'The Incal' By Alejandro Jodorowsky And Moebius : A Meta-Physical
Science Fiction Fable
By David Edwards
I read this story recently, after a
conversation with a work
colleague about the Tarot led to
a recommendation of these
graphic
novels
written
by Alejandro Jodorowsky and
illustrated
by Jean
Giraud (aka Moebius).
It's hard to know where to start
with
Jodorowsky's
created
Universe, so I purchased the
original Incal story which is split
into three volumes, and have
been translated from French to
English.
Thus I began my journey into
this strange 'Jodoverse'.
My perception of reality has not
quite been the same since, but I
feel that my personal viewpoint
of the world around me has
been changed positively by this meta-physical science-fiction fable and its
deeply resonant themes, which I feel are an aid by the authors to a discovery
of the Self by the reader.
It is a meditational story which is the basis of a form of self initiation to the
process of individuation which seems so desperately needed amidst the
disconnection of the technological and authoritarian age.
This psychedelic fable seems directed towards easing the loss of our
humanity and compassion, and it represents an attempt to reconnect with the
lost archaic world of the subconscious and decode its lessons and
meanings. I feel that this work is an experiment to give us back our own
minds whilst searching for meaning in our collective existence, and to anchor
ourselves in the ever present now.
Of course the skeptical view would be that this is just a work of fiction, but
even fiction has a role in the voyage of self discovery. I hope this analysis
can illuminate the authors' work satisfactorily. I will try not to reveal too much
of the intricacies of the story, but will concentrate more on thematic elements,
as I feel this story is worth reading, and do not want to detract from enjoyment
by revealing any major spoilers.
The work has a strong spiritual subtext, with elements of the Tarot, Alchemy,
and the Universal Tree Of Life grabbing my attention from the pages upon the
first reading. It is a reflection on paper of Jodorowsky's own brand of
'psychomagic', a blend of eastern philosophy and Hermetic alchemy.
After first reading the story, it became apparent that Jodorowsky has carefully
crafted in a feedback loop, where the beginning is the end, and the end is the
beginning. This is truly a self contained universe within the pages of this
beautifully drawn work of fiction.
The narrative opens with the reluctant protagonist, a Private Investigator
named 'John Di Fool', being thrown off a balcony in an underground city by a
non-descript gang of extortionists. The reasoning is not made clear, except
that they are looking for an object called 'The Incal', which they allege Di Fool
has.
The first reflection I noticed was the public perception of an apparent suicide,
and the lack of compassion from the inhabitants of a futuristic city observing
this event, as if self-destruction is a form of entertainment. I feel that the
author posits the notion that a society which is placated with misinterpreted
speculation fed to them via the medium of the 'holo-screen', will degenerate
their societal ability for empathy. (An ironic observation for a film-maker
whose surreal and enigmatic works have generated much past
controversy.) I will come back to this diversionary aspect of the 'holo-screen'
later in this analysis, as the medium ends up being a vital part of the plot.
There is an encoding of the Tarot, which is
quite obvious with this character's name and
his passage through the narrative.
John Di Fool : The Fool
The Fool card in the Tarot deck has
traditionally been thought of as one of the
most powerful, as the Fool embarks on the
journey of self discovery. In the context of
this story, the Fool (DiFool) is the 'eternal
observer' and the the 'one drop in the ocean
which cannot be assimilated.' (Ironically at
one point in the story, DiFool becomes the
apprehensive progenitor of the next evolution
of the 'Berg' ('pyramid') race into its next
stage of inception. His refusal to be devoured
after the procreation of this next evolutionary
stage by the society's matriarch, leads to a
resentful race of his identical children, driven
to mass acrimony and bitterness by her spite
at the breaking of tradition, and her projection
of him as evil as she did not get her own way. All is resolved however, with
the creation of that society's own Incal, which enables the universal plan to
conquer the shadow, as all beings enter the 'theta-dream' to enable the
triumph of light over the great darkness and a renewal of the story, in the
feedback loop I have already mentioned.)
Ronald Decker, in his book 'The Esoteric Tarot: Ancient Sources
Rediscovered in Hermeticism and Cabalah', notes of The Fool:
"... The Fool becomes the wandering soul, experiencing influences from all
the surrounding archetypes. ..."
