On "Baser Forms" of Truth

The width and breadth of knowledge available for mass consumption since the advent of the digital age, lends itself well to the reproduction and dissemination of this abundant raw material in the form of various competing "truth fetishes", principally because of it's coinciding with the individualistic Neo-Liberal global revolution in economics, (demanding the colonization and subjugation  to the market of every aspect of human existence)

This excerpt from the website of aspiring truth fetishist Charles Veitch highlights the use of this valuable raw material to advance his agenda, which is given as the attempt to "place Statism in the history books", but is more likely to be eeking out a living through his production of a particular type of marketable commodity.

In bold I have highlighted the truth fetishes, which is to say factitious, seemingly intelligently deployed but overall empty words, conveyed to make them seem to be "the embodiment of a potent spirit" (of truth), underlined are various explicit contradictions that it is Mr Veitch's aim to introduce to the reader:

"The Hegelian Dialectic between the "rational" and "moral" West and the "hysterical" and "superstitious" East provides the perfect setting for the evolution of humanity. The work of Indigene is to place statism in the history books alongside religionism and the baser forms of control."

Ignoring for now the erroneous cultural stereoptypes, in order of occurrence let's look more closely at these reified concepts, factiously constructed to provoke "unquestioning reverence" in their target.

The Hegelian Dialectic
As though highlighting specifically for our benefit the inadequacy of this practice, whereby a small piece of a far more intricate subject, ie a Cross, the Swastika, etc,. can become a fetish object of fascination, superficially appearing as immediately tangible, but actually abounding in habitually ignored metaphysical and theological subtleties.

Mr Veitch has constructed, or more accurately appropriated a reified concept, from information reproduced devoid of content in superficially appealing and fetishized form, "The Hegelian Dialectic" is taken as some all encompassing general truth emerging out of the void, forming the basis of the misunderstandings Veitch seeks to impart.

His use of the term is clearly intended to construct the facade of an intellectual or philosophical substance to his words, still it is ambiguous, does he mean for instance to refer to the "Dialectic" as ascribed to Hegel, in the conspiratorial literature of David Icke, a three-fold process of "problem-reaction-solution", utilized by a hierarchically estranged elite to control the attention of the populace, the world and course of their history?

If so he makes an elementary and fundamental error by listing only a thesis and antithesis, with no trace of synthesis to the various distinctions he has made, indeed Icke's theory is that this hypothetical elite use false dichotomies, duality or false "paradigms" to divide and control the populace, if we look deeper at this text from his Indigene website, we can see it is nothing other than the introduction of dialectical antagonisms, contradictions, false dichotomies and confusion, expounded in the most hyperbolic fashion.

"Indigene is a self-affirmation of Being - taking the best of quantum mechanics and applying it to subjective a-priori sentience that we all have. Somewhere between reductionist materialism and outright idealism lies the truth. We can help you explore these questions."

I think it's more likely he alludes in a veiled manner, to the Hegelian concept of the dialectic between consciousness that considers itself Master -through recognition of the slave as an object- and the Slave who considers himself thus through his conciousness of the master -a separate, antagonistic, self consciousness.

In Hegelian philosophy there is no "thing in itself", no sheltered consciousness free from dependence on the other, the otherness of the Master to the Slave creates a totality of which both are part, but the unity of which is negated by the subjugation of the other by the master. To substantiate his tenuous, idealistic self affirmation of being, he must put the other into a position of object which can be owned, grasped and used; a self delusion of "being in itself" derived from the treatment of the other as an object of his will devoid of independence. This totality of which both are part is like a potential for a "genuine humanity" beyond exploitation of itself "as another", but it contains an inherent contradiction, the sublation of the "Master's" dependence on the other to the other.

It is to the Slave to overcome this by asserting his self mastery, to obtain through his consciousness of "being for another", the realization of the other as self consciousness, to the Master the slave is merely object, an aspect of his will from which his sense of "being" is derived, the process of exploitation has equipped slave consciousness with the tools required to transcend it's subservience, if only it would use them instead of remaining fixated by the mystificatory aspects of them.
 
In encountering the consciousness of Hegel expressed through the "Dialectic", Mr Veitch has attempted to deprive it of it's existence, to recreate it as an object for Mr Veitch, now it's self asserted "Master", any independent character it may have had is negated, even misrepresented, it's reified form consumed, assimilated and put to work in constructing the facade known as Indigene.

Bringing me back to the original point, the inadequacy of this semi-mystical, pseudo-profound reproduction, having being stripped of it's content and meaning Hegel's logic symbol becomes a reified concept, an empty vessel for the reception of 'subtle fluids' and fetishization ascribed with values in accordance to the will of it's master.

