The Complexities of Anamnesis

"Sometimes the embargo laid on personal names is not permanent; it is conditional on circumstances, and when these change it ceases to operate. Thus when the Nandi men are away on a foray, nobody at home may pronounce the names of the absent warriors; they must be referred to as birds. Should a child so far forget itself as to mention one of the distant ones by name, the mother would rebuke it, saying, “Don’t talk of the birds who are in the heavens.”" -James G. Frazer; The Golden Bough

We have been greatly exposed to the concept of anamnesis this semester and how it would be such a great joy to have complete recollection and remembrance, as we have often discussed through Eliot's Four Quartets.  How wonderful would it be to remember all you have endured. The knowledge, the experiences, the life and rebirth. How would we react to such an event? Would it truly be a joyous one? It makes me curious as to why forgetting is linked with the River Lethe and why to forget is paralleled with a death.  Does the human mind forget as coping mechanism? A way to protect itself from the times of pain and suffering.  It is said that time heals all wounds, but perhaps it it just the act of forgetting that in fact is the true savior. Although I can relate and honor the argument that "which does not kill only makes you stronger", and maybe we are taking the easy way out as to just forget the times pain and suffering, but I cannot help but be as least partially thankful for the lethal water that we are forced to consume.  Even if it is only for self preservation and to find an inner strength to endure. 



We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning