally both negative and positive. On the contrary, the self is structured in such a way as to be positive, whether in objective or in subjective terms, depending by and large on gender.

12. When the self is eclipsed by antiself negativity, it is as if the self were overcome by cosmic and/or geologic influences which temporarily take possession of the self and render its behaviour contrary to what it is normally, whether metachemically, chemically, physically, or metaphysically.

13. One might say that the antiself is the self acting under duress of inorganic factors which temporarily cripple its nature and turn it upside down or inside out, shutting down positive tendencies as negative ones take their place.

14. Thus whereas fundamentalism, nonconformism, humanism, and transcendentalism are expressions of the self or of different types of self being loyal to itself, materialism, realism, naturalism, and idealism are the result of undue inorganic intrusions into the self which take the place, no matter how temporarily, of what the self would normally be about

15. It is as though not the organic self as such, but that same self under duress of inorganic pressures ceased being loyal to itself and became quasi-inorganic in reflection of materialism, realism, naturalism, or idealism, thereby behaving in a materialist, a realist, a naturalist, or an idealist manner, to the detriment of fundamentalism, nonconformism, humanism, and transcendentalism.

16. Thus a self that would normally, in the course of natural organic events, have been loving or proud or pleasurable or joyful becomes, all of a sudden, hateful or humble or pained or sad, and all because it had been turned against itself by one or a number of inorganic intrusions from without.

17. When such inorganic intrusions are so frequent and powerful as to cause a lasting if not almost permanent eclipse of organic selfhood by quasi-inorganic behaviour, whether because of a ubiquitous negative environmental and/or technological influence, then whole societies become deranged and subject to competitive urges as a matter of primal course.

18. The modern over-urbanized and industrialized world is symptomatic of just such a primal derangement, making for wholesale self-dissatisfactions as the self continues to be turned inorganically against itself to the detriment of self-esteem and the peace, on any level, that such esteem brings.

19. Instead of being loyal and/or of encouraged to be loyal to self, whichever self, depending on the individual, that may happen to be, people are constantly bombarded with a plethora of inorganic distractions stemming from materialism or realism or naturalism or idealism, and induced to seek satisfaction outside the self.

20. No such satisfaction is ultimately possible, because the self that is at loggerheads with itself in consequence of the ubiquitous influence of inorganic intrusions is bound to remain dissatisfied with both itself and, correlatively, the society in which it has to live, since that society, despite its brazen boasts to the contrary, cannot provide the satisfaction that the self craves, but only perpetuates self-division in the pursuit of its materialistic or realistic or naturalistic or idealistic delusions.

21. A self that is permanently at war with itself, trapped in a stressful predicament of self-division, cannot expect to achieve, much less maintain, any degree of harmony and peace. On the contrary, it will continue to toss and turn in a fitful pursuit of self-deceiving goals with which the negativity of inorganic primacy has seduced it.

22. Only the rejection of such a society can lead to inner harmony, either by the individual opting out of it or by whole communities of people who happen to be favoured with less competitive societies continuing to remain loyal to organic supremacy and its co-operative rewards.