My friends: last week’s post about the new book, Into the Heart of the Feminine, by Jungian analysts Drs. Bud and Massimilla Harris, addressed a lesson that must be learned if we want to heal ourselves and the world. This is the importance of recapturing our ability to think psychologically and symbolically. This I know: learning the two languages of One Mind is the only lasting remedy for the devastation that our cultural mentality of one-sided rational, verbal and literal thinking has wrought.
With the synchronistic help of Elaine Mansfield, a dear friend and sister writer, I was reminded of this post I published in the wake of the Newtown tragedy over three years ago. If any act epitomizes the evil impact of the one-sided patriarchal culture that has activated the Death Mother archetype in our culture, that did! With this repost I extend my condolences to include the families and friends of those who lost their lives in last week’s devastating earthquake in Nepal.
The inner universe of the mind is, like the physical world, a living organism that functions according to natural laws. Deciphering them has been the work of holy fools, for who can presume to understand the sacred inner workings of creation? Yet we do try to understand these autonomous patterns of energy (archetypes) in our individual minds (the psyche) and in the mystery of the One Mind beyond ordinary consciousness (the psychoid) because we feel their profound influence.
Our brains know two languages: logic and imagination. Separately, each has limits, but an individual who respects both can make brilliant inroads into the Mysteries. Einstein was one such person. He said,
“Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell were others. Jung explored his inner life and that of his clients with the help of myths and symbols from various wisdom traditions. Campbell developed some of Jung’s themes in his own extensive research. Together, their imaginative work shed much-needed light into the darkness of our current collective unconscious. Following are some natural laws they midwifed into our awareness.
1. The Law of Correspondence: The outer universe is a reflection of the inner universe. This intuition gave rise to the ancient adages, “As above, so below,” and “As without, so within.” Humanity has expressed this relationship in diverse symbol systems such as mythology, religion, tarot, alchemy, astrology and magic.
2. The Law of Synchronicity: Meaningful coincidences between our inner and outer universes occur more frequently with self-reflective practices like dreamwork and active imagination. Synchronicities are not products of “cause and effect,” but of an imaginative, heartfelt search for personal meaning which eventually produces what Jungian Monika Wikman calls, “a psychology of synchronicity instead of linearity.”
3. The Law of Opposites: For everything we know about ourselves (beliefs, values, attitudes, emotions), there is a corresponding unconscious opposite. In our psychological immaturity we see things dualistically, (in terms of either-or, good-bad), and automatically repress or disown that which our egos consider the less desirable options.
- One Mind
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Reblogged this on lampmagician.
Many thanks, lamp magician.
Jeanie: What a wonderful summation of what we’re about! Somehow I missed it when last it was published, so I am in the process of republishing it now. Great work! Really!
Thank you, Skip. This is especially meaningful coming from you.
Actually, I did discover that I republished this piece the first time too; but it needs to be repeated again and again.
Thank you. Elaine’s thinking it might be the bones of a book and I’ve been thinking the same thing.
I’m with Elaine on that one! BTW, I saw Elaine’s TedX talk today, thanks to this exchange, and have referred it to Deb, who is completing her 1 year course on “Care of the Dying,” and is a weekly volunteer as a “Vigil Volunteer” at Hospice of the Chesapeake, in addition to being on the philanthropy staff there.
Thank you, Skip. I’ll risk being bold on Jean’s blog to tell your wife and you that my book ‘Leaning into Love: A Spiritual Journey through Grief’ just won the Gold Medal IPPY Award (Independent Publisher Book Awards) in the category of Aging/Death & Dying. It’s a large national competition. I hope more people, especially hospice-affiliated people, will find the book and the talk now. Mythology and active imagination play a big role in the book and my grieving process.
We will see to it, and see how we can help otherwise!
I love that you two have met here. Our little internet cafe is facilitating some very meaningful connections. The pleasure of your company is a special treat for me..
Thank you, Skip and Jeanie. It’s a day to honor the Mother Archetype in all Her forms.
Yes it is. Happy Mother’s Day, Elaine and all.
Yes, belated Happy Mother’s Day! Elaine, it seems we should find a way to be in touch, to talk about your writing …
Skip, we’re in touch on Twitter. My website is my name and my email is elaine at elainemansfield.com
Elaine: I’ve promoted your TED Talk here: http://www.archetypeinaction.com/index.php/en/tools-to-change-society/82-ted-talks/3390-good-grief-what-i-learned-from-loss#.VVFJG2C24dg
Thank you. Glad to be in touch, and thanks for providing this connection, Jeanie. I look forward to hearing about the Ninth Law . Or maybe there will be more than nine in the end.
This is a great resource!
Thank you, Emerald. I’m glad you find it useful.
An excellent piece to repost. Your definition of synchronicity is to the point and understandable for someone not steeped in Jung, and that’s what led me to revisit this article. Reading again, it feels like the bones of a book–if you ask me which you didn’t. So what will you serve with this rich meal for Psyche? How will you dress it? Thank you for all you offer.
Hmmm. You tell me you’re not very intuitive, at least in regard to your dreams, and are far more sensory-oriented, however I’d say you may be a lot more intuitive than you realize! After I published this piece last week I started a file on it as the bones of a new book I might want to write, and immediately knew I had a ninth “Law” to address. I also knew what it was and have noted it in my file.
Another synchronicity, this one especially affirming. You and I are certainly connected on a very deep level, my friend. It may well be that after so many years of working on Healing the Sacred Divide, and a few additional years of resting and regathering motivation and strength, something in me is ready to begin a new project. We’ll see…. Thank you.
Beautiful! “Yes!” to the power of imagination. The past month or so, I’ve been re-reading fairy tales through the eyes of author and professor Maria Tatar. I can now see the archetypes within these “wonder tales” (as many folklorists refer to them) and their multitude of variants; the tales became constricted once they were written down, but are being freed again by writers and media. Without the ability to continue shifting, the tales cease to help us change.
An excellent point, Darla. Stories, like people, can be “frozen” too! Luckily, feeling and imagination can melt both.