As aurora linnea herself admits, this is a grim read, but a necessary one. ‘Man Against Being’ recounts the long history of Man’s irrational hatred of embodiment and fear of life/death, from Greek philosophers through to early saints and medieval monks, right up to today’s techno-utopians and transhumanists, and the dire impact Man’s ways continue to have, on women and children, racialised ‘others’, and the more-than-human world. 

 

Written in brutally poetic, often dense and complex prose, this does much to convey the intertwined, textured viscerality of reality. It is clear that aurora has taken much inspiration from David Abram’s ‘matter-realism’ (as have I), and I was reminded of Susan Griffin’s ‘Woman and Nature’ at several points (which I also love). 

 

My only qualms (from the concluding chapter) are, firstly, aurora’s take on myth, which has certainly been co-opted by Man to justify his dominion, but in its original and healthy form is, I believe, more discovered than invented, and an essential part of the human relationship with the more-than-human that is crucial, not just for human survival, but also for wonder. To re-enchant the world, and return to embodiment, we need a return to myth (and metaphorical/symbolic/poetic understanding), not a rejection of it, for it doesn’t take us away from reality, but enables us to deepen further into it. 

 

And secondly, I disagree with her take on psychedelics. Yes, it’s alarming that they are becoming something of a craze, and turned into a source of commercial profit, but she is rejecting material beings (fungi and plants) who humans have related to/with for millennia. I don’t think those interactions can be reduced merely to the more recent desire to transcend the body or escape limits. Psychedelics have, in fact, effects that impact on both mind and body, because after all, they are one. 

 

There is still much that we don’t understand about the material world, so dismissing the realms of myth or the effects of psychotropics (both aspects of reality) is unhelpful. Instead, I’d suggest that it’s the intention with which we attend to those things that matters, not that we reject them altogether. 

 

Other than those issues, an impressive book. Just not for the faint-hearted.