the metempsychotic mind emerson and consciousness

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The Metempsychotic Mind: Emerson and ConsciousnessAuthor(s): John Michael CorriganSource: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 71, No. 3 (July 2010), pp. 433-455Published by: University of Pennsylvania PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40783578 .

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TheMetempsychoticind:EmersonndConsciousness

John ichaelorrigan

In recent ears, hewidespreadcceptance fRalphWaldoEmerson s a

philosopherfmetaphysicalnity as slowlygivenwayto a morepost-modern ppraisal,whichregards merson's houghts a contemplativeprogression,erpetuallyngoing ndopen-ended, processwithinwhichnodeterminationan befinal.1uchrecentffortst "de-transcendentaliz-

ing" and revitalizingmerson uccessfullyounter he long-establishedtendencies fcriticismo portray im s a cheerfulmysticwho is but anecho however owerfulnd influentialoftraditionalmetaphysics.2nthe ast hree ecadesparticularly,any cholars avebegun oconceive fEmersons a post-idealist,pragmatist,nevolutionist,r a political adi-

cal. Whilethese haracterizationsayseemappropriate,merson's ife-long attemptso safeguard he idea of the soul in an age of scientificadvancementyconceptualizingt as "a volatile ssence," verplayfulnd

mysterious,either foundation ora touchstone orbeing, utan unset-

1See Louis Menand,TheMetaphysicalClub: theStory f Ideas in America New York:Farrar, traus nd Giroux,2001), 18; and LawrenceBuell,Emerson Cambridge,Mass.:The BelknapPressofHarvardUniversityress, 003), 2.2 See LawrenceBuell's "The Emerson ndustryn the 1980's: A Survey fTrends andAchievements," SQ: A Journalof the AmericanRenaissance 30 (1984): 117-36;

Michael Lopez, "De-Transcendentalizingmerson,"ESQ: A Journalof theAmericanRenaissance34 (1988): 77-139; Emerson nd Power:CreativeAntagonismn theNine-teenth enturyDeKalb: NorthernllinoisUniversityress,1996), 187-89; and EricWil-son inEmerson's ublime cience New York:St.Martin'sPress,1999), 14.

CopyrightbyJournalf heHistoryf deas,Volume1,Number (July010)

433







JOURNAL F THE HISTORYOF IDEAS ♦ JULY 010

ding ndeterminacyithin he tructurefhuman ognition thisdeservesrenewed ttention.merson's ecurrentse ofthe ncient otion fmetem-

psychosis thetransmigrationf thesoul throughuccessive odies isone principalnstance f his literarynd philosophicalnventivenesst

work,namely, is search or figurativelueprintomarryhevast,mate-rial equence fhistory ith he lusive, nsettledctivityf the oul.

Whileolder cholarshipgnored r tended o dismiss uchdepictionsofmetempsychosis,3rthur ersluismakesthe case thatEmerson took

transmigrationeriously"ndtended o view t "as a literaryonceit irst

and as a doctrineecond," lthough e was "always seeking o expresstinWesternerms."4 ersluiss indeedcorrect o emphasize hefreedomwithwhich mersonmanipulates"he dea of ndian ransmigrationnd

combinest with Neoplatonic eading, ut t smy ontentionhat mer-sonadapted he dea ofmetempsychosisna muchmore horoughmanner

thananyonehas previouslyhown.Likeso many f hiscontemporaries,Emerson sed Vedanticnd Confucianources hroughhefilterf dealis-ticthoughtntheesotericssumptionhat ll great eligionsndphiloso-

phiesontain he ameuniversalruths. t the ame ime, merson's seof

metempsychosissmore omplex ndnuanced han hismightuppose, oritcan bemost ptly nderstoodot implys anesoteric,xotic rmysticaldoctrine,ommon o bothEastern nd Westernraditions,utas a figura-tive emplate orplacing he modernndividualwithin he vast record f

history "inthe ntireeries fdays."5Certainly,merson id not wishto preach iteralmetempsychosiso

hisAmerican udience.ncorporatinghe anguage fmetaphysicsnto he

revolutionsf cience, articularlyhenewvastness fthegeological ecord

and theories f adaptation nd evolution mergingn biology, mersonrepeatedlytresses ow the structureftransmigrationthe soulrunningthroughhehistorical eries can indicate he nitial utlines f a greater,more volved heoryfhuman ognitionndperception.shallbeginwithhisearlydiscoveryf ancientGreek nd Indianphilosophies, hich niti-

3See Vivian Hopkins,Spirals of Form (Cambridge,Mass.: Harvard University ress,1951), 123.4ArthurVersluis,AmericanTranscendentalismnd Asian Religions Oxford:Oxford

Universityress,1993), 60-61.5

RalphWaldo Emerson,The CollectedWorksof Ralph Waldo Emerson,6 vols., eds.

RobertE. Spiller,AlfredR. Ferguson, oseph later, ouglas EmoryWilson,JeanFergu-son Carr,Wallace E. Williams,PhilipNicoloff,RobertE. Burkholder,nd Barbara L.Packer Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniversityress,1971-2003); hereafter,W2: 3 {WforCollectedWorks, forvolumenumber ollowedby page number).

