{"id":108629,"date":"2021-04-06T07:03:48","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T07:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/?p=134673"},"modified":"2021-04-06T07:03:48","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T07:03:48","slug":"humbabas-axiomata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/04\/06\/humbabas-axiomata\/","title":{"rendered":"Humbaba\u2019s Axiomata"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humbaba\u2019s Axiomata<\/strong><\/p>\n\"\"\n

The master of the universe
\nThat is the title they gave
\nThat\u2019s what they say
\nwhen they pray, but
\nThey\u2019ve got it all wrong
\nIt isn\u2019t the master at all
\nIt\u2019s the mystery
\nOf the universe which
\nDemands your fear, and care,
\nAnd respect,
\nAttention, said Humbaba
\nGuard of the Great Cedar Forest
\nHacked to death by Gilgamesh
\nAnd Enkidu, with the aid of Utu\/Shamash
\nThis is your civilization, he says,
\nYour myth, your law,
\nFor Utu also gave the law to Hammurabi
\nThe Code, from codex, from caudex
\nA tree trunk, in your sacred Latin \u2014
\nBut there are two trees, two tablets,
\nThat of Hammurabi
\nAnd Sophocles\u2019 Antigone\u2019s
\nUnwritten code
\nThe unwritten law and the written
\nOrder and the just
\nThe two trees, they also symbolize these
\nTree of life, living, flowing \u2014 Physis
\nAnd Nomos, the law of tradition,
\nOrder, authority, force
\nThe positive, written law, from nemein:
\nTo seize, to take, and allot, and exploit<\/p>\n

Taking, extracting, depriving
\nThe common, the community
\nIs what makes private property
\nConcentrating value, valere,
\nTaking the health out and leaving the sick
\nThe Great Cedar Forest
\nThe Great Bull of Marduk
\nThe bull of the market
\nBulldozers of progress
\nLeave wreckage, and profit
\nThe latter for only a few
\nNone for you<\/p>\n

From nemein comes the nomeus,
\nThe shepherd
\nWho raises the flocks and docks
\nTheir tails and devours their organs
\nAnd chomps their chops
\nThe shepherd who rules
\nBy the unrestrained rod
\nSnapped from the Tree of Dogma, yet
\nThe Tree of Life, Physis,
\nProduces the physician
\nWho attends
\nProvides care, brings health
\nHealth known as Yos in Vedic
\nThe root of the Latin word ius
\nWhich means justice<\/p>\n

Two trees, two laws,
\nOrder and justice
\nShepherd and Physician
\nAnd what did Saint Augustine say,
\nYour bishop,
\nYour Saint, by the way, not mine,
\nSays Humbaba
\nWhat did he call
\nThe \u201cInvisible doctor\u201d<\/p>\n

Two trees, two laws
\nOne true, one false
\nOne just, one unjust
\nOf interest, perhaps,
\nIs the fact that your Jesus \u2014
\nYour Jesus, not mine \u2014
\nIs dressed in both costumes
\nIsn\u2019t that right?<\/p>\n

Jesus the healer, restorer of sight
\nProvider of ease, and food, and wine,
\nConditions of health
\nMaterial justice, care, the serpent
\nThe symbol of healers
\nHis symbol as well
\nThe Ophites \u2014 and yet,
\nhe\u2019s not the true healer.
\nBecause he\u2019s half shepherd
\nHe isn\u2019t quite kosher \u2014
\nAsclepius, however,
\nWe\u2019ll get to him later<\/p>\n

The tree of knowledge is power,
\nsays Bacon, to torture, he says
\nLet\u2019s fashion some rods
\nFrom its branches, for weapons
\nBut what does the mystery tell us instead?<\/p>\n

The mystery, the mystery\u2019s
\nA negative theology
\nWe only can know it
\nAs that which is unknown,
\nAs doubt
\nWhich compels us to move with care<\/p>\n

No, we can\u2019t access
\nthe true divine word
\nBut we can dismiss what is truly absurd
\nFrom further contemplation<\/p>\n

Which do you value
\nThe Great Cedar Forest alive?
\nThe conditions of health?
\nHealthy air?
\nOr the great cedars dead
\nValue as power?
\nOr value, valere, as justice as care?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The post Humbaba\u2019s Axiomata<\/a> appeared first on CounterPunch.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on CounterPunch.org<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Humbaba\u2019s Axiomata The master of the universe That is the title they gave That\u2019s what they say when they pray, but They\u2019ve got it all wrong It isn\u2019t the master at all It\u2019s the mystery Of the universe which Demands your fear, and care, And respect, Attention, said Humbaba Guard of the Great Cedar Forest More<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Humbaba\u2019s Axiomata<\/a> appeared first on CounterPunch.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":269,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108629"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/269"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108630,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108629\/revisions\/108630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}