“To learn how to fully live Eros makes a major contribution to the world around me, because this is a culture that’s lost its heart; a culture that’s having congestive heart failure.” ~Jungian Analyst Bud Harris, PhD.
During this post-election time in America it is fitting to examine the psychology of societal leaders. The ultimate goal of a just society is to nurture the flourishing of all by creating lawful order and moral virtue. Whenever we interact with one person or ten million people, our motives and behavior originate in our instinct to nurture and be nurtured. Because others are always involved, our nurturing behavior has ethical import.
The commonly agreed upon standards and values of a group comprise the morality of that group. The smaller or more isolated the group, the more closely its members identify with its standards and believe their moral code is sacred, universal, and inviolable. When confronted with avid disagreement, the result is usually conflict, violence, and sometimes, war.
Kings, Queens, presidents, and other societal leaders are projections of the Father and Mother archetypes that inhabit the inner world of every human being. Our inner Father represents the masculine mental Logos (or left-brained logical) approach to identity and authority. Our Mother symbolizes the feminine relationship-oriented Eros (or right-brained heart) approach. Each has a different set of priorities and a preferred style that determines the way we nurture ourselves and others. A vast continuum of possible choices lies between these two poles. Our actions are most healing and effective when we find solutions that serve the best interests of both archetypes in ways that do not overdo or neglect either opposite and are appropriate for each situation.
Our ability to do this depends on our awareness of our inner lives and our ability to consciously consider the ramifications of our choices. Do we automatically adopt the opinions and values of our groups? Do we interact with the world primarily through thinking that is dominated by one side of our brain? Or can we weigh our options with a combination of Logos and Eros?
In recent years, the words “morality” and “liberal” have taken on negative connotations because of self-righteous individuals who have slipped into a masculine moral extreme in which they equate morality with their personal religious and political biases. The reason this extreme is associated with masculinity is because it is based on abstract, one-sided left-brain Logos with its perfectionist ideals while ignoring right-brain feminine Eros: heartfelt caring and compassion not just for oneself, but also for the well-being of others and all life.
Logos extremists project their own fears and obsessions onto a similarly uptight, self-righteous masculine God of strict rules and uncompromising sternness. What they fail to see is that a God who lacks mercy is not an authentic God; it is simply a flawed God-image arising from a fearful, self-serving, self-important ego.
A religion that lacks compassion is not an authentic, moral religion; it is simply a collection of stern, biased, and uncompromising man-made doctrines. Likewise, a leader who cannot accept her or his own flaws or forgive the flaws of others is not an authentically moral person, but simply a stiff and fearful puppet, conforming to a collective group mentality that craves power and material gain above all else. Authentic morality is not exclusive, restrictive, inhibiting, judgmental, or self-serving. Authentic morality, like authentic religion, is always giving, freeing, accepting, merciful, and compassionate.
The Father’s regard for Logos with its hierarchical legal systems that enforce freedom and justice for all, and the Mother’s Eros characterized by caring, understanding, and mercy are all traditional values, but when either form of archetypal energy is over-valued, obsessive, and intolerant, unethical behavior results. Unfortunately, today in the U.S., the messages we receive through almost every form of social media teach us to worship appearances and personal success based on power, wealth and material gain. Failing to look within to analyze our own behavior and integrate both Logos and Eros into our choices and actions corrodes our character and the character of our society. The symptoms of this extreme are seen in power-hungry leaders who lack character and integrity, adults who neglect the healthy growth of their inner lives and the inner lives of their children in pursuit of collective values, and all apathetic, narcissistic individuals who lack empathy and crave admiration.
The heart of our culture is in trouble. Congested with too much emphasis on the acquisition of external symbols of power, status, and success, it can’t pump enough Eros into the body politic to keep it healthy. The power to heal it lies within us and our determination to live the authentic values of our whole, authentic selves: body, mind and heart.
Art Credits: Ryder Waite Tarot: Queen of Cups, King of Swords
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18 Responses
Dear Jeanie, this is deeply moving! For the way you weave Logos and Eros into the fabric of morality and leadership speaks to the heart of what’s missing in today’s culture – balance, compassion and authenticity. Your words are a powerful reminder that healing starts within, and that we all have a role in nurturing the values that truly matter. Thank you so much for sharing such a heartfelt and insightful perspective.
In pure synchronicity, a couple of days ago I decided to share a post i wrote about how I met with the Tarot and how the Queen of Cups, herself, instructed me to write a poem. Hope you’re feeling much more settled since your surgery and you’re discovering moments of pure joy in these sacred hours and days we call life. Sending much love, light and hope across the oceans between us, your poet friend, Deborah.
Hi Deborah,
I’m glad this piece is meaningful to you. As one who learned at a young age to find refuge in Logos, it is an area of particular interest for me.