'Fetishism' is about relations among people, rather than the objects that mediate and disguise those relations.

Perfect [Setting]
The term "perfect" is fetishism prima facie, but implicitly contains an inherent subjective relevance, combined with any object ie; meal, weekend, spouse, child etc,. it evokes a particular meaning for each self consciousness that uses it, taken in the context of the paragraph it's use actually may well contain a degree of truth, he posits the "perfect setting for the evolution of humanity", to be "between the "rational" and "moral" West and the "hysterical" and "superstitious" East", between is a strange position to be in here, one is either in one sphere or the other, it is in this interplay that development becomes necessary one sphere consuming and extinguishing the other, otherwise there are three spheres with one between, but is this non-position in a false dichotomy not, although descriptive of nothing but error, paradoxically indicative of the reality that "perfect settings" would actually inhibit "evolution" in any natural sense of the word, and that in an evolutionary universe such reified concepts as the perfect, transcendent truth, environment, lifestyle only exist as imperfect, abstract "Hegelian" 'certainties'.


Statism
Statism is an unusual term taken here as some general truth emerging out of the void, it has no meaning beyond it's derogatory implications, which is to say a term was required with which various diverse forces could attack and undermine the concept of checks and balances, in order that they may substitute a liberal-parliamentary government for the regime of personal rule, hoping thereby to divert the advancing revolution that threatens the remaining privileges of the western, white European patriarchy and property owning classes.

Religionism
This is another negative fetish object akin to "statism", just an abstraction of various things Charlie dislikes to a degree of inhibiting coherent thought about them, termed Religionism it acts as a voodoo doll into which he sticks the figurative nail he considers Indigene to be, "The work of Indigene is to place statism in the history books alongside religionism and the baser forms of control", but if we take him at his word, does the negative interpretation of these terms actually stand? Being that neither term actually exists in the history books, should we take this as his attempt, rather than neutralize them actually to ascribe to them some concreteness, some form of recognition as "viable" but infact meaningless designations?

Quantum Mechanics
Stringing together series of terms and phrases from quantum physics, and asserting that they explain something in our daily experience, is something people like Icke or Veitch spend a lot of time doing in their various theoretical presentations, in the words of American Physicist Richard Feynman*; "I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.", neither, being as they are serial "truth" (and love) fetishists, would be quite as honest, or in all likelihood as self aware as Prof. Feynman.

Truth
In truth all of these aspects could be far more excessively elaborated upon, I mean the actual coherent message Veitch attempts to convey is not yet clear, that may be as I think his overall aim, one should not as he said in a recent video "mistake the map for the terrain", are the words just a means of cementing the Consciousness of the bondsman in his audience, what he does whether knowingly or not is reproduce the hierarchichal scheme of revealed truth, in the manner of all reactionary ideological cults appealing to the 'least' among us, they know their dogma is cynical, irrational, defeatist and often illogical, but "We can help you", they avidly assure us with hungry smiles...

______

There are numerous copies of Hegel's original text online to learn more about the development of Self Consciousness, Hegel's view of being for itself and being for others, and the Master<>Slave dialectic read; section B, chapter IV, paragraph 166 and onwards.

* in The Character of Physical Law (1965)

Magic and Fetishism excerpt

"The superficial  observer
is  apt to  regard the
medicine-men or
sorcerers as cheats who
deliberately humbug their  
neighbours;  but it  is 
probable that most of them 
really believe themselves
to be possessed of occult
or supernormal power 
Doubtless they do many things
for mere effect, in  order
to  enhance the respect 
they desire to have paid
to  themselves personally, as 
well as to  put the subjects
or spectators into a proper
frame of mind; but this
is  precisely what is  deliberately 
done by the organisers
of all ceremonies by all  peoples.   
Doubtless, also, many acts  are
performed which are intended to  
impose upon the credulity of others;  
but this is a device which
is  not unknown among
cultured people, as,  for
example,  the  liquefying  of  the  blood
of St. Januarius in Naples. ".
Magic and Fetishism, Arthur C Haddon
1906

Fetish-Fétiche-Feitiço redux

 The concept of the fetish is a little understood thing, in the modern world the word is commonly associated with any number of variations in human sexuality, expressed in what are generally considered idiosyncratic ways. Body parts; the lack thereof; situations; inanimate objects; etc., each serving as the specific focus of disparate urges and desires, distinguishable from each other and “usual habits” as a specific sexual fetish.

Wider use of the term refers to a created material object, thought to be endowed with supernatural power through the mystery of it's manufacture, whether for use as a channel of divine consciousness, protection against "evil spirits",  a device able to influence other people's behaviour or attitudes, every human culture can be seen to have utilized manufactured "fetish" objects at some point, in order to mediate the "tangible and intangible" aspects of the world, or extracted items in that world ascribing to them a range of supernatural properties.

