omen

Cosmic cannibalism is often used in the language of astrophysics to describe the process by which larger celestial bodies, such as galaxies, consume smaller ones, incorporating their material and energy. This concept, however, echoes in the philosophical domain where metaphysical cannibalism refers to the constant process of consumption and assimilation that underlies existence itself. As the philosopher Gilles Deleuze suggests, “there is no boundary between consuming and being consumed; it is the becoming-other of all life”. The act of consumption, when applied universally, ceases to be a simple violent act and instead becomes a necessary and neutral process of change and transformation. Existentialism offers a rich lens for exploring cosmic cannibalism. The notion that existence precedes essence, as posited by Jean-Paul Sartre, aligns with the idea that entities are constantly in flux, devouring and being devoured within the cosmic order. Sartre’s claim that “man is condemned to be free” applies to all existence in this cannibalistic cosmos—freedom is the state of continual self-definition through destruction and assimilation. Cosmic cannibalism, then, can be understood as the universe’s way of reaffirming the freedom and contingency of being. Nothing is fixed; even stars and galaxies are subject to decay, consumption, and rebirth through black holes or collisions. The concept of angst, central to existentialism, resonates with the overwhelming vastness of cosmic cannibalism. For Martin Heidegger, angst is the realization of one’s own finitude, a confrontation with the fact that all beings are "being-towards-death". Cosmic cannibalism, in which galaxies consume one another, offers a chilling image of this ultimate dissolution. As Carl Sagan noted, "The cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be", yet even this all-encompassing entity is not exempt from its own acts of destruction and consumption. Philosophically, cosmic cannibalism also intersects with the tradition of cosmic horror, as articulated by authors like H.P. Lovecraft and philosophers of pessimism such as Arthur Schopenhauer. Cosmic horror reflects the insignificance of humanity in the face of a vast, uncaring, and often malevolent universe. In the language of cosmic cannibalism, the universe does not "care" about the boundaries between self and other, or life and death—it devours and integrates all into itself. Schopenhauer’s metaphysics of the will, in which the world is driven by a blind, irrational force, complements the vision of a cosmos endlessly consuming itself. For Schopenhauer, life is a cycle of suffering, driven by an insatiable will to survive and consume: “The will is endless and ceaseless in its demands, and thus, in its consumption, it devours itself". The universe, in a similar manner, is driven by this will, consuming its own substance in an eternal cycle of destruction and regeneration. Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence also echoes the notion of cosmic cannibalism. The eternal return suggests that all events in the universe repeat themselves infinitely in a cyclic manner. This recurrence applies to acts of consumption, as galaxies and stars will endlessly consume and regenerate. Nietzsche’s idea that one must embrace this eternal return with a yes-saying to life finds expression in cosmic cannibalism as a necessary force of creation and destruction. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche writes, “All things are in a perpetual state of consumption and creation; the universe devours itself to give birth anew.” Nietzsche’s übermensch (overman), who affirms life in the face of nihilism, embraces this process of consumption. To live in accordance with the eternal return is to recognize that destruction and consumption are essential components of existence. Cosmic cannibalism, therefore, challenges the individual to affirm life despite its inherent violence and cyclical destruction. The universe, in its endless devouring, offers no final resolution, only an eternal process. In posthumanist philosophy, cosmic cannibalism represents a rejection of human exceptionalism and a rethinking of identity in a universe where human boundaries no longer apply. Posthumanism, as envisioned by thinkers like Donna Haraway and Rosi Braidotti, suggests that human existence is merely one aspect of a vast, interconnected web of relations, where entities—whether biological, technological, or cosmic—are constantly consuming and being consumed by one another. Haraway’s cyborg metaphor, for instance, dismantles the boundary between the human and the nonhuman, the organic and the inorganic. In a similar vein, cosmic cannibalism refuses to respect boundaries, merging galaxies, stars, and black holes in a chaotic dance of destruction and creation. This perspective aligns with the idea of becoming-other, where entities are always in a state of flux and transformation, ceaselessly consuming and being consumed. The human, in the context of cosmic cannibalism, becomes just another element in this vast, interconnected cosmos, subject to the same forces of consumption as any other entity.