The character of Di Fool in The
Incal has clearly been crafted into
the
narrative
to
reflect
this significant archetype within
the major arcana of the Tarot
deck, and seems to be the glue
which holds the 7 main
characters
together.
The
unlocking of the full power of the
Incal, (in a crucial aspect of the story) hinges upon Kill Wolfhead forgiving Di
Fool for shooting a hole in his ear The 7 archetypes in meditation and unity
whilst Kill is having sexual
intercourse with a wealthy old lady trickster who has disguised herself as a
beautiful maiden in order to partake of such carnal pleasures.
The Fool archetype is usually exposed to such tricksters (or teachers) on his
journey, and the crafting of The Fool as protagonist adds a touch of comedy
to the readers experience, and the lessons resonate deeply within the
subconscious as a result.
Tom Robbins, author of 'Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas', has this observation of
the Fool card in the tarot deck:
"...'On one important level' she explained, 'the major cards are chapters in the
story of a quest. I'm talking the universal human quest for understanding and
divine reunion. And it doesn't matter whether the quest starts with the Fool or
ends with him, because it's a loop anyhow, a cycle endlessly repeated. When
the naive young Fool finally tumbles over the precipice, he falls into the world
of experience. Now his journey has really begun. Along the way, he'll meet
all the teachers and tempters - the tempters are teachers, too - and
challenging situations that a person is likely to meet in the task of his or her
growing. The Fool is potentially everybody, but not everybody has the
wisdom or guts to play the Fool. A lot a folks don't know what's in that bag
they're carrying. And they're all too willing to trade it for cash. Inside the bag,
they have every tool they need to facilitate their life's journey, but they won't
even open it up and glance inside. Sub-consciously, the goal of all of us outof-control primates is essentially the same, but let me assure you of this: the
only ones who'll ever reach that goal are the ones who have courage to make
fools of themselves along the way.' ..."
Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa, in their co-authored work 'Way of Tarot: The
Spiritual Teacher in the Cards', discern this of the Fool card:
"... He represents the original boundless energy, total freedom, madness,
disorder, chaos, or even the fundamental creative urge. ...
...The key phrase of The Fool could be 'All paths are my path.' ...
...The Fool depicts the eternal traveller wandering through the world with no
ties or nationality. He could also be a pilgrim making his way to a scared
site. Or, in the reductive sense that many Tarot analysts have given him, he
could even be a madman wandering aimlessly toward his destruction. ...
... The Fool sometimes represents madness or inconsistency when he is
identified with a particular person..."
Animah acts as the balancing feminine influence over John Di Fool and his
unerring indifference to his tasks.
Animah
Di Fool is constantly wanting to abandon his journey and the tasks he is set
by his companions to be with his love Animah. Animah is a direct reference to
the Jungian concept of the subconscious counterpart to the psyche which
each of us has. For females, this would be the male counterpart, The
Animus. For males, this counterpart would be The Anima. This is an
extremely important aspect of self understanding, as the alchemical concept
of the 'union of the opposites' allows for the journey of self discovery to
progress.
In his essay, 'Approaching The Unconscious' the first chapter of the collected
work 'Man and His Symbols', Carl Jung makes this insight of the Anima:
"... In the Middle Ages, long before the physiologists demonstrated that by
reason of our glandular structure there are both male and female elements in
all of us, it was said that 'every man carries a woman within himself.' It is this
female element in every male that I have called the 'anima'. This 'feminine'
aspect is essentially a certain inferior kind of relatedness to the surroundings,
and particularly to women, which is kept carefully concealed from others as
well as oneself. In other words, though an individual's visible personality may
seem quite normal, he may well be concealing from others - or even from
himself - the deplorable condition of the 'woman within.'..."
The dualistic nature of the Anima is present in the Incal story: for Di Fool,
Animah is his external reason for being; and indeed each main male
character who meets her feels like they 'have met her before'. Yet also for Di
Fool she is his internal and grounding voice of reason, and it is she who
maintains his reluctant focus on his journey and tasks.
Solune meets his mother, Animah, as Kill Wolfhead attempts to revive her
unconscious sister.
