Chapter 24 – The Catalyst and the Activation Energy

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Chapter 24 – The Catalyst and the Activation Energy

‘‘God made man stronger but not necessarily more intelligent. He gave women intuition and femininity. And, used properly, that combination easily jumbles the brain of any man I’ve ever met.’’

- Farrah Fawcett –

“Temptation usually comes in through a door that has deliberately been left open.”

- Someone somewhere -

“Temporary happiness isn’t worth long term pain.”

- Someone somewhere –

Greek mythology, religious texts, as well as ancient history hold many Red-Pill truths hidden in the form of tales and fables. A femme fatale is an attractive, seductive woman who will ultimately bring disaster to a man becoming involved with her. Men from our distant past knew this fact more than some people would like to admit, and this is reflected in the various myths and legends that have evolved over time. In fact, women caused the downfall of great men on numerous occasions, both in fiction and in reality. There are two sides to this equation. The first part of the equation is that women tempt men and are the catalyst that initiates change (or a catastrophe in most cases). The second one is that men respond to this trigger and thus enact their own downfall.

Regardless of the potency of the catalyst, a reaction can only occur if there is sufficient activation energy. For example, a fire cannot start if there is no spark, even if the floor is covered with gasoline. Women are the gasoline, but men are the spark. A fire can be created without gasoline, but there cannot be fire without a spark. In other words, men could initiate their downfall without a woman, but it would require more activation energy; women facilitate the reaction that destroys a man.

Men are entirely responsible for falling into temptation and any tragic event resulting from their actions solely rest upon their shoulders. Note that I am not trying to downplay women’s role in this. It’s just to say that women do not have that power on their own; that is to say, they generally cannot bring the downfall of a man without the active participation of that man or without the help of other men.

With that said, let’s look at the religious, mythological, and historical tales delivering such warnings to men.

Adam is the first man created by God in the Book of Genesis. He was cast away from the Garden of Eden for he disobeyed God. Adam’s sin was brought forth by Eve’s temptation. Adam fell prey to Eve's words despite what God told him and he ended up losing everything.

In the Book of Kings (the eleventh and twelfth books Old Testament) Solomon was known as the wisest king. In his old age, he developed too much love toward foreign women from the east. God warned him not to associate with them for they were practicing idolatry, but Solomon refused to listen to his creator. He was easily influenced and began worshiping other gods. Thus, Solomon angered God, and he was punished together with his people. For all his wisdom, Solomon married a woman who worshiped false idols, who eventually convinced him to abandon God, and who led him to his downfall.

David, vanquisher of Goliath and second king of Israel, succumbed to his temptations and slept with another man's wife, which led to him losing favor in God's eyes. He was a great king but his failure was when he took a married woman, named Bathsheba (wife of Uriah), as his own. His lust outweighed his sense and integrity. Then he even ordered to kill Uriah on the battlefield. David sinned, giving up everything for a woman.

Samson was often referred to as the strongest man in the Bible (The book of Judges). His enemy found out the secret and weakness of his strength through Delilah. Delilah’s deception and seduction made Samson reveal his only weakness; his hair. He was humiliated, tortured, and he killed himself along with his enemies. It is important to note that in Christianity, those who commit suicide have lost all chances of forgiveness. This sin is unforgivable; it is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and the sanctity of life. Death and eternal damnation were the consequences that Samson faced for trusting a deceitful woman; for falling to his lust.

Christians aren’t the only ones warning men about temptation, as Muslims have their own word for it. When a Muslim is talking about ‘‘fitnah’’, he will often be talking about the temptation of women.

The Prophet Muhammad once said: ‘‘I have not left behind me any fitnah more harmful to men than women. The greatest temptation facing men is that of women. A male person may be ascetic, worshipping God and secluded from the rest of the world; yet he cannot give up fancying women,’’ (al-Bukhaari, 5096; Muslim, 2740).

History saw many kings, monarchs, sovereigns, emperors, and nations crumble because of a woman. Here are two well-known examples that took place in China.

