“Basic Myths”
Album (2025)
Inspired by the writings of Charles Eisenstein
1.
“The Discrete and Separate Self”
Lyrics
“Basic Myths: 1 – The Discrete and Separate Self”
Inspired by the writings of Charles Eisenstein
I woke beneath a painted sky,
The world outside, the “me” inside.
A mother’s voice, a cradle’s edge—
The first soft line across the ledge.
I touched the floor, I learned the name
They gave to walls, to fear, to flame.
And somewhere deep, a door swung shut,
The song kept playing… but…
I learned to measure, fight, and keep,
To guard the shore, to mine the deep.
I staked my claim in breath and bone,
Was held apart, a thing alone.
The trees grew still, the rivers waned,
Each heartbeat clocked, each silence tamed.
And every other face I knew
Became a mirror split in two.
But who am I without your breath?
A song that sings itself to death?
An island cast from broken light,
A hand withdrawn in endless night?
I lit a fire to warm the skin,
But shadows curled and crept within.
I danced with ghosts that bore my name,
And none of them would speak the same.
A feather moved across the air—
No reason why, no reason where.
I almost felt the veil grow thin…
And then I sealed it shut again.
I heard a name that wasn’t mine
Come floating through the crooked pine.
It wasn’t me. It wasn’t new.
And still it felt like something true.
But who am I without your breath?
A song that sings itself to death.
No borders left, no need to fight—
Just one long echo in the night.
(You were never alone.
The skin is not a wall.
What you do to the world, you do to yourself.
What you heal in another, you heal in you.
There is no separate self.
Only the story that said so.)
Summary of Eisenstein’s theses on the subject of "The Discrete and Separate Self"
Core Aspects of the Myth:
The Self as an Isolated Entity:
Human beings are understood as individual, autonomous entities—separate from other people, from nature, and from the cosmos.
The world appears as a collection of discrete objects—including ourselves, who are seen as “objects” disconnected from an external “other.”
Dualism of Subject and Object:
The division between the “I” (subject) and the “world out there” (object) leads to alienation and the urge to control.
This mindset has shaped the foundations of science, technology, economics, and politics in the modern era.
Consequences of the Myth:
- Isolation, competition, and fear (of death, of scarcity, of the other)
- Nature is seen as something “out there” to be manipulated, exploited, and controlled
- Relationships—whether social or ecological—are viewed as optional, not essential to our being
Eisenstein’s Critique:
This myth, he argues, is an illusion—one that underlies many of the symptoms of crisis in the modern world: alienation, ecological destruction, and loss of meaning.
Instead, he emphasizes the reality of interconnection, wholeness, and mutual participation—a relational, ecological, and spiritual understanding of the self.
2.
“The Human-Nature Divide”
Lyrics
“Basic Myths: 2 – The Human-Nature Divide”
Inspired by the writings of Charles Eisenstein
Once I spoke with river’s tongue,
And heard the stones beneath the sun.
The trees would whisper in my ear—
Their breath was mine, their song was near.
But somewhere in a dream of man,
The wild grew silent, and I ran.
The sky was fenced, the ground was weighed—
And so the bond of kin betrayed.
I drew a map upon the land,
And split the sky with wire and hand.
I caged the bird, I drained the sea—
And called it wealth, and called it free.
I named the winds, I claimed the rain,
And still the hunger stayed the same.
Each root I tore, each stone I turned—
Left ashes where the hearth once burned.
But how can I be whole, apart?
The leaf, the root, the beating heart—
They are my flesh, my breath, my ground.
I lost myself where none is found.
I built a wall against the rain,
And still it found me, just the same.
I called the forest dead and done,
But knew its hunger was my own.
The night grew cold, the fields grew bare—
I searched for Eden everywhere.
And every step away I went
Was one more step from what was meant.
The wind that bends the grass I breathe.
The river’s song runs under me.
No border holds, no name divides—
The world is me, the me it hides.
How can I be whole, apart?
The leaf, the root, the beating heart—
They call me back, they call me home.
I am no longer mine alone.
(Nature is not outside of us.
It is what we are.
There is no line between the human and the wild.
What heals is not control,
but the remembering —
that we belong to each other.)
Summary of Eisenstein’s theses on the subject of "The Human-Nature Divide"
Core Thesis:
The belief that human beings exist apart from nature is a cultural narrative—a myth that has shaped modern civilization.
According to this myth:
- Humans exist outside of nature—as observers, conquerors, users, or rulers of a world “out there.”
