Aesthetics As First Philosophy
"Hmmm I've never been to this area of the museum. Let me check it out."
I thought to myself as I walked into a quaint exhibition room in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET).
The gallery was filled with art and artifacts from Europe between 1300 to 1800.
I generally gravitate towards modern and contemporary. art, so I found it interesting that something lured me into this era.
After slowly glancing through all the works of art, I mysteriously found myself standing still in front of this piece:
Titled:
Netherlandish of French, ca. 1475–80
Portrait of a Woman
Oil on an oak panel
"Wow, it's from the 15th century. I can't believe what I'm seeing!"
Trendy ladies, can you guess what I spotted?
The gold paperclip chain necklace.
A piece of jewelry that has been trending for the past 2 years or so:
I mean how similar is that!?
A necklace from the 1470s has made a comeback in the 2020s.
I own one myself, and I know plenty of girlfriends who do too.
What a coincidence.
Except, it is not a coincidence.
In early 2022 when I saw this trend unfolding, I put my archetypal hat on and began investigating.
Whenever there is a big trend in the world, there are unconscious forces that are patterning it.
Those unconscious forces are the planetary archetypes and the alignments between them in the sky.
For the past few years, we have collectively been experiencing a Saturn-Uranus transit.
Saturn symbolizes:
Matter
Past
Tradition
Limitation
Structure
Uranus symbolizes:
Energy
Future
Innovation
Liberation
Creativity
So when Saturn and Uranus come into alignment, we generally witness these themes:
Paradigm shifts
Structural collapses
Practical inventiveness
Building bridges
Technical breakdowns
Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with a paperclip chain necklace.
And I'll just say this: once you've developed your "archetypal eye" life becomes metaphorical.
The necklace represents practicality—it's made out of gold and has a simple construction. The fact that it is considered to be a "paperclip necklace" speaks to its practicality.
It also symbolizes a bridge—each element is built on the other and is strongly connected.
The necklace expresses a certain psychological valence of the Saturn-Uranus combination in physical form.
Aesthetics as First Philosophy.
So when I saw the necklace in that painting, I immediately checked the planetary alignments for that period.
I was tickled by the cosmos.
It was the exact same alignment that we are experiencing today.
This is called diachronic patterning.
Which essentially means there is a rhythm to history.
And so, I'm going to take this opportunity to finally share the work that I have been doing with Numinous Realm.
My co-founder Abeer Desai and I have been building a tool called the HistoryEngine.
The diachronic story about the paperclip necklace is what is considered to be an artifact in our HistoryEngine.
We observe, research, collect, tag, and curate these artifacts according to planetary alignments.
We are doing this so that:
1) We can map the rhythm of history.
2) We can create—whether it's fashion or film—for the collective moment in pursuit of archetypal resonance.
So Numinous Realm is a "psychohistory" prediction and production company.
Our mission is to guide humanity into the Age of Enchantment with the cosmos and history as our evolutionary shaping tools.
I'm excited to continue sharing more of my work with you all, and perhaps even collaborating with some of you!
I leave you with Nietzsche: "The world is deep, 'And deeper than day can comprehend."
