Pseudocreabotra Ocellata Nymph “Ghanan Flower Mantid” Order Mantodea “To the small terrestrial ambush-predator known as the preying mantis, the reasonably terrifying sight of a human finger descending from the sky1 occasionally represents a novel opportunity: direct contact with another order of intelligence. During such encounters, an intrepid mantis may make a choice that initially appears reckless: it boards the transport of contact2. This response catalyzes unpredictable results, and might seem suicidal on the mantid’s part, if only for the difference in size of the participants. Needless to say, it sometimes ends badly for the mantis. Yet in other cases this bold gesture begins a sequence of events in which multiple orders (and lineages) of biocognitive awareness and time come together for mutual benefit, changing the local meaning and character of both — often radically. Let me be clear: this ‘sudden orbital intimacy’ event, in which two ‘distinct’ orders and instances of anciently evolved terrestrial intelligence celebrate an unexpected reunion, warps time3. I will further suggest that it creates light of a very peculiar sort, a process we signify with the term relation. As a mere byproduct of these outcomes, nonlinguistic intelligence assets are exchanged at extreme speed (these are encrypted and compressed). If you could hear this, you would hear a strange warbling toneset with extraordinary qualities. The gesture cannot be forced by either party; like partners in a dance, both must be prepared to become immediately subject to the character of the interaction, and to lead and / or follow the other in whatever ways necessary. Mantises5 and many other creatures on Earth are profoundly aware of this warp time / create light game — and what interferes with it — even if they do not make science or language about these matters. Nearly all of them know where it leads... (( . ~ o ~ . ]] With a thunderous hubris too shocking to admit were we ourselves not the source of it, modern human cultures strive to generate and sustain circumstances in which time is not allowed to warp. The outcome is simple: beings cannot meet. To get beings meeting: time has to warp / light must be made — period. Though few can admit it, these and related opportunities have long been forbidden to us by various authorities who would have us believe many ideas we would never otherwise admit; including that time cannot warp, that other orders of intelligence do not exist, or that light is a phenomenon that religion or science understands. Ideas such as these are the result in part of cryptic damage to survival-critical root elements which comprise the very foundations of our representational habits and our human intelligence. These elements must be repaired. Footnotes: 1. Bear in mind that the visual experience of a descending human finger does not necessarily imply to the mantis the rest of the body that will eventually emerge into its visual field. We should also acknowledge that the relative speed of time (proximal temporality rate) for the mantis is radically different than for the human. The mantis being approached definitely does not metaphy the experience as ‘that (possibly friendly) human is approaching with an outstretched finger’. This may be the human’s image of itself (and is useful!) during this act, but what happens for the mantis is something akin to a shocking encounter with novelty and another order of intelligence. During this encounter, time ‘explodes’. Without being able to say precisely what the mantis does experience, we must imagine that its actions are the result of a very sophisticated relationship to novelty — the heuristic functions of which are not so much based upon tokenization as rapid modulatory production of possible token supertypes. The mantis, like the infant, lives in a world fraught with mimics and rapidly modulating identities and authorities. This is the world of liquid identity, familiar to mantids, infants, and other time-travelers the world over. To survive, mantids must capture prey, and avoid detection — constantly. Every time they feed, the striking gesture required sets off shock waves in many sensible dimensions due to its power and speed. Prior to striking (entering fast-time), the mantid often rocks from side to side in an increasing speed. This turns rapidly into a jitter, progressing to shivering (this process is sometimes discarded, but when employed, usually lasts less than 2 seconds). Then, aided by these preparations, it (very briefly!) enters a temporal metaposition and strikes. The strike gets the serious attention of anything that can sense it. Its striking basis (a branch for example) will vibrate during a strike or catch, and anything touching or near the parent bush will probably detect that and, if so inclined, will come looking for the source. Strikingly, this search commonly succeeds, and mantises must then deal adeptly with impossible novelty mixed with deadly danger. To capture food, it must announce itself as food — and more, its weapons will be useless because, if it was successful, they are now occupied with holding the corpse. Even if this is not the case, the predators that respond are not likely to be repelled with the mantis’ claws: it must instead use its mind. This may involve the execution of dance of mimicry in which the mantis enlarges itself so rapidly that the surprise elicited by this transformation itself is often enough to repel or at least momentarily fascinate predators. The outcome is most often unexpected. I have seen even very young mantids repel insects, birds, cats, dogs, humans and reptiles. By repel I mean this: cause to flee. Often their ostensible foes are thousands of times their mass. We may observe that human activities we call martial arts were born in part from observing matters like this, and trained warriors understand the physical, and in some cases, many aspects of the energetic elements. There are also relational skills, or what we might in humans call psychological elements involved. The energetic elements form the core secrets at the heart of every martial form and school. Although it is not clear precisely where we acquired these arts, it is clear that they were being demonstrated all around us, constantly, by insects and animals. 2. This is a wonderful moment of Life calling its own bluff, but is also known to veterans of combat as ‘dominating the enemy’s terrain unexpectedly’. As highly evolved predators (and fast-living, brilliant observers), you may be certain that mantises are preternaturally aware of their status as a delicious snack — more so during encounters of this nature. Their choice, literally, to make a sudden and committed move to join the invader physically, makes sense from a variety of rational perspectives, however these are not driving the mantid’s choices. What is driving the mantid is more akin to what you are using, (probably) unbeknownst to you, right now — in order to read and comprehend these words. 3. This seemingly absurd statement is rendered slightly more comprehensible when we admit that each individual demonstrably comprises a profoundly and uncatalogueably sophisticated sort of living time-bubble. In each bubble, time is being uniquely encharactered and passing at different rates (biocognitively, at least). When these intersect4, we should be expecting reports of warped time. The more dramatic the orders of difference, the more dramatic the experienced temporal loss or estrangement may be. Unfortunately, cultural ideas about time (and identity) demand that we ignore, refute and otherwise disabuse ourselves of these realities — preferably permanently. Most adult humans must not see what is happening during an event like this — in part because we are taught utterly erroneous things about what a human or insect is or may be, and what they are or should be doing. Should anyone actually witness and comprehend what was happening, it would shatter every previous evaluation they had ever made. Thus, in order to be willing to admit what was happening, their own authority would need to be overturned, as well as nearly every written and oral authority we have granted any status as an authority at all, ever. Cognitively, this is (or appears) so dangerous a threat that almost anything will be done to avoid facing it. Even for those courageous, creative or sensitive enough to understand this event more clearly, there remains a deadly danger: other representationals will attack you for interpreting it honestly, usually in groups. Part of the reason is that the existence of these ways of using our minds represents a profound threat to every ersatz human authority ever established. 4. This new bubble becomes immediately disheterochronous (slightly unlinks) with others it was previously in a locked temporal relationship with (forced heterochrony). A new dimension of heterochrony is established which links previously separate domains (and their previous and future linkages) — some temporarily, some in an ongoing way, some permanently. This temporal ‘entanglement’ event this changes what we might reasonably describe as the flow rate or speed and character of time for beings in direct relationship to their temporospatial proximity to the event(s). 5. Mantids already have uncommon relationships to time; they can track prey moving at high speed in three dimensions, and capture it with a gesture faster than the transmission speed of our visual neurons. As experienced explorers constantly in direct contact with other orders of intelligence, mantids (in common with certain precocious children) are well aware that such contact modifies their relationship to temporality. They also know that success in this endeavor often results in otherwise inaccessible rewards, some of which are acquired with gestures of contact requiring perfect synchronization, great speed, and profound following abilities. Mantids, by nature of their endowments and curiosity, are experts at evaluating and solving problems in orbital relationships ‘on the fly’. Owners of cats will find some of these matters familiar, or even obvious. As experienced time-travelers, mantids must (as a species) identify and examine every sort of threat, all throughout the timestream. The sacrifice of a single mantis, or even a group of them, may be tragic, but, heroically, their experience is communicated to the species-core, and thus preserved in future children. In this way, ‘throughout the ages’ mantises have learned something amazing: certain incredibly gigantic-seeming entities, which would surely appear to be monsters — are actually friendly agents of alien intelligence. In this case, the alien is sometimes us: a human. Of course, few modern people are aware of any of these matters, because they are (in general) too busy being representational to experience them directly. Additionally, the very possibility of their existence threatens the basis of much of what we are already convinced of. When people speak of ‘enlightenment’, they are not talking of something ‘you get’, but something you get rid of. This is why ‘there is nothing to get’. Mantids never acquire it in the first place. See the point? Mantic: (Greek): of or pertaining to divination, or to the condition of one inspired (or supposed to be inspired) by a deity; prophetic. From Greek mantikos, from mantis (prophet or seer), from mainesthai (to rage). Ultimately from Indo-European root men- (to think) that is also the source of words such as mind, mental, mention, mantra (Sanskrit), automatic, mania, money, praying mantis, monument, music, and amnesia.