A QABALISTIC INTERPRETATION OF

Dr. Seuss' GREEN EGGS AND HAM

 

By Darren Mc Govern (frater Catinhat)

 

The Most Holy Tree of Eggs & Ham

(illustration by D. McGovern)

(This essay was inspired by a conversation with Excluded Middle editor Greg Bishop about Aleister Crowley. In his "Book 4" Crowley gives a brief interpertation of several random nursery rhymes and this was the inspiration for this piece.)

Unlocking the (imaginary?) hidden meanings within nonsense can automatically set one to thinking of the mysteries. This, done with discipline, can lead to deep contemplation of Holy things and God Himself and that is the true path to illumination.

This can be done with any seemingly nonsensical text you may choose; Grimms Fairy Tales, ancient Egyptian papyri, the Bible, the morning news etc. The source is unimportant however, the method is difficult without the aid of the Holy Qabalah.

For example, let's take the seemingly innocuous modern children's book, Green Eggs And Ham. By deciphering the meaning between the lines, the roots of words, the correspondence on the Tree of Life, and connections to myths, we can invoke the truth that lies hidden. As written in Hermes Emerald tablet and the Mag Hamadi Scriptures, "AS ABOVE, SO BELOW." Distilling the information to extract the "gold" from the original matter is an alchemical transformation operation.

The book begins with the innocent sentence,

This simple phrase is perhaps the most sublime. Sam can be seen as an abbreviation of the sacred Sanskrit mantra from Vedic literature, So'Ham, which means "I am that." Thus we have the Hebrew God name Eheieh or I Am That I Am. Sam can also be seen as one of the the root words of Samadhi, which means "together with," sam, "the Lord," Adhi. Thus we have together with, I Am. Either way this is certainly Kether; the uppermost sephiroth on the tree of life--complete unity. This blissful state is secretly betrayed by the repeating of it. Here also, we have the appearance of a new character. He is the witness to the statement repeated,

Dualism has been evoked and heaven will never be the same. The negative veils of existence have been shattered. Kether has given way to Chokmah and Binah, the Yin And Yang of creation. There is nothing left but to look to where this new consciousness emanated and to speak what now appears in reverse.

Like an inverted pentagram, the truth is seen improperly due to the faulty perspective of the viewer. Immediately, we see the second character resist. He states,

Here we have it! The Ego separates from the now Higher-Self (Sam-I-Am) and begins to resent it, not realizing he is it! This resentment is the root of all human error as Nietzsche so exactly examines in Will to Power. Yes, the original sin is committed. The observer posits himself separate from the observed. But the Higher-Self is ready with a solution, an offering, a Holy Eucharist,

He offers. Again, the Ego resists,

In an act of compassion or perhaps some sort of Zen joke the Higher-Self asks,

But it is to late. The Fall from Grace has begun. Adam is banished from the Garden by his inevitable refusal to cooperate. But the Higher-Self follows and asks,

Here the Ego has descended to Malkuth and is presented to himself, the mouse or mus, which means ego, in its small pathetic symbolic form. Yea! And the Ego resisteth.

Now the house has turned into a box and the Ego, a fox. In typical reverse meaning like the Chinese finger torture toy I used to get at carnivals that would tighten the harder you would pull, the further the Ego separates from the Higher-Self the more confined it becomes, as represented by the box, and the more wily the ego becomes, as it is represented by the fox. Yea! And the Ego resisteth.

Here, they have found themselves in a car. A car, symbolic of the body, has four wheels, like the four elements. It is in motion, like the swastika, which is a cross in motion. And Yea! the Ego resisteth.

The car now drives up a tree, obviously the Tree of Life itself. And Yea! the Ego resisteth.

They rapidly fall down from the tree to the train. Trains have forever been associated with the sex act and verily they are sped off into a tunnel.

The chakra roller-coaster ride continues. This descent into darkness by means of the sexual act is familiar to all and would be an insult to the reader for me to comment further. And Yea! The Ego resisteth.

In a moment of Grace they are freed from the tunnel and are exposed to the rain. Ah! the sweet, sad, beautiful rain. But even this blessing is spat upon by the now lost Ego who begins to believe he is master in his separation. And Yea! The Ego resisteth.

Now of all characters, of all possibilities, who would he now meet at the near end of his travels, but the old goat himself, Satan, King of the Fallen, Lord of this World, Master of Illusion and Separation.

And finally the boat, the blessed ark, or perhaps the Eygptian Henu boat, is sent as an another act of grace for his return but Yea! the Ego resisteth. Finally, the Higher-Self makes one last plea.

Then, not because of faith, not because of wisdom, not because of divine revelation, but because of a long slow evolutionary process he accepts the Eucharist just so he will no longer be tormented and Lo and Behold! He is awakened by the divine sacrament.

The Ego realizes fighting his divine will is not only futile but that giving in is bliss!

For his tormenter was himself, his Higher-Self, his Holy Gaurdian Angel. The torment came from the Egos perception of being separate from The All.

But what are the Green Eggs and Ham? Are they symbolic of the fear of the unknown? Are they the delicious rewards of selflessness? Or is the ham the forbidden fruit of bodily existence and the two eggs the symbol of rebirth? Are they green for fertility and growth? After all, God's creation is creation and is meant to perpetuate itself by its own nature. Maybe it is a koan, not meant to have one answer, but meant to inspire the seeker on his path.

Yea! Verily there is nothing left but to rejoice with a prayer. For all is one. I am Sam! We all are Sam!