434







Corrigan Emersonnd Consciousness

atedhis ife-longascination ith he mplicationsfmetaphysicsornine-teenth-centurymericanndividualism,nd willthen oon to showhowEmersonransformshese ncientmetempsychoticodels norder opor-tray he dvent f modern onsciousness. aimto demonstratehroughoutthatmetempsychosisor Emersonbecomesmore than the movement fsoul through ature. nstead, t operates s an open-endedmetaphoricalmodel for humancognition hatpreserves hesoul as a transpersonal,self-transcendentgency,venwhile iving reater mphasiso thematerialstructuref thehumanmind.As thehumanbeingholdsthe mmensityf

history ithin isor her wnmind s a type funconscious ecord r atentpattern,isorher ask sto rediscoveristory'sequence ythinkingandthereforeiving throughtsdevelopmentnd bringingt nto a newandvitalform.nsuch reading f thehuman lace nhistory,merson inds,as I argue nthepenultimatend final ections,hatmetempsychoticogni-tion s best haracterizeds an intense oetic ct which nsettledhe taticdelineationsfhistoryndgives hehumanbeing he bility o commandhisor her wnself-development.

APPRENTICESHIP IN WESTERN AND INDIAN MYSTICISM

In seeking o expressAmerica's udding emocraticnterprise,merson

repeatedlyhampionedhe mental rocesses f the self-reliantndividualwho frees imselfr herself romheworn ut,oppressivetructuresftheOld World. n "Nature" (1836), theessaythatbrought imfame,helaments n Americaneoplewho seeonly hroughhe yes ftraditionndcannot njoy an original elation o theuniverse." mericans,ccording

toEmerson,re a peoplewho clothed hemselves ith "fadedwardrobe"and"groped]among hedry onesof thepast."Rather hanfallprey o a

second-hand, imeticxistence,heAmerican eoplemust earn o thinknewthoughts;nshort,heymust earn o think or hemselves:There renewlands,newmen,newthoughts.et us demandour own works ndlaws andworship."6

Theabilityo think ewthoughtsequires,or merson, newwayof

imagininghehumanmind nditspotentialityo recreatetselfn a betterform.Over the ast twodecades,StanleyCavell has developed critical

context hathelps ounderstandmerson's istinctive apofhuman og-nition.Accordingo Cavell,thequintessentialmersonian rototypeor

6W2:7.

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JOURNAL F THEHISTORY OF IDEAS♦ JULY 010

consciousnesss a form f"aversivehinking,"he ndividualurningwayfrom,ndtoward, thedominantlyesired irtue fhis ociety." merson,thereby,characterizeshinkings marked ytransfigurationnd conver-sion" forto "think s to turn round,or turnback [. . .] thewords of

ordinaryife" o as tochange he present ormf our ives hatnowrepelthought." avellunderscoresheEmersonianrocess fmoving hroughseries, venwhilenecessarilylacing ll its tepsunder efutation,alwaysunder riticismheld n aversion)."7 hisbrief, eneral ketch fCavell's

argumentan also provide philosophicalemplate or larifyingmer-

son's repeateddepictions f metempsychosis,he journeyof the soulthroughodies rthrough historicaleries. t s not omuch iteral rans-

migrationhatpreoccupiesmerson, uta method fconvertinghought,whether fthe ndividual r ofa society,rom neoverridingendencyoa newer,more nlightenedattern.

Emerson's arly ournals ndnotebooks ive trongndication f his

developmentrom Christian eliever o a transcendentalistho under-stood education s a spiritualalling, n invitationothe oul tograsp tsvocation nthedevelopmentfcivilizationndculture. lreadyt the geof twenty-onen 1824, Emerson ought dynamicmetaphysical odelcapableofreconcilingheever-wideninghasmbetween eligionnd sci-ence in nineteenth-centurymerica.His 1824 meditationshampionedspiritual onstancywithin he fluxofnature nd provided,n an as yetundevelopedmanner,hemetempsychoticodel hat omes oprominenceinthe nsuing ecades:

I like he magemyfancy resentsmeof a wisemanwell bred o a

vastvarietyf sound earningarryinghro' un& rain, hroughhisrambles&cbusiness,nd animalreflections filthyccupa-tions, hro'visits fceremonyndall the ttitudesntowhich heversatile ceneof ifemaythrow im his soulthat ichworldof

thought.8

Emersondepictshow "a wise man" learnsto carryhis soul withhim

throughall the ttitudes" ndchanges f ife.Thisexperiencefmultiple

7

Stanleyavell,merson'sranscendentaltudes

Stanford:tanford

niversityress,2003),193.8Ralph Waldo Emerson,TheJournals nd MiscellaneousNotebooks of Ralph WaldoEmerson,6vols., ds.William . Gilman ndRalphH. Orth t l. (Cambridge,ass.:Harvard niversityress, 960-82);hereafter,MN2: 400.

436







JOURNAL F THEHISTORY OF IDEAS♦ JULY 010

a process hroughwhich he ndividual an remember is or hergreaterhistorynd restore hismemorynto presenttate fself-awareness.

As Arthur ersluis rgues, Emerson's aterreading f Vedantic ndConfucian ources orroborated hathehad earnednthePlatonic chool

and,to a lesser xtent, romChristianmysticism,"uthis "tendencyoabstract he moral nd self-transcendentrom heworld'sreligiousradi-tions" was not to demonstratehe egitimacyf anyschool or religiousdoctrine.ndeed, s a religious eformer,oet, ndphilosopher,merson

attemptedo outline fuller ndhighernquiryfhumannature y elect-

ingvarious hreads f Greekmysticism,ndian eligion,ndChristian so-tericismndradically dapting hem.There s a strikingension, ersluis

notes, nEmerson's ssimilation f deas iketransmigrationwithwhichhe did notfullyoncur."23nfact, lthought drawsuponancient eligionandphilosophy,mersonianmetempsychosisncorporatesherevolutionsof natural cience s much s humanisticnquiry. ften nhisearly our-nals,Emerson resentsmetempsychosislongside he allfor newclassi-fication fnature.Much ofhisearly esire oconceive fnew ciencewas adirect nfluencef Goethe's cientificreatise,heMetamorphosisfPlants

