When searching for a name that would best exemplify what I hope to express in these works of erotic art, I sought to find something either from religion or philosophy that was symbolic of an archetype that exists inside of all of us, but which stood out to me as representative of my own unique experiences. Despite the strong influence that Eastern religions and systems of thought have had on me throughout my adulthood, I narrowed my search to my own American and European heritage for two reasons. Firstly, I wanted to use mythologies and spiritualites that I felt I could say with confidence “belonged” to me and were thus not appropriative. Secondly, if by combining pornography with mythology I inadvertently (although inevitably) cause offense, I would prefer to keep that offense as close to home as possible. I did not expect was to discover my namesake, Enion, not from the traditional pagan religions of tribal Europe or Christianity proper, but from the mind of one person of whom I was already a fan: William Blake.
While countless Westerners are familiar with foundational Romantic poet William Blake’s short poem ‘The Tyger,’ fewer are familiar with his epic works, most of which describe his personal spiritual, philosophical, and psychological beliefs. Blake’s worldview combined his Christian upbringing with the skeptical inquiry of The Enlightenment, Romanticism, and his own lifelong spiritual visions. Blake lashed out at the Church throughout his life, and accused the Church of emphasizing the concept of Hell as a means of control, abusing power for financial gain, and repressing human sexual freedom – particularly women’s.
Despite major ethical qualms with institutional religion, Blake’s worldview remained in large part Christian. Blake’s mythology explores the psychology of the individual human Self through the universal Primordial Human, Albion (whose name is also an ancient name for England). Albion is primarily described in four psychic divisions, called The Zoas.
The Fall from Eden in the Book of Genesis can also be understood as the separation of each individual person from our original state of innocence as we gain more and more knowledge (in the Bible this was the consumption of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and in our own lives, the transit from the unknowing mind of infancy to the burdened mind of adulthood). While knowledge and inquiry are essential, they also frequently bring great suffering.
It is worth repeating at this point that Blake was fiercely in favor of inquiry, however it can hardly be argued that inquiry and acquired knowledge do not always lead to greater freedom and happiness. Quite the opposite much of the time, in fact. As we grow and learn, our minds face tremendous challenges. In many ways, for Blake, this “Fall from Eden” is our soul’s separation from God, our body’s separation from our birthing parent’s body, and our own separation from parts of ourselves that we repress or seek to destroy, such as our emotions or our sexuality. This latter internal separation, is where The Zoas come in.
When the Primordial Human Albion falls, it separates into four different psychic personas: Luvah (love, passion), Urizen (thought, reason), Urthona (imagination, creativity), and Tharmas (the senses). Each Zoa is represented as male, with a corresponding female “emanation”:
In Blake’s epic poem “Vala, or The Four Zoas” the first cause of Albion’s internal division, The Fall, is the separation of Enion from her male aspect Tharmas. Together, they represent our most basic instincts and needs: thirst, hunger, safety, reproduction. In the poem, Enion, desiring independence, flees from Tharmas, but this separation causes a rift that cannot be easily undone. Upon separation from Tharmas, Enion immediately feels tremendous grief and longing to be with him again, yet from the outside she finds him terrifying and full of sin and thus cannot bring herself to return. Enion’s grief manifests in creation: she creates the material world (casting her in many ways as the Earth Mother figure), and gives birth to two children, who flee from her in fear.
Enion, the essence of of human connection, becomes completely disconnected from everything she wants and loves: Tharmas, her children, and the world she created. Eventually this grief drives her to insanity and violent jealousy of all who experience the unity she desires, and she gradually fades into nothing more than her wailing voice.
Like most mythologies, Blake does not leave the world nor his characters in this fallen state. Blake strongly believed in both the redemptive power of art and creation, as well as spirituality, at both the microcosmic and macrocosmic levels. While the exact stories of his Zoas differ throughout his many epic poems, in “Vala” Enion and Tharmas are eventually reunited and are able to experience perfect sexual union without shame or any concept of sin.
Enion, as the representation of sexuality, is our desire to be together. She represents our need to congregate, to create community, to find affirmation in one another and safety in each other’s embrace. She is the manifestation of our need to touch, for physical, comfort, and to have sex not only for reproduction but for pleasure, joy, and intimacy. Simultaneously, Enion’s journey represents our sense of tragic separation from what we came from, be it our mother, our culture, our planet, or whatever gods we may believe in. Enion wants to be one with all, yet she cannot without this long painful state of separation. Enion is our need for individuality at war with our need for love and acceptance.
My entire life I have sought connection with other beings, through romantic relationships, community, mentorships, religion, or spiritual discipline. Yet I perpetually failed to find or hold onto these things. I spent a decade of my adult life without sexual or romantic partners. I spent two decades of my life trying to speak with God only to be met with cold silence. I clung to the idea of Nature as the ultimate good, only to be reminded of Nature’s consistent brutality. I spent countless days attempting to become part of communities only to be overwhelmed by ladder-climbing and gate-keeping, iced out when questioning beliefs or values when I saw contradiction, or just generally failing to maintain the social energy necessary to integrate.
Enion’s laments – her desire to connect to Tharmas juxtaposed with her refusal to return to him – spoke directly to my core. So when I was searching for European mythology to use as the connective tissue for my own work and happened upon Blake’s personal system, Enion struck me as the archetype that I have spent most of my life trapped within. Like her, I hope to someday find peace and completion, whether that comes through reuniting the repressed and damaged parts of myself – creating once more a unified sense of Self, a resurrection of my personal Albion – or if I reach that peace through finding the human connection that has always seemed unreachable. Ideally, of course, I will achieve both. And I hope for no less than the same for others.