The Pathology of Envy

The envious man believes that if he breaks his neighbor's leg, he will be able to walk better himself

The distinction between envy and jealousy resides along the same lines as that of Loosh and Faith. It all depends upon how one quietly resents another in relation to self, the subtle actions one undertakes, and the outcomes of those actions.

In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Edgar Allan Poe opens his short story with critical insight into the mindset of Montresor, the antagonist.

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled — but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.

Herein, one may interpret that Edgar Allan Poe subtly mocks Montresor through the narrative style he employs inside the story. Montresor’s obsession with revenge over unspecified “injuries” (see Glossary: quo facto malo) along with a single insult, suggests an irrational and excessive response, hinting at a state of mind involving the pathology of envy. Poe’s portrayal of Montresor as meticulous and calculating, while driven by a possibly delusional sense of honor, serves to highlight the absurdity and extremity of his actions in following through with that pathology.

In the end, Montresor leads Fortunato into the catacombs beneath his palazzo under the pretense of verifying the authenticity of a rare wine, Amontillado. Once they reach a remote part of the catacombs, Montresor chains Fortunato to a wall in a small niche and proceeds to build a masonry enclosure around him—thereby ironically entombing Fortunato alive, accompanied by the very rare fineness and vintage Fortunato embodied. If the shoe fits, then wear it, even unto your demise, dear Fortunato. His very name can be viewed as a metaphor for the unjust enrichment (sin) of Fortunato. The name “Fortunato” is derived from the Italian word for ‘fortunate’ or ‘lucky.’ Such constitutes Fortunato’s ‘original sin,’ as his very existence now constituted a violent act, as viewed by Montresor.

One of my neighbors operates a small horse farm with eight horses. Each night, he enters the barn with a handful of carrots to bed them down. The horses eagerly anticipate this event and become distressed if he does not perform the ceremony while on short trips out of town. Each night, he approaches the horses one by one, following the social ranking they have established among themselves. The lead male gets his carrot and affection first, followed by the lead female, and then in descending order down to the lowest-ranked horse. If the rancher deviates from this order, the horses will be upset with both the horse that received the undue elevation in status and the rancher himself. The horse receiving the unmerited favor will be the recipient of neighs and kicks throughout the next day.

Every action on the part of the ‘unjustly enriched’ horse will serve as an offense to the other horses throughout the day until the ranking is again honored and confirmed the following evening. Where it chooses to stand, when it chooses to eat, and every sounds it makes are all perceived as 'incorrect' by the offended horses.

Such resentment manifests in workplaces as well. Both as a young consultant and throughout my career, I became the target of extensive and envious harm from a small group of associates, many of whom I had regarded as friends, who were offended by promotion or achievement on my part. Unfortunately, this story is a very personal one for me.

The envious man thinks that if his neighbor breaks a leg, he will be able to walk better himself.

~ Helmut Schoeck, sociologist and author of “Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior”

Although apropos, I would redefine the above quotation as pertaining in particular to epicaricacy.¹ The envious man, in contrast, is the one who breaks his neighbor’s leg to begin with. Envy after all, is the essential plot element of the biblical conflict between Cain and Abel. In the earlier Sumerian version of this myth, the fruits of Enten (Abel), the herdsman, had found favor with Enlil in Edin (‘the Plain’) over the fruits of Emesh (Cain), the farmer. Emesh was consequently forced to bow to his brother Enten and present him gold, silver and lapis lazuli.² After Abel’s murder at the hands of Cain over this injustice, Cain’s response to Enlil’s inquiry as to the whereabouts of Abel, “Have I now become my brother’s herdsman?” indicated both the biting sarcasm of resentment as well as a slap against the skills which had won Abel (Enten) favor in the eyes of this Ruler in the first place.

As an observer of such foibles in man, I coined a term to describe this expression in pathology:

quo facto malo

Latin for ‘having done this evil’. When a person desires to do evil to another, they will manufacture or fantasize in their mind, offenses their target has committed, which serve to therefore justify their actions; harm which they had conducted or intended to conduct from very beginning, but were simply waiting for the right excuse to blame it upon.