(1790). Emerson ound n Goethewhat he soughtmost:the seedsforhigherorm fscience hat ouldarrive t a "[t]heoryf animated ature"thatwould become thetrueClassification."24his desire or true lassi-fication25hinging otupona static rder, utuponlife s process ndinterrelationwas "a premonitionf whatDarwinwould do" except hatEmerson was interestedna kindof science hatwas notpurelymaterialor mechanical."26

Inthe ournals f 1834 particularly,merson rticulates isdesire oragreater ynthesis

fspiritual

nd scientificiscovery yproposing

new

integrationfPythagoreanmetempsychosis,wedenborg's piritual ys-tem, nd Goethe's cientificork;each,Emerson elieved, ouldprovidethe materials ecessary or"progressive" bservation nd experimenta-tion: Thiswas what Goethe oughtnhisMetamorphosisfplants.The

Pythagoreanoctrine ftransmigrations an Idea; theSwedenborgianf

23Versluis, mericanTranscendentalismnd AsianReligions, 0, 58.24/MN4: 288-89.25See Leon Chai, The RomanticFoundations ftheAmericanRenaissance Ithaca,N.Y.:Cornell

niversityress, 987),141-45;lso seeLeeRust

rown,heEmerson useum

(Cambridge,ass.:Harvard niversityress, 997).26Robert ichardsonr., heMind nFire, 71; ee lsoLauraDassowWalls,mersonLife n Science: heCulturefTruthIthaca, .Y.: Cornell niversityress,003),68-166.

440







Corrigan EmersonndConsciousness

Affectionslothed,s one also."27That sameyear,nhis 1834 address otheBostonNaturalHistory ociety,merson efined isproject fadapt-ing metempsychoticrototypeso scientificlassification.riticizinghenaturalistor losing ight f theend of his nquiries" ndbecomingan

apothecary. . .] in theperfectionf hismanipulations," e also con-demned hepoetof hisage for los[ing]himselfn imaginationsnd forwantofaccuracy."28What was neededwas a newadaptation hattookthe trengthsfboth nquiries,piritualndscientific,nd ntegratedhemso that new combinationf truth ouldarise, combinationapableof

renewinghedelineations fpastmetempsychoticheories:

Menofextraordinaryowers f a contemplative indhave nall

agesponderedhis ecret: ythagoras,wedenborg,oethe, ot omention heBrahmins.hese havesought ogive n explanationofNature;ofbeasts, lants, nd minerals.. . .] Pythagorasaidthat he soul of manendured enance n the ow forms f fero-

cious,gluttonous,bscenebeasts.The pigwas thepurgatoryftheglutton. likefaith ad theBrahmin.wedenborgaughthat

the oul creates vermorehebody;that ertain ffectionslothethemselvesncertain orms s cunningnthefox, nnocencen the

lamb, rueltynthe aughing yena. heseopinions avefailed o

persuademenoftheir ruthndyet re all valuable s themateri-als oftruth,s proofs f an obstinate eliefnthe humanmindthat hese reatures avea relation o itself.29

Each theory, y itself, ails to persuadethe contemporarynterpreter,althoughachserves s a prototypehathe or she can convertnto new

andfiner ormulation.hus,as all life ontinuouslydaptsand reformu-lates tself o live nthepresent,o too,accordingoEmerson, oes human

thought articipatenthis volutionary-likelimb from ythagoreanndHindu reincarnationo Swedenborg'sequentialncarnationf the soul30to Goethe's ttempto reconcilehe ctual and ideal, lwaysrequiring,swe sawin"Nature," new ands,newmen, and]newthoughts."

27JMN : 288.28RalphWaldoEmerson,heEarlyLecturesf RalphWaldoEnteron,3 vols., ds.

Stephen.Whicher,obert .

Spiller,ndWallace . WilliamsCambridge,ass.:Har-

vardUniversityress, 959-72);hereafter,L 1: 79.19 LI: 79;emphasisdded.30 heEssentialwedenborg:asicReligious eachingsfEmanuelwedenborg,d.SigSynnestvedtNewYork: wedenborgoundationnc., 981), 7.

441







JOURNALOF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS ♦ JULY2010

HISTORY'S SECRET ORDER

In developinghese arlier mphasesn his ournals nd notebooks n thesoul's education hroughthegreat eries findividuals ; nations" ndthe Hinduconception f immanentnity, merson rames is first us-tained ccountofmetempsychosisn "History," he eading ssay n hisFirst eries fEssays 1841),as a challengeo hisreaders. Thetransmigra-tionofsouls s nofable,"he warns. I would twere;butmen ndwomenareonlyhalfhuman."31 merson onfrontsisreaderswith dilemma hat

curiouslyeflectsheformationfAmericanndividualism:ither mericancitizens anaccept heir wnpowerlessnessnthe hainofcause and effectorthey an seekto understandheir lace nhistoryndattempto adaptthemselvesnto new and fitter orms. o achieve he atter, owever,nindividualmustbewilling o abandontheostensibletabilityfordinarylife ndrecognizehe ndless ransformationf all living hings:Thephil-osophical erceptionf dentityhroughndlessmutations fform,makeshimknow heProteus.What lse m who aughed rweptyesterday,ho

slept astnightike a corpse, nd thismorningtood and ran?And what

see onany idebut he ransmigrationsfProteus?"32ere, hedramatic,mythologicaligurefProteus ointsnotsimplyo a metaphysicalosmic

order, ut o a "perceptionf dentity" hose tructuresmetempsychotic,the ndless ransmigrationsf the oul from ne form nto nother.