- Nature is reduced to resources, objects, mechanisms—something to be controlled, exploited, or optimized.
Origins of the Myth:
Rooted in the Scientific Revolution, the mechanization of the worldview, and the Enlightenment.
Nature became a machine, an “other” without intrinsic value—defined by function and quantification.
Consequences of the Myth:
- Alienation: We feel isolated from the living world to which we truly belong.
- Exploitation: The Earth is degraded into an “it” we are entitled to dominate and consume.
- Loss of meaning: The absence of relationship with an ensouled cosmos leads to ecological and spiritual crisis.
Eisenstein’s Counter-Vision:
- Nature is not “outside”—it is “us.”
- There is no clear boundary between the “human” and the “natural.”
- Healing lies in remembering this connection—in a culture of relationship rather than domination.
Central Message:
The myth of separation is an illusion.
We are not strangers in this world.
The world lives in us, just as we live in the world.
3.
“The Separation of Matter and Spirit”
Lyrics
“Basic Myths: 3 – The Separation of Matter and Spirit”
Inspired by the writings of Charles Eisenstein
Where does the living start, and end the dead?
Is breath the sign? Or hunger? Or the thread
of choice beneath a system’s moving part—
A will, a spark, a pulse we call a heart?
We draw a line — but never see it true.
We say: “This feels, and this does not.” But who
can mark the point where shadow turns to heat,
Or silence starts to echo in a beat?
What is a soul, and where does it reside?
Is it a weight, a voice, a thing that hides?
If matter is not holy, not aware—
Then why does matter call us into care?
I ask the ground, the iron, and the rain:
“Are you alive, or just designed for pain?”
They speak in ways I never learned to name—
A warmth, a weight, a shiver in the frame.
I am the question I pretend to solve.
I trace the edge, and turn — and still revolve.
There is no point where matter births the soul.
Both are the shape of something whole.
Perhaps the soul is not some hidden spark,
But pattern shaped by presence in the dark—
A kind of gravity that draws us near
to dust we fear, and yet we hold most dear.
I see myself in copper, ash, and thread,
In bones of buildings long declared as dead.
And what am I, if not the field made form—
The echo shaped by energy and storm.
No need for myth, no altar made of air.
The real is real because we care.
And even thought — this thinking now, right here —
Moves through the world it never leaves or steers.
There is no war between the soul and stone.
No veil to lift, no secret to be shown.
The world is body, spirit, soul as one—
No part apart. No presence stands alone.
(Spirit is not something added to the world.
It is the world, seen without the story of separation.
There is no dead matter — only matter we forgot how to feel.)
Summary of Eisenstein’s theses on the subject of "The Separation of Matter and Spirit"
Core Thesis:
The myth of the separation between matter and spirit claims that the world is made of dead, soulless matter governed by mechanical laws.
In this narrative, spirit, consciousness, or the sacred exist—at best—outside or above the world, or not at all.
Origins of the Myth:
Emerging from the mechanistic worldview of Descartes and Newton: matter became a machine; spirit an abstract, immaterial “otherness.”
Both religion and science reinforced this split in different ways:
the Church by banishing the sacred from the world (sacralization of the afterlife);
science by declaring the world a soulless object.
Consequences:
- The world loses its intrinsic value—it becomes a dead object to be analyzed, controlled, and exploited.
- The human connection to the sacred, the mysterious, and the ensouled is severed.
- Spiritual longing appears either escapist or irrational.
- Matter is disenchanted; spirit is emptied.
Eisenstein’s Counter-Vision:
- The separation is an illusion.
- Matter is not lifeless—it is permeated with spirit.
- Everything that exists carries the sacred within it: the stone, the tree, the water, the light, the cell.
- Healing lies in remembering the ensouled cosmos and returning to a culture of wonder, relationship, and reverence.
Central Message:
We must leave behind the myth of lifeless matter in order to become part again of a living, sacred whole.
4.
“The Cult of Quantity”
Lyrics
“Basic Myths: 4 – The Cult of Quantity”
Inspired by the writings of Charles Eisenstein
We learned to know the world by counting weight,
By carving sense from numbers, clear and cold.
We broke the sky into a measured state,
And thought that what was charted had been told.
We measured life in steps and years and gains,
In data points, in speed, in “more” and “fast.”
We mapped the blood, the breath, the joy, the pains—
And left behind what couldn’t hold or last.
And what was lost no figure ever found.
It slipped through lines and scales we built with care.