And the synchronicities keep coming. I love it. I want to read your post about the Queen of Cups and will look for it. This surgery and period of rehab have interrupted my normal reading and work schedule, but I am very happy to say that the energy and inspiration are returning and I am recovering very well. And yes, I am much more aware of the precious gift of life. Savoring, finishing, and commenting on Chronology are at the top of my list. I hope it is doing well for you. Love, Jeanie
Oh, I’m so pleased to hear that your energy and inspiration are returning, Jeanie. This synchronicity thing is wonderful, isn’t it – you mention “Croneology,” and I’ve received my first book review for it today. Truly, you couldn’t make it up! Feeling like an incredibly proud mama celebrating this delightful milestone!
Can you send me the link to the place where the comment on Croneology is posted? I’ll need it soon for mine. 🙂
All my book reviews are kept in one place, Jeanie, on the dedicated ‘Books’ page of my website, The Liberated Sheep: https://theliberatedsheep.com/books/.. Hopefully, this link will work!
Okay. It worked. I went there first earlier this morning and scanned through some of the comments but didn’t catch that the first comment, Sophia’s, was about Croneology. Thank you.
Just popped over there, and yes, I see what you mean Jeanie, some readers don’t add a book title to their review … unlike you, me and Ashen. Lol, I guess we’re just ‘old school’ readers! 🙂
Another synchronicity to share: I just ran across this quote from Marie-Louise von Franz on the internet. It also speaks to the power of the inner, archetypal world and our need to become conscious of it:
“That’s why it is so important to be conscious of the life of the archetypes, because if we are not conscious of the autonomous life of the archetypes in the psyche, then they are seemingly nonexistent and, in fact, even destructive. That is why in a society where the archetypes are no longer honored in any way, believed in or taken care of consciously, you have surrogates, morbid political ideas, isms of all kinds, or drugs. You have all the destructive powers overtaking people, because the gods cannot move without humans. They are paralyzed if we don’t carry them.” Marie-Louise von Franz, “The Cat: A Tale of Feminine Redemption,” p. 100.
What an insightful quote by MLVF! A reminder of the importance of nurturing our inner archetypes to keep their transformative power alive in our lives. I do love that little book of hers! Thanks so much for sharing, Jeanie.
So do I! I read it years ago and have it still. Some books never get outdated.
Thank you so much, Jean. It’s too overwhelming right now.
It is. My only consolation and hope lies in knowing that this, too, shall pass. Jeanie
That is yet another excellent explanation of your thesis regarding the two sides of the brain. It illustrates the blindness of such logical men who attempt to disregard this critical issue. It reminds me of a movie I watched many years ago, American Beauty, particularly the character of Colonel Frank Fitts, played by Chris Cooper. I’m not sure if you’ve seen it. I mean, the Colonel’s persistent need to display his machismo, ultimately culminating in his surrender, is truly fascinating.
Thank you very much for another lesson, my lovely and wise teacher, and for the enriching and insightful quote by Marie Louise. I am thrilled to have you here with us. 🤗💖🙏🌹
Yes! I saw American Beauty and remember being struck by the archetypal depth of its message. It was a classic example of what I’m talking about here, and deeply meaningful to me. Jung would have loved it. Thank you for the reminder. Now I want to see it again. I wonder if it’s streaming somewhere on the internet . . . I always appreciate your comments, Aladin. They are as informative as your posts. Sending healing thoughts and wishes to you. Jeanie
This is the great net of what we are experiencing. When scripture says that we are “gods,” Many of us with inflated egos hear ” we are GOD”. We do not want to look inside ourselves, and the mirror’s reply can only be, “It is I who is the best of them all!” Speaking truth to raw power will currently only get us jailed or worse. We have reached a point where we call evil good and good evil. This will pass, as it has with the times of Caligula, Nero, Stalin, Hitler, and so many others who exercise power without love. It will take several decades to recover from this unacknowledged trauma. We still suffer from the trauma of our civil war that ended in 1865. It is terrific to hear the truth. Thank you for your courage and clarity.
“The mirror’s reply.” Love it. We’d rather look in the mirror than at our own hearts and souls. And yes, as Jung said, where power rules, there is no love. I agree that this will pass, but not in my lifetime. Unfortunately, my grandchildren will suffer for what some of our generation did and the rest failed to do. Thank you for writing. Jeanie
I read your post when it first appeared Jeanie but it is only now that I am at my desk, have re-read, and now commenting. You articulate the condition well. As I write I’m thinking of a physician … who examines the patient, listens to him/her, sees his symptoms, tries to determine underlying causes, makes diagnosis, wonders about a prognosis and writes a script – the medicine to be ‘look within’ taken with large dollop of love. I’m glad to hear you’re recovering well. Pretty strange times –
Love, Susan
I love your physician analogy! The prescription is perfect: “Look within with a large dollop of love!” Unfortunately, most of us have to be suffering unbearably before we’ll actually fill the prescription and take the medicine. Apparently, we fear the cure more than the disease! Thank you, dear Susan. It’s lovely to hear from you. I hope you are well too. Yes, the times are strange, indeed. Love, Jeanie