Two Heads of the Green Eyed Monster

I wonder why artists and sages have associated the human emotion of envy to the color green. It is an irony that green also symbolizes life, freshness and growth due to the fact that it is also the color of vegetation on which all the other kinds of life depend for food and sustenance. Without plant life, animal life (and humankind for that matter) will all just come to a halt.

In Christian Liturgy, green is used to signify ordinary time to differentiate it from the other liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. As such, green becomes the color symbol of hope for the faithful who continue living their lives here on Earth.

So why in the world did such an optimistic color become associated with a Deadly Sin? Researching on the Internet, I see a consensus among forums and literary websites that Shakespeare might have popularized the connotation. In his classic play, Othello, he made use of the phrase “green eyed monster,” but literary experts say that Shakespeare intended to describe jealousy rather than envy.

“Oh, jealousy and envy, why'a they're just the same,” you might exclaim. No, they are not. Jealousy is the feeling that something you (already) have is being taken or has been taken away from you. On the other hand, envy is the feeling that you lack something because someone you know has that something you lack. I have dealt with this subject matter in more detail on a separate article.

Allow me to go back to what you have read on the title, dear Reader. It says something about the double head of the green eyed monster. Yes, there are two heads present on this emotional and spiritual monster, and no, they are not Jekyll and Hyde. They are something else.

1. Ghost Parasite

A parasite is an organism living inside you eating up your nutrients and causing damage to your bodily organs. The first head of envy is the ghost parasite: a ghost, because it cannot be seen but it can be felt, and a parasite because it eats up the sustenance of your soul. As commented on a previous paragraph, envy is a feeling that you lack something which is triggered by the impression that someone you know has this something you lack. Envy causes you to feel inferior; it makes you think that your lack of something is a huge part of your life, on which you blindly focus all your energy. It can make you cry and feel depressed, prompting you to question your self-worth.

It is embarrassing to acknowledge that some (if not most) of the causes of your gloominess are coming from the fact that you have been left behind by your friends and colleagues on matters of money, career, and family life. It is the emotional insistence that what others have should also be on your palate. Sometimes, you will not even feel you lack it until you start comparing yourself to other people.

What happens is that your primary motivator in life is envy and the standard of your happiness is based on what others own and have. Setting your goals based on that is likely to make your endeavors either a dead end or a never-ending labyrinth of emptiness and discontent. You have imprisoned yourself in an internal cycle of misery where a ghostly parasite resides because a willing host has permitted it.

2. Scheming Goliath

Between the two heads of envy, the scheming Goliath is the more dangerous. I coined the term as such because this head of envy is like a giant that steps on whatever and whomever that come its way. If the first head described in item #1 hurts only yourself, this second head will cause pain and suffering to those it deems as its enemies. In many cases, the envious Goliath can kick and step even on its friends because of its enormous size blurring its sight and making it see people as tiny insects.

A schemer and a monster, this gigantic head goes by the principle that...

Some people can convert their feeling of envy into a catalyst for inspiration, i.e. allowing the object of envy to inspire them in order to achieve what they desire. However, if you are possessed by this second monster's head, your happiness lies on the loss and fall of the people who are the object of your envy. It annoys you when they triumph but it elates you when they are defeated. In a sense, you try to get out of your own misery by making others feel miserable.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Lucifer and his horde of rebellious angels, how he was punished and thrown out of Heaven because he was too proud and arrogant he wanted to replace God. There is another version of the story with a slight difference on the reason why Lucifer rebelled against God.

The story goes that...

...when God created the first Man out of clay, He instructed His angels to bow down to His new and beloved masterpiece. Lucifer refused because he thought to himself, “Why would I bow down to a creature made of clay when I, an angel of light, am made from fire.” God punished him for his insubordination. As a retaliation, Lucifer began to scheme on how he could make Man fall and earn the ire of God.

What made Lucifer even more envious of Man (and his descendants) was that, every time Man would offend God, the Latter was ever ready to open His arms of acceptance and forgiveness once Man would acknowledge the error of his ways. Thus, the deadly sin of envy configured the devil's ancient objective to bring sorrow and suffering to all of mankind.

If you seek satisfaction on the failure and downfall of your fellowman and you find it pleasurable stepping on people's reputation, then it goes without saying that you find it repugnant seeing them content and at peace with themselves. Making the lives of other people difficult and heavy has become your mission.

It is said...

"The eyes are the windows to your soul."

Look into the mirror and stare at your eyes. It does not matter what color you see, because the 2 heads of envy can break in and enter if you let them, whether your eyes are black, brown, blue, or green.