Here's a dream I had last night: "I'm
watching the story of the 'hero'' in my dreams as he passes
through the stages of the Monomyth. But the mythic journey
has an addendum attached to it that is an add-on. It is an
explanation of the reasons in one's life that caused the
hero to turn away from his life and reject society and its
controls. This add-on has a portable quality to it, as if I
could change it and nothing would happen. The hero's journey
stands alone.It is as though the hero's journey doesn't
really require a cause for the transformative
journey to happen."
.
The dream is telling me that what I
took to be the the cause of change (psychological unwellness
and suffering) and the effect of that suffering (the going on
a heroic journey of transformation) are only a
pattern of causation manufactured by my linear reasoning mind.
They are not at all connected in the way I have been assuming.
The archetype is the unconscious
behavioral patterning of a society to change and
evolve through social conflict...not necessarily the
transformation or evolution of the individual. The
apparent cause and effect of social unwellness are not really
cause and effect because each is an integral aspects
of the archetypal journey of society through cycles of change
and evolution. .
Joseph Campbell's creative identification of the monomyth
as an archetypal process of human transformation was defined
to "exclude" the sick society and to be
"triggered" by psychological unwellness of
"the hero" who was ready for a personal
transformation of individuation. But this is an inadequate
and incomplete view of what is happening.
Psychological sickening is itself a part of that
archetypal process and, in fact, represents a critical
evolutionary pressure maintaining the archetypal
process of transformation and evolution for the human species.
.
An individual of such an unwell society,
becoming aware of the archetype as a social event, may still
"step out" of the archetype's possession and
consciously choose wellness over neurosis. But it would
require a separation from society's unconscious reactions to
life and the development of inner-directedness to achieve
this however.
.
Many rationales have been advanced
in the literature for the chaos or insanity of human
cultures as they spin into war or social conflicts. To honor
my dream, any might be taken and used to illustrate this
rationality...social disorder results from bad people doing
bad things (for one). I can even generate my own
"cause" as a theory of psychological neurosis. Here
is one "psychological explanation" I invented that
might be attached to the traditionally defined mythic journey.
It provides a rationale or "cause" for one turning
inward and having to experience the trauma of self discovery.
It is presented as not a part of the archetype, but rather as
a trigger for individuals stepping into the archetypal process
of "the Hero's Journey." The analysis becomes a
psychological explanation of how the sickness of
society drives promising individuals into rebelling
against society and turning within to rediscover their own
individuality. These individuals find themselves
abandoning their individual needs because of the
repression caused by dysfunctional parenting and
socialization. Eventually, these individuals experience a
crisis of soul or spirit and go looking for what is missing in
their lives. This is the traditional approach taken by Campbell.
.
Fear is the sensation that causes
egoic mind to split from its need to be itself. Self awareness
of existence produces "Fear", which creates the
instinct for self preservation in the infant. The infantile
instinct for self preservation take a feminine and a masculine
aspect: the need for love and nurturance (the mother need) and
the need to be protected (the father need). The mother need
creates an instinct to "merge" with the mother based
upon a fear of rejection that would threaten the infant's
survival. The father need creates an awareness of one's need
for a separate other to "protect" ones self. Thus,
there are two needs associated with survival: a need to be a
part of another, and a need to be separate from another. This
creates a paradox in human nature; we desire both to be one
with others and to be separate from others. When we are able
to resolve this paradox in our nature, we emerge as a well
personality into adult life. .
When we are unable to resolve this paradox in our nature,
we emerge neurotic into adult life.
.
Where the mothering need is
healthily met by the infant--that is, where the mother's love
is unconditional and not predicated upon the child's behavior
or the needs of the parents--the child feels a healthy sense
of worth and value irrespective of the approval or acceptance
by others of its behavior or opinions. Where the fathering
need is healthily met by the infant--that is, when the child
feels safe in the presence of the parents or other persons to
express its needs and in seeking to get its needs met--the
child feels an assurance that it can act in the world without
haviing its survival threatened.
.
If a child does not have these needs
met, then its unmet needs for validation and security get
unconsciously projected upon the world "outside". He
forms an expectation of indifference to its needs (a world
without love) or its survival (a world of danger). Fear then
motivates the individual to adapt to these expectations by
becoming a enabler. .