For the androgynous child 'Solune' ('Sunmoon') 'Union of Sun and
Moon' (ward of the Meta-baron, a character who represents a potential
warrior animus for the two feminine aspects of the seven archetypes), she is
his literal and spiritual mother who displays a tough kind of love and only
warms to him once he has fulfilled his destiny and unlocked the full power of
his unified being (coniunctio) to become the 'Messiah' of the Jodoverse.
Anima's sister Tanatah, provides the
motherly figure for the brutish Kill
Wolfhead, and she acts as the leader of
the rebel group Amok. It is she who
initially hires the Meta-Baron to kill John
Di Fool, setting in place the sequence of
events which brings the seven central
archetypal characters who have to work
together to unlock the power of the
Incal.
Tanatah, The Darker Aspect Of
Animah
Between these two mystical sisters, the
dualistic nature of the anima is woven
into the narrative as they both come
from the 'Inner Earth', a reference to the archetype of 'The Great Mother'.
The Following Excerpt is from The Great Mother: An Analysis of the
Archetype by Erich Neumann:
"... The Mother of Songs, the mother of our whole seed, bore us in the
beginning. She is the mother of all races of men and the mother of all tribes.
She is the mother of the thunder, the mother of the rivers, the mother of trees
and of all kinds of things. She is the mother of songs and dances. She is the
mother of the older brother stones. She is the mother of the grain and the
mother of all things. She is the mother of the younger brother Frenchmen and
of the strangers. She is the mother of the dance paraphernalia and of all
temples, and the only mother we have. She is the mother of the animals, the
only one, and the mother of the Milky Way. It was the mother herself who
began to baptize. She gave us the limestone coca dish. She is the mother of
the rain, the only one we have. She alone is the mother of things, she
alone. And the mother has left a memory in all the temples. With her sons,
the saviors, she left songs and dances as a reminder. Thus the priests, the
fathers, and the older brothers have reported.
-Song of the
Kagaba Indians, Colombia ..."
These two powerful and deeply archetypal feminine aspects in this story
(despite what some readers would see as misogynistic and overtly sexualised
representations of them), reflects the Jungian interpretation that the Anima is
a guiding and motherly force from within males, and an inner voice that must
be interpreted, whether her influence seems cold or warm.
The introduction of Animah to the narrative
Marie Louise Von Franz, a contemporary and associate of Carl Jung, gives
further thought on the Anima as a driving force for males in the following
excerpts from her essay 'The Process Of Individuation' (The third chapter of
the collected work 'Man and His Symbols'):
"... The anima is a personification of all feminine psychological tendencies in a
man's psyche, such as vague feelings and moods, prophetic hunches,
receptiveness to the irrational, capacity for personal love, feeling for nature,
and - last but not least - his relation to the unconscious. It is no mere chance
that in olden times priestesses (like the Greek sybil) were used to fathom the
divine will and to make connection with the gods. ...
... In its individual manifestation the character of a man's anima is as a rule
shaped by his mother. If he feels that his mother is a negative influence on
him, his anima will often express itself in irritable, depressed moods,
uncertainty, insecurity, and touchiness. (If, however, he is able to overcome
the negative assaults on himself, they can serve to reinforce his masculinity.)
...
... Another way in which the negative anima in a man's personality can be
revealed is waspish, poisonous, effeminate remarks by which he devalues
everything. Remarks of this sort always contain a cheap twisting of the truth
and are in a subtle way destructive. ...
... If, on the other hand, a man's experience of his mother has been positive,
this can also affect his anima in typical but different ways, with the result that
he either becomes effeminate or is preyed upon by women and thus is unable
to cope with the hardships of life. An anima of this sort can turn men into
sentimentalists ...
... The most frequent manifestations of the anima takes the form of erotic
fantasy. Men may be driven to nurse their fantasies by looking at films and
strip-tease shows, or by day-dreaming over pornographic material. This is a
crude, primitive aspect of the anima, which becomes compulsive only when a
man does not sufficiently cultivate his feeling relationships - when his feeling
towards life has remained infantile.
