Fanged Noumena and the Contemporary Priest

I’ve been delving deeper into my concept of The Priest and developing more analyses around it. I’ve been reading Fanged Noumena by Nick Land and it has offered some intriguing insights in this area. However, it’s important to note (I guess…because some need me to state the obvious) that I don’t endorse many of his current positions. That said, his observations in some of his older writings are particularly poignant given today’s political landscape and climate.

Okay, I got that out of the way…

"This is Nietzsche as a fanged poet at war with the philosophers (with the new priests), a thinker who seeks to make life more problematic." — Fanged Noumena, Nick Land

Maybe the modern philosopher is simply those that wish to make life more problematic. We will destroy your priest! Shatter your priestly illusions! No one shall inherit the earth! Or something like that.

“Nihilist.”

No, you wish I were though. I can feel it. Oh, you want to dismiss the potential penetration of the psyche as mere symbolic casting and a defense mechanism, retorting to yourself, “yeah whatever, you’re a nihilist though.” But this isn’t nihilism; it’s the unveiling of how freedom itself becomes a tool of coercion under our cultural order. We fall to the order of fascistic liberalism and then call it freedom. We cling to any illusion to protect our sense of self, and that very illusion becomes our self-imposed subjugation.

Now, keep this in mind while reading the next Land quote:

From my essay (CUCKED: The Priest vs The Wise Guy ):

The priest...is the media personalities, influencers, and content creators. I’ll probably name-drop and make fun of a few...and they might just be your daddy. Even your podcast daddy. I’ll refer to these personalities and influencers as podcast daddies for the rest of this essay. And if I make fun of your chosen daddy, your favorite priest, you should take it personally! I'm writing this personally for you, duh. Everything in this is personal. I’ll stand by everything I say about them, especially the exaggerated parts.

The podcast daddy has become your priest, giving you your weekly or sometimes even daily sermon. Who is your daddy? Your daddy is the podcaster. Perhaps the narcissism of the podcast daddy has become so unbridled that they now seek out the sky daddy! Their subconscious speaks to them by saying: "I'm a complete idiot; I must not be capable of wielding all this influence, sky daddy where are you?"

Well, your podcast daddy might be an idiot, but a chosen sky daddy will not do anything to change that fact.

Your priest podcast daddy does not seek out other priests because deep down, or in the case of the particularly malevolent ones, not so deep down, they realize they're full of nonsense. Oh, but do not worry, they seek out other podcast daddies that share in their perspectives and similar vibes in how they embrace the structures and ideals. They do not seek out a priest for themselves to follow. So, if a podcast daddy were to truly seek a daddy to guide them, they'd have to eliminate that daddy in the name of Freud. Just kidding (not really though). Instead, they aim to become that priest and capture their audience because they could not possibly follow another priest, knowing deep down they're spewing hollow certainties. Another priest would be like looking in a mirror, and that's no fun when you feel empty inside. So, instead of finding another priest or podcast daddy to follow, they must seek out a sky daddy because it's the only way they can validate their own lie and maintain certainty in their hollow existence.

Land in Fanged Noumena:

"The great educational value of the war against Christendom lies in the absolute truthlessness of the priest. Such purity is rare enough. The 'man of God' is entirely incapable of honesty, and only arises at the point where truth is defaced beyond all legibility. Lies are his entire metabolism, the air he breathes , his bread and his wine. He cannot comment upon the weather without a secret agenda of deceit. No word, gesture , or perception is slight enough to escape his extravagant reflex of falsification, and of the lies in circulation he will instinctively seize on the grossest, the most obscene and oppressive travesty. Any proposition passing the lips of a priest is necessarily totally false, excepting only insidiousness whose message is momentarily misunderstood. It is impossible to deny him without discovering some buried fragment or reality."

The same is true of talking heads and political commentators. Once they gain a sizable audience with a cohesive narrative, they become the modern equivalent of priests. Lies become their primary tool for maintaining their narrative, as true honesty would strip them of their power and authority and force them to admit their deceit. So, the show goes on. As their audience grows, they don't become truth-tellers; they solidify their role in perpetuating the status quo.

They become the mirror of their inner status quo.

Self-deception is part of our survival. The ability to lie to oneself, to ignore the contradictions and uncertainties, become a form of art. It’s like a dancer who must maintain perfect balance while spinning, ignoring the dizziness and disorientation that naturally arise. To falter, even for a moment, would be a risk to the performance.

Consider celebrities like Taylor Swift. The biggest stars never take risky positions—they uphold normalcy. They perpetuate a meticulously crafted system of lies, often unconsciously. To reach the pinnacle of normalcy, one must avoid deep self-reflection, which would expose the layers of uncertainty beneath their perceived truth. Achieving this peak demands an extraordinary ability to deceive both oneself and others. Their life is full of carefully curated reality tunnels that maintain their sense of the status quo, so, they push that status quo outward towards their fans.

Imagine the seismic upheaval if Taylor Swift declared, “I’m a Marxist. We need radical reform to pull power from the elites and abandon the individualist mindset that has plagued our culture and led to the destruction of the world. We must move towards recognizing our understanding of class. I will now be donating every penny that I make towards establishing this new world order.” This idea is almost unimaginable. It goes completely against the structure of her celebrity and the norms her status promotes.

“That wouldn’t change anything.”

I think you underestimate who and what Taylor Swift represents. When a symbol becomes self-aware—the world changes. Oh yeah, and Taylor Swift fans are insane.

And they represent “normalcy”.

"There is no truth that is not a war against theology, and even the word 'truth' has been plastered by the spittle of priestcraft. It cannot be attachment to some alternative conviction that cuts here, but only relentless refusal of what has been told. The dangerous infidels bypass dialectics. It is the sceptic who assassinates the lie." — Fanged Noumena, Land.

Land views The Priest as an inherently dishonest figure, a symbol of religious institutions that claim moral authority while engaging in manipulative and deceitful practices. I’m more interested in how this archetype has evolved into a modern form, detached from traditional religious contexts. The modern Priest becomes both creator and controller, distorting reality to serve their symbolic performance. They’re not always fully aware of this performance!

They shape and enforce a constructed “truth,” manipulating perceptions to sustain their influence. This is the age of sensationalism. The digital form of priesthood is where self-interest and branding take precedence over an acknowledging of some state of zero (more on the state of zero in future essays).

Our structures are inherently deceitful. Hegemonic power—whether religious, political, or cultural—maintains its dominance through mastery of deception. This hegemony sustains itself by continuously crafting and perfecting the lies, becoming ever more skilled at manipulating the truth to uphold its authority. We mirror all of this!

Yet, fundamentally, individuals within this hegemonic structure understand that their beliefs are, to some extent, based on falsehoods. And acknowledging these necessary lies reflects the human condition within a universal narrative, where maintaining a coherent identity requires a constant reinforcement through intricate deceptions. The lies individuals tell themselves are not merely personal failing but are reflective of broader societal and cultural dynamics that encourage self-deception to preserve the status quo.

We lie! We lie to avoid the realization of one’s true, often uncomfortable, reality. One that only knows changing. And change ultimately becomes.

Stay curious.