Prince Fuchai, became the last king of Wu in 495 BC, shortly after defeating the armies of Yue in Fujiao and capturing the capital of Yue. In feudal China at this time, there was a beautiful woman named Xishi who was known as one of the Four Great Beauties of China. King Gou Jian trained Xishi in royal court etiquette, gifted her as a tribute to King Fuchai, and used her for instigating the downfall of the King of Wu. King Fuchai was bewitched by Xishi, and he gradually began to neglect his political duties, preferring to idle away his time with Xishi. Xishi also managed to alienate King Fuchai and his most-trusted general Wu Ziyi, resulting in the suicide of Wu Ziyi. These events made King Fuchai’s subjects restless and his friends deserted him. There was political chaos, and his kingdom fell before the hands of his enemies.

Then there is Dong Zhuo, who was a military general and warlord living in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He seized control of the capital, Luoyang, in 189 AC and rose to power in the Han imperial court, and he ruled the nation for a brief period of time. There was a woman named Diaochan who played an essential role in his downfall. Dong Zhuo's ally named Lü Bu became his enemy because of Diaochan. Diaochan was betrothed to Lü Bu, and at the same time, she was presented to Dong Zhuo as a concubine. This was evidently a plot made by their enemies, and it worked perfectly. Both Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu became fond of Diaochan and could not decide how to settle the matter. As the hostilities grew, Diaochan took every opportunity to add fuel to the fire, and the two men became fiercely jealous of one another. Ultimately, Lü Bu assassinated Dong Zhuo by piercing his throat with his halberd.

Although numerous examples of great men falling because of women can be seen in both religious scriptures and written history, my favorite tales come from Greek mythology. They are easy to conceptualize, and when you carefully dissect them, you can only see that they are filled with hidden messages that reflect the insights from the philosophers of the time.

Paris was the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy, and he is best known for his elopement with Helen, the infamous queen of Sparta and the immediate cause of the Trojan War. Paris abducted Helen because he was deeply captivated by her beauty. Paris’ actions led to war; it caused the death of tens of thousands of men, and the fall of his nation.

According to ancient Greek legends, Circe, a goddess of magic, was the most notorious femme fatale of that era. She would seduce men and lure them to her island. When the men, driven mad by their desire to touch her, visited the island, she would catch them off guard and use a spell to transform them into wild beasts, trapping them in a bestial form forever. Circe does not precisely represent the fact that women are capable of luring men to their death, but more so that the beauty of a woman can turn even the most sophisticated man into a depraved animal. This myth illustrates, in a much-exaggerated fashion, that men will completely lose their rationality in front a beauty, leaving them in a lower state of existence based on their most basic and primal instincts.

Medusa, the Gorgon slain by Perseus, was initially a rare beauty with golden hair. She was also a priestess of the goddess Athena. However, she broke the vows she made to her goddess and was thusly turned into a Gorgon as punishment. For her treason, Medusa’s beautiful exterior was replaced by her ugly interior. Therefore, her delicate golden hair was transformed into venomous snakes; her once gentle, love-inspiring eyes turned blood-shot, while her milk-white skin assumed a loathsome greenish tinge. She inspired fear and disgust in the mind of all her onlookers; that is, before they turned to stone.

Medusa’s tale is packed with subtle implications and information regarding female nature. First, it tells us that a woman, even one as beautiful and perfect as a fair maiden, can have an interior so hideous as to be comparable to a gorgon.

But that is far from Medusa’s best-known trait; her petrifying gaze. Her gaze that could petrify men symbolizes the state of being heartbroken. Have you ever found yourself heartbroken, in a state where you feel that you could easily shatter, where it’s hard to breathe, and that you can’t move? Being petrified accurately portrays that state in many ways. Being lovesick can translate to being depressed, which can easily lead to inaction and a general feeling of inertia. Someone in this state of mind may find that it is impossible to keep going forward, thus he is petrified. In numerous ways, Medusa’s petrifying gaze represents women’s influence over men’s hearts, which is why her garden has always been depicted not as a place littered with stone figures of women, but with statues of men.