In "History," herefore,mersonmakeshisstrongestnd most pec-tacular ase for hedevelopmentf ndividual onsciousnesss the oul's

metempsychoticourney.n order o understandhe equence f whichheor she s a part, he ndividualmust earn o thinkmetempsychotically:achindividualmust ook within imselfo discoverhathealready ontains he

whole ecord fhistoryn hisownmind. Of theworks f hismind istoryis the record. tsgenius s illustratedythe entire eries fdays.Man is

explicable y nothingess than ll hishistory."33owever, merson lso

emphasizesheprovisional ature fthevision upplied ythe oul's met-

empsychoticwareness: hile ffirminghe oleof unifyingonsciousnessinhistory,ealso forcefullynsistshat hehuman eing nly onceives f

unitys a constantlyeferredromise. he individual erceives nlypartsof thehistoricaleries fbeing, nd it s preciselyhisfragmentaryecordthat nspires imto attempto fit ll thepiecesofhistory ack intoone

31W2:18.32W2: 18.33W2:3.

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flowingequence. he human ragedys that he ndividuals incapable fsucha feat.The role ofgenius, owever,orcefullyntensifieshepromiseofunity nd,for hisreason,Emerson's umanbeing fsuperlative iftscomes closest o unifyingistory'series. uch an individual othrecog-nizes nd demonstratesistorys a metempsychoticrama nwhich ach

stage s a distinct aceorembodiment,dopted nd, nturn, iscarded ythe oulthat lways eeks new andheightenedrogression:

Genius tudies he causal thought,nd farbackin the womb of

things,ees he ays artingrom neorb, hat ivergere hey allby nfiniteiameters. eniuswatches he monadthroughll hismasks as he performshe metempsychosisf nature. Geniusdetectshroughhefly, hroughhecaterpillar,hroughhegrub,throughheegg, he constantndividual; hroughountless ndi-viduals hefixedpecies; hroughmany pecies hegenus; hroughall thegenera he teadfastype; hroughll thekingdomsforga-nized ife he ternal nity.34

Characteristically,merson oes not constructhemetempsychoticrderin anystatic, nivocalway. n hisdepiction,hegreat hain ofbeinghas

givenwayto a model n which onsciousnesstself ivesrise o theabun-danceofnature nd ts equential rder. he historicaleries fbeing xists

prior o individualonsciousness,ut tsorder nd laws are reconstructed

by consciousnesshat ttemptso turn ackupon tself ndrememberheentire istoryf ts melioration.quallynoteworthys Emerson'smpha-sis onperceptions thefundamentalasis of humanknowledge. he orderofascension rogressesromfly,"hroughcaterpillar,"grub," egg"to

"constant ndividual" ecauseofgenius's erceptionrobservationftheseries. he human eing bserves heprinciplef ife erformthemetem-

psychosis fnature;"he or she watches he "monad"35 nactedor per-formedhroughll its dramaticmasks nd,thereby,ees thedispersal feternal nitynto ll life's eeminglyiscretearticulars,rom temporaryorigin, the wombofthings,"ntoraysthatmanifesthemselvesn and

throughlltheworld's pecies, rrivingt last t "the teadfastype."To see themetempsychotictructurefnature,herefore,n individual

must o over hewholeground fhistory,ot ustbyrelatingtto himself

34W 2: 8; emphasis dded.35SeeKennethGuthrie, hePythagoreanourcebook nd LibraryGrandRapids,Mich.:PhanesPress,1987), 20-24.

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JOURNAL F THE HISTORY OF IDEAS ♦ JULY 010

and his ownexperience,utby properly nactingt within isperceptionand verybeing.Suchself-recognitionn theface of natureunlocks he

underlyingecret f the world'sorder.Certainly,he observer eceiveshistoricaleries, sequence hat xists efore nd after is ndividual xis-

tence, ut his rocesssnever passive eception,or t nitiatesnd enactsthe ourney f the soul throughmatter "the human piritwhich] oesforth rom hebeginningthrough. .] theentire eries fdays."36 ust sconsciousnessannot xistwithouttsobject(s), hehistoricaleries s mostrealandtangiblenthe ndividual's erceptual ctivityf self-constitution.

Thus,the ndividualmustmake himself hefullyelf-consciousecord fhistory y usinghis or herown subjective erceptions a receptivendconstitutiveower:

We arealways oming pwith he mphaticacts fhistorynour

private xperience,ndverifyinghemhere.All history ecomes

subjective;notherwords, heresproperlyoHistory; nlyBiog-raphy. verymindmustknow thewhole essonfor tself must

go over hewholeground.What t does not ee,what t does not

live, twillnotknow.37

Each activereading eorganizesll the manifold lements fhistorynd

givesthem new,contemporaryariation, aising hemetempsychoticseries oyet nother eightenedtep nthe universe'seaselessprocess fself-renewal.38notherwords, s Emersonrgues or more oncreteon-

ception fhistoricaleries, esimultaneouslyroposes hat nyknowledgeofthe ruth f this eries rises rom he ndividual's wnactivitynrealiz-

inghistory's rogressionnhimself inhis

perceptionnd

beingnd,thus,

inhisreading f thehistoricalecord:

All inquirynto ntiquity,all curiosityespectinghepyramids,the xcavated ities, tonehenge,heOhio Circles,Mexico,Mem-

phis, is thedesire o do awaywith hiswild, avage ndprepos-terousThere nd Then,and introducen itsplace the Here andNow. [. . .]Whenhe has satisfiedimself,ngeneralndindetail,that twasmadeby uch person s he, o armed nd somotived,

36W2:3.37W 2: 6; italics dded.38 ortheRomanticrogressionromerceptionocreation,ee ThomasWeiskel,heRomanticublimeBaltimore:heJohns opkins niversityress, 976), 2-24.

