Can we get our young men to kneel and look through the Smokehole?
‘We thought we had Pentecost but find ourselves in Babel.’
Dr. Martin Shaw
‘Smoke Hole: Looking to the Wild in the Time of the Spyglass’ by the mythologist and storyteller Dr, Martin Shaw covers some of the territory revealed in ‘Adolescence’ but where the TV series mainly highlights the problem, Shaw makes an attempt at suggesting some solutions. Written during the early days of Covid 19, it is a weave of three folk tales interspersed with erudition around themes of technology, identity, authenticity, trust and love.
The main metaphor for the panoptical time we live in is the ‘Spyglass’; an implement by which we can see anywhere in the world at any time. The reach of digital technology and internet seem to offer connection but instead we are furnished with a spectatorship leading to alienation and isolation. Our dopamine seeking responses have been weaponised by agents who want to sell us products, steal our data and get our vote – with many other questionable reasons in between.
The tragedy is that dopamine is the chemical that encourages a set of events that can result in meaningful human connection, the best case scenario being a mirror neuron response. But without interacting with an actual human being this is impossible. We are left addicted to doom scrolling, chasing a result we can never achieve, unless lift our heads and look someone in the eye.
Shaw also makes useful distinctions between data, information, knowledge and wisdom. Data, according to some, is the new oil. Through the process of data ‘farming’ it can be processed to information. Although this information has definite utility and can, in some cases, lead to knowledge very rarely does it yield wisdom. The process of creating that particular precious substance seems to be found almost exclusively in the crucible of lived experience, meaningful interaction with others and our environment woven with a commitment to engage with metaphorical forms of language that point to subtle and esoteric aspects of existence.
The three folktales Shaw relates all have a narrative element in common; people bewitched by a nefarious force that subjugates and diminishes them. The Bewitched Princess is held in the sway of a selfish, domineering sorcerer, The Spyglass has yet another princess in thrall to the device her father has given her that enables her see anything in the world but keeps her apart any meaningful relationships with anyone around her and The Handless Maiden has a miller forced to cut his daughter’s hands off after making a deal with a shadowy man for material wealth and comfort.
The circumstances related in these stories can be nearly as harrowing as the ones related in ‘Adolescence’. ‘The Handless Maiden’, in particular, has a definite power to shock. There are qualitive differences from the TV series though. Firstly, due to abstractive nature of the form of folk tale, some merciful distance is granted. Secondly, in each case through collective and individual human agency and ingenuity, the seemingly hopeless situation is redeemed. The protagonists emerge whole human beings connected in a web of relation to all around them.
Although this does indeed seem like a fairy tale, I believe there is an important message here. We can reclaim the power to save our own arse and, in doing so, beat a path for others to save theirs. Shaw is a believer in the power of story and myth. In his words ‘myth is the way in which the land speaks to us’. His writing contains a rare power, intelligence and intimacy. Fascinating though his writing is, it merely serves as a portal to his oral storytelling and both his writing and storytelling contain encouragements to embark on the Wilderness Vigil.
The Vigil – or Vision Quest – is an initiation where four days are spent in the wild forsaking food, company and shelter. I have had the privilege to experience both the Quest and Dr. Shaw’s storytelling. My experiences could not be contained in the scope of this essay: not only because of the imposition on the patience of you, the reader, but also in the total failure of my communication skills in relating my experiences. I will try to provide, in as much brevity as I can muster, both my experiences. On Vision Quest I felt that after some time, the land began to write poetry for me and after hearing a three day telling of Parzival, I forgave my violent and abusive brother.
The smokehole is the other metaphorical device that is prominent in the book. Shaw puts forth the conceit that in ancient times this portal in our tent was our connection to the divine and when we knelt in front of it, we did so on a prayer mat that was woven by all that come before us. It would be our duty to weave our experience into that mat so that those to come had a firmament from which to face the mystery.
Jamie Miller, the character of the boy portrayed in Adolescence, had neither smokehole nor prayer mat. They were replaced by a screen that instead of awe, wrought anxiety.
In the symbolic language that Shaw is offering, the prayer mat is our individual and collective soul. This has been crafted by our ancestors, then handed down to us. We will embark on the journey of our life, and through its warp and weft add our personal contribution. Our children shall kneel on the same material, add to the tapestry and so it continues. The Smokehole is our connection to spirit. We can appreciate the awe and wonder of existence through this portal. It is my belief that these symbols can be used by believer, agnostic or atheist alike. They are accessible symbols for subtle and ineffable qualities of life that seem to be too slippery to be measured or quantified by empirical means.
Admittedly accessibility is an issue when comparing these two pieces of work. Netflix is a global streaming service using a form that is hugely popular, and therefore the potential audience for ‘Adolescence’ is massive. ‘Smokehole’ is a book written by a Devon-based mythologist that recommends practices that have distinctly niche appeal. Many people are prepared to binge watch a TV series; far fewer are prepared to sit the woods for four days alone and hungry. There is no doubt that ‘Adolescence’ has achieved great impact, sparked discussion and provided a cautionary tale about our young people’s unfettered exposure to current information and communications systems. Similar assumptions seem to be reached by both pieces, though articulated by different means. I will attempt to distil some conclusions of both using the pithy phrase offered by Shaw.
‘Kick the robbers out of the house.’
M.C.