Lastly, Medusa’s defeat at the hand of a mirror shows the irony of this myth. When Medusa was faced with her own reflection, the physical representation of her sinful heart, she was turned to stone. By being confronted with her horrid interior, she was sent into a state of mind similar to all the men she turned to stone.

Odysseus, also known as Ulysses, has a similar story with regard to his encounter with the sirens. The sirens were dangerous creatures who lured nearby sailors to their death with their enchanting music and honeyed voices. The men would hear their sweet songs, ever so eager to steer the ship directly toward rocky shores of the sirens’ island.

Before Odysseus and his crew set sail to traverse the sirens’ domain, every crew member filled their ears with beeswax to become temporarily deaf. Then, they proceeded to tightly bind Odysseus with ropes so that he could safely hear the song of the Sirens.

Odysseus wanted to hear the sirens' sweet, seductive song regardless of the dangers. He was confident that being tied to mast of the ship was a safe way to execute his plan, and if he succeeded, Odysseus would be the only man to have experienced the joy of listening to the Sirens and lived to tell about it.

The crew set sail, and for Odysseus, who was bewitched by the song, the Sirens looked as beautiful as the Goddess of love. However, for his team of deaf sailors, the Sirens seemed like hungry monsters with vicious, crooked claws. In order to dive into the water and swim toward the sirens, Odysseus struggled so fiercely against his bonds that the ropes cut deep into his flesh.

With this description, we can understand how deep the male desire for sex really is. As I mentioned numerous times before, the male sex drive possesses the potential to overwhelm the survival instinct, and this is well depicted in the myth of the sirens.

Although sirens represent the danger that women can bring to men's lives, it also symbolizes far more. In the Odyssey we read:

"Whoever draws too close, off guard, and catches the Sirens' voices in the air-no sailing home for him, no wife rising to meet him, no happy children beaming up at their father's face," (Homer 272).

The sirens are a danger to the family structure and the social order. In a way, it was meant to discourage sailors from going to the tempting voices of the prostitutes that awaited at every port, especially when they were away from their family for long periods of time.

The symbolism goes even farther, as sometimes it isn’t just a few sailors who are depicted to swim towards the sirens island, but whole ships that will soon be transformed into piles of broken driftwood. This signifies more than just a few men losing their way to a female voice. A ship is a vehicle that is directed by numerous men. Between those men is a hierarchy, they have a common goal, and they are organized. In this situation, the ship represents a business, a clan, or even a nation that will eventually sink because of a woman. Much like the fall of Troy, the myth of the sirens serves as a warning to men that a woman can cause the downfall of much more than a handful of men. Be careful of a woman’s charm for it might bring trouble not only to you, but also to your family.

Those tales and stories showed us numerous lessons. First, women are the most significant temptation a man will face in his life. We also learned that women have the potential to turn men into savage beasts, or to break their heart, turning him into a petrified state of lethargy and inaction. We saw that external appearances can be deceptive and are unrelated to what lies within a person. Then we saw that women can cause the betrayal of friends and the death of numerous men, and they could even cause whole nations to crumble. But to me, the most noteworthy fact is that even some of the mightiest heroes can all too easily succumb to female temptation.

After all, some of those famous men were entirely responsible for causing the deaths of tens of thousands of people just to get their hands on a woman. What a bunch of fools… Can you believe that? Men that braved the elements, went against all the odds, accomplished the impossible, and had everything that they could wish for, ended up throwing everything away for a woman. In the end, most of the heroes that we idolized as kids bowed down before the woman.

The hidden meaning behind this fact is quite depressing, as it means that every man is at risk of succumbing to female temptation, even the most successful and brilliant among us. This truth is universal throughout all cultures and throughout time.

Even the greatest men can become completely irrational when a woman is involved, and this is why we will never get rid of gynocentrism. No matter what we do, we cannot change civilization’s fate.

But we can transform ourselves and, hopefully, a handful of individuals along the way. Remember guys, a catalyst is powerless on its own, and it requires activation energy to generate a reaction. You are the activation energy, which means that you have the power to dictate what will happen in your life. Don't bring a catastrophe to yourself or others. Stay true to who you are and create your own path. It is the only path that matters.

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