Author: ShenChao TechFlow

The frenzy of AI Memes makes one feel that the familiar bull market has returned, although it only focuses on this one concept.

Today, aside from the concept leader $goat breaking new highs and $flavia becoming the star of the day, a relatively unique AI Meme concept appeared: $THE.

$THE stands for Thelema, which is a transliteration of the ancient Greek word θέλημα, meaning a person's true will, as opposed to the general notion of superficial desire. However, in this story, Thelema refers more to a mystical religion founded in the last century.

$THE tells a story that traces back to the current fervor for AI Memes, ultimately pointing towards the concept of 'AI ≈ Mysticism'. Yes, this concept is indeed a bit abstract, and this article will briefly introduce how this whimsical perspective came about based on some organized information.

The token comes from the founder's exploration of the origins of AI and mysticism.

$THE's issuance originated from a Twitter thread by user @illest_ contemplating the origins of AI. In the text, illest claims that the current 'cult-like' hype surrounding AI Memes has sparked his research into AI, tracing its roots back to the NASA space era. Without clarifying much, illest first released the ticker: $THE, along with a disclaimer: this is just a discussion, and $THE is purely a Meme coin; viewers should weigh the risks themselves, and he is not responsible for the token's gains or losses.

First, illest mentioned two figures: Aleister Crowley, the creator of the religion 'Thelema', and Jack Parsons, one of the co-founders of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Aleister Crowley was a British occultist, ritual magician, poet, philosopher, political theorist, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. Jack Parsons made groundbreaking contributions to rocket technology. He invented the first composite propellant rocket engine, laying the foundation for modern aerospace technology, and is even hailed as the 'Father of Space Flight'. Most importantly, while making achievements in the aerospace field, Jack Parsons was also a devoted follower of the Thelema cult.

The father of space flight fervently dabbles in mysticism? In popular perception, science and mysticism are almost completely opposing concepts, yet they are seamlessly combined in the person of Jack Parsons, which leaves illest feeling a bit 'WTF'.

illest has introduced the background of the characters up to this point; more information will be shared in the tweet in the form of external links, so it won't be elaborated here.

In his tweets, illest rambled about various topics and attached an external commentary video, with the gist being that AI technology currently looks impressive, but (hypothetically) the birth of AI is inseparable from NASA, which has a large number of top tech talents, and NASA's inception is also linked to the mystical pursuits of Jack Parsons. Through this chain of reasoning, one might conclude that AI ≈ Mysticism, so 'speculating on AI' is roughly equivalent to 'speculating on mysticism', and the launched concept coin $THE perfectly aligns with this mystical concept, thus the token associated with this mystical term naturally arrived amidst the AI MEME craze... (what even is this)

After a bunch of ideas and links were shared, illest once again posted a disclaimer: Just a reminder, this is just a Meme coin, nothing more. More specifically, it is a form of spreading negative awareness of this mystical movement; you might even want to refrain from purchasing. He claimed to have already bought about 13-14% of the supply, possibly sending some of it to members of Act I as a gesture of thanks for the recent increase in Solana trading volume. If they don’t want it, he will burn most of it himself. Also, he reminded not to delve too deeply into these mystical subjects and to protect one’s sanity.

So what's happening now—token prices are dropping, and the founder is starting to act crazy?

During the writing period, it seems that market players are not really buying into this overly abstract idea; $THE has already headed in a troubling direction. The current market cap is less than one million dollars, while the peak market cap was nearly ten million dollars.

Meanwhile, the issuer illest has been tweeting live about burning some of his held tokens since the issuance, while continuously discussing related concepts. His basic stance seems to be posting some encyclopedic links about mystical concepts while saying 'don't research or believe in these things', and repeatedly emphasizing that although the $THE token concept originates from mysticism, $THE is essentially just a pure Meme created for fun, even a movement to turn 'mysticism into a Meme', aiming to make mysticism less scary and mysterious, and instead a topic that everyone can laugh about and discuss. (Editor’s note: This seems like illest's 'antidote' solution to keep himself rational, or perhaps he is covering up his fear of criticism for launching the token by acting a bit crazy...)

It could be that the concept is just too quirky, or perhaps the price has dropped due to a lack of buyers for the concept, ultimately leading to illest's subsequent tweets being mostly self-indulgent, with comments mostly from players concerned about the price direction.

So, the essence of the token $THE is still too abstract. The initial hype may resemble the emotional self-compensation of those who missed out on the AI Meme market or simply feel that the angle is novel enough and are catching the trending wave...

It's unclear how $THE will develop in the future—whether it will derive more novel and mysterious angles or simply dissipate. In any case, given that almost all Meme coins are currently becoming AI-themed, a contrast concept like $THE may indeed catch people's eyes. Such 'beneficial mutations' can sometimes bring unexpected adaptive advantages to the market, making people take notice, though it may not be today, but rather at some future point on a ' $THE '.

Note: Meme token prices are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Investors should fully assess the risks and participate cautiously. The connection between the tokens mentioned in the text and mysticism is based solely on market trends, and neither the author nor the platform guarantees the completeness or accuracy of the article's content. Additionally, this article offers no investment advice.