'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 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

The 7 archetypes in meditation and unity

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 out-of-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. 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

Tanatah, The Darker Aspect Of Animah

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 mystical advancement of the Incal and

its seven archetypes to bring balance to the Jodoverse.

The Emperoratrix

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. 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.

ORH : The Supreme Being

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 holo-screen 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.