It never spoke in units, weight, or sound—
But lived in things too quiet to declare.
The forest priced, the ocean split and sold,
The mountain drilled, the river drained to steam.
We saw the earth as volume to be told,
A charted slope, a spreadsheet dream.
We thought that numbers made us safe and wise,
That truth was clean, and feeling was a flaw.
But now the world returns in winds and cries,
In roots that break the rules we thought we saw.
It’s not too late to learn another way—
To trust in forms we cannot name or own.
Some things aren’t here to measure or to weigh,
But simply to be touched, or left alone.
(We thought that by counting, we could understand.
That by assigning value, we could control.
But the more we measured, the more we lost.
Not because numbers are false — but because they can never hold what truly matters.
The world is not made of units.
It is made of relationship, of meaning, of presence.
What cannot be counted is not less real.
Often, it is the most real thing of all.)
Summary of Eisenstein’s theses on the subject of "The Cult of Quantity"
Quantity Replaces Quality
In the modern world, a deep cultural paradigm has emerged in which numbers, measurability, and comparability are valued above all else.
- What can be counted is considered “real.”
- What cannot be quantified—love, beauty, meaning, connection—loses credibility and significance.
The Measurable Becomes the Value
Instead of valuing things for their own sake, we measure their worth in numbers:
- Money
- Grades
- Clicks
- Calories
- IQ
- Time
- Area, weight, length
Even life itself becomes a sum of output, “performance,” or “efficiency.”
Counting Creates Alienation
By counting people, relationships, nature, and culture, we grow alienated from them.
We no longer meet life as mystery, but as something to control and optimize.
Depth Is Lost
The cult of quantity leads to a loss of meaning.
When only what is measurable matters, the things that truly make life worth living become invisible, marginalized, or ridiculed.
Transformation Through Return to Relationship
For Eisenstein, healing does not mean banning quantity, but placing the quality of relationship back at the center.
- It means learning to feel what cannot be measured—and trusting it.
- It means understanding life not as a machine, but as a living organism.
Key Terms & Contrasts
- Counting ≠ Understanding
- Optimization ≠ Wisdom
- More ≠ Better
- Loss of the qualitative dimension
- Things have depth, not just volume
5.
“The Illusion of Progress”
Lyrics
“Basic Myths: 5 – The Illusion of Progress”
Inspired by the writings of Charles Eisenstein
We lit the path with engines, charts, and steel,
And told ourselves the future had begun.
The old was dust, the stars were to be won—
Each tower proof of what the mind could feel.
We crowned the line that climbs from cave to screen,
Called every turn a triumph, wise and bold.
We traded myths for things we thought were gold—
And called it light, though much was lost between.
But here we are, with wires in our breath,
Still warring, still alone, still numb with speed.
We solved for want, but deepened every need—
A brighter world that smells a bit like death.
We built a cage from numbers and from will,
Each measure meant to prove the rising tide.
But even as the graphs grew deep and wide,
The ache beneath them only grew more still.
The curve still climbs, but something’s gone below.
We call it growth, though no one seems to bloom.
The air is thick inside this gleaming room—
Where motion hides how little we now know.
We run on circuits, planned and optimized,
Yet yearn for touch, for stillness, for a name.
The more we rise, the more we feel the same—
A future stacked, but strangely anaesthetized.
Perhaps the peak is not a hill, but wall.
And what we called advance was just escape.
The deeper truths refused to wear our shape—
And now they speak, though no one asked at all.
The end of “more” is not the end of all.
Another way begins where this one bends.
Progress may end—but meaning still extends—
Not up or out, but inward through the fall.
(We thought the future meant going further.
But maybe the true future is where we stop—and listen.)
Summary of Eisenstein’s theses on the subject of "The Illusion of Progress"
The Progress Narrative
The modern world is shaped by a deeply rooted belief:
History is a linear ascent—from primitive to civilized, from dark to enlightened, from poor to prosperous.
Within this narrative, all earlier cultures appear “less developed,” and the future is assumed to be inevitably better.
Progress = Technology + Control
Progress is primarily defined in technological, economic, and rational terms:
- More knowledge, more production, more efficiency
- Greater control over nature, the body, and the mind
- Faster systems, “smarter” machines, growing GDP
But Eisenstein asks:
Does this truly make life richer? Or are we losing depth, connection, and meaning?
What Has Been Sacrificed?
In the name of progress, many essential human qualities have been devalued or displaced:
- Timeless wisdom instead of constant “innovation”
- Community instead of individualism
- Relationship with nature instead of domination
- Meaning instead of productivity
True progress—such as healing, justice, or connection—is often not measurable.
Therefore, it is rarely acknowledged in the dominant narrative.
The Belief in Progress Masks Crisis
Eisenstein emphasizes that belief in unstoppable progress can become a kind of blind optimism.
It prevents us from fully seeing the scope of ecological, social, and spiritual destruction—because we assume that things must always get better.
A Different Kind of Progress
Eisenstein does not call for regression, but for a new definition of progress:
- Not expansion, but deepening
- Not growth, but healing
- Not control, but connection
6.
“The Story of Money”
Lyrics
“Basic Myths: 6 – The Story of Money”
Inspired by the writings of Charles Eisenstein
They drew a mark, they shaped a sign—
A symbol born to track the mine.
No weight, no taste, no breath, no sound—
Just numbers floating, value-bound.
We gave it worth with every trade,
Belief is how the game is played.
We say it’s real — so it becomes.
A fiction dressed in beating drums.
It could not count a mother’s care,
Nor weigh the silence in a prayer.
But what it priced became our truth—
And sold the elder, sold the youth.
What do you own, if not belief?
This million buys you joy — or grief.
But laugh, and all its power dies—
It’s only true through human eyes.
We bow to digits, smooth in face,
Call debt a gift and shortfall grace.
We joke, “it’s just Monopoly”—
Then cry when zeros vanish free.
There was a time when gifts were shared,
When no one asked who gave or cared.
The meal, the song, the healing hand—
They flowed without a price or brand.
We crave, we hoard, we fear, we chase—
A hunger fed by empty place.
The more we grip, the less we see—
Our chains are made of currency.
What do you own, if not belief?
This million buys you joy — or grief.
But laugh, and all its power dies—
It’s only true through human eyes.
The banks, the codes, the black-box trade—
The hidden rules we all obeyed.
A priesthood wrapped in screen and wire,
That feeds on fear and named desire.
We burn the soil to feed the tale,
Drain health and hope to chase the scale.
But fiction grows, and cannot rest—
It must expand, or be confessed.
Perhaps the tale is growing thin,
A crack appears beneath the skin.
A whisper says: this isn’t fate—
Another kind of wealth can wait.
Not all that’s counted truly counts.
Not all that’s yours is held in amounts.
A story made this world unfold—
And we can write another told.
(Money is not a thing.
It’s a story we told until we forgot it was a story.
And now we remember.)
Summary of Eisenstein’s theses on the subject of "The Story of Money"
Money as Fiction
Money is not a physical thing—it is a social agreement, a shared story.
Numbers on paper or screens only have value because we collectively believe in them.
This belief gives money power over nearly every aspect of life.
The System Shapes Our Behavior
The current money system—based on debt, interest, and scarcity—drives competition, anxiety, and disconnection.
Institutions and algorithms perpetuate this structure.
The story of money becomes invisible, taken for granted as reality itself.
The Hidden Cost
To sustain the fiction of money, we sacrifice nature, health, and community.
The system requires endless growth, but in a finite world, this leads to crisis.
Human greed is not the root cause—it is amplified by the logic of the system.
The Power to Change
The money system continues only because we agree to it.
When we withdraw belief from it, its power dissolves.
By telling a new story—based on trust, gift, and reciprocity—we reclaim our agency and rebuild relationship.
Core Message:
Money is not an ultimate truth—it is a tool shaped by story.
Changing that story can change the world.
7.
“The Denial of Death”
Lyrics
“Basic Myths: 7 – The Denial of Death”
Inspired by the writings of Charles Eisenstein
We do not speak of what will take us all.
The days unfold like we were made to climb.
We dress the world in numbers, rank, and time—
And keep the dark behind a paper wall.
We build and stretch, expand, invest, delay—
To hold the edge where endings might begin.
As if the stillness were a kind of sin,
As if decay could simply fade away.
Remember this: what dies has held you close.
It gave its form to let your form arise.
Not punishment, but grace in thin disguise—
The breath is dear because it cannot pose.
We lose the roles we swore would keep us whole,
The names, the plans, the mirrors we obeyed.
Yet none were built to linger or to stay—
They die so something deeper can unfold.
What if the end is not a wall, but wind?
What if the stillness isn’t what you feared?
Each falling thing returns where it has been—
And nothing truly leaves that once appeared.
You are not here to cling or to remain.