444








and to ends to whichhe himself hould also haveworked, heproblemssolved;his houghtives long hewhole ineoftemplesand sphinxesndcatacombs, assesthroughhem llwith atis-

faction,ndtheyive gainto themind, r are now.39

Theproblem f thepast, tsdiscontinuityith hepresentnd the imita-tions t imposes all thesecan onlybe overcome, lbeit neverfully, ymeansof a perceptivenquiry hatpasses throughhewhole milieuoftime "alongthewhole ine" ofhistory's onuments so that hemateri-

als ofthepastwillberevitalizednthepresent.merson nvites isreaderstoparticipaten thismodeofperceptionhroughll theworld's bundant

facts, rom ncientymbolsndruins o the igns ndfiguresfthemodern

day, o as to followhistory'srand equence ndunifyll itssteps ntonew andcurrentrder.

A POETICS OF ENDLESS ADAPTATION

Emerson's se ofmetempsychosis,herefore,s notsimplyheappropria-tion of a spiritual elief, ut a humanisticxpression f the ndividual's

ability o undertake cognitiveourneyn which hemind ives hrough,and revivifiesthewholeencyclopediaf facts" nto newform. merson

thereby resentedhe metempsychosisf nature" s an evolutionaryro-gression40hereeach step n the historical eriesunderscores greaterdevelopmentn nature.nfact, ne of thekey ines n"History" hat llus-trates owthismetempsychosisf nature s to be enacted "Everymindmustknow the whole essonfor tself"41was first ecordedn an 1837

journal hat xplicitlyontextualizesuch ctivitys part fthe [p]rogressof thespecies"wherebythe chemical roductionf a new substance ismade]bythecombinationf old."42Whereas raditionalmetempsychosislargely resentshetransmigrationf soulsthroughuccessivemanifesta-tionswithoutpparentmaterialdaptation,mersonombines he wotra-

ditions, hoseofmetempsychosisnd metamorphosis,nto a moreopen-

39W2:7.40 eeJosephWarren each's rticle EmersonndEvolution," niversityfToronto

Quarterly (1934):474-97;Walls'sEmerson's

ifenScience,6, 166-75;Kenneth

Guthrie,boveTime Columbia:Missouri niversityress, 001), 31-33, 187; andRichardson, merson: heMind on Fire,546.41W2:6.42JMN : 384.

445







JOURNAL F THE HISTORYOF IDEAS ♦ JULY 010

endedmetaphornd uses this oprefigurehe we-inspiringndterrifyingpowers f thefuture mericanoet.

In 1841, the sameyearthathe published is First eriesof Essays,Emerson ecturedt theConcordLyceum n "Nature and the PowersofthePoet." Here,as in "History," e laysout his formulationfgenius,juxtaposing arious activitiesnatural, cientific,nd poetic to showhow geniusparticipatesmostfullyn the naturalorder,not bymerelyunderstandingt,butby creatingt anewout of the materials f thepastthrough type f alchemicalpprehension:isteningndperceiving:43

Thesignofgenius s originality:tsword cannotbeguessed: t s

new,yet llies with ll we know: t has an expected nexpected-ness, new oldness. hebee fliesmong heflowersndgetsmintandmarjoramnd makes newproductwhich s not mint nd

marjoramuthoney; nd the hemistmixeshydrogenndoxygentoyield newproductwhich s nothydrogenroxygen utwater:andthepoet istens oallconversations,nd receives ll objects f

nature,ogiveback,notthem, ut new and radiantwhole.44

As intheexample fthenatural lchemy f thebee,the cientistnd the

poetpartakencreation,ynthesizinghatwas hithertoisparatendpro-ducing n originalwhole from he various lements f the natural rder.

Here, major hift astaken lace;Emersonlearly ejectshe raditionallyaccepted, tatic hainofbeing nfavor fmaterialdaptation.Where hebee usesnature'smostbasic elementss does the hemist,hepoetextendsthesenatural awsto language; hepoetreceives ll linguisticormulations

and mixesthem, ndbecause his

activityunctionsn accordancewith

nature'saws,he fulfillsniversalaws with heexplicitocial aim of revi-

talizing he meansbywhichhumans ommunicatend build their ocial

organization.Thepoet'sactivity,nfact, s Emerson'smostdirect xample f how

theprocess f creation ringsogether etempsychosisnd material evel-

opment.Whilehe wonders what t is that o charms s in a symbol r

trope,"he also argues hatwe must look" "intotheheart f nature"45ofind hat oetic anguage eflectsistory'sspiring equence ndanticipates

43SeeRichardson, merson:theMind on Fire, 173, andWilson,Emerson'sSublime ci-ence, 2-13,50-75;76-97.44 L 3: 360.45 L 3: 353.

446








a higher ctivityhatonlythe dual process fmetempsychosis-metamor-phosis anengender:

Whatdoes all this ove for igns enote,fnotthat herelation fman o these ormsnnatures more ntimatehan heunderstand-

ing yet uspects; nd thatperhaps hemetamorphoseshichweread nLatin or in Indian iteraturere notquiteso fabulous s

they reaccounted?Who know but more s meant hanyet ppears?Every ar-

dener anchangehis flowers nd leaves ntofruit,nd so perhapsis thismanwho astonisheshe enate ftheparlor y he plendorof his conversation, ho seemsto stride ver all limits, this

geniuswhotoday anupheave ndbalanceand tossevery bjectin naturefor hismetaphor, apable in his nextappearance nhumannature fplayinguch gamewithhishands nstead f hisbrain.An instinctiveuspicionhat hismaybefall, eems o have

crept ntothe mind of men. Geniusmaybe dangerous.Whatwouldhappen o us who iveon the urface,f his ellownsome

newtransmigrationhould have acquiredpowerto do what henowdelightsosay}46

By employinghe nalogy f a gardener ho can "changehis flowers ndleaves nto ruit,"mersonuggestshat hemetamorphosisfnature, romone state nto nother,perates s an evolutionaryransmigrationf soulwhosegoal is toproducenewpoeticpower.Thepoet,whomerely peakstoday, sing ymbolss hisexpression, ay cquire he bility or height-ened,poetic ctivityn hisnext ransmigration.mersonignals hat his s

an "instinctiveuspicion"nthemind fmen, herebyonfirmingtto be anatural remonitionfmetaphysicalndnatural ccurrences ather han

simply tentativepeculation.Two years ater,n the ecture,New England:RecentLiterarynd

Spiritualnfluences"1843),Emersonaysout someofthemost mportantclaims fhis ater ssay The Poet" 1844),reemphasizing etempsychosisas a metaphor or mergentoeticpower nthe historicaleries fbeing.In"ThePoet,"Emerson's amous eclaration fthe omingAmericanoetis takendirectlyrom his1843 lecture. merson sks his audience o see

with all eyes," oconsiderhegreaterrc of creation unnelingtself romthepast othepresento thefuture,nd to ask the ge-old,metempsychotic

46EL 3: 354; emphases dded.

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JOURNAL F THE HISTORY OF IDEAS ♦ JULY 010

question hat heBrahminsndPythagorasought operceivendanswerintheir ime:

Therewas this erceptionnhim,whichmakes hepoetor seer n

object f awe andterror,amely,hat he ameman,orsociety f

men,maywearone aspectto themselvesnd their ompanionsand a differentspect to higher ntelligences.ertainpriests,whomhe describess conversingeryearnedlyogether,ppearedto the hildren, howere t somedistance,ikedeadhorses; nd

many he ikemisappearances. ndinstantlyhe mind nquires,whetherhese ishes nder hebridge, onder xen nthepasture,thosedogs ntheyard, re immutablyishes, xen,anddogs,or

only o appear ome, ndperchanceo themselvesppearuprightmen; ndwhether appearas a manto all eyes.The Bra[h]minsand Pythagoras ropounded he samequestion, nd ifany poethas witnessedhetransformation,e doubtless ound t in har-

monywithvarious xperiences.We haveall seenchanges s con-siderablenwheat ndcaterpillars.e is thepoet, nd shalldraw

us with ove and terror, ho sees,throughheflowing est, hefirm ature,nd can declare t.47

Here,Emersonrefigures etempsychosisnto a highly harged extual

event, n unlimited nd expansive eading rocesswherewhatone sees

depends n one'svantage oint n the cale ofbeing.Weperceivehepoetand are also perceived yhimfrom ishigher,more nlightenedantagepoint nd,within his attern,host fother inariesmerge, re-historiesof thisrelationshipetween erceiverndmetempsychoticeries, ositingpast arrangementshatpartiallyomprisehepresentct ofdiscernment,while lso pointingo thefutureextual vent hathas notyet ometobe,even houghts eeds realready catterednthe spiring equence.

Eventhegrammaticaltructuref Emerson's eclaration f thefuture

poet ntensifiesheoverall ontext f an unsettlediteraryransmigration.Emerson eginsnthepasttense "There was thisperceptionn him"and finishesna presentense hat uickly pens tself o thefuture:He isthepoet,and shall draw us with ove and terror, ho sees,throughhe

flowing est, hefirm ature, nd can declare t." As a result, hefuture,

47W 3: 21; or RalphWaldo Emerson,The Later LecturesofRalph Waldo Emerson,2

vols., ds. RonaldA. BoscoandJoelMyersonAthens: niversityfGeorgia ress,2001); hereafter,L 1: 68-69.

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hauntingmage fthepoetarises s a sublimepectaclehat merson om-pelshisreaders ot implyoconsider,ut obringnto type fhauntingexistence. eaders annot solate r reduce hefutureoetto oneperspec-tive, ince he is alreadymadeup of a whole host of vibrant luctuatingperspectives,ncludingurown,that eek to unite hemselvesnnature.The emergentoetnotonly ombines ll thesepast perspectives,utalsobecomes n their rospective nity separate, mergentctof conscious-ness.Evenhere, owever,he ssurance f the firm ature . . . ] beneaththeflowingest" s not t allconsoling;n the ontrary,t ignifiesurown

dissolution,ince hepoet'sfuturectivity eans hatwe,thereaders, avebecomemerelyhematerialshat nother igheronsciousness owshapes.

UNSETTLING THE METEMPSYCHOTIC SERIES

While t has beenargued hatEmerson's umanistic iew of transcendent

power retains hristianity'sschatologicalocus, nlywith nity,ot sal-

vation, s thenewgoal,"48 ucha summaryf Emerson's houghts onlypartiallyorrect. merson's schatologyontinuallynderminestself; o

single vent an beenvisioneds a final estination.merson's igurefthefuture oet certainly nderscores metempsychoticeries of relationswhosepromise funitys pierced ytheuneasy uggestionhat hinkingthroughur owndevelopmentnevitablyorders ponour dissolutionndfundamentalnabilityo follow ut thegreater rajectoryfcreationntonew consciousnesses.merson's ater ecture eries, Mind and Mannersof the Nineteenth entury"1848-50) and "Natural Method of Mental

Philosophy"1858) uponwhich heposthumouslyublished ndheavilyeditedNaturalHistory f ntellect1893) was based,continue o portraymetempsychosisn thisunsettledight,Neoplatonic n its auspicesyetnecessarilypen to theprospect f volatile and transcendentransfor-mation.As he statesnthethird ecture f "Mind and Manners" 1848),the "divine nergy ever ests r repeats tself; ut casts tsold garb, nd

reappears,notherreature;he ldenergyna newform, ith ll thevigorof theearth, heAncient fDays inthedewofthemorning."49he soulshufflesff ne body onlyto takeanother, itterorm, process learly

48JamesR. Guthrie, bove Time: Emerson's nd Thoreau'sTemporal evolutions(Columbia: niversityfMissouriress,001),27.49LL1: 179.

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JOURNAL F THEHISTORYOF IDEAS♦ JULY 010

metempsychotic,etnew ateverymomentna waythat vades ystemati-zation.

Throughoutoth ectureeries, merson choes he mageryn "His-

tory" f themonadperforminghemetempsychosisfnature hroughts

manymasks.He argues hat he"historyftheworld s nothing ut the

processionf clotheddeas" and that every eformsonly mask,undercoverofwhich more terribleeform, hichdaresnotyetname tself,advances."50While manymenhave taken heir irsttep" alonghistory'sseries,he DivineEffortna man" consistsnescaping he yrannyfthe

singularmaskandcoming o embody hefuller rc of thematerial eries:"All greatmasters rechiefly istinguishedythepowerofadding sec-

ond,a third,ndperhaps fourthtep, na continuousine."51 merson

imagineshedynamicsfextending istory's reat eries fbeing ntermsofmetempsychosis,autioninghat "it is very asyto pushthe doctrineintovagaries nd intoburlesque. ythagorasnd Platotaughttingraveearnest: he comic Poets and theHindoo priests xaggeratedt intothe

transmigrationfSoulswhorememberednone statewhat befel hemnanother." et,despite hedifficultyfspeakingbout the oul,that more

terribleeform, hichdares notyetname tself," merson eaffirmshevalueofthemetempsychoticetaphoror he ctivityf ntellect:

But the necessities f the humanmind,of logic,and of nature

require he dmission f a profounddentityt thebase ofthingsto accountforourskill, nd even forour desireforknowledge.Somewhere,ometime,omeeternity,e haveplayed hisgamebefore,nd haveretained omevaguememoryfthe hing, hich,though ot sufficiento furnishn account f t,yet nablesus to

understandtbetter,owthatwe are here.52

Emerson othreminds isaudiencenot to fix oo literal meaning ponthemetempsychosisfmind nd yet cknowledgest as a way inwhichhumanbeings an begin o think bout the cience fcognition. ne canalso sense he haracteristicaution fEmerson'spproachn hisacknowl-

edgmenthatevery iscovery uickly eveals ts imitationsnd requiresanothertep, ven f he nquirersyet ncapable fsuch feat.

Emersonnstills his ensionnto veryevel fhis ubjectmatter. ven

50LL 1:148, 156.51LL1: 157; or LL 2: 92.52LL 1:161.

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thismost"profound dentityt the base of things" oon becomes themost treacherous f grounds; t is "an ocean of power roll[ing] nd

streaming] hisway and that, hroughmillion hannels."Andthepoetwho "beholds hecentraldentity"nd "followingt,can detect ssentialresemblancesn things everbefore amedtogether" oes so because heunderstandshat his ownbody lso is a fleeingpparition, ispersonalityas fugitives any type, s fugitives thetropehe employs."53hus,themind's oeticpower xpressestselfn the ransitiono new states: In theinstinctf progress,he mind s always passing by successiveeaps,

forwardntonew tates, nd, nthat ransition,s tshealth ndpower.Thedetachmenthich houghtffectss thepreparationor his tep."54n both"Mind and Manners" 1848-50) and "The NaturalMethodMentalPhilos-

ophy" 1858), the mind's bility o detachfrom tsobject55llows con-sciousnesso see tselfnsuccession: It isthenature f thehumanmind osee in succession he facts r laws of nature s theeyelooks at one oranotherbject."56

How Emerson epicts uchsuccession, owever,s complex, t once

echoing is earlier ortrayalsfmetempsychoticndmetamorphicrans-

formationnd broadeningheir copewithin he context fNeoplatonichierarchies,eveloped rom lotinusand,ofcourse, arlier rom lato's

Symposium)hroughamblichus nd Proclus. It s a steep tair ownfromthe ssence f ntellecture othoughtsnd ntellections,"rites merson,situating is subjectwithin heNeoplatonic riadic tructuref abiding,processionnd conversion s a "science fdegrees,"whichhe also mapsonto natural henomena, rguinghat he creation ftheplanets ollowsthemystical atternf "thefirstmind":

As the sun s conceived o have made oursystem y hurlingut

fromtself heouter ings fdiffusether, hich, lowly avecon-densednto arths ndmoons; by higherorce fthe ame aw,theminddetachesminds, nda minddetaches houghtsr intel-lections. hese, gain, ll mimicntheir phericityhefirstmind,and share tspower.57

Inreaffirmingis ife-longesire or fuller,mergenthilosophyf mindin whichmetaphysicsnd science re united, merson hows how "the

53LL 1:163.54LL 1:168.i3LL 2: Jó.JVJuL, z: //.

57LL 2: 75-77.

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In his final ummation, owever, merson eturns o themetempsy-chotic emplate e so admiresnSwedenborg'system, orgivingheSwed-ishmystic issystematizedifelessnessyobservinghat venthough nobird ver ungnall these ardens fthedead,"65 iswork sthat f bravemanwho was ever-readyoundergoheprecarious ransmigrationsfthe

soul,a volatile rocess ituatedna sea-storm here heonlyfoundationtowhichmencling s sinking,husforcinghepilotto choose "with ci-ence" and adhere o his "brave hoice":