Of course, Poe did not pen “The Cask of Amontillado” to present his readers with a warning about the 1% of the population that could exhibit such extreme pathology (many of whom ply their craft in journalism and on social media platforms like X). Instead, he sought to stimulate, through epicariacy, a realization within all his readers that this pathological instinct lies dormant within us all—the instinct to harm those we perceive as violating our sense of entitlement to rewards and the deserving of those rewards.

Unjust Enrichment

One should note that many Gnostics believe the false God of Eden, Samael, along with his demons, harbors this same kind of antipathy towards an unjustly blessed mankind. To many Gnostics, ‘The Book of Revelation’ in the Bible is simply a prognostication (pseudo-prophecy) of the fantasy in hate this god desires to enact upon mankind, of whom he is awesomely envious. This is why Christ cited in John 8:44, “…you want to carry out the desires of your father.” Such being the expression of the Divine-Self, as outlined in our previous article: a god suffering and trapped in the very universe crafted from his self-perceived status and state of Loosh-intoxication. Doling out the just punishment to those horses which have violated his awesome insistence of rank.

To many Gnostics, Adam and Eve in the Genesis recount are reviled by God not because they disobeyed him, an act which can be forgiven (there being no such thing as a 'sinless' world), but rather because they became the victims of entrapment and the recipient of what is called in legal terms ‘unjust enrichment in perpetuity.’ The Gnostic therefore can view God’s actions in Genesis as being derived from the pettiness of loosh and envy, not the holiness of obedience versus jealousy. What is called by psychology, the High Dark Tetrad of character traits: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Sadism (see recitation and footnote below).

Such tales and recounts, however, serve to highlight the distinction between the natural emotion of jealousy and the pathology of one who acts under envy. This distinction also aligns with the difference between Faith and Loosh. Jealousy is the pain of spiritually maturing under faithfulness, while envy is the foible to which one succumbs under the dark path of Loosh. One may observe the distinction in more detail, inside this article: What is Loosh?

One cannot serve two masters; they must choose one pathway or the other, as there is no third option. As thousands of people have learned during near-death experiences, no matter the specific choices and pathways one may elect in life, one cannot run from oneself. Regardless of the plot, every life path will converge, eventually forcing the individual to make the choice outlined below (along with many others). Choose well.

This is the secret of life.

The Distinction Between Jealousy and Envy

Jealousy and Faith – Jealousy is the pain of spiritually maturing under Faith. It involves recognizing and overcoming perceived gaps in unmerited favor through self-development, leading to personal growth and emotional resilience.¹

Envy and Loosh – Envy is the foible to which one succumbs under the addictive dark path of Loosh. It involves rationalizing harm towards others based on perceived injustices, driven by a deep-seated pathological resentment over a perceived unmerited favor.²

Findings suggest that individuals from the High Dark Tetrad (Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Sadism) profile might be characterized by a cold relational approach with proneness to act aggressively, and to take pleasure in hurting others. The present study also provides further support for the Vulnerable Dark Triad—characterized by negative emotionality, hostility, and feelings of envy.

~ Maheux-Caron, et al., Dark tetrad and vulnerable dark triad traits (2024 – Science Direct)⁵

The abuser of Loosh, as distinct from the sufferer of the emotion of jealousy, views every matter as an opportunity to punish those whom would dare defy their virtuous insistence or social ranking and merit. They justify their darkcraft through the quo facto malo ‘sins’ of their victims. The bottom path is an addiction.

Before there was money, envy was the root of all evil; even moreso after.

Do not be deceived however, one’s addictions will follow them into the beyond.

The Ethical Skeptic, “The Pathology of Envy”; The Ethical Skeptic, WordPress, 22 Jul 2024; Web, https://theethicalskeptic.com/2024/07/17/the-distinction-between-jealousy-and-envy/