The word comes down to English speakers via the French translation fétiche, of the Portuguese term feitiço {sorcery; artificial} derived from the Latin factitius {artificial} and facere {to make; act, take action; construct; produce; bring forth}.

Later Latin has facturari {to bewitch} and factura {witchcraft}, hence Portuguese feitiço, Italian fatatura, and French faiture {sorcery; witchcraft; magic}, terms coinciding with the exposure and response of Roman Catholic missionaries, to various diverse religious practices throughout the Portuguese Empire and Christian World.

The Latin root of these words is still in use in the modern English language: factitious {not spontaneous or natural; artificial; contrived} , fatuous {inane; unreal; illusory}, facade {a superficial appearance or illusion of something} and facsimile {an exact copy; equivalent of} are particularly relevant examples, reflecting a negative attitude towards art, religious mysticism over the centuries following industrialization, or used to refer to examples of inauthenticity, insincerity etc,.

Lisbon to Nagasaki

In the early 16^th century the seafaring Portuguese Empire spanned much of the world, Christian missionaries had begun the process of interacting with indigenous cultures throughout known Africa, South America and Asia, cataloguing their historical and religious systems while encouraging conversion from ancestral Animist theology to Christianity, amongst elders, tribal leaders and institutions within the indigenous social structure.

Portuguese commerce was already well established in the trade of African slaves, sugar and spices and Christianity was the State religion, in the 15^th century Portuguese Monarch King Afonso V funded the establishment of trading monopolies along the West Coast of Africa, with orders for the further explorations throughout uncharted territories in search of a passage to the “Indies”.

Portuguese expansion brought greater potential for cultural transmission deeper into Africa when Diego Cao -travelling along the uncharted Congo river around 1482- reached the Kingdom of Kongo, there he exchanged several of his men for a group of Kongolese Noblemen, stalwarts of the tribal community who were taken to Portugal to be indoctrinated into the Christian religion and experience the material grandeur of European Civilization before returning to Africa with their new found knowledge "understanding" of the power of the European Colonizers in 1485, inevitably convinced the tribes to accept conversion willingly assimilating Christian cultural structure and ideology into tradition tribal practice, the King himself Nzinga Nkuwu converted to Christianity upon Diego Cao's return with the Noblemen, within a few years the Kingdom was exchanging ambassadors with Portugal and the Vatican, Portugal continued it's explorations East of Africa, and Catholicism made for them a foothold on the mainland.

Traders obtaining these exotic and mystical "works of art", the tribal “Nkisi” of the African Shaman in the early periods of cultural transmission, selling them as "Feitiço” {fetish objects},  ornate charms devoid of any mystical power other than the ability to provoke fascination, as such modern anthropology has generally called them either "power objects" or "charms."**

It is during the productive process of the West African “Minkisi”, and the mystery this represents to the members of the tribe, that the mystical powers it holds, the purpose of the "spirit" within the object (it's value) is assigned, by the producer, it's effects thenceforth outside the producers control are dependent on it's observed effects of it's intended purpose, his confidence in the objects power dependent on how much he attributes material events to it's imperceptible influence.

William McGaffey writes* that the Kongo ritual system as a whole:

"bears a relationship similar to that which Marx supposed that 'political economy' bore to capitalism as its 'religion', ….The irrationally 'animate' character of the ritual system's symbolic apparatus, including minkisi, divination devices, and witch-testing ordeals, obliquely expressed real relations of power among the participants in ritual.

'Fetishism' is about relations among people, rather than the objects that mediate and disguise those relations." 

Ukisi is a Bantu word derived from the root kitį {spirit or material objects in which it is manifested or inhabits} and refers to an object ritually blessed by a “Nganga”, a member of the tribe who works as a healer and protector, a mediator of the tribe's relation to the incomprehensible forces of nature.

Attestation to the meaning of the term in Kongolese language was recorded by Dutch visitors in the early 17^th century, it was spelled "mokissie" the mu- prefix in this noun class was still pronounced until the 18^th century, when mu- evolved into a simple nasal n- reported by Dutch visitors to Loango as, referring both to a material item and the spiritual entity that inhabits it.

Native American

The Native American system of Fetishism shares many similarities with that of the East Kongolese, like the Ngango the Native American “Shaman” or “Medicine Man's” practice was mediated by numerous significant and particular fetish objects, anything used by the medicine man being viewed by members of the tribe with certain wonder, as though anything in his presence obtained a mystical volition, provoking not only fear but devotion and reverent awe depending on how the objects were intended to be used.

