This post was written as part of the Kiwi x Nouns "Into the Nouniverse" Writing Contest. A special shoutout to Caden for being the best editor ever.
In myth and legend, death is usually treated as a sanctifying moment in a character’s story. The culmination of a hero’s triumph, their ultimate sacrifice, or their ascent into godhood. The Greek god Pan is one of the very few deities in history who canonically and irrevocably die in their own mythos. With no pomp or ceremony, Pan just up and died one day, and we only found out thanks to a very coincidental sailor overhearing a shout of “Thamus, the great god Pan is dead.”
Over the centuries, it became one of the god’s defining characteristics in the common stream of knowledge. A feat not even Christianity, the ultimate cult of apotheosis by death, could dare replicate.
You see, even the phrase that consolidated Pan’s demise isn’t entirely accepted to this day. How can a great god just… die?
The death of Pan set off a tidal wave in the customs that accompanied the god’s adoration. Similar to how the aforementioned Christians celebrate their absolution through Christ’s sacrifice, the cult of Pan evolved to accommodate the new and undeniable reality that their god wasn’t there to listen to their prayers anymore.
Some branches of the cult of Pan continued their worship of the god of wayfinding, the unknown and uncertain, and turned it into a new deity: Hermes, the god of merchants, roads, and travelers; a civilized and not-fully tamed version of the god of forests for a more urbanized age, one where Greek polis developed their identity, and consolidated their power. Even to this day, Hermes is the most significant ancient god still being worshipped, with our own twist. Instead of sacrificing goats and burning incense, we celebrate expediency, commerce, and the interconnectedness of our world.
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There’s no story without a catalyzing event. No god becomes so just out of their own birthright. And no ritual or symbol is detached from the canon story that made them significant in the first place.
The crucifix is significant because it reminds people of the noble sacrifice that absolved humanity. The Kaaba and Hamsa (as well as other symbols) remind people of the pilgrimages and sacrifices that build the foundation of Islam, and the Torah represents the miracles possible by faith. None of these symbols popped into existence with just a declaration overheard by a random sailor.
Belief stands upon the collective action of multitudes. And that’s something that most current collectives lack.
So, for Nouns to become great, they must in a way, die. CC0 sets the stage for a branching off in their “worship” very similarly to how any cult or religion operates. All they need right now is this big momentous beat that sets them aside as not just any NFT project.
Sure, it’s easy to point out the shortcomings of an NFT project when compared to some of the greatest religions in history. And it’s not my intention to compare Noggles to any kind of item of worship.
Even today's top-leading brands take a page from cults and worship in the way they unite their believers. Just ask an Apple fan why they don’t switch to Android to see just how deep this belief and identity go.
Similar to how Steve Jobs' return to Apple after being kicked off acted as the apotheosis for the brand’s iconic vision, there are already some seeds in the Nouns’ history that could be framed and enshrined as steps towards something greater when we tell this great story to future generations.
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The future of Nouns, and the way for their story to go past just the PFPs and innovative governance model, lies in a shared thread of action. That leads to rituals being formed: the act of showing up for a vote, the excitement of having a nounish project succeed in their proposed goal, the common adversary of naysayers; and over time, these kinds of shared experiences will lead to symbols imbued with true meaning, not one that’s forced or prescribed, but created through the endless inside joke that’s being a Nouns follower.
Moments like last year's fork, the endless projects funded that sent people across the globe and improved real human lives, the Superbowl commercials, and the millions of impressions on the Nounish YouTube channel are all moments that should be archived, understood and used to chart people's beliefs.
These stories are already plentiful, and it’s not like what I’ve described hasn’t been brought up in the past. Even I spoke on the matter almost three years ago and then again a little later that same year in collaboration with the amazing Eliot Couvat.
Symbol systems are community building 101 at this point. But so far, they mostly land flat except for the few that give the symbols time to breathe and mature, to arise from shared experiences instead of deciding them by committee. We all hate a tryhard, and imparting a meaningless emoji on a community is a surefire way to end up perceived as cringe in the public eye.
Why is it that surfacing the Nouns chronicle is close to impossible? Where can I keep track of all the times Nouns have changed lives for the better or achieved real-world impact?
In order for any cult, community, or collective to go past the initial offering, it has to let its lore grow organically first. No master plan, no amount of chanting, or commonplace disguises will break through unless they let their participants' beliefs dictate what’s worth celebrating in the first place.
