I’ve read quite a lot of greek mythology, and know who Io is – a maiden hunted by Hera – and I know who Pan is – main satyr, in short – and I also know who Aleister Crowley is – weird occultist.
Crowley wrote A hymn to Pan, which is an appropriate thing to do if you’re an occultist, a hedonist, and a bit into madness, but what I don’t understand, is the expression he uses there and I believe in other places: “Io Pan”.
Pan, OK – but Io? Isn’t she outside of the occultist context?
Huh. I’ve actually never seen it in text, only performed, and I always thought it was “Yo, Pan!”
Which makes sense when it’s used as an invokation, a calling to bring the energy of that god into presence. When done right, it’s scary and exhilarating and pretty much guarantees that by the end, you’re going to want to rip your clothes off and fornicate with whatever semi-willing partner you find next to you.
Which, like most of Crowley’s work, means it can be very, very cool or very, very evil. I think he’d be happy to know his lifework lives on.
I can say I’ve not found the words “Io” and “Pan” used next to each other in any other context. Google only brings up copies of this piece. So I don’t think it’s an alternate name of Pan, but Crowley made stuff up like that a lot. Maybe he wanted to include the feminine (male/female energy comingling was exceedingly important to Crowley, and most reports have this piece being written for The Paris Working, where Crowley took the “female” part). Maybe it just sounded right. Maybe it was just because he needed that kind of sound for esoteric reasons and the name of the cow-girl is a coincidence. Maybe it is an alternate spelling of the call “Yo!”. Knowing Crowley, it’s probably at least two of these reasons and half a dozen others we haven’t thought of.
Man, I can’t remember the last time I made so many so disappointed. Now I feel guilty and will try to come up with a question about Big Trouble in Little China in the near future.
Having went through a bit of a 93 phase as a yoot (and still being somewhat fond of the Old Goat), I’m pretty sure you’re on to something here. In fact, I suspect Crowley may even have said as much somewhere in his writings. Notice the rather obvious visual allusions of I and O…
Going back to this original thought of mine, then I have to go back to my original question: Why would he choose Io if he “wanted to include the feminine”. There would be lots of more (in the context) appropriate figures – Persephone/Demeter, Artemis, or even Syrinx if you don’t want a full blown godess, just to mention a couple. That’s what I’ve been thinking about. I can’t fit Io into this, which of course would be due to lack of knowledge from my part (hence a post at the StraightDope).
My guess, knowing nothing beyond the content of the poem(I just skimmed your link) and what others have said in this thread, is that Io just works better rhythmically. Sounds good. As opposed to saying “Per-se-pho-ne” or “De-me-ter” over and over again.
Someone may come up with a mythical/logical connection, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was mostly aesthetic reasons.
Right, but you’re forgetting it’s a poem, and a magickal one at that, intended to invoke (and evoke) a specific response. Its intent is fierce and sexual.
“Persephone, Pan!” “Demeter, Pan!” etc. lack that gut-punch of drama and rhythm. Too many syllables and flowiness. “Io” (pronounced “Yo” in this context, though I’ve always heard the girl’s name pronounced “Eye-Oh”) has that gut punch sexual thing going on. Think of your lady (or boy) friend at “that” moment: “Oh! Oh! OH! YO! YO! YO! OH OG!!!”
In “Hymn to Pan”, there’s melodious lines of prettiness “Thrill with lissome lust of the light” punctuated with short, sharp monosyllables: “O, Man! My Man!”. It helps to hear the pounding of chests and drums in a simple rhythm underneath: Bam, bam, bam, bam. Io Pan Io Pan! It’s bringing Pan out of the forest, running, running breathing harder, and harder, pulsing, pressing, pushing, praying in ecstacy to come catch, trap us, hold us in a Panic. The whole thing builds and builds in rhythm until it explodes in a pulsing climax of RRRRAAAAAAWWWRRRRRR** SEX** NOW OG SMASH!!!
Ahem. Sorry, it’s been a while.
Maybe it’s like Shakespeare in that unless you hear it out loud by a good performer, you won’t “get” it completely. When I read it, I “hear” it in the voice of a good friend of mine who is fantastic at it. When he does it, I want to fuck* him senseless, even though he’s on my “eeeeewwww, like a brother!” list the rest of the time.
*Yes, “fuck”. This ain’t no smooth Barry White “making love” song. Its intent is to provoke raw, primal fucking.