This form of artistic, “spiritual” social practice co-existed separately from the traditional religious beliefs of the Native Americans, who generally practised a form of Animism in which all matter is animated by the spirit of ancestors or a creator, being channeled through communal religious activities such as dancing, sacred rituals, forms of blessing, and worship of specific geographically or culturally relevant "spirits" (ie buffalo spirit), with the Shaman this is the practice of fashioning objects endowed with certain mystical power, of being an intermediary for the "intangible" forces of nature and providing tangible forms of order, betraying an implicit hierarchical social structure, based around fear and the unknown.

The difference between fetishism and general religious practice, is adequately described by Lewis Spence in his work on Native American Myths and Legends published by Senate: “A fetish...is the place of imprisonment of a subservient spirit,,,if it would gain the rank of godhead,(it) must do so by a long series of luck bringing, or at least by the performance of a number of marvels of a protective or fortune-making nature.”

Though there was much diversity of belief amongst the tribes, with geography, individual tribal histories, totems and particular practices differing greatly, the general idea of all things being composed fundamentally of spirit”, enabled the American Shaman just like the African Ngango, to construct fetish objects, from wood, bone or other materials, containing imprisoned spirits kept under some form of enchantment, the inspiration or idea behind an objects construction would usually remain symbolic, only being bestowed to the items heir through a form of ritualism possibly including a secret oath, if an object “lost” it's power of influence, if a “good luck” “charm” brought the bearer no luck at all, or if it's secret was discovered, it would be considered to have lost it's mystical “power”, therefore significance to the owner, who would seek to replace it with a new one, the sheer volume of fetish objects remaining in the archaeological record, testifies to the fact that the practice itself, being rooted in a broader idea of the nature of reality and human existence similar to Animism, far outlived the various individual objects themselves, only those objects which stood the test of experience assumed their position as important cultural items, others would become mere ornaments or items of jewellery holding only aesthetic interest to the owner.

We can see a clear parallel to this archaic practice of ritual in the modern church of the commodity, which provokes it's own moments of fervant exaltation.

Modern Practice

In contrast to the Indigenous use of “Feitiço”, official fetish objects such as: the crucifix; images of Jesus; St Christopher pendants; statues of Mary; etc,. although also inanimate man made objects (endowed with supernatural functions or transcendent abilities through ritual or mythology), were positively encouraged, the “Holy Book” of the Christian world becoming “Ukisi Nkanda”{Ukisi Book} of the Kongolese, the term “Ukisi” {a substance having characteristics of nkisi} being used to translate "holy" in the Kikongo Catechism of 1624.

This cultural practice pre-existed Christianity in every continent, even pre-Christian European, Celtic, Pagan, Greco-Roman and Norse culture, bear the unmistakable evidence of having used various objects in order to mediate the social relations between artisans, master craftsmen, expert poets, warriors, scholars and the masses, retaining a certain social hierarchy in place.

It is the ordering social relations within these systems, the law keeping, regulating aspects of the community for which objects of Fetishism were fashioned, ie the Etruscan “Fasces” symbol was used by the Romans as a symbol of the Judicial and Legal authority of the State, the Caduceus is used as a symbol of the medical establishment, or if we observe the practice of fetishism today; the Crucifix a symbol of religious suffering in devotion to Christ, the Ferrari a symbol of success and vast fortune; the Volkswagon a symbol of popular practicality; Audi a symbol of German efficiency, or “truth”; a symbol of meaning, importance, value or reliability.

In this blind struggle each commodity, by pursuing its own passion, unconsciously generates something beyond itself, while each particular manifestation of the commodity eventually falls in battle, the general commodity-form continues onward toward its absolute realization.

________

*

MacGaffey, Wyatt (Spring). "African objects and the idea of fetish". RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics 25: 123-131.

**

John Thornton, "The Development of an African Catholic Church in the Kingdom of Kongo, 1491-1750," Journal of African History 25 (1984): 156-57

further reading on the subject,

John Ogilby, Africa (London, 1670), p. 514)

Africa South of the Sahara. London: Europa Publications Ltd., n.d.
Balandier, Georges. Daily Life in the Kingdom of the Kongo: From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1965.

Hilton, Anne. The Kingdom of Kongo. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.

MacGaffey, Wyatt. Religion and Society in Central Africa: The BaKongo of Lower Zaire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.

Olfert Dapper, Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Africa Gewesten (Amsterdam, 1668), p. 548 (see English translation in John Ogilby, Africa (London, 1670), p. 514)


Dupré, Marie-Claude (1975). "Les système des forces nkisi chez le Kongo d'après le troisième volume de K. Laman," Africa

The Problem of the Fetish, II: The Origin of the Fetish

William Pietz

RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics
No. 13 (Spring, 1987), pp. 23-45
Published by: The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20166762