Hi everyone,
I just wanted to take a moment here in the Alliance community to acknowledge and witness the tragedies that have unfolded in recent days--in particular with the Newtown, CT school shooting and the Clackamas, OR mall shooting just 3 days before. In fact, the web site for ThinkProgress has posted a timeline of shootings since Columbine and the CT shooting was the eighth in the U.S. in 2012.
I don't have answers about what's going on in our culture. True to the spirit of depth psychology, I do have a million questions. There are clearly dark shadows at play--and the archetypes and gods showing up in these scenarios are demanding attention--something only those who are paying attention can probably begin to address right now. I am reminded that Martin Prechtel, author and initiated shaman among the Maya people in Guatemala, suggests that if a culture is not willing to make offerings, there will be arbitrary sacrifices. It makes me wonder: What are we, as a culture--and as a community, even--missing here? What is being neglected, bypassed, or buried that we can individually and collectively address? And how do we begin?
I know many of you have likely been horrified at the events--especially this week--and at the same time I find it somewhat surprising that no one (including myself until now) has brought it up here in the forum for discussion, a place I would wish could be a destination and a container for such distressing emotