Dregs of Yore

Part I: The Academic Chairs of Virtue, Thus Spake Zarathustra “Modest is even the thief in presence of sleep: he always stealeth softly through the night. Immodest, however, is the night-watchman; immodestly he carrieth his horn.No small art is it to sleep: it is necessary for that purpose to keep awake all day.” If the psychoanalytic perspective is to be given any credence, one must keep in mind the importance given to dreams by Freud and Jung. They saw dreams as the attempts of the unconscious (personal or collective) to remind the individual of things that he had forgotten or refused to address. Dreams visit the sleeper when he is no longer in the conscious realm, which makes him fit for the ambush of the collective unconscious. In this chapter of the book, Nietzsche underscores the importance of peaceful sleep.  “Ten times a day must thou overcome thyself: that causeth wholesome weariness, and is poppy to the soul. Ten times must thou reconcile again with thyself; for overcomin...

 Part I: The Three Metamorphoses, Thus Spake Zarathustra “Three metamorphoses of the spirit do I designate to you: how the spirit becometh a camel, the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child.” Nietzsche’s perspicacity lies in the very fact that he is able to convey the most meaningful of ideas in the fewest words. Here, Zarathustra talks about the three stages of transformation of the soul, explaining the necessity of each stage that the soul must reach in the journey towards its highest end.  “What is heavy? so asketh the load-bearing spirit; then kneeleth it down like the camel, and wanteth to be well laden. Is it not this: To humiliate oneself in order to mortify one’s pride? To exhibit one’s folly in order to mock at one’s wisdom? Or is it this: To desert our cause when it celebrateth its triumph? To ascend high mountains to tempt the tempter?” It is unclear from the text what the soul is before it metamorphoses like the camel. Perhaps it is a mass of formless potentia...

Part I: Zarathustra’s Prologue, Thus Spake Zarathustra “And thus spake Zarathustra unto the people: It is time for man to fix his goal. It is time for man to plant the germ of his highest hope. Still is his soil rich enough for it. But that soil will one day be poor and exhausted, and no lofty tree will any longer be able to grow thereon. Alas! there cometh the time when man will no longer launch the arrow of his longing beyond man—and the string of his bow will have unlearned to whizz! I tell you: one must still have chaos in one, to give birth to a dancing star. I tell you: ye have still chaos in you.” In a world where ultimate values and virtues are freshly crucified, it is with a heavy heart that Zarathustra looks upon the people and sees legions of “last men”. With the hope that at least one amongst them might be willing to cast off the disfigured demeanour of the contemptuous men who are unable to feel contempt for themselves, and shoulder the burden of the overman, Zarathustra t...