The psyche is split in twain: ego and subconscious. That
which generates fear is repressed into subconscious. Ego is
created as "the one who is blind" to its denied
needs for love or security. The conscious mind becomes the
aspect that "sees" (the watcher) the world as it
is imagined (that which is seen), referred to in psychology
as the "subconscious mind." In fact, it is an
imagined world that the conscious mind sees, because no
outside world is directly perceptible by the
mind. There is no "outside world" that is
directly observable by the conscious mind. There are only
the electro-magnetic impulses from the sensory organs:
eyes, ears, nerves, taste buds, and olfacfactory sensors.
Mind constructs its world from these impressions, its
neurotic projections and its imagination. Mind imagines
a world that corresponds with its expectations and needs,
both fulfilled and denied.
.
A "person" thus reacts
to his imagined outer world in the way he expects that
imagined world is viewing and treating him. If he has
learned that he has no value and is unworthy of love, he
interprets the self-attending behavior of others to imply
that they don't care about him -- a reaction that
reflects his own feeling of unworthiness and lack of
value. If others do not look after him or nurture him, the
world appears cold and loveless.
His instinct is to merge with/get close
to others so as to feel loved. His need to merge is
experienced by others who do not have his unmet needs for
love and nurturance as "intrusiveness" or
"neediness." His neediness drives others away from
him, creating exactly the experience of loneliness and
rejection he blames others for. This intensifies his
feelings of shame and guilt stemming from his rejection by
and valuelessness to others. He may operate in the world in
a careless and indulgent fashion, meeting his needs by
calling upon others for favors. Self pity may be his
constant companion. He may seem soft-hearted and sensitive
to the suffering of others because he sees the world as full
of victims of an indifferent and uncaring world.
.
If this "person" has
learned to anticipate that the world will be indifferent to
his survival as a person, he interprets the merging instinct
in others to imply that they are trying to get the
resources he feels he needs to survive. Neediness in others
provokes a reaction of fear and overwhelm in such persons. Not
feeling safe in the presence of his parents or others, not
feeling safe in expressing his needs or even asking that his
needs be met, he separates from others and hardens his
heart against caring or loving others. Any need by other
persons to be taken care of, to be nurtured or loved, is
interpreted as a threat to his survival. He feels no desire to
look after others too weak to get their own needs met in this
hostile world. His need to separate is interpreted by
others with unmet nurturing needs as "indifference",
"uncaringness", or "selfishness". But he
is motivated by fear and his projection of his fear upon an
imagined world of need-denial and hostility. His
hostility to and wariness of others drives others away from
him, creating exactly the experience of hostility
and blame he blames others for. He operates in the world
in a cautious, self-interested fashion, meeting his needs
aggressively and ignoring others' welfare and needs. He seeks
power for himself to feel safe and may sneer at those he sees
as weaker than himself.
.
.
Healing: Withdrawing our Projections
.
The ego is required for the
experience of self awareness, for consciousness is only
possible when there is a subject who can be aware of an
object. There must be a separation between this "I' who
is aware of an object and the object of which it is aware. In
the above example, there must be a Watcher and a
Something-to-be-Watched. .
.
When the psyche is split into a
conscious mind (ego) and a subconscious mind (the world as we
imagine it to be), we have an opportunity to observe our
imagined world. If we merge with our projection, then we don't
watch the image within as a separate object--we experience
it-- and we going to be unconscious of our projections. We
blame the outer for what happens to us because we see
ourselves in a cause and effect relationship with our imagined
world. If on the other hand we can detach (mentally separate)
from our imagined world, we can watch the imagined world
within as separate from us. We can become aware that the world
is subject to our interpretations depending on what our own
unmet needs are..
.
It is our interpretation of the world's behavior that is
the problem. Our interpretation of the outer world is being
driven by our unmet Mother needs or unmet Father needs: do we
need to merge with others (to be loved or nurtured) or do we
need to separate from others (from fear).
.
In America, we call the first group
"Liberals" and the second group
"Conservatives." These two population groups debate
in the political arena over whether the Mother Need is primary
or the Father Need.
.
These points of view both reflect
the will-to-live impulse in the human being to the problems of
living, but one emphasizes community, the need for
unconditional love, and nurturing approaches to resolving the
meeting of needs, while the other emphasizes individualism,
the need for protection from others, and competition in
the meeting of needs.
