Emu Gone Mad: Dreaming the New World Into Being
"Emu is a troublemaker who brings into being the most destructive idea in existence: I am greater than you, you are less than me."
Hi friend,
With the winter solstice around the corner, it’s time to shed light on a few things. It’s time for insights, and it’s also time for imagination.
Let’s begin by shedding light on what is currently happening in the world: It all comes down to a simple symbol.
As you know, symbols are powerful.
It’s why the sight of a swastika makes Westerners shudder these days. We associate it with all the terrible things the Nazis did. (In Hindu and Buddhist culture, where it originated, it means something entirely different: it is a holy symbol, associated with divinity and spirituality.)
A while ago, I read something that changed my view of a mathematical symbol. In his book Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, Tyson Yunkaporta associates the symbol “>” with the Emu.
At this point, you might be wondering: ‘Wait, what? What’s wrong with emus?’
Nothing — emus are fine. The problem is Emu (with a capital E).
Emu making a mess of things
In a creation story Yunkaporta shares in his book, Emu is the world’s original malignant narcissist:
“There are a lot of stories that explain how all this began… My favorite one comes from Nyoongar Elder Noel Nannup in Perth, who tells the Dreaming story of a meeting in which all the species sat down for a yarn to decide which one would be the custodial species for all of creation. Emu made a hell of a mess, running around showing off his speed and claiming his superiority, demanding to be boss and shouting over everyone.”
Does that behavior sound familiar? Does it remind you of someone?
A few someones?
Whether we are talking about Hitler, Napoleon, or people who shall not be named, a bunch of historical and contemporary figures are pretty much Emu in a human body.
Yunkaporta also explains in his book how this all ties into the symbol “>” (emphasis added):
“Emu’s problem can be seen in the mathematical greater-than/less-than interpretation of the symbol. Emu is a troublemaker who brings into being the most destructive idea in existence: I am greater than you, you are less than me. This is the source of all human misery.”
The terrible legacy of “>”
Yunkaporta’s insight blew my mind. After thinking more about it, I realized that most terrible things that are done by humans can be traced back to a belief that is captured in this simple symbol.
Here are some of the evil things that the “>-belief” has caused:
genocide,
slavery,
colonialism,
nationalism,
many wars,
all discriminatory -isms (racism/sexism/ableism/ageism, etc.),
homophobia and transphobia,
a system that serves a select few,
“my god is greater than your god”-thinking/crusades/religious intolerance,
etc.
(It’s also how we justify the terrible things we are doing to animals.)
The pervasiveness of this perverse belief
It’s important to consider just how much “>” has poisoned the human mindset.
I mentioned some of the worst expressions of it but it also shows up in less extreme ways in the lives of almost all of us:
incessant comparison,
harsh judgment (of self or others), and
the belief that we need to prove our worth instead of being inherently worthy.
All of these are based on the “>”-belief. And the more a culture believes in it, the worse it gets.
I wonder what our world would look like if we based it on another symbol.
What if we made “=” the basis of all our interactions?
What if we told Emu to stop yammering and instead listened to saner voices?
What if we stopped playing the “better than/less than”-game and instead recognized our fundamental equality?
We are all inherently worthy.
It’s time to stop letting Emu tell us otherwise.
Dreaming the new world into being
If Emu is the troublemaker who brings into existence the most problematic ideas of them all…
… perhaps we have to be the antidote.
Perhaps it’s up to us — all of us — to dream the new world into being.
This is not about changing Emu’s story. That would be making it about Emu. And, honestly, screw that guy!
This is about dreaming a different story. And a dream is not about using words — it’s about feelings.
If you like, take a moment and look at the flag above. Look at the symbol “=”.
What does it bring up for you?
Then, close your eyes. And just imagine what things could be like.
Not the specifics. Just the general feeling.
Imagine what it would be like to go into the end-of-year season, feeling joy and peace. Feeling happy because you know others are doing well, too. Feeling excited about the new year. And then bask in that feeling.
It’s just a dream.
But that’s how all new stories start.
Warmly,
Louise
P.S.: Here’s a Solstice Ritual for you, if you like:
