The Pygmies LoaThe a messy camp. But what they can't STaND above all is the NoiSe caused by the MeSS, the RuCkus (ChahuT in French). For them, making noise, especially when you're travelling, is unforgivable - except to FRiGhTen off wild animals while gathering.
This connection between MeSS and NoiSe is found in Hebrew in TeShuʔah (CRaSh, TuMuLT) and tuwShyah (the noise made by the SToRM in Job 30. 22). « Yes, we've already seen tuwShyah, it's Pink 🩷 Red 🔴 and Light Blue 💎 ». That's right, Polisson. tuwShyah also evokes the noisy CouGhing (TouSSer in French, from TuSSis in Latin). These words always come from Shaʔah, seen previously, which carries this sense of noise in Isaiah 17.12 and 13 when speaking of nations that RuMBLe as mighty waters rumble. There is also Showʔ with the sense of noise, in Job 30.14 and Shaʔown with the sense of RoaRing, of tumult.
This connection between disoRDeR and NoiSe also exists in English and French with the expression to make a ShiVaRee, faire un ChaRiVaRi. Shivaree (or should I say shiwaree) was a community practice when people made a ruckus to ChaSTise an old man marrying a young woman, or more broadly people violating the community's moral values or traditions.
The reason why noise is so unbearable for the Pygmies is primarily because it's a source of ConFuSion: everything is DiSRuPTed, TuRNed uPSiDe DoWN, is a MeSS, you can't hear a thing. Indeed, Pygmies have neither the same hearing nor the same visual faculties as we do. We'll come back soon to their limited vision, but hearing is their strength; they can HeaR a noise from their camp from huge distances. Their PeRCeptive powers are thus severely impaired in the presence of too much noise. Everything becomes JuMBLed.
Pygmies can't stand noise most of all because it often goes hand in hand with DiSCoRD (ZiZaNie in french) and DiSPuTes within the camp. Chant 39 of the Tao Te King, mentioned previously, connects noise, or the absence of serenity, and RuiN: « If heaven had not thus become clear, It would soon CRaCk. If the earth had not thus become tranquil, It would soon be ShaKen. » In fact, this theme of the noise and CLaMor made by human arguments that prevent the earth from resting exists in many myths, particularly in the Enuma Elish.
Colin Turnbull, in The Forest People, quotes many times how, for a Pygmy, « NoiSy camp, huNGRy camp », with the recurring expression « You’re making too much noise for the FoReST » - especially because noise SCaRes the game away. The entire Pygmy view of justice is more concerned with PReSeRVing haRMoNy and CaLM than with who is right or wrong.
Just as the HuT of a Pygmy couple only STaNDs if the couple is haRMoNious, the fate of the Cosmos rests on the harmony between human beings, as Hesiod sang when talking about the five successive RaCes on Earth: the golden race, the silver race, the bronze race, the race of the demigods and finally the iron race. I'm reading from Works and Days:
Thereafter, would that I were not among the men of the fifth generation, but either had died before or been born afterwards. For now truly is a race of iRoN, and men never rest from labour and SoRRoW by day, and from perishing by night; and the gods shall lay SoRe trouble upon them. But, notwithstanding, even these shall have some good mingled with their evils. And Zeus will DeSTRoy this race of MoRTaL men also when they come to have grey hair on the temples at their birth. The FaTheR will not agree with his ChiLDren, nor the children with their father, nor guest with his HoST, nor comrade with comrade; nor will brother be dear to brother as aforetime. Men will dishonour their parents as they grow quickly old, and will carp at them, ChiDing them with bitter words, hard-hearted they, not knowing the fear of the gods. They will not repay their aged parents the cost their nurture, for might shall be their right: and one man will SaCk another's city. There will be no favour for the man who keeps his oaTh or for the JuST or for the good; but rather men will praise the evil-doer and his violent dealing. Strength will be right and reverence will cease to be; and the WiCked will hurt the WoRThy man, speaking FaLSe words against him, and will SWeaR an oath upon them. eNVy, FouL-mouthed, delighting in eViL, with SCoWLing face, will go along with WReTChed men one and all. And then Aidos and Nemesis (i.e ShaMe of WRoNGdoing and indignation against the wrongdoer), with their sweet forms wrapped in white robes, will go from the wide-pathed earth and forsake mankind to join the company of the deathless gods: and bitter sorrows will be left for mortal men, and there will be no help against evil.