Inthehipwreck,

omeling

orunning-rigging,

ometo cask and

barrel, ome to spars, ome to mast;thepilotchooses with ci-

ence, I plantmyself ere, ll will sinkbefore his . . .] Nothingcan keep you,notfate,norhealth, or admirablentellect,onecankeepyoubut rectitudenly, ectitude orevernd ever Andwith tenacityhatnever wervedn all hisstudies, nventions,dreams, e adheres o thisbrave hoice. think f him s of some

transmigratingotaryf ndian egend,whosays, hough bedog,or ackal,orpismire,nthe astrudimentsfnature, nderwhat

integumentrferocity,cleave oright,s the adder hat eadsup

to manand to God.66

Emerson epriseshemetempsychoticrder hennot as a fixed eries un-

ningfrombeginningo end,but as a protean equence,which at oncethreatensostrip he ndividualfeverythinge is andyet ffirmsis own

aspiring assageon the adderof creation. onsequently,merson dvo-catesnot so muchSwedenborgian etempsychosis,uthisown adaptedversion fthis ndividual nd cosmic rder hatboth hreatensndsustainsthe nquirerfknowledge ith tsoscillation fpresencendabsence, on-

tinuitynddisruption.With hisuneasy ension etweenystematizationnd transformative

illumination,merson apturespart of the character f Neoplatonismitself, orthoughaterNeoplatonistsike amblichus nd Proclus labo-

rately ystematizedhe mystical radition hey nherited,heyalwaysstressedheoverarchingmportancef thebeyond,n openingnthinkingthat ses hehierarchyf ntellect,ut swillingo abandon t n the cstasyof thespirit.67rom hevantage ointof modern ubjectivity,hisvalue

65W4: 80.66W4: 81.67SeeJ.Bussanich, he One and its Relationto Intellect n Plotinus Leiden: Brill, 988),172ff.,31-36;andR. T. Wallis,NeoplatonismDuckworth:ondon, 995),82-90(Plotinus),18-37 Iamblichus),nd 141-57 Proclus).

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JOURNAL F THE HISTORY OF IDEAS♦ JULY 010

consistsnthemind peningtself p,rather han n tsconstrictivebilityto graspand control and Emersongivesthisprocess emphatic yricalexpressionn "The Sphinx," poemhe considered is most mportantachievement. hat was in the First eriesofEssaysthe conversion f a

metempsychoticequence nto a living eality r in the SecondSeriesofEssays he bilityo see with all eyes"or "be born gain" nto hegreaterpoeticunityrisingn nature ecomes,n"The Sphinx," riddle hathasno absolute nswer nd canonlybe addressed y earninghe lusive rtof

living hrough thousand aturesnpursuitf an open-ended uestion:

Thou are theunanswereduestion;Couldst eethy roper ye,Alwaystasketh, sketh;And each answer s a lie.So take hy uest hroughatureItthroughhousand atures ly;Askon,thou lothed ternity;Time s thefalse eply.68

Much likethe "whole lineof temples nd sphinxes nd catacombs" n

"History" hatmustbe lived hrougho as toreinvigoratehemind nthe

"Now," theSphinxhas to awakenherself romtony lumber yconvers-

ingwith er oul.Thedynamicsfthis wakeninggainmodifyhemetem-

psychoticmetaphorhatEmerson o prominentlydapted hroughoutiscareer: onsciousnesswakeningnto iving eing hroughhe xperiencefitsown succession. heSphinx's elf-transcendentxperience inges ponpurifyingerceptiono as to see with proper ye"theunfoldingfeternity

intime r the piritualnthematerial utwithoutverly eterminingheirrelationship.

Like thehaunting iguref thefutureoet, heSphinx's uest hrougha thousand atures esonates ith hemetempsychoticrocessionnto, ndconversion utof,matter,ut s in no way imited o it. We see,alreadyprefigurednEmerson,he ransformationfmetaphysicsnto hemodern

paradigm fmeta-textuality,or "The Sphinx" s not simplymetempsy-chotic, ut figurativeethod fbridginghegapbetween elves.nrealiz-

ingthatshe is the unanswered uestionof being, he Sphinxrisesup,

"crouchedno more n stone,"and yetscatters erselfnto a "thousand

68RalphWaldo Emerson,CollectedPoems and Translations,ds. Harold Bloom and PaulKane (New York: The Library fAmerica, 994), 8.

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natures" o that he will be ableonceagainto evoke hequestion fbeingwith ll theexperiencehe has gainedfrom errepeated issolutionsndself-constitutions:

Uprose hemerryphinx,Andcrouched o more nstone;She meltedntopurple loud,She silverednto hemoon;Shespirednto yellow lame;

She flowerednblossoms ed;Sheflowed nto foaming ave;ShestoodMonadnoc'shead.

Through thousand oices

Spoke heuniversal ame:"Who telleth neofmymeanings,Is master f allI am."

Here,illuminationaradoxically rises out of,and yetthreatens,ll ofIntellect'sarious elfconstitutions.e no longer ave one self peratingin "The Sphinx," ut dynamiccatteringf the elf nd a resultingpen-nessbeyond heconfinesf yrical xpression.n as much s perceptionsan individual,elf-constitutingctivity,heopening f"theproper ye"toits wn manifolduccessionlsorepresents,or merson,he bandonmentand simultaneousecoveryfthe elf n the bsent rnot-yetiving eader.TheSphinx's inal ddress s both uthoritativeshespeakswith he xpe-rience fa thousandives yet he uestionheevokes emands response

thatnow falls quarely n the shoulders f the audience.Themetempsy-choticpattern hatopensitself o illuminationmplicitly ointsbeyonditself ot toan eternal epetition69f the amestructure,utto other on-sciousnesses otyetpresentnthepoeticplayof abandonmentsnd self-

constitutions,therelveswhowill skthe uestionnnewways nd underdifferentuspices.

Universityf Toronto.

69See Len Gougeon, Emerson & Eros (Albany:StateUniversityf New York Press,2007), on the"myth f eternal eturn" nd "thecycleofrebirth," 3.

455

the metempsychotic mind emerson and consciousness

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