The Triumph of Chaos Reloaded

By

Obododimma Oha

Sometime ago, I published a blog essay captioned “The Triumph of Chaos.” Then, I read more extensively, going into history and mythology. The latter greatly opened my eyes to the ancient roots of the word “chaos,” showing that “chaos” was the “pagan” interpretation of the condition prior to creation. The book, Bullfinch’s Greek and Roman mythology: The Age of Fable, beautifully couches the idea this way:

Before earth and sea and heaven were created, all things wore one aspect, to which we give the name Chaos – a confused and shapeless mass, nothing but dead weight, in which, however, slumbered the seeds of things. Earth, sea, and air were all mixed up together, so the earth was not solid, the sea was not fluid, and the air was not transparent. God and Nature at last interposed, and put an end to this discord, separating earth from sea, and heaven from both. The fiery part, being the lightest, sprang up, formed the skies; the air was next in weight  and place. The earth, being heavier, sank below; and the water took the lowest place, and buoyed up the earth. (2000:9—10)

A lovely account of how we started from chaos, or how order emerged from an initial chaos.

Are you thinking of accusing the woman, Pandora, as the bringer of trouble and confusion? No! Pandora was created by Jupiter much later and, even though she fell and broke the jar, from which proceeded all manner of ailments, she was not the primal source of disorder and discord.

Chaos was the primal condition of disorder. As it was in the beginning, is now, and forever shall be, world without end. The Igbo, in their discourse, would say: Na mbụ ka o bidoro! (“It started from the beginning.”). Yes; that may sound tautologous, but really, check everything out. You would find that it all “started from the beginning.” Na mbụ ka o bidoro. Chaos started from the beginning. “In the beginning, there was chaos.....”

Oh, you are asking for light? Let there be light! Start from darkness and then get to light. Start off from Hell and then get to Heaven! In the beginning,there was No light!

Are you looking for peace? No. War, even by other means. In the beginning there was war. Then, you fought and fought until you got tired. Then, there was peace. In the beginning, there was chaos, remember. In the beginning, there was trouble! 

There is now the disorder from the beginning. You have every right to return to the very beginning, to the past, while others are racing into the future. In the beginning, there was no future. In the beginning, there was the past.

And so on.

Chaos reloaded. Chaos enhanced. It is between Tom and Jerry. Watch how they perform their types of meanness.

In the beginning, there was chaos. Na mbụ ka o bidoro! And you are returning to the beginning. You have the right to do whatever you like, however you like it. As it was in the beginning....