DiSPuTe is inherent to human existence. haRMoNy is always temporary. And all PRoPheTs have faced eNeMies and aDVeRSaries, whether they be, in my case, the linguistics and anthropology PhaRiSians, who cloud the simplest things. Or those whom ChRiST confronted 2,000 years ago, as did all of Israel's prophets before him. Or the many disputes of the Prophet of Islam recounted in the Qur'an, or Zarathustra's STRuGGLe against the eViL teachers who « since they iNVeRT the religious teachings. They ConVeRT the pure minded into the followers of untruth », as he recounts in Chant V, §10, with here once more the connection with inversion and ConFuSion.
aDVeRSary comes from adverso in Latin, aDVeRSo, another derivative of our hyper-polysemous VeRTo/VeRSo. Within adversary lies the MiLitary semantic field seen previously in sex. The sexual act itself can sometimes involve some amount of VioLence, as Sandor Ferenczi pointed out in Thalassa chapter 4:
We must not omit to mention that CoiTus is accompanied by decidedly aGGReSSive affects as well. This component, which was traced as far as the stage of genitality in Chapter 3, manifests itself during the SeX act in increasingly violent muscular movements which not only have the holding fast of the love object as their purpose but also betray unequivocally SaDistic trends (BiTing, SCRaTChing).
« Do not suppose that I have come to bring PeaCe to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a SWoRD. », said Christ (Matthew 10.34). Zarathustra talks about his enemy Bandav, and « I shall oPPoSe him, who places himself in opposition to me. » , in Chant XI §18. As I like to say: « SuS aux PhaRiSiens (Down with the Pharisians)! » You've heard the expression « Sus aux SaRRaSins (Down with the Saracens)! ». The SaRaCens are the enemies (the Basques in the Chanson de Roland, and later the Muslims) but the Pharisian etymology of Saracen is rather confusing. « Yes, but beware, SuS is also Purple 🟣 and Sarrasin is also Red 🔴 »
In Hebrew ShaRaR is the enemy, the PeRSeCuTing adversary, especially in the Psalms. But the enemy is also ShuwR, another highly polysemous word, isn't it Polisson. « Yes, ShuwR is also Purple 🟣 Brown 🟤 and Black ⚫ ». There's also ʔaṢaR which means to initiate HoSTilities, for example in the first book of Kings (20.14)- and which too is polysemous « Yes ShuwR it's also Brown 🟤 and Yellow 🟡 ».
In Latin there's also HoSTis, the eNeMy, which we've already seen several times. Whereas in Old French, there was eSTRiF (dispute, RiVaLry), which turns into STRiFe and STReit in German. Rivalry also comes up in English in « to STRuGGLe », or in the ThReaT that you need to ThWaRT.
In Norse mythology, the Æsir are a group of gods and heroes, including Odin, Thor and Loki, who battle the Vanes. The prefix As- (present in Asgard, the realm of the gods) refers to the gods and this mythical battle. The Æsir belongs to the semantic field of what is raised and worthy of praise, as seen in my previous video.
However, as you well know, nothing is always completely negative. Too much haRMoNy kills harmony. And DiSCoRD can also be SuBLiMated and transformed into a CoMPeTitive spirit that makes us give the best of ourselves. Among the Greeks, this DuaLity is represented by the goddess eRiS, who embodies both discord and violence in Hesiod's Theogony, as well as competition, in his Works and Days.
Finally the Indi-Iranian region has the Asuras (who, for Iranians, are the principal deities Mitra, Varuna and Indra, the god of WaR), who battle the Ahuras, the beneficent deities. In India, the Asuras are DeMoNic forces who can MeTaMoRPhose - just like you, my little Polisson - and who oPPoSe the devas, the beneficent deities.
