A few years back I wrote a post about eight sacred laws of the psyche and how our lack of understanding of them is responsible for the mess our world is in today. In this post and a few to follow, I’d like to explore these laws more deeply in the hope of raising awareness about the interconnectedness of all things in One Mind and One God. The ability to think psychologically and live spiritually is a skill we desperately need to learn if we hope to heal ourselves and the world.
The inner universe of the mind is, like the physical universe, 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 everyone from scientists to artists to gurus tries to understand these autonomous patterns of energy (archetypes) in our minds (the psyche) and in the mystery of the One Mind beyond ordinary consciousness (the psychoid) because we feel their profound influence.
The two hemispheres of your brain know two languages: logic and imagination. They interact every moment of every day to help you understand and respond to all you see and experience. Separately, each language has limits, together, they aid your journey to intelligence, wisdom, competence, centeredness, and consciousness. Wise people from every age have deliberately used both to make inroads into the mysteries of life. Albert Einstein was one such person. He said,
“Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
11 Responses
Thank you so much Jeanie for this wonderful post! For this “holy fool” has been trying to work with her imagination as far back as she can remember and would be prepared to swear an oath on the truthfulness of your own great adage to, “Think Psychologically; Live Spiritually”.
At the start of January I had a remarkable dream of floating with the Great Mother up to Heaven, although when we got there it wasn’t Heaven, it turned out to be another world, a world outside of Heaven, yet it was one that held both Heaven and Earth. Hmm, I shall look forward to unpacking this one!
In other times, I’ve slipped into “another” place so know the reality of other realms existing … but how I get there is beyond me. I only know this, there must be a portal of kinds to these other places and so far my dreams and active imaginations have been the main key in the door for me.
Oh, I’ve always loved the idea that the outer world is but a reflection of our inner world. The image you’ve used is wonderful and reminds me of the inner cities we all inhabit. What we see and know is only the very tip of a colossal iceberg. I look forward to your forthcoming posts on this rich topic! Warm winter blessings, Deborah.
You’re welcome, Deborah. I know you understand what I’m saying here. I’ve never met a poet/ess yet who didn’t spend as much time or more in their ‘imaginarium’ as they do in their ‘literalium.’
(I made that up, but it ought to be a word. Maybe it is. I’ll check. Yes, it’s Latin and doesn’t really have an English translation but I think it refers to literalism.)
Oh my. Your dream seems like a very Big and important one.
I agree with you about the reality of other realms. It feels to me that I slip in and out of them all the time, usually without realizing it. For example, the timelessness I experience when I’m writing is very different from the time I spend practicing the guitar, and that’s very different from the liminal times just before falling sleep or waking up, or getting myself ready to go out for the day. Sometimes we say “my mind was wandering,” but what does that mean? In what realm is it wandering if not this one? Whatever “this” is? Maybe we simply mean we were going from literal thinking to imaginative thinking. Or from our focus on the physical world to a more cerebral one. But I suspect there are more places our minds can go.
And I love your thought about the inner cities we all inhabit. Perhaps that’s what I mean when I say my mind was wandering. And who’s to know; maybe there are also outer cities?
It’s been fun wandering through these ideas with you…. wish we could more clearly see what’s under the tip of the iceberg. Jeanie
“I’ve never met a poet/ess yet who didn’t spend as much time or more in their ‘imaginarium’ as they do in their ‘literalium’. ” So true, laughing and nodding here! Thank you so much Jeanie for your truly wonderful reply! As always, you ask all the important questions.
Earlier I shared this wonderful post on Twitter and talking of the land with the little blue bird I’ve pinned a YouTube video of one of my poems being narrated on my profile @liberatedsheep which you might enjoy. Love & light, another holy fool! x
Oh, delightful! I’ll check it out asap!
Thanks Jeanie – yes to consciously connecting the outer with the inner and getting away from the anthropomorphising that we do. Yes to dreams showing us other worlds, other rooms – reminds me that ‘my house has many wonders’ and many unexplored rooms. The art of deciphering, decoding leads into unknown realms –
I’ll be looking forward to your future posts on thinking psychologically, living spiritually … thank you again 🙂
Thanks, Susan.