All these aspects of the anima have the same tendency that we have
observed in the shadow : That is, they can be projected so that they appear to
the man to be the qualities of some particular woman. It is the presence of
the anima that causes a man to fall suddenly in love when he sees a woman
for the first time and knows at once that this is 'she.' In this situation, the man
feels as if he has known this woman intimately for all time : he falls for her so
helplessly that it looks to outsiders like complete madness. Women who are
of 'fairy'-like' character especially attract such anima projections, because
men can attribute almost anything to a creature who is so fascinatingly vague,
and can thus proceed to weave fantasies around her. ...
... But I have said enough about the negative side of the anima. There are just
as many important positive aspects. The anima is, for instance, responsible
for the fact that a man is able to find the right marriage partner. Another
function is at least equally important : Whenever a man's logical mind is
incapable of discerning facts that are hidden in his unconscious, the anima
helps him dig them out. Even more vital is the role that the anima plays in
putting a man's mind in tune with the right inner values and thereby opening
the way into more profound inner depths. It is as if an inner 'radio' becomes
tuned to a certain wave length that excludes irrelevancies but allows the voice
of the Great Man to be heard. In establishing this inner 'radio' reception, the
anima takes on the role of guide, or mediator, to the world within and to the
Self. That is how she appears in the example of the initiations of shamans ...
... But what does the role of the anima as guide to the inner world mean in
practical terms? This positive function occurs when a man takes seriously the
feelings, moods, expectations, and fantasies sent by his anima and when he
fixes them in some form - for example, in writing, painting, sculpture, musical
composition, or dancing. When he works at this patiently and slowly, other
more deeply unconscious material wells up from the depths and connects with
the earlier material. After a fantasy has been fixed in some specific form, it
must be examined both intellectually and ethically, with an evaluating feeling
reaction. And it is essential to regard it as being absolutely real; there must
be no lurking doubt that this is 'only a fantasy.' If this is practiced with
devotion over a long period, the process of individuation gradually becomes
the single reality and can unfold in its true form. ...
... Worship of the anima as an officially recognized figure brings the serious
disadvantage that she loses her individual aspects. On the other hand, if she
is regarded as an exclusively personal being, there is danger that, if she is
projected into the outer world, it is only there that she can be found. This
latter state of affairs can create endless trouble, because man either becomes
either the victim of his erotic fantasies or compulsively dependent on one
actual woman.
Only the painful (but essentially simple) decision to take one's fantasies and
feelings seriously can at this stage prevent a stagnation of the inner process
of individuation, because only in this way can a man discover what this figure
means as an inner reality. Thus the anima becomes again what she originally
was - the 'woman within, ' who conveys vital messages of the Self. ..."
The Jodoverse seems to reflect a binary state of patriarchy versus matriarchy,
and the interplay between masculine and feminine is especially highlighted in
the grand androgyne figure of the 'Emperoratrix'.
He/She is the ruler of the human
Jodoverse, and presides over the
multi-factioned
and
bureaucratic
parliament, on an
alchemical planet of gold. The
reference again to the unified aspects
of masculine and feminine is also
another reference to the enigmatic
'union of the opposites', and the
placing of the androgyne, as the ruler
of this empire highlights again the
importance of balancing the feminine
and masculine to attain wisdom.
As with all leaders, resentment grows
towards the androgyne in the face of
war (with the Berg Empire), and an
unsuccessful coup is thwarted via the
use of a double in order to further the
The Emperoratrix
mystical advancement of the Incal and
its seven archetypes to bring balance to the Jodoverse.
The Incal As A Catalyst In A Divine Plan
At this point I would like to put forward my micro-thesis that the nature of the
Incal, is a reference to the enigmatic Philosophers Stone of alchemy. This
symbol of individuation, (and the catalyst towards integration of the self in the
spiritual process of alchemical dissolution and reformation or 'solve et
coagula') grants Di Fool's flying companion Deepo (which is a traditional
symbol of transcendence) the power of speech, grants Di Fool supernatural
powers when he ingests it, and forms into a trans-dimensional spaceship
once unlocked by the meditative
union of the seven protagonist
archetypes. The Incal represents
the union between light and dark,
echoing again the union of both
polarities of our own existence of
uniting Sun and Moon, and again
the union of masculine and
feminine energies (the power of
creation).