.
These are both relevant responses,
but each is unbalanced by itself. Both
approaches represent a failure to resolve the paradox of
the Mother Need and the Father Need. It is not only infants
and small children who have the need for love and nurturance.
It is not only infants and small children who have the need
for protection and security. It is all of us.
.
.
Balancing between the Opposites
.
Both positions discussed above are
unbalanced. Each resolves the issue of survival through
choosing a polar position. Neither integrates their masculine
and feminine aspects nor heals their neurotic needs for
nurturance or safety. .
.
Balance is attained in the presence of:
.
Self Love
is the absence of need for love from
outside ones self. One's projections of heartlessness,
selfishness, and unkindness upon the outside world are
withdrawn from others. No judgment of others remains.. This is
attained by the ego through learning tha it is
"not-bad" to put one's own needs first ahead of
others and to give one's self the love and pleasure one needs.
This work heals the wounded heart.
.
Self-Assurance
is the absence of any need for
protection from the outside world. One's projections of
hostile intent, cruelty or harm are withdrawn from others. No
fear of others remains. This is attained through discovering
the suffering of others and realizing that one can get real
needs met without struggling or striving. This work heals a
damaged self concept.
.
Balanced here, the individual is ready to investigate the
world as it is, without projecting upon it a fearfulness it
does not possess nor a lack of compassion that it does not
have. The individual can stand alone and meet his own needs
without excessive fear nor neediness. He or she is Whole. He
is able to:
.
put aside guilt
for not conforming to other's demands or a
need to have power over
other people in order to
meet his needs.
.
put aside shame
for being less than others or blaming others
for denying him relationship.
.
put aside fear of conflict
and fear to speak one's own Truth
(and stand on his own authority).
.
put aside concern about what others think or speak
of us, so he can forgive others easily
.
.
.
put aside depression
from being denied what he really
needs because of unworthiness or inadequacy.
He can ask for his needs to be met
, avoid prostituting
himself
to feel
safe, stay out of
co-dependent relationships, and
put aside feelings
of envy or jealousy
of
others because he recognizes
that comparisons with others are
irrelevant to his own wellness,
happiness or ability to get
needs met. .
.
The
Archetypal Journey .
.
From the point of view of
mankind as a whole and the
survival of the
species, the social
conflict deriving from
psychological unwellness
is healthy and vigorous...even
while being unwell and even
tragic from the point of view
of individuals. Without
suffering, the archetypal
process of transformation and
change within society could
not function. On the other
hand, there is no reason why
an unwell individual could not
turn within to work on
becoming aware of his or her
projections and unconscious
unmet needs, and thereby
resolve his private paradox of
needs. In other words, to
heal himself or herself. This
is, in effect, becoming
conscious of one's projections
and stepping out of the
archetypal process
guiding society's
evolution. The archetype, by
definition, possesses a
society which is unconscious
of its operation. Once
conscious of the archetype,
society's members can
"opt out" and live
in the present, free from
inner pain and suffering. But
they may remain at the effect
of social convulsions and
violence as society
unconsciously evolves through conflict.
.
On the
other hand, according to Carl Jung
an archetype is the very
definition of "being
well". Life is a pattern of
being and becoming. The cycles of
stasis and change in human lives
are themselves as archetypal as
the cycles of the moon or passing
of the seasons. This implies
that cycles of psychological
and even physical sickening,
followed by
healing, are natural and archetypal.
The archtype of the hero's journey
must include a sickening process
as well as a healing and
transformation process within its
stages. It cannot include only the
healing stages. Unwellness is not
a deviation but a part of the
process of transformation and
change. It creates the
suffering necessary to motivate
change. .
What in the animal kingdom
takes the form of predation and
natural selection in the human
kingdom must take the form of
psychological suffering,
mental unwellness and
social conflict.
.
This
suggests that the evolution of
consciousness and mankind itself
might require, as a part of its
archetypal process of change, the
presence of neurosis, unwell
worldviews, and even war and
social conflict as an essential
aspect of the cycles of change.
And that
was what my dreams appear to be
telling me. No triggering cause
outside the archetypal process is
necessary for the process to work.
It happens by itself.
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