Your comment has reminded me that when I began my Jungian studies i had many dreams of exploring different rooms in houses we were building and planning to move into, or going into the attic of houses I was in and finding huge rooms that I never knew were there before. I learned to see all these house and hidden-or-new-room dreams as showing me aspects of my psyche that were growing and changing as a result of my studies.
The ways my dream ego reacted to these spaces showed me what my waking ego was thinking or feeling about the old beliefs I was leaving behind and the new ones replacing them. Some houses were totally unsuitable and I realized I didn’t want to go there again. Like the kitchen that had rows of uniform student desks nailed to the floor in the center of the room. No more centering my life around conformity and collective thinking for me. Others were so lovely that they inspired changes in the interior spaces of my actual physical home. As within so without.
For example, in the early 90’s we redesigned our dining room to remind me of a very special numinous dream I had about being in a forest setting containing the ruins of an old temple to Artemis and Apollo. The Soul’s Twins. That, along with a few other dreams, planted the seeds for my new book of the same title. As within, so without.
I love re-designing the spaces I physically live in to be more in accord with beloved mental spaces I inhabit. I think we all do that to a certain extent when we collect things we love and put them on our walls and shelves and desks so we can be with them all the time. I think of the phrase, “Living your myth.” I guess this is what I automatically and intuitively began to do once my mental explorations became deeper and more meaningful. I’m sure you’ve had the same experience.
Isn’t this just the most exciting adventure ever? Jeanie
Organised religion in the West is now less accepted since Marx’s opium line, though he was not the first to point out the numbing effect. These days entertainment can have this function.
Imagination has had a battering, in some scientific circles, most likely because it cannot be controlled.
To think psychological and live spiritually needs a fine balance of logic and imagination, and, like you suggest, an understanding of archetypes, and symbols. It would heal our split systems if these subjects were brought to all educational studies. Sigh.
Will be looking forward to more posts.
A little typo re: anthropomorphic.
Hi courseofmirrors,
Yes, entertainment, addictions of all kinds, and the internet are all ways of avoiding painful thoughts, feelings, and realities. Yet it’s only by making room for these things that bother us and tolerating the tension of living with them that we can grow enough to move beyond them into more meaningful spiritual spaces.
The battering imagination has had in mainstream scientific and educational circles mystifies and appalls me. How can our society’s leaders actually believe that discounting a full half of our brain’s potential can benefit us in any way? It’s just tragic.
Thanks for the heads’ up about the typo. Yikes. I’d like to blame spellcheck for not catching it but I know it’s my own haste to write, edit, and publish quickly so I can get on with other things. 🙂
Totally agree with your view here. Tolerating the tensions is not for everybody, but having its necessity of this tolerance introduced in any educational curriculum would be a major step for mankind, more important than the moon landing.
To quote my root meditation teacher, “Broaden the View.”
Thank you, Jeanie. This is an excellent reminder of the work we need to do. My focus is on connecting inner experiences with the outer world that’s given–sick as that outer world feels at the moment. I use many techniques from painting to astrology to exploring dreams with a therapist. When meaning breaks through, it takes me to a new place of trust in the Wisdom running the show. (I’ve had astrological aspects and body experiences the last few years that make me feel I must start over again, so I’m back to basics of walking in the winter woods (walking meditation more than sitting meditation), raising a puppy for joy, and re-reading Marie Louise von Franz on fairy tales. I’ll see what happens next and will stay tuned to what you share.)
Thank you, Elaine, for providing me with a perfect example of one who thinks psychologically and lives spiritually. Your ongoing reflections about your inner and outer lives, your regular practices, your studies, and your openness to guidance from signs coming from your body, the outer world, and your intuitions are exactly what I mean about the ego developing the broader vision and consciousness associated with the Self. This is a prescription anyone can create for themselves that is bound to produce healing growth. 🙂