The Atavistic Involution

      It is necessary for you to have detailed knowledge about the biogenesis of the life on earth before you start to do this exercise. You need this lore to create an individual path of evolutionary states from homo sapiens sapiens back to the first primeval protozoa. You should choose one or more representative beings from each period of the short history of life. Have an eye on the evolutionary relationship of the chosen species. A aviatic atavism should be chosen for a much earlier period of time than a mammal atavism, for example. Because there are many gaps in the knowledge about the evolution of the species you can invent some fantastic combinations or gigantic forms of now small animals (The sabertooth tiger, mammoth and the like are prehistoric examples, widely known).

     After you have completed your path of involution you have to start the regression: You are invoking the chosen animals down the sequence to the primordial slime, where anything began. The atavistic states must come to your consciousness and you must understand an atavism, before continuing to the next - as Austin Osman Spare, a western hexenmaster and artist, said: "We do not know the object of perception, but by becoming it.". After arriving at the starting point you can reverse the whole thing, returning to your current place in the evoultionary development. This exercise can take some time, but it is up to you to choose the pace of regression and evolution.

     H.P. Lovecrafts "The Ancestor" inspired this exercise. You can choose musical accompaniment for the rites of invocation. Start with modern music and end up in simple and primordial sounds.

© 1999 by Aufsteigender Adler