ANTHROPOETRY

What is Anthropoetry? It is a melding of the terms Anthropology and Poetry.

Anthropology means, "the study of humans", and poetry is a powerful tool we can use to help us understand humanity. Already, there are three branches of anthropology: archaeology, linguisticsand cultural. Archaeology reveals only what physically remains from the people of the past. Linguistics reveal the migration of thought. Cultural anthropology reveals how human societies organize themselves. Each of these branches allow us to paint a clearer picture of what it means to be human, but they are incapable of illuminating the most important part of being a human: our spirit. This is where Anthropoetry comes in. The use of poetry is to reveal the human spirit. 

The spirit is an endless and infinite mystery which all humans are connected to. There is an invisible power-line that reaches into each of us from that same endless and infinite source of energy. That is our connection to the spiritual. Spirit gives us energy, like a generator. When we are curious, when we are awestruck, when we are inspired, we receive a surge of energy that compels us to create. Art is the byproduct of this surge of energy we receive when we momentarily conceive the unknown. The purpose of the art itself is to remind humanity of that unseen force which powers us. Art in itself, even great art, can only be a vastly imperfect representation of spirit. It would be impossible to represent something infinite with something finite. So instead art contains within it only a clue to one aspect of that spirit. Your role as a viewer of art is to unwrap that imperfect package and unveil that clue to the spirit held within it. Some art, bad art, is a deception. It is a package with no clue inside. If it gives you no energy, then there is no clue. When you do find a clue inside a piece of art, put it in your pocket and go out looking for more art to find more clues. Once you have gathered enough clues throughout your life, you can begin to lay them all out on a table. Then you can piece them together and find connections between them. Pretty soon you will have a rudimentary sketch of the spiritual. You are on your way to developing your intuition. 

There are two realms of consciousness which people constantly alternate between: Linear and Mythological. Linear consciousness is instructional, mechanical and superficial. It is like a story told only through the events, chronologically. Mythological consciousness is intuitive, impressionistic, and limitless. This is like a story with no beginning or end, and with an emphasis on ideas and emotions. All humans travel between these two realms of consciousness when their lives require them to. Most problems in life need to be solved using both mythological and linear thinking. Sometimes a person will refuse to leave a realm of consciousness they've become too comfortable in. Their intransigence will lead them to a life of struggle. They will need to construct fantasies around them which allow them to deny their need to move. This will limit their perspective and not allow them to grow, and the fantasies require immense amounts of mental exertion to maintain. Moving is hard, but at a certain point not moving will be harder and eventually the fantasies will collapse. This applies collectively to humankind as well, but in much longer cycles. I believe we are leaving a time dominated by linear consciousness. We have answered many important questions that require linear thinking, but there are now questions which vex us that mythological thinking is better equipped to answer. To prepare for this consciousness shift, and avoid a mental collapse, simply develop your intuition. And to do this, you will learn a new language--a universal language, a spiritual language--a language I call Anthropoetry.

-John Elkin