#the ultimate self

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Madeleine Singer - Insights - Falcon Press - 1988 (cover painting by Melinda Seminski, cover design by Studio 31)

[betweengenesisfrogs]

Hey, I am LOVING your writing on the Gnosticism themes on Homestuck--I hadn't thought about the Aeons as Cherubs yet, and that's fascinating stuff. However, a couple comments and leads: I don't think Abraxas is ever referenced as Sophia's partner, or at least, I haven't found a source making that claim. far as I can tell, Abraxas was the name of a totally different god later attributed to the Ur-God that generates the Aeons, by Carl Jung in the 7 Sermons to the Dead (1)

That paper describes Abraxas as the ultimate, invisible Godthat unites all opposites into one being, as well as the Lord of frogs andamphibians (puts a whole new spin on consorts and BSlick, not even to mentionJake’s consort kingdom, huh?). I also think the most obvious analog for Aeonsare actually the Aspects themselves–it’s important that the world of thePleroma is also the world of Ideas, and that Yaldabaoth is a “blind”god because it cannot perceive the Ideas that created it.

The Ideas angle alsolinks into the Ur-Self stuff you talked about with Davepeta. I think Hussiecovered that pretty thoroughly, because the Ur-Self is just another branch of atopic Hussie already covers from Act 1: Platonic Realism, and the expression ofthe pure realm of Ideas in the world of Material reality. My next two videosare covering the links between Gnosticism and Greek theory of Platonic Realism,but in the meantime Tex Talks’ alchemy stuff breaks the latter down v well.

Oh, also notable isthat Yaldabaoth is described as having created “seven heavens” in thesky–lending additional weights to the Seven Gates leading to Skaia, as thecharacters must Ascend the gates much as humans must Ascend to the Heavens toreach Pleroma ;) And you are indeed correct that Skaia is the metaphysicalmanifestation of Pleroma–hence why it acts as the Sessions’ Sun. It also givesoff Light, but Skaia’s Light is more focused on Ideas.

At last I finally have a chance to post your very helpfulcorrection! Sorry it took so dang long! XD

Yeah, I was totally wrong on Abraxas when I said he was Sophia’scounterpart Aeon. I think I must have decided that because 1) it seems weird tome that we wouldn’t know the name of that Aeon, but mythological systems areweird and arbitrary like that I guess 2) I misread one of my sources, which referredto Abraxas as “in Pleroma with Sophia,” which is still technically true, but asit turns out, true in a more general way.  I’ve corrected the original post. Won’t stopold reblogs of it from going out, but ah, that’s the nature of the tumblr beast.^^’

I’ll have to look into Jung’s take, but I’m intrigued. Ithink Abraxas predates Jung, existing in earlier Gnostic systems (but not allof them) and I think he does start as a separate god originally. But I LOVEthat he’s associated with amphibians! That’s fantastic. That really ties him closelyinto the system of Sburb, even more than I originally thought, and suggeststhat Hope is somehow tied to the unlimited creative potential of Skaia.

Also, I was looking into Abraxas, and as far as I can tellhe seems to have been a Hellenistic-Roman god of curses and power, of a typethat was pretty common in that period of history—gods whose long, bizarre nameswere written on papyri and stones to summon the god’s magic power, frequentlyas a curse to bring down your enemies. Variations on Abraxas’s name werecommon, and in fact (I made sure I double-checked this this time, ha!) thisdoes appear to be where we get the word ABRACADABRA, from tablets and similarriffing on ABRAXAS. Or Abraxas is a riff on ABRACADABRA and similar bizarrepower-god names. Which is fascinating in its own right, but on top of that, itoccurred to me…

Writing ABRAXAS like this might look something like:

And oh my god Jake is closely associated with Abraxas as hisdenizen and Roxy even wonders on that page if he was writing ABRACADABRA and this just tiesJake and the mysteries of the Hope aspect even more closely into Gnosticism,and fuck, Homestuck really is the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it? Fuckinglove it.

You’re right, Homestuck has always engaged pretty closelywith the platonic/archetypal nature of its entities, all the way from Act 1onward! Thanks for pointing that out. It’s interesting to see how it becomesmore explicit (and more focused on characters) later on, but it’s so satisfyingto notice how the seeds were already there. I like the Platonist Forms connectionlots of folks have made; I’ll admit Platonism isn’t my area of expertise,though. I tend to approach this much more from a Lit Crit/ Structuralist theoryof ideas. But it kind of comes to the same result, doesn’t it? Structuralist conceptsand Platonism get along pretty well, the only difference is that one’s encoded inlanguage and one in the universe. Given that Homestuck’s a linguistic-narrativestructure that represents a cosmic structure, it’s a pretty fantastic marriage!

