Why the Spider?

I woke up with this concept on my mind, it's a continuation on the previous post, if you like. Stream of consciousness neatened up a bit.

Early summer morning, fine silk now dwindling...

Why do we need spiders? I used to ask that question when I was younger. I've never been too keen on spiders, so I'd wonder why they had to exist. Nowadays I'm much more accepting of them, I leave them be or catch them in a jar to release them back outside. Still though, the question stands. Of course, spiders are good exterminators; nature's own pest control, they ensure the numbers of other insects are kept down. That's the idea. I used to think that if there weren't flies, then we wouldn't need the spiders. But flies are good decomposers, they take out the trash. So the spiders are in place to keep flies (as well as other little bugs) from getting out of control. Everything has it's place in the ecosystem, right, all about maintaining balance.




A clever design, however you look at it. Is it implemented by something or someone; a creator? The 'Great Architect of the Universe' as the Freemasons neutrally use to refer to deity, being that on the surface this encompasses whatever belief one has.

Are there watchers? In other words, are we being observed by interdimensional beings? If this is an illusion, a computer generation of sorts, a simulated environment...
Have you ever experienced a glitch in what you define as your reality?

I remember reading about the video game Far Cry 2 - the environment featured wildlife, but the developers didn't include any carnivores, as predators without careful control would have eaten all the herbivores and then starved to death.

Balance.

If something has a fault it gets rectified in time through what we call evolution. Life - this creation - has not been finished, it's a work in progress. What are we heading towards? What are we aiming for? An uninterrupted symbiotic relationship between soul and body? Therefore purity in matter, not only in mind? Perfection? Purity and perfection, human terms. All human terms, though the existence of a soul (or 'second body') is irrefutable to many. If we are aiming for immortality, will the pursuit of certain technology bring us to such an outcome? Transhumanism. Are we essentially working for and with 'God' or 'Gods' so as to attain the perfect ecosystem?

Prosthetics... mentioned throughout history.

Society already seems to be dependent on technology. It's being pushed upon the masses all the time, even just with gadgets that people can't seem to live without. People are attached to their phones (cue the surreal imagery).

One thing we should do is look at both sides of an argument, and that's the point I'm making in comparison to the previous post. Could the elite be a further system in place to keep us subdued for a universal reason or purpose? That wouldn't mean they'd realise it, the same as we don't. Just as there are predators in the animal kingdom; to keep the numbers down. On a subconscious level, could the elite and a depopulation agenda be working for the greater good? Could it fit into some universal plan? It's not a pleasant thought, but I'm only theorising. Which would you prefer, mindless killing or for there to be some divine purpose behind it all? Both are concerning really, as both suggest that at the root of it all is the capacity for evil.

I'm not suggesting the elite are good in any of this, but are they merely puppets to something else; are they being used to utilize a system? What the universe wants, it gets. Hypothetically speaking, as a fail-safe, it might use the elite to commit genocide to ensure continuation of the planet. Alternatively, it might not be a question of sacrifice, it's feasible that something may have taken control of the planet or the solar system, though that's another topic entirely...



Channel 4's Utopia pushed a similar concept to this; depopulation to ensure the survival of mankind.

If it doesn't end with the psychopathic elite, but is actually part of some grand scheme, then I'm not at all comfortable with the idea, though I can accept the potential of it being a reality. Maybe I'm just too sensitive.

The more sensitive you are, the more certain you are to be brutalized, develop scabs. Never evolve. Never allow yourself to feel anything, because you always feel too much. - Marlon Brando

After all, not everybody seems to care, not enough people. And then there are those that do care, do feel - we feel cheated. Again, does this suggest something? Why is there a minority who are aware of the injustice? Do we have a right to feel this way? Why exactly are we different, is it a matter of non-suggestibility? Society as a whole is kept suppressed, told how to think, how to dress and what to eat, this is social engineering.

A wise man told me that we are born with wings

but never taught to fly

doesn't that make you wonder why?

...

Now you're taught to remain a hamster on a wheel until you run out of energy

...