But the greatest STRuGGLe is always the struggle against oneself, as Lao Tzu reminds us in Chant 33: « He who CoNQuers others has physical STRenGth; he who conquers himself is strong ». It's also the theme of Jacob WReSTLing with the Angel, through which he gains the title yiSRaʔeL, the one who FouGhT the Eternal - or rather himself. And the 57th Chant, already seen displaying the beautiful Paleolithic chiaroscuro: « For deep LoVe helps one to win in the case of aTTaCk, And to be firm in the case of defense. When HeaVeN is to save a person, Heaven will protect him through deep love. », where love and sex are intertwined with CoMBaT and VioLence.
This aMBiVaLent relationship between LoVe and FiGhTing is also held by the all-powerful deity ZeuS, similar to oDiN, the Norse god of war, whose words also SooThes QuaRReLs, as sung by Hesiod in his Theogony (P11 French edition). We also find this TeNSion between love and fighting in ChRiST's message, related in Matthew 5.43: « You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and haTe your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who PeRSeCuTe you ». And above all, the mythical phrase « all who draw the SWoRD will die by the sword », also found in Lao Tzu, Chant 42: « What others have taught, I teach also: VioLent and FieRCe people do not die a natural death ». Or in the Chant 66:
Therefore, Though he STaNDs above the people, yet the people do not extol him; Though he stands ahead of the people, yet the people are not jealous of him. For this reason, The world happily accepts him unconditionally, because he does not CoMPeTe. Therefore, no one in the world can compete with him.
Coming back to our Chosen People, the Pygmies, even among them DiSCoRD and ConFuSion are not always negative; they are even staged in the most important ritual ceremony, the Molimo, which Colin Turnbull was able to attend (Forest People, p84).
We'll come back to this later, for now note that the Molimo is a CeReMoNy taking place over several days, or even weeks, during which a MySTeRious figure CLoThed in GRaSSes moves around the camp BLoWing a trumpet, the Molimo, while the children romp and make a MeSS, ShaKing the HuTs, SCaTTeRing the eMBeRs of CooKing FiRes, and even uSing their LaNCes to PRiCk reluctant people, especially those who are deemed TRouBLemakers.
Molimo is basically like Mardi Gras, Carnival or Purim. It's a very rich CeReMoNy, clearly acting as a CaThaRsis (KaṬaRsis) for the SoCial STRiFe that always BReWs within a group and ThReaTens its survival. For social oRDeR can always be oVeRTuRNed. And auThoRity can always be SuBVeRTed, from the Latin SuBVeRTo, again coming from our hyper-polysemous VeRTo/VeRSo, which also produces oBVeRTo (to turn against) or PeRVeRTo (to oVeRThRoW - ReNVeRSer in French, to CoRRuPt, to PeRVeRT).
During the Upper Paleolithic, ReVoLTs were many, as societies grew more complex and ineQuaLities increased, up until the Neolithic. In Greek, STaSis is also the action of revolting against, oPPoSing, CoNTeSTation, disagreement, political DiViSion, RiVaLry between two characters, SeDition and uPRiSing (SouLèVement in French) - rise up! STaSiasô is to revolt, to ReBeL - from which aPoSTasy derives.
In Hebrew, we also have the hyper-polysemous NaSaʔ with the same sense of « RiSing up », notably in Daniel 11.14 or Habakkuk 1.3 « Why do You make me see iniQuiTy [Why] do You look upon WRoNG? —RaiDing and VioLence are before me, STRiFe continues and contention NaSaʔ goes on. »
And when SoCial organization BReaKs down, aNaRChy reigns, GaNGs LooT, ShoʔaṢ meShuwṢah meShiṢah ShaṢaṢ ShaṢah to PiLLage/SaCk, pillagers/sackers, to despoil, SPoiLs (very present in Isaiah, of course), whom the Egyptians called ShASuW, the famous Semitic-speaking nomadic tribes from the Levant who pillaged the Kingdom.
As you can see, here again is « Sha »'s formidable ability to say everything and its oPPoSite: we've gone from love to war and from stability to disorder. But where sex was based on the complementarity of opposites, what we’re seeing here is an oSCiLLatory dynamic between two STaTes: from the CoNSTRuCtion of the camp to its DeSTRuCtion.