I am so hugely enjoying these chapters. A very long time ago I came across a quote of Lawrence's, to the effect that when electricity came into the cottages, it was the beginning of state-imposed conformity and the loss of the free soul—that soon people's houses would be all be the same inside and out, nothing made by hand, nothing idiosyncratic. And that the coming of electricity, which has been so celebrated, was rather like a piercing of the heart of the cottager. I think of a great uncle of mine who refused electricity when rural electrification came through the countryside where he lived. I remember as a child, visiting with my father in his kitchen on summer nights, and feeling such a difference from our new-built suburban well-lit and applianced house. It had a warmth in it. And I was happy to be in the softness and warmth of the lamp light, which in my child's mind seemed to make a halo around the room. I have made several attempts to find Lawrence's words about the coming of electricity but to no avail. Does anyone here know of his writing on this subject? I would so love to read his words on this again.
Thank you! I will speak about mass produced objects vs the tradition of crafts in future chapters. I will also be speaking extensively about electrification, drawing on both DHL and Heidegger. In 1971 the American and New Mexico governments forced the Taos Pueblo to electrify, which involved armed conflict. If progress is so good, why do governments need to force it on people?
As for the quotes on electricity, here are some off the top of my head, though they may not include the one you are referring to:
From Lady C: "The fault lay there, out there, in those evil electric lights and diabolical rattlings of engines. There, in the world of the mechanical greedy, greedy mechanism and mechanised greed, sparkling with lights and gushing hot metal and roaring with traffic, there lay the vast evil thing, ready to destroy whatever did not conform. Soon it would destroy the wood, and the bluebells would spring no more. All vulnerable things must perish under the rolling and running of iron."
From Studies in Classical American Literature: "All our familiarity with the electric forces has not brought us any nearer to a realisation of their mystic or vitalistic action on the human psyche. We have profaned the worship of the Thunderer, the terrifying Zeus. We are vulgar in our familiarity. We play with the weapons of the gods, we who are not gods, only impudent mechanics."
and
"The more we intervene machinery between us and the naked forces, the more we numb and atrophy our own senses. Every time we turn on a tap to have water, every time we turn a handle to have fire or light, we deny ourselves and annul our being. The great elements, the earth, air, fire, water, are there like some great mistresses whom we woo and struggle with, whom we heave and wrestle with. And all our appliances do but deny us these fine embraces, take the miracle of life away from us. The machine is the great Neuter. It is the eunuch of eunuchs. In the end it emasculates us all. When we balance the sticks and kindle a fire, we partake of the mysteries. But when we turn on an electric tap there is as it were a wad between us and the dynamic universe. We do not know what we lose by all our labour-saving appliances. Of the two evils it would be much the lesser to lose all machinery, every bit, rather than to have, as we have, hopelessly too much."
From Sketches of Etruscan Places: “Electric bulbs are stupid because they are fixed, unwinking, unalive, giving off a flat, lifeless light. They are like brass nail-heads on furniture, just about as midsummerish and frisky.”
Thank you, thank you for these fortifying words. I'm going to print this out and keep it close by, just as I keep the Foreword to Fantasia of the Unconscious close to hand. I couldn't help wondering what he would think of the LEDs that have now come into the 'cottages'. Whenever I have to be away from home I pack a travel candle and a couple incandescent bulbs so I can change out the reading lamps. And this wee bit of insistence on a softer warmer light has felt a bit subversive and deviant....but now I will do this in solidarity with D.H. and Farasha. Power to the poets!
It is a good start. Certainly, despite their faults, incandescent bulbs are healthier. But, they do use a lot of electricity, so I try to go farther, following DHL not only in his hatred of electricity, but also in his call to be more in touch with the rhythm of day, night, and the seasons. As such, I alter my sleep habits depending on the season, trying to wake with the rising of the sun and sleep with the setting of the sun. Additionally, I know that the entire lived experience of humanity until recently did without electric lighting, so I try to do without as well, and when I do need lighting, I prefer to use olive oil lamps and beeswax candles. Beeswax candles burn at precisely the same color temperature of the sun. Let me end by quoting from DHL's call to come back into a vital living touch with the rhythm of being and the cosmos:
"[T]he greatest need of man is the renewal forever of the complete rhythm of life and death, the rhythm of the sun’s year, the body’s year of a life-time, and the greater year of the stars, the soul’s year of immortality. This is our need, our imperative need. It is a need of the mind and soul, body, spirit and sex: all. It is no use asking for a Word to fulfil such a need. No Word, no Logos, no Utterance will ever do it. The Word is uttered, most of it. We need only pay true attention. But who will call us to the Deed, the great Deed of the seasons and the year, the Deed of the soul’s cycle, […] the little Deed of the moon’s wandering, the bigger Deed of the sun’s, and the biggest, of the great still stars? It is the /Deed/ of life we have now to learn: we are supposed to have learnt the Word, and alas, look at us. Word-perfect we may be, but Deed-demented. Let us prepare now for the death of our present “little” life, and the re-emergence in a bigger life, in touch with the moving cosmos."
"Rationality has been the pillar of our age, so let’s get out of our heads, and get into our hearts. We have too much knowledge, too much science, too much thinking, and not enough poetry, not enough feeling.
...
"To change, one must first rediscover wonder, and then one must learn to live in the here and now."
I am so hugely enjoying these chapters. A very long time ago I came across a quote of Lawrence's, to the effect that when electricity came into the cottages, it was the beginning of state-imposed conformity and the loss of the free soul—that soon people's houses would be all be the same inside and out, nothing made by hand, nothing idiosyncratic. And that the coming of electricity, which has been so celebrated, was rather like a piercing of the heart of the cottager. I think of a great uncle of mine who refused electricity when rural electrification came through the countryside where he lived. I remember as a child, visiting with my father in his kitchen on summer nights, and feeling such a difference from our new-built suburban well-lit and applianced house. It had a warmth in it. And I was happy to be in the softness and warmth of the lamp light, which in my child's mind seemed to make a halo around the room. I have made several attempts to find Lawrence's words about the coming of electricity but to no avail. Does anyone here know of his writing on this subject? I would so love to read his words on this again.
Thank you! I will speak about mass produced objects vs the tradition of crafts in future chapters. I will also be speaking extensively about electrification, drawing on both DHL and Heidegger. In 1971 the American and New Mexico governments forced the Taos Pueblo to electrify, which involved armed conflict. If progress is so good, why do governments need to force it on people?
As for the quotes on electricity, here are some off the top of my head, though they may not include the one you are referring to:
From Lady C: "The fault lay there, out there, in those evil electric lights and diabolical rattlings of engines. There, in the world of the mechanical greedy, greedy mechanism and mechanised greed, sparkling with lights and gushing hot metal and roaring with traffic, there lay the vast evil thing, ready to destroy whatever did not conform. Soon it would destroy the wood, and the bluebells would spring no more. All vulnerable things must perish under the rolling and running of iron."
From Studies in Classical American Literature: "All our familiarity with the electric forces has not brought us any nearer to a realisation of their mystic or vitalistic action on the human psyche. We have profaned the worship of the Thunderer, the terrifying Zeus. We are vulgar in our familiarity. We play with the weapons of the gods, we who are not gods, only impudent mechanics."
and
"The more we intervene machinery between us and the naked forces, the more we numb and atrophy our own senses. Every time we turn on a tap to have water, every time we turn a handle to have fire or light, we deny ourselves and annul our being. The great elements, the earth, air, fire, water, are there like some great mistresses whom we woo and struggle with, whom we heave and wrestle with. And all our appliances do but deny us these fine embraces, take the miracle of life away from us. The machine is the great Neuter. It is the eunuch of eunuchs. In the end it emasculates us all. When we balance the sticks and kindle a fire, we partake of the mysteries. But when we turn on an electric tap there is as it were a wad between us and the dynamic universe. We do not know what we lose by all our labour-saving appliances. Of the two evils it would be much the lesser to lose all machinery, every bit, rather than to have, as we have, hopelessly too much."
From Sketches of Etruscan Places: “Electric bulbs are stupid because they are fixed, unwinking, unalive, giving off a flat, lifeless light. They are like brass nail-heads on furniture, just about as midsummerish and frisky.”
Also see the poem: Storm in the Black Forest
Thank you, thank you for these fortifying words. I'm going to print this out and keep it close by, just as I keep the Foreword to Fantasia of the Unconscious close to hand. I couldn't help wondering what he would think of the LEDs that have now come into the 'cottages'. Whenever I have to be away from home I pack a travel candle and a couple incandescent bulbs so I can change out the reading lamps. And this wee bit of insistence on a softer warmer light has felt a bit subversive and deviant....but now I will do this in solidarity with D.H. and Farasha. Power to the poets!
It is a good start. Certainly, despite their faults, incandescent bulbs are healthier. But, they do use a lot of electricity, so I try to go farther, following DHL not only in his hatred of electricity, but also in his call to be more in touch with the rhythm of day, night, and the seasons. As such, I alter my sleep habits depending on the season, trying to wake with the rising of the sun and sleep with the setting of the sun. Additionally, I know that the entire lived experience of humanity until recently did without electric lighting, so I try to do without as well, and when I do need lighting, I prefer to use olive oil lamps and beeswax candles. Beeswax candles burn at precisely the same color temperature of the sun. Let me end by quoting from DHL's call to come back into a vital living touch with the rhythm of being and the cosmos:
"[T]he greatest need of man is the renewal forever of the complete rhythm of life and death, the rhythm of the sun’s year, the body’s year of a life-time, and the greater year of the stars, the soul’s year of immortality. This is our need, our imperative need. It is a need of the mind and soul, body, spirit and sex: all. It is no use asking for a Word to fulfil such a need. No Word, no Logos, no Utterance will ever do it. The Word is uttered, most of it. We need only pay true attention. But who will call us to the Deed, the great Deed of the seasons and the year, the Deed of the soul’s cycle, […] the little Deed of the moon’s wandering, the bigger Deed of the sun’s, and the biggest, of the great still stars? It is the /Deed/ of life we have now to learn: we are supposed to have learnt the Word, and alas, look at us. Word-perfect we may be, but Deed-demented. Let us prepare now for the death of our present “little” life, and the re-emergence in a bigger life, in touch with the moving cosmos."
"Rationality has been the pillar of our age, so let’s get out of our heads, and get into our hearts. We have too much knowledge, too much science, too much thinking, and not enough poetry, not enough feeling.
...
"To change, one must first rediscover wonder, and then one must learn to live in the here and now."
Not easy but yes yes yes!