When did we stop believing? When did we stop marching? When did we stop chanting?
- Suli Breaks, excerpts from his spoken word poetry from the song 'Glass' by Kasabian

It's arduous being awake while everyone is asleep. We see things we shouldn't, we see what we perceive to be corruption. Maybe we've a right to feel cheated, maybe that was the intention of that which created us - for balance - but if we stand and speak our minds, are we then an obstruction to a work in progress?


Men at work; two men beating up a cloud.

Sort of like we're the butchers to the architects (and their architecture). Really, what if we are effectively the pests to their system? And don't the pests often get rooted out? Think of some notable individuals that have dared to speak their minds and look at what became of them.

Maybe we can't settle for world peace yet; we're not ready; it's not yet time. Perhaps the many deaths of radicals was never such a bad thing, just part of the smooth running of things. Being as I am, feeling as I do, I find this inconceivable, but you never know, maybe it makes some warped sort of sense.

Why the spider? To keep the flies in line.

How Long is a Piece of Food Chain?

The following is a series of notes in the order they were written. The notes were made after reading from two very different books; a fact book on insects and Journeys Out Of The Body by Robert A. Monroe.

People have domesticated silkworms for so long that these insects no longer exist in their natural habitat; they're entirely dependent on humans.

Individually we can learn a lot by observing, studying or researching insects. Many of society's inventions have been inspired by or modelled off of the insect world. If we would look more often to this secret world, it would give us a better perspective of our position in the grand scheme of things.

Scientists have developed 'insect robots' that mimic the agility of real insects. These robots are used to explore dangerous areas, such as minefields and the surface of other planets. The smallest of these robots are about the size of a coin and can be deployed by the military as miniature drones (UAVs) for covert operations.

 

Crickets and cicadas have been captured and reared by humans for the beautiful sounds they can produce. Keeping crickets as pets emerged in Ancient China.  In the early 12th century the Chinese people began holding cricket fights, a type of blood sport involving male crickets which is still popular to this day. The crickets are selected, bred, fed on special diets and kept separate by their keepers before being made to fight. Before fight night, female crickets are thrown into the mix to arouse the male's fighting spirit.

 

Insect farming is the practice of raising insects for agricultural purposes.

 

Beneficial insects (or beneficial bugs) are any species of insects that are viewed as being valuable to the smooth running of an agricultural system. The concept of beneficial is subjective and only arises in light of desired outcomes from a human perspective. In farming and agriculture, where the objective is to raise selected crops, insects that impede upon the production process are classified as pests, while insects that facilitate production are considered beneficial.

Researchers have been modifying the genetics of a variety of insects, such as mosquitoes, olive flies, fruit flies, moths and bollworms. There are various reasons and so-called benefits for doing this, the primary being pest control and reduction in the ability to reproduce. Geneticists plan to 'build a better bee' - because bees just clearly aren't good enough! Thousands of other insect and arthropod genomes have also been announced.

Insects were the first to 'domesticate' other animals. Ants 'tame' the larvae of particular butterflies and aphids to extract honeydew from them.



© Rosarinagazo CC 2.5

 

 

Termites created the first ever colonies with queens, soldiers and workers.

Does that confirm that this hierarchical behaviour is inherent within us; within nature?

Does it mean we have to accept and endure it?
Or is the difference that we can be conscious of it? If we're not happy about it we can rise above that system - evolve essentially.

Because it's a part of the insect world and seen throughout nature, does that make it right?

And if we find it difficult to consider that we may be dependent on some kind of intrinsic system, doesn't that suggest something?

But if we wanted to break away from the order would we be allowed?

 

Workers - Metropolis (1927)

Clearly the elite (above and beyond) function in that way, their mentality is to control and enslave. Though not all of us 'worker ants' share the same idea; we don't all want to be part of their present system or their future vision. Within nature there are the 'pests', those that go against the grain. Was this by design?

 



Saintly Maria - Metropolis (1927)

Are we fundamentally nothing more than big insects? The distinction being that we have a feeling there is something more going on behind the scenes; we're conscious of the bigger picture.

