The Logic of the Strong, the Intelligent, and the Weak
Night Fire: The Logic of the Strong, the Intelligent, and the Weak
Dogon farmers usually say that the most beautiful birds are not the biggest. They say that everything we observe is simply submitted to the light we project on it, the aspect that we want to take into consideration. Even the night possesses its lights; it is up to the eyes to know how to look. All these wise insights that we have developed in the face of the contrast that the environment presents to us can all be summarized in one principle of the spirituality as taught by the Kemetic schools: Heru-Seth.
Heru-Seth is a principle that includes within it two entities, or let’s say two forces, that are antagonistic but from which the balance gives conditions that are favorable for life. It is the territory from which can be found two forces that are incompatible: one we have learned to consider as good and the other as evil. The reality is that each one of these forces if left on its own will lead directly to the destruction of life. In the principle of Heru-Seth, one can see two gods as the poles, all of them eternal and in conflict. Seth exercises his eternity through his self-preservation, meaning he cannot die. But Heru exercises his eternity through the fact that he dies and reincarnates. He resurrects every day and is strengthened by his experience of past lives.
The difference, or let's say the antagonistic nature, of these gods has produced within a human being the concept of dualism that is more or less real and guides our progress through life. We have learned to perceive even within the matter elements that we consider opposed while ignoring that each one of these elements left on its own will destroy life.
The cold against the heat, the liquid against the solid, the light against the darkness, the force against weakness, etc.
This principle does not exist only within the relations among entities that are part of the same world, but also inside every entity. If the strongest only had his strength as a way of experiencing the existence and was immortal, he would have destroyed humanity and even the universe. If the strong lacked the patience or even the stupidity and weren't by himself subject to trickery and the influence of intelligence, it will become impossible for others to exist. Luckily for us, even the most powerful human on Earth is mortal, and since he is mortal, if our reasoning and begging for mercy do not succeed in convincing him of our needs and our rights to exist freely like him, our patience will defeat him. Patience and time do more than strength and rage.
The history of humanity is full of tyrants, dictators, and even people who have dominated others and have submitted them to slavery. These conquerors even asked to be worshipped like Gods while their victims were silently suffering. And while the slave master was celebrating his victory the slave was silently praying to see the day the natural order will be reestablished.
The world is a zouhet; an egg inside which the destiny of the whole is being played.
Inside every egg, it is not the victory of one entity on the other that counts. The egg is made of everything it contains.
The story I'm going to tell is a Gourmantche legend. It is a legend that sheds light on the conflict between diverse elements of nature. It is also a conflict between the nature of the human being and his moral and spiritual obligations towards others, the conflict between a predator and his prey in an environment that is complicated by the question of morality, wisdom, and even intelligence.
There was, once upon a time, long ago, in the times when all the inhabitants of the Earth were communicating in one common language, a crocodile. It was a Nile crocodile. And allow me to repeat what I just said…
There was, a long time ago in the Nile Valley, something that happened, and I'm going to faithfully repeat it to you. Far, very far away, close to the source of the great river, one was experiencing an abundance that had no equal. It had rained nonstop for months. All the animals knew it from the forest to the savannah and the deserts. One knew that the Nile River bank would experience an inundation that had no precedent. All the animals on the bank of the river were forced to adventure further and further inland. The birds had rebuilt their nests a bit higher on the trees. The snakes dug the holes far away towards the hills. The situation was a lot more difficult for animals that lay eggs, like turtles, crocodiles, and other reptiles. To avoid letting inundation destroy their eggs, it became necessary to find places that were far away enough and at the same time easy to dig a hole for their eggs.
It is in this context that Mrs. Crocodile found herself miles away from the river. The water from the inundation at one moment formed a pond on the edge of which Mrs. Crocodile made a big hole inside which she laid her eggs. She spent her time carefree. After so many years spent on the edge of the overpopulated river, she was finding herself now all alone and at the edge of a huge pond full of fish. She spent her time in great enjoyment, waiting patiently for the eggs to hatch.
But while Mrs. Crocodile was waiting on the side of her eggs, she noticed that the water from the river was retracting quickly. She could see on the horizon the dunes of the desert sand now forming between her and the river. Her first instinct was to quickly join the river. But her maternal instinct was forcing her to wait at the side of her eggs. She said to herself that she would just have to wait for a few dekans; at most two dekans and she could carry her babies on her back and crawl her way to the river. But the more the days were passing, the further away the edge of the river was becoming. Two dekans - it is twenty days. But already the edge of the river is no longer visible, and Mrs. Crocodile was becoming more and more nervous.
The sun of the desert was getting more and more intense. Mrs. Crocodile realized that even the pond inside which she was lying was starting to dry out. She had within just a few days eaten all the fish in the pond. A few days later the pond was nothing but mud inside which it was impossible to find even a tadpole. Mrs. Crocodile had to accept one fact: what had started as a paradise simply became a trap inside which she could die. She then decided to abandon her eggs and started her walk towards the river.