The crux of the story reveals that
the entire Jodoverse has been
created by a male deity as an
experiment in free will, with the
Incal and Di Fools 'eternal observer' serving as the driving force in the
disintegration and resolution of a great work of a supreme being (ORH)
wishing to experience reality subjectively.
ORH : The Supreme Being
This message reflects the notion of our own reality as a great macrocosm
containing a microcosm which echoes the great mystical and fractal doctrine
of 'as above so below'.
Technology And The Shadow
A discord occurs in the factions of the ruling parliament as the 'technocrats'
attempt to usurp the order of things with the creation of the 'shadow egg', a
dark creation of the impending and nefarious 'shadow' which devours stars
and planets, and presents a threat to both the human and Berg universes. It
is a threat which Di Fool reluctantly has to defeat, and he ultimately faces the
end of the Jodoverse alone as a witness to the grand cosmic ballet.
Almost any voyage of self-realization in search of any great truth leads to the
revelation that each of us is truly alone and merely observing this shared
reality. At the end of all things in this life, we each have to face ourselves,
and this is generally a very tough disclosure to handle.
The technocrats represent a dangerous cult out of control, unwittingly
unleashing the destructive machinations of the 'shadow', and dooming even
themselves with their arrogance and stupidity.
The Technocrats Unleash The Shadow Egg
The message in the technocrat cult (within the context of this story) seems to
be that over reliance on technology for answers, and the worshipping of
technology as divine, instead of realising it is just a tool, reflects the dangers
of our own world, and the reliance of humanity as a creator which falls at the
mercy of its creation, is dangerous and ill thought out.
On this point of personal observation, I would now like to return to the theme
of the 'holo-screen', and its controller 'The President' of Di Fool's planet 'Ter
21' (or 'Earth' to it's inhabitants).
The 'Prez', (as he is referred to by the holo-screen presenters) is the epitomy
of a decadent and corrupt politician. His massive ego is reflected in his
opulent lifestyle aboard his floating presidential palace, and also in his
obsession with regeneration by passing his consciousness into new bodies.
The incarnation the reader is first introduced to is a bloated glutton, his
broadcast reincarnation into his next form in the narrative is that of a
handsome, muscular giant. In this body, he seems only concerned with
further indulgence of his carnal lusts and displays a nonchalant and ignorant
interest in attaining the Incal from John Di Fool. This fuels a rebellion and
direct assault on his palace by the violent extremists Amok, led by Tanatah
and Kill Wolfhead.
This frightens the Prez into rushing into another technological regeneration - a
series of terrifying and relentless killer mechanoids, the first being the deadly
'Necroprobe'. In this body he pursues the seven main archetypes towards the
Inner Earth, and unwittingly sets in motion the course of events which unites
these seven archetypes in unlocking the power of the Incal.
The President and his regenerations in order to cling to power, represent for
me the over-reliance of authority on technology, and echoes the ethos of the
current transhumanist mindset of conquering death by merging with the
machine. I noticed that this highlights within the story another illustration of the
corruption of power driven by a fear and losing that power upon death.
The Prez and his continual broadcasting of his progress via the holo-screen
does end up becoming useful in the mission against the darkness. A major
plot point (as I have already mentioned) is the requirement of the Jodoverse
to enter the 'Theta-dream' to enable the Incal and it's reluctant protagonist to
defeat the darkness by crossing the void to enlightenment. The message
here is one of eastern philosophy and meditation, and the distracting holoscreen stands in the way of this mass meditation and unity. The Prez
panders to the newfound power of the seven, and with his control of this form
of mass media, offers to help by enabling the holo-screen technology to lead
the masses in accepting the theta-processors and leading them via mass
marketing to enter the Theta-Dream.
The Archaic Four Elements
Upon first ingesting the Incal in an attempt to hide it, John Di Fool is dissected
by it into quarters. These quarters become the archaic four elements of Earth,
Air, Fire and Water which are traditionally believed to be the basis of all
matter. He has to build a unity within himself between these four different
aspects of his being and surrender his power to the Incal (the fifth controlling
element) in order to be saved. This is another masterful encoding of an
ancient belief system by Jodorowsky, and beautifully rendered by Moebius.