 

Insect Royalty

Termites constructed the first 'skyscrapers' - towers of baked mud and saliva that are home to millions of termites. The large white queen lives in a special royal chamber while the other chambers are used for raising the young or accumulating food.


Hey, maybe they really revere their queen.

 

Image by Kreuzschnabel/Wikimedia Commons, License: artlibre



 

Look at early civilizations with their pyramid-building and their king and queen, soldiers and servants. Obviously these hierarchies still exist today, they're just not so direct.

 

El Tajin, Mexico

 

 



Great Sphinx and Pyramid of Khafre, Egypt





 

 

 

 

 





Great Pyramid of Egypt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insects have always been of great importance to human civilizations. People rear and use insects to obtain valuable materials, such as silk, honey and wax.

 

There are also many insects that need animal or human blood to survive.

 

Just as many cultures eat insects and consider them to be delicacies.

 

Depictions of scarab beetles were often carved on Ancient Egyptian gemstones and jewellery, as they were thought to bring good luck and ward off evil.

 

Where did this perception of evil begin?

Where did legends of mythical creatures stem from? Ignorance? Mere storytelling?

Are we less ignorant now or are we being deluded?

 

Naturally the Ancient Egyptians had a close connection with the insect world, of which they worshipped and treasured various arthropods.

 

Did mankind adopt the hierarchy that it observed from the insects?

 

 The insect world is a microcosm of ours. Our world is a microcosm of the universe, and so forth.

 

Are we at the top of the food chain?

Throughout man's history, fear and sexuality have been the major motivating and control characteristics in all forms of social organisation.

 

 

Is the human race being exploited?

Could the oppressors also be the oppressed?

 

Where The Insects Run The Show

Bequeathed by Mr R Erickson
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Look at this jumble of bugs. Imagine opening a drawer to find this little lot. There appears to be an assortment of butterflies, moths, beetles and dragonflies. Even though they're dead and encased behind glass, they'd likely make your skin crawl if you weren't a fan of insects. With their rich colours, this array could effectively blend with a littering of Autumn leaves on the ground. The patterns and eyespots, what are they saying? What do they say to you?

There's not enough recognition for the incredible and enlightening societies of the insect world, I think it's a great shame. Individually we can learn a lot by observing, studying or researching them. There are over one million different species of insects - compared to just the one human species.

The image is from the inlay of Kasabian's third album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, an album I'm really fond of for its concept, style, art, lyrical content, overall comprehensive sound and the mystical nature of certain tracks especially. It's like all the great 'psych' films rolled into one and put to music, turned into a soundtrack. If the walls of an old asylum would speak, these recordings are what we'd hear. The album is residual energy. It's like a collage of male and female eyes all fluttering in their own times and bathed in sunshine, moonlight, shadows and smeared mascara... a cluster of headaches, desperate voices and sensual whispers curling in the air... all of these racing thoughts and feelings, flights of fancy... passionate, romantic, misunderstood, forsaken, nostalgic, poignant, idealistic, restless, delirious, neurotic, esoteric, blissful, grandiose, indestructible... sexual tension, fevers, cold lightning, warm rain... English rose bleeding against a white picket fence... golden meadows, high kites, dandelion wishes... summer days where dreams run into reality in the disorienting heat... long summer nights with no definite end in sight...

This is how I'd begin to describe what the music does for me. As a work of art it has been deeply affecting. For me there's no doubt in my mind that this is a summer record. The photo of the dead insects has a vibe about it as if autumn is drawing in, but they've been in the glass case for years and years, the change of season is always coming, never settling. The insects are preserved, that is, in permanent stasis. I think it's suitable, fitting for the concept, and it's the centre of the inlay. I've not found any posts on the internet giving appreciation on this, only a piece of information about the plaque below the insects (which is supposedly a reference to Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators). Although I see it as art - and that is its purpose in the booklet - I guess it's a collection from a museum. It's incredible, so I just wanted to share it. Isn't that part of the beauty of physical copies of albums? The artwork, the layout, the background. Brings another perspective, the visual aspect to further bring alive the themes present within the songs...