NETZACH
Netzach means endurance. It
is also related to the Hebrew word for victory. It corresponds to the planet
Venus in astrology and to the right leg and right hemisphere of the brain
in anatomy. Astrologically, Venus represents what Freud called the pleasure
principle, the drive to reduce tension in our lives. With respect to the
right hemisphere of the brain, Netzach is connected with patterns and gestalts
and seeing things as completed wholes rather than as a summation of parts.
Whenever we are learning a new skill, we generally have to first go through
it step by step using the facilities of the left hemisphere of our brain,
which is represented by Hod. However, once we have mastered the skill, we
begin to see it as a completed pattern rather than a series of steps. In
other words, we just do it! The ability of the brain to work in this manner
with completed wholes takes much of the work load off of the left hemisphere
of the brain. It allows us to go from the beginning to the end of the matter
without having to expend energy on the reconstruction of every little step
along the way. In this way, tension is reduced. Once a pattern has been
established, though, it tends to want to endure. As a result, we adopt certain
world views, and when we encounter someone with a different world view,
we automatically wish for ours to prevail. We hope for victory for our way
of looking at things. This can lead to a very negative functioning of Netzach,
a tendency to force our viewpoint upon others. I often see this happening
in the arena of multiculturalism. Many people who say they are in favor
of multiculturalism often really mean that other cultures are okay just
so long as they think and act just like me! True multiculturalism, however,
means that we must learn to accept, understand, and appreciate the differences
between us. We should not force our views upon others. As it says in Pirkei
Avot (Chapters of the Fathers), 4:8, "Do not say, 'Accept my opinion,'
for it is their choice, not yours." Our world is becoming more diverse,
and we have to learn to understand different points of view as well as find
common ground. We have to give each other some slack.
Another function that is connected with Netzach is prophecy. But whereas
Hod relates more to rational inferences about the future, Netzach is connected
with an intuitive, nonrational grasp of where things are going. To prophecy
through Netzach, we have to relax our left hemisphere's rational grip on
things and just allow ourselves to feel what is going to happen. Of course,
while this can be a good way to gain personal insights, when carried to
greater extremes, we often just wind up fooling ourselves. Moses was pretty
darn good at this prophecy thing, but the majority of us should subject
our intuitions to a good dose of rational analysis!