As soon as the night fell, with her eyes full of tears, hungry and weak, Mrs. Crocodile started crawling in the direction of the Nile. She had walked all night. The morning found her in the middle of nowhere. The sun was intense and so was the heat. The heat was warming up her body, making her weaker and weaker. All the crocodiles recognized the importance of water, or at least the cold weather for their survival. Knowing that they could not sweat like other animals, they all recognized the need to place them under the sun for heat and to plunge into the cold water to protect them from excess heat. Mrs. Crocodile gathered all her strength and walked and walked and walked. A few miles later, her strength started abandoning her. She fell down and passed out.
A man who was traveling saw not far from his path a crocodile that appeared dead. He came closer and was very surprised to see that the crocodile that was so far away from its natural environment was almost alive. He shook her and realized that the crocodile was almost dying. He felt pity for the crocodile and decided to help her. He pulled a rope out of his bag and tied the legs of the crocodile to make its transportation easier. He carried Mrs. Crocodile on his head and walked towards the river.
When he arrived at the edge of the river, he placed Mrs. Crocodile down and untied her. He poured a bit of water on the crocodile and shook it until Mrs. Crocodile opened her eyes. The man then asked Mrs. Crocodile if she was feeling better. Crocodile then returned and suddenly, with a fast move, grabbed the arm of the man before she said, "Before anything, I would like to thank you for saving my life. But I am a crocodile and it has been days since I've eaten. I would like to see in the fact that I will devour you a sacrifice from your part."
The man was very surprised. He started moaning, "I beg you to let me live. I have a family to feed... "Me too, I've lost my eggs on the edge of a dried pond in the desert!" Crocodile. Cut in Mrs. Crocodile.
"But I want to live!" moaned the man. "Me too," answered the Crocodile.
While the man and the crocodile were disputing, they saw a gazelle passing. The man asked the gazelle to judge their story. After the man told the condition in which he found Mrs. Crocodile and what he did to save her life, he asked her if it was right for the crocodile to want to devour the same person who saved her life. The gazelle first answered that it was not right for Mrs. Crocodile to devour the man. But after her response the crocodile asked, "Would you like that I devour you instead?" To that question, the gazelle changed her attitude and said, "Eat him! Eat him! It is his fault. He had saved you!" To that, the crocodile turned her eyes toward the man with a large smile as if she was going to say "You see, I am right.”
The man restarted his moaning and called for help. They saw a group of hyenas arrive. The man asked them to judge. The hyena said with a mocking laugh, "Eat him, eat him, and I will eat the rest." All the animals that passed by either by interest or by fear that the crocodile might eat them said that she should eat the same person that saved her life. The crocodile now started pulling the man towards the depths of the river when Mr. Spider arrived. The man shouted, "Wait! Wait! Let's ask Mr. Spider to judge."
The man started telling his story to Mr. Spider, making sure not to forget any details. He also told Mr. Spider what all the other animals considered just for the crocodile to do. When he finished Mr. Spider asked the crocodile if it was true what the man was saying. The crocodile, sure of herself, said yes before she added "What will be your justice because if I don't eat the one that has saved my life, I will be forced to eat the one that stopped me from eating him."
Mr. Spider, after listening carefully, took a serious tone and hesitated before he answered, "Me, I think that the two of you are liars. I cannot believe that this man, so timid and weak, was capable of tying you up and carrying you on his head for such a long distance!" After that observation, the man and the crocodile answered in one tone, "But it is true!" Mr. Spider, with a very malicious tone, said, "The two of you will have to prove to me that what you are saying is true if you want my judgment." He asked them to come out of the water. The man and the crocodile obeyed. He then asked the man to tie the legs of the crocodile and to carry her on his head. The crocodile let the man do it. Then Mr. Spider asked the man to walk toward the place where he found the crocodile. The man took the direction of the desert with Mrs. Crocodile on top of his head. After miles of walking under the sun, they reached the place where the man found Mrs. Crocodile. He put her on the ground. Mr. Spider then asked the man to untie the crocodile and he asked the crocodile "Is it really this place he found you?" "Yes," answered Mrs. Crocodile. Mr. Spider now asked the man to walk in the direction he was coming from before seeing the crocodile. The man took the direction of his house, followed by Mr. Spider. Mrs. Crocodile stayed in her place immobile, waiting patiently for the man to finish proving to Mr. Spider that he was coming from his home.
When Mr. Spider and the man arrived at the man's house, Mr. Spider said to the man, "This is my justice!" The face of the man became enlightened with joy. He thanked Mr. Spider and said, "From now on, Mr. Spider, you will always be welcome in my house. The law of human hospitality will extend to you and all the spiders. You will not need permission to come and visit. We owe you life..."
Well, according to the legend of my village, this is why it is not rare for humans to find spiders in their houses. One never knew what happened to Mrs. Crocodile.
