Sticky, Slippery, or Soulful: What Kind of Slime Are We?
- Laura A. Weber
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Slimy. An apt descriptor for most of us! Humans are created from the "slime" of the Earth, so the Bible says, or so I thought it said. One of the punniest Genesis word-plays I learned as a youngish biblical Hebrew student is in the Yahwist version of the story of creation in Genesis 2. The English translation from the Douay-Rheims version we grew up with goes like this: "And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." (Gen. 2:7)
Ha-Adamah (האדמה): Hebrew word for the ground, earth, or soil
Ha-Adam (האדם): Hebrew for the human being or "the earth-human"
The Pun: Hebrew uses a play on words to show that ha-adam (the human) is taken from ha-adamah (the earth).
[Love you, Adam! (Note to my nephew, who had to endure this torturous etymological explanation many times)]
Genesis 2:7 does not actually use the Hebrew word for "slime" (chēmar, meaning bitumen or tar). Instead, it uses the word עָפָר (aphar), which is translated as "dust" or "loose dirt/soil." Wycliff's 14th c. English had "slime" as the translation, and the translators of the 16th c. Tridentine English (for the Douay-Rheims) were required to consult Jerome's Latin Vulgate, which rendered the term for slime - "limus" (<L. "de limo Terrae," or "slime of the Earth"). So, slime we were, until a better English translation rendered the term "dust" or "dirt," more accurately so. [Hey, Dust! (Note to my nephew, Dusty, who also endured the aforementioned etymological explanation a few times)]
Too bad. Although the English "dust" or "dirt" is more faithful to the original Hebrew term "aphar," I miss the mucky discharge so vital to life on Earth. Slime. Dust is dirt-y, and dirt is definitely alright, but it's even better with the viscous veneer that makes slime so spectacular. When you're a kid, adding a little sweat, spit, or snot to dirt makes playing with the mud, paste, or slime sooo much more fun! It's tactile delight.
I still love slime! And we have only begun to learn about slime from our gastropod-kin, of which I am a big fan.
Witness: The miraculous snail. "Snail slime specifically is fascinating — a natural work of art," says Mariella Gabler, a Ph.D. student in physical chemistry at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Germany. "The complexity and functionality are mesmerizing." (Source)
Snail slime is the art of conjoining complex functionality with sublime beauty. Slime for all occasions! Snails are veritable connoisseurs of slime; they can alter the slippery discharge to address the situation in which they find themselves - all to an astoundingly versatile effect.
There's defensive slime, sticky or foamy, for deterring or immobilizing predators.
There's slippery slime, allowing smooth transfer over rough surfaces to reduce friction for a gliding, consistent locomotion.
There's healing, protective slime, a mucus seal that protects the supple body inside the shell during the winter.
And there's a lovely adhesive slime that allows snails to cling to glass, wood, aluminum, and just about anything that presents a climbing challenge.
Reflecting on the metaphorical correlatives for human disposition, I can't help wondering, what kind of slime are we? I mean that in the best light.
To put it another way, we are quite miraculous and fascinating creatures, Earthlings. We're pretty cool. We are soulful creatures. Our embodied "soul" or life-force, is a mysterious font of potent energy. We emit our own kind of powerfully complex, functional and beautiful "slime" - i.e., our personality, energy, emotion, and subtle expression. It's a sort of specialized energy that comes through our particular embodied being. We might think of it as our own "energy signature," a way of discharging the energy we have inside us. Our energy can fit the contextual need, morphing to suit. When we bring "good energy" to any context, we shine. The whole place lights up with our vibrancy. The surrounding community, the wider "We" glows, thrums with our positive energy! When we bring negative, nasty, malevolent or just apathetic energy... well, you know.
We might take our cues from our gastropod-kin in knowing when and how to adapt our energy.
For example, many of us know how to produce a defensive posture when a situation calls for it. Women especially have grown accustomed to assuming a "power stance," or scrunching their facial expression into one of pure disgust or menace (even more effective than an RBF), or even feigning insanity (I can show you the "Milwaukee Walk!") when feeling threatened. We definitely know how to emit an energy and body posture that says, "Stay away!"
We also know how to draw others near, to invite connection. We are especially adept at spending time just hanging out, or smoothing over difficult or delicate situations, finding common ground, or simply smiling or laughing when conversational terrain becomes too volatile. We have learned to diffuse with words, to soothe through poetry, art, music, and dance, to translate hard feelings into creative solutions or compassion, when there is no other adequate humane response. We've got a full repertoire for courting, from "How YOU doin'?" (with a lascivious grin, truly slimy in the sickening sense) to "You had me at Hello."
Healing energy is done mostly through sweat, laughter, and tears. It's the cleansing energy. Some might call it "feminine energy," but it's not just those who identify as female who cultivate it. It's a human ability. It's the way we embrace after an argument, or can't find words in a tender moment, so our eyes deliver the message. It's a potent silence. It's one of our best energetic exchanges, often accompanied by salty, watery discharge. Tears, sweat, and laughter are the surest sign that humans are okay.
Finally, there's the sticky energy that tethers us when faced with an uphill climb. Real friendship. Family that we choose. Commitment over the long haul. When relationships are tedious, frustrating, or adversarial, our super-power is the energy that is magnetic, that keeps us together. It's patience, forbearance, kindness, forgiveness and perseverance. It's laughter. It's love. It's friends, friends, friends.
So, what can we learn, good people? Today will present all kinds of contexts fraught with challenges, perplexities, and opportunities for healing and connection. What kind of energy will we bring to meet the need? Or, Earth creatures, to put it another way: What kind of slime are we?
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