Di Fool's four elemental parts become united by arguing over the Incal
The Cabalistic Abyss
As the Darkness attempts to gain control of the dark side of the Incal (towards
the conclusion of the journey), each of the seven companions must face their
worst fears, or 'monsters'. For Di Fool this is loneliness, and as each
character sacrifices themselves one by one, he finds himself alone. It is at
this point which he crosses the Abyss or 'Daarth' to enlightenment.
John Di Fool crosses the Abyss or 'Daarth' alone in the final ascension through the Tree Of
Life.
This is where I noticed the final stage of a spiritual journey through
the Universal Tree Of Life, and it echoes Kubrick's Alchemical Opus '2001: A
Space Odyssey', where the astronaut Dave Bowman crosses the Abyss or
'Stargate' to encounter the beings responsible for the Monolith (perhaps
another reference to the Philosopher's Stone, but also a reference to 'Gnosis'
or 'knowledge').
Dave Bowman crossing the Abyss or 'Daarth' in '2001 A Space Odyssey'
It is no coincidence that Jodorowsky was inspired to remake Frank Herbert's
'Dune' after being directly inspired by Kubrick's film, which has been the
subject of much speculation.
Jodorowskys Dune never made it past pre-production, as costs spiralled and
his vision grew to now legendary lengths. It was the abandonment of this
project which led to the creation of the Incal story with Moebius as a graphic
novel.
I would now like to return to the vague phrase 'enlightenment' and a look at
the context of this word (and concept) with an excerpt from Webster's third
new international dictionary of the English language, unabridged (please note
that this link is to the 1976 version, the version I am quoting from is the 1961
edition) :
"... en-light-en-ment : noun - singular : 1 : the act or means of enlightening :
the state of being enlightened [the gradual attaining of spiritual
enlightenment] 2 a : usually capitalized : a philosophic movement of the 18th
century characterized by an untrammeled but frequently uncritical use of
reason, a lively questioning of authority and traditional doctrines and values, a
tendency towards individualism, and an emphasis on the idea of universal
human progress and on the empirical method in science - used with the b : a
mental attitude in the spirit of the Enlightenment; also : a movement or period
resembling the Enlightenment 3 : the ultimate goal of the Taoist and Buddist
religious life: a Taoism : the state of being in harmony with the laws of the
universe b Buddism : the realization of ultimate universal truth. ..."
Next, I would like to shift the context to the use of such a phrase by a male
deity in the work of a male author portraying a male journey to (in my
experience) a male reader. These following two excerpts are from a
sociological perspective, and I feel may provide a grounding for anyone who
may be worried that this analysis is drifting off into the farcical realm of
misguided mystical speculation. Specifically they analyse the 'Age Of
Enlightenment' (or 'Age Of Reason'), a period in European history which
permeated the eighteenth century and reached its pinnacle at the time of the
French Revolution. I choose to focus on this context, as opposed to the
Eastern contexts, as this work of fiction was originally published in French,
where this use of the phrase led to great and bloody social upheaval in the
revolving of power from one set of elites to what became the next set of elites.
The following excerpt is from The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology: A User's
Guide to Sociological Language (2nd edition) :
"... The Age Of Enlightenment (or Age Of Reason) was a period of European
history that extended throughout the eighteenth century to the French
Revolution. It revolved around the emergence of a way of thinking about the
natural world and the relation of human beings and societies to it. This rested
on the assumption that understanding based on reason and experience in the
form of science was superior to that based on religious faith, and made it
possible for human beings to both explain and control natural
phenomena. The seat of knowledge and truth shifted away from God and
religious authority to the individual mind, which was now seen as free to
express itself. This became the basis for Individualism and Utilitarianism.
Reason also promised to provide a basis for a science of society that would
make it possible to shape and control the social environment, especially
through the discovery of fixed laws governing human behavior and social
change. As such, it was an era of hope for the future grounded in the cultural
belief that progress was both possible and controllable and that social
problems such as social oppression might be solved through democracy and
representative government. ... "
For a more modern appraisal of this sociological term, here is an excerpt
from The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology (Penguin Reference) by Stephen
Hill and Bryan Turner :
"... These critical, secular ideas played a crucial role in the emergence of
modern societies. ...