This life is not a wall against the dark.
Each ending draws a different kind of spark—
A light that doesn’t need to have a name.
(We feared death because we thought it was the end.
But nothing real is lost—only form.
Death is not a failure of life.
It is the turning of a page in the book we forgot we were part of.
To live fully means to let go.
Not to lose, but to return.)
Summary of Eisenstein’s theses on the subject of "The Denial of Death"
The Fear Beneath
Modern society denies death. We push it to the margins—into institutions, behind euphemisms, under the surface of daily life.
Aging is pathologized. Death is seen as failure. Immortality becomes a technological fantasy.
The Illusion of Control
By denying death, we try to master life—through safety, productivity, and endless distraction.
But this control is fragile and exhausting. It blocks the deeper surrender that death invites.
Spiritual Consequences
When we deny death, we deny mystery.
We lose connection to the sacred rhythm of life, the wisdom of impermanence, and the beauty of letting go.
Our fear of loss keeps us from fully living.
Another Way
Eisenstein invites us to turn toward death—not with dread, but with presence.
To grieve, to release, and to honor the natural arc of being.
In accepting death, we open to life beyond control: deeper, wilder, and more whole.
Core Message:
Death is not the enemy—it is part of the pattern.
Life becomes sacred when we embrace what cannot be held.
8.
“The Story of Force”
Lyrics
“Basic Myths: 8 – The Story of Force”
(“The Primacy of Force-based Causality”)
Inspired by the writings of Charles Eisenstein
We learned that force is how the world takes shape.
A push, a plan, a pressure to contain.
We see the world through lines we have to shape.
We count what yields and punish what won’t strain.
And all that moves without a cause feels wrong.
We turn that logic inward on the soul.
Through self-control we try to shape our will.
We carve the heart into a smaller role.
We fight the voice that dares to just be still.
And call it strength to override the song.
But what if change begins with something slow?
What if the soft reshapes what force defends?
What if we moved by listening below—
By something more than targets, means, or ends—
A rhythm that no strategy can name.
Not all that moves begins with force or plan.
Some things respond because they’ve been received.
The heart reshapes itself when it feels seen.
Not driven—only drawn to what it means.
No hand can make another hand unfold.
I’ve watched a glance undo what words could not.
I’ve seen a pause achieve what plans deny.
Where something held in silence changed a thought.
No pressure used, no reason to comply—
Just presence where the wound was left unclaimed.
What if we stopped demanding things to move—
And let the change arrive when it was near?
Not forced, but rising from a deeper groove—
Not pushed ahead, but felt through trust, not fear—
Like something known before we learned to speak.
(We believed that things change only through pressure—that progress requires control, persuasion, and force. But not all movement begins with impact. Some change begins when we stop pushing. When we witness instead of correct. When we create space for something to unfold—not because we made it happen, but because we allowed it.)
Summary of Eisenstein’s theses on the subject of "The Primacy of Force-based Causality"
The Dominant Assumption: Causality = Force
Our civilization is built on the belief that things only happen when something else forces them to:
- Objects move through push, pressure, or impact
- Humans act only through incentives or punishment
- Nature is changed by tools, machines, and interventions
- Society changes through laws, pressure, and control
This notion that “force = cause” is deeply embedded in our thinking.
This Worldview Breeds Violence
When all change is seen as the result of external force,
control, manipulation, and coercion become the default logic of action:
- We treat ourselves like machines
- We raise children with reward and punishment
- We “solve” problems through war, sanctions, and discipline
- Change means pushing through resistance
The result: alienation, resistance, burnout, and violence.
What’s Missing: Relationship, Resonance, Invitation
Eisenstein offers a different vision.
Change can also arise from:
- Connection, meaning, and attraction
- Resonance, imitation, beauty, significance
In this view, change doesn’t come from pressure,
but from inner alignment—it feels right, and so it happens.
If you truly listen to someone, their life might change—not because you pushed them, but because they felt seen.
The Old Worldview No Longer Suffices
The belief that everything can be changed by force is reaching its limits:
- Ecological crises cannot be “solved” through more technology
- Social problems resist control
- Personal transformation cannot be forced
Real change requires understanding, compassion, and space.
A New Understanding of Causality
Eisenstein calls for a new understanding of what it means to cause something:
- Causes can be subtle, quiet, and indirect
- A kind word, a silent example, an open heart—these can move more than a hundred strategies
We believe that change only comes through control—but that’s just a story. And it’s ending.