Seven Gates / Seven Heavens is another SWEET CATCH, thanks! Sevensare a pretty classic magical number, but they don’t appear super oftenHomestuck outside the acts and the gates, do they? Curious. Very curious.Another echo of Narrative as Cosmos, Story as Gnosticism? From what I gatherthe archetypal power of sevens historically comes from the seven visibleheavenly bodies, (the sun and moon plus the five visible planets), and that’sprobably pretty closely tied to the Gnostic idea of Seven Heavens. Which allties in very nicely with the planetary and cosmic structure of Sburb. Excellentstuff.

Thanks so much for writing in! I always look forward tohearing your ideas. :D

[creativeinfinite13]

The Singularity; or The Ultimate Self as Black Hole

When it comes to de(con)struction, there is nothing more infamous as the Homestuck Epilouges. It seems obsessed with consuming itself as a text, a story trying to exist in a space hostile to itself, resolving into a house with no foundation, and sincerity in an endless war of attrition against the uncaring whims of Narritive. Of course, you only really start to enjoy the epliouges when you realize that this is entierly on purpose- Earth C was always a part of the orobourus of the Cherubs, and Dirk is a really, really, shitty writer.

However, what im more interested in is what the Epilouges deconstructs and why- as it is the comentary it provides and how it intertwinds with the text that is the primary reason it was written- the Epilouges were never about more Homestuck. It was always about what it could do with, and comment on, the themes of Homestuck. And one of those themes- the topic of this essay- is The Ultimate Self.

What is The Ultimate Self? The answer is that it's really two things- what it was in Homestuck, and what it is now in the Epilogues. The mechanical explanation is the same- you absorb all your memories of every timeline you've ever existed in and become the ultimate greater You. The main difference between the two texts is whether that results in being a Person or a Character.

In Homestuck, the results of Ultimate Self are positive. With the perspective of a thousand lifetimes, you overcome your insecurities and become the most fulfilled version of yourself. You are happy, and almost divine in your self-satisfaction. Of course, the process would kill any normal human, (perfection is unattainable, and there is no shortcut to peace.) However, for the sprites that achieve it, it allows them to escape the traumas of their past and become the best version of themself. A Person, unbound from the narrative.

In the Epilogues, it couldn't be more different. Becoming Ultimate seems to exaggerate your issues- you fall into the same ruts over and over again. However, it also grants intense power it did not in Homestuck- your sight extends and your destruction unparalleled. In this way you are no longer a person capable of change- you are closer to a divine figure, a representation of yourself, the ultimate Classpect, Trope, Archetype- but not real. Too much You to ever self-reflect meaningfully, repeating the same cycles like an autonomon, knowing of your true place in a story, a code, a constructed and controlled play. To become Ultimate is to know you are a Character, and nothing comes back from that.

In this way, the Ultimate Self becomes a singularity- too much mass/character collapses into one, which then destroys all things near it. Not Light, nor Time can escape- and certainly not Heart. You become nothing, and everything, in a chaos of pure representation as your real-ity collapses. Thus comes the Ultimate Self as the Black Hole, the place the ouroboros surrounds and reproduces- a place where mythic cycles repeat endlessly, as they should. This would not be a problem, normally- but there are people who are not Ultimate. People that have to live, and deal with the consequences. People who still think they are real, and in thinking that, become it. Cognito Ergo Sum. So what do you do when dealing with uncaring gods? What do you do when you become one of them? The story of the Epilogues takes place in a Black Hole- it has from the very first paragraph. There is no escape. The cycle repeats. It keeps happening.

Can it break? Can reality's collapse, collapse itself? Can death die? There is one more thing I have not mentioned yet. At the very center of the Black Hole, there is a concentrated mass. The Ultimate Weapon. The singularity itself- but it has a curious function. While it does endlessly repeat- your own memories, your traumas- it does so with the purpose of helping you grow. You are given guides to become the best person you can be and are given infinite time to grow and change. Maybe the two interpretations are not separate after all?

The differences between Homestuck's Ultimate Self and the Epilouges could not seem more different. They have opposite psychological effects, and represent entirely different things. But they may not be so different after all. The sprites still exist. People, New things, are still being born in the Black Hole. To become yourself could mean to become all the worst parts of you. All the same parts. Mixed and recyled. It could also mean to become healthy. "Best Version," "Ultimate Version," it does not distinguish between Person or Character. But you can. You can still change. There is hope after all.