"It seemed then, and it seems now, that a mundane world and life—without enchantment, depth, spiritual resonance, in a dead and unconscious universe—is simply not worth living."
Bruce Charlton, "Can Anything Effective be Done to Reverse Disenchanment?" Bruce Charlton's Notions (August 2, 2024)
We are told that all creation was numinous and sacred to primitive man.* This means that that all creation glowed and was saturated with what Bruce calls "spiritual resonance." The universe that modern men perceive as dead matter and mechanism, primitive man perceived as the voice and testament of an ever-present God. Thus primitive man could ask of the world what we ask of a poem—he could ask what it was saying.
What is more, he could ask and be answered.
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