Antagonistic Deities (Sedna, etc.)

Discussion of Julian Jaynes's second hypothesis - the bicameral mind, specifically the subtopic of the mentality of preliterate societies, theories of primitive religion, and vestiges of bicameral mind in preliterate societies.
Post Reply
minnespectrum
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2023 3:12 pm

Antagonistic Deities (Sedna, etc.)

Post by minnespectrum »

I first became aware of the Inuit sea-goddess Sedna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna_(mythology) after astronomers named a trans-Neptunian object (basically, a mini-Pluto) after her.

In Inuit mythology, Sedna is not your friend; she’s depicted as vengeful and shamans make an effort to placate her. This makes sense, though, given the inherent danger of the sea to humans. Yet, the Inuit way of life also depends on being able to hunt sea animals such as walruses, whales, etc. (considered to be Sedna’s fingers); this is obviously a very dangerous activity.

One wonders what this means for Jaynes’ theory. Sedna is not the type of deity you’d automatically obey, if you heard her talking to you. (The ocean is noisy enough that it seems plausible that people could hallucinate voices in it).

Then again, it’s certainly possible to disobey what you hear without being truly conscious. Oppositional defiant disorder (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositio ... t_disorder) is a real thing, and it’s especially common in very young children. I’m on the autism spectrum and we can be like that sometimes; when I was very young, my mom would say things like “the sky is blue”, and I’d get really angry and protest that “the sky is NOT blue!” I wouldn’t call that a conscious response, since it’s not actually thinking critically about something, just summarily dismissing it out of hand. Reflexively disobeying and reflexively obeying are two sides of the same coin.

What does all this have to do with Sedna? Well, imagine being an Inuit hunter and you hear the sea calling to you, telling you to jump in…and you instinctively rebel and say you won’t. Adopting a defiant attitude towards nature could definitely aid survival in such a situation.

Similar legends are found in other mythologies, too, often but not always being sea goddesses. Sirens (the Greek version of a mermaid) were portrayed this way; their voices may tempt sailors, but the legends about them make it very clear you should not listen. Needless to say, these were not Jodi Benson or Halle Bailey mermaids.

Perhaps those stories served to instill an “oppositional defiant” attitude towards the ocean or towards other things in nature that are dangerous. It’s not exactly conscious, but it’s not strictly bicameral either, and it may have helped contribute to the breakdown of bicamerality. Any thoughts?
benjamindavidsteele
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2018 7:07 am

Re: Antagonistic Deities (Sedna, etc.)

Post by benjamindavidsteele »

In bicameral mentality, it's not merely about obeying a particular voice but the relationship between voices. I bet the Inuit would not only placate Sedna but seek to invoke other gods and spirits. Sometimes there might even be conflict or a struggle, in which the individual's fate might be determined. In the New Testament, there is even speaking of body parts as if they could have separate and opposing minds.
Post Reply

Return to “2.6. Hypothesis Two: The Bicameral Mind | Subtopic: The Mentality of Pre-Literate & Pre-Modern Peoples”