... The enlightenment has also been subject to criticism. In the nineteenth
century, the Romantics argued that Enlightenment reason was soulless, and
conservatives regarded it as too radical. In the twentieth century, the
Enlightenment has been criticized as a movement which was in fact intolerant
of individual differences and cultural variation. Feminism has criticized
Enlightenment ideas as presenting a view of reality which is biased by one-
sided males. A self-confident, robust commitment to Reason is uncommon in
late twentieth-century and early twenty-first century thought. ..."
So what is the point I'm trying to make here?
I am attempting to anchor this analysis of this work of fiction within a realistic
framework in order to make sense of it. The temptation to over analyse and
speculate into personal mythology with any work of fiction, especially one with
so many themes such as The Incal, is all too easy a leap of faith to
make. The world around each of us seems to be at the edge of a precipice,
and it seems all too easy to live our lives virtually. This is a dangerous time
for the human mind, as the medium which was supposed to unite our species
is doing the opposite.
Our differences in opinion are now a divisive method which mistakes these
individual viewpoints on the world as paragons of truth. The temptation in a
world lost in a speculative search for meaning is to look for the 'truth'
everywhere except for in our own personal experience.
I am in no way stating that this is an excuse for ignorance, but that an
informed opinion is valuable in these uncertain times. Despite this preaching
on my part, whatever you choose to believe in is meaningless if it launches
your very being into the arrogant mindset that everyone should be share the
same point of view as you. I would advise you to retain your individuality, but
also don't forget about compassion within conversation and discourse, as I
feel that a world without empathy brings our species a step closer to the hive
mind of social control and the inevitable march towards becoming a machine.
To end this review of the Incal and the journey it has taken me on in my head,
I am including another excerpt from The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology
(Penguin Reference) , regarding the work of Harold Garfinkel and his
sociological area of study known as Ethnomethodology. I am in no way
speculating that Jodorowsky is a disciple of Garfinkel, but I find the
exploration of personal mythologies extremely intriguing after my journey
through the 'Jodoverse':
"... ethnomethodology proposes to investigate how people ('members')
construct their world. The assumption is that everyday life is fairly orderly and
that orderliness is produced - reflexively - by people in everyday
life. Members have to work continuously at making their own activities make
sense to others, yet despite this, the way in which the social world is
constructed is entirely taken for granted. One important feature of everyday
life is the indexical character of 'conversation'. The understanding of
conversation depends on the participants being able to fill in a set of
background assumptions unique to every interaction. ..."
The end of course is another beginning, and the story ends where it
begins with the public perception of an apparent suicide, and the lack of
compassion from the inhabitants of a futuristic city observing this event, as if
self-destruction is a form of entertainment.
The Fool's journey has no resolution, and Di Fool is doomed to repeat his
journey eternally in a feedback loop which is designed to drive the reader to
the point of madness.
Personally I have found myself a bit lost in an enigmatic and mystical
appreciation of the world at large, and I speculate that this was Jodorowsky's
intention.
I feel that the purpose of encoding such powerful themes in the work is to give
an appreciation of finding meaning in the meaningless, and finding wonder in
a world that is increasingly losing its sense of the profound.
I theorise that 'the Incal' gives an appreciation of the paradox of existence,
and a feeling of being at peace with it and its inevitable end. Maybe it's time
to stop taking ourselves so seriously and enjoy the journey...
"... Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'I don't much care where -' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
'- so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation.
'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.' ..."
- From 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll
Afterword
I have included here an animated trailer for an unmade animated movie of the
Incal, which sadly never came to be realised. However, I have heard rumours
that Nicholas Winding Refn is currently adapting the story for a live action
version with Jodorowsky's blessing. Although the author has previously
declared that a live action version would not work, I feel this contradiction
represents the conflicting shadow and light themes of the story and I wish the
adapters of it the best of luck.
THE INCAL Animated movie trailer
Video : A movie trailer project inspired by the graphic novel
"The INCAL", from Moebius and Jodorowsky.