Author's Note: I am reading Jung's book "Four Archetypes," currently I am on the "PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE MOTHER ARCHETYPE." I am using this information to connect the patterns of my personal life so I can be a better friend, father and lover. I am sharing my self-healing in the hope that my unconventional methods help an isolated individual overcome their self-imposed limitations...
The most vivid image of my childhood reminds me of the secret sadness I kept within my heart while I was trying to survive in Mexico. The only image left of my childhood shows the scars of the past. In my attempt to liberate myself I strive to contextualize my personal pain as it relates to the big picture.
As a child, I was targeted by pedophiles who operated an arcade in the seedy open-air market in San Luis Potosi. The bestial, violent and utterly disgusting pornography these cretins showcased in the presence of children was their underhanded tactic to beguile the innocent.
In this perverse context, I find the strength & the fire of mind to persevere and preserve the sanctity of child-like wonder, innocence and curiosity within my essence. In this maelstrom of emotion I found redemption & yogic balance.
A little death and a little life...and the dreams we keep.
In a previous article, Empty Slogans, Self-Esteem and Self-Development I wrote the following:
"To embrace life is to learn the principle of complimenting elements, the Yoga of Life...." Carl Jung eloquently described this principle of opposites:
There is no consciousness without discrimination of opposites. This is the paternal principle, the Logos, which eternally struggles to extricate itself from the primal warmth and primal darkness of the maternal womb; in a word, from unconsciousness. Divine curiosity yearns to be born and does not shrink
from conflict, suffering, or sin. Unconsciousness is the primal sin, evil itself, for the Logos. -- "Four Archetypes" pg. 30 sec. 178
The normalcy bias we carry on our shoulders are like the blinders a horse wears. These blinders keep us focused on a one-track path in which we ignore everything outside of our limited focus. In our infancy we dared to dream without prejudice, bias or limitations, however as we conform into our adult Self these dreams are masked with layers of emotional complexes, public personas and self-deception. Underneath these dreams is a timeless natural current of psychic force or "structure" which manifest itself through our dispositions, passions and fears.
When we come into being in this material world from the safe darkness of the womb our senses are assaulted by the shining light at the end of the tunnel. This sudden, traumatic and universal event is our initiation into the land of the living. As we transcend our infancy, we are confronted with another deeply traumatic challenge...becoming an individuated authentic person.
The authentic individual is beset against a compounding tide of self-ignorance, empty slogans and the womb-like comfort of the crowd. When we turn away from our passions we regress to an unconscious complex which destroys the dreams of others so as not to be reminded of our little death. In this confusing maze we abandon inborn passions to preserve a facade of normality; eventually this self-defense mechanism becomes our armored prison. If we choose to embrace our true passions by their very essence we are going against the crowd, the status-quo and the State. If we consistently adjust ourselves to a maladjusted, neurotic and materialistic society our deaf-tone convictions are materially rewarded and socially promoted.
WE MAKE OUR OWN EPOCH
The unbalanced dynamic of opposites within our being creates anxiety, restlessness and hopeless suffering. This conflicting state of being is the psychic-substrate in which the thorny vines of tyranny emanate from:
The great events of world history are, at bottom, profoundly unimportant. In the last analysis the essential thing is the life of the individual. This alone makes history, here alone do the great transformations first take place, and the whole future, the whole history of the world, ultimately spring as a gigantic summation from these hidden sources in individuals. In our most private and most subjective lives we are not only the passive witnesses of our age, and its sufferers, but also its makers. We make our own epoch.
Carl Jung
The matrix of control in which we are born into seduces our frazzled & fear-ridden mind with half-truths, counter-productive solutions and rewards us with isolation. Pornography, drugs and material vanity are sold to us as empowering solutions, but they eventually become comfortable habits that distract us from our internal turmoil. These habit-forming pleasures further divide us from our true Self by impressing upon us the pleasure-principle Uber Alles. This pleasure principle is inextricably tied to the constant suffering we choose to ignore. When we are mired in comfortable distractions we succumb to self-destruction to assuage the torrent of unconscious self-hate.
Embracing the Gifts of the Sacred Feminine
Ultimately, the technocrats' method of control relies on subverting the psyche's balance of the masculine & the feminine with the purposeful use of conflict; "order out of chaos." Republican against democrat, white against black and most of all man against woman. The chaos created by the powers-that-shouldn't-be gradually divorce us from the universal human heritage...the ancestral knowledge of Self.
The unconscious mind-space is a gold mine that is guarded by a dragon that metaphorically represents our survival-complex. This shape-shifting dragon takes the form of our innermost fears which we choose to escape at our own peril. The images presented in this dark aspect of the psyche is where we find redemption AND the solutions to our personal challenges.
The primordial image, or psychic structure, we unconsciously use to engage with the world is primarily the Mother-Complex:
Whether this psychic structure and its elements, the archetypes, ever "originated" at all is a metaphysical question and therefore unanswerable. The structure is something given, the precondition that is found to be present in every case. And this is the mother, the matrix —the form into which all experience is poured
--IBID
The sacred feminine or Mother Goddess is the highest ideal of human heritage because it encompasses the virtue in humanity as well as its inextricable dark-side. The ambiguity, passivity and compassion present in femininity endows us with challenges and embraces us with healing compassion.
The adventure of parenting...
a feminine little lady like Yaretzi has challenged my Self in subtle and meaningful ways. The Soul-Energy that flows through her is undeniably of her own creation. Her spontaneity has dispel a darker aspect of my psyche...the need to control. The healing effect of her free-spirit is a powerful force of nature that is beyond this limited material condition. Her presence of mind with peace in her heart are powerful tides of compassionate change that emanate from the source of consciousness.
Balancing the Masculine & Feminine Archetypes
Picking yellow flowers from the field with Yaretzi imbued me with creative energy, and inspired me with a wise lesson. The pain that I experienced initiated me into a journey of self-descend. My Descend Into The Dark Night of the Soul challenged my assumed beliefs with a self-projected shadow that terrified my divided psyche. I broke out from the cycles of the past by being honest with myself instead of shaming myself for being "negative." I took my anxiety, depression and self-hate as indicators of a deeper underlying truth that I am ignoring.
Our task is not, therefore, to deny the archetype, but to
dissolve the projections, in order to restore their contents to the
individual who has involuntarily lost them by projecting them
outside himself.
The life-long journey....
to discover who I am before the pain & suffering took over my mind's eye is not a straight path. I broke out from my comfortable numbness by straying from conventional paths. The balancing act I practice today comes from years of work, self-reflection and intuition. As a child, I was mostly alone with hunger and my imagination...when I made it to America, mecca of materialism, I distracted my pain with pleasure. While the years pass the only thing that truly remain by my side was my personal pain and my imagination. When you reach this point...remember you are on your way to self-redemption. Do not be afraid. Prepare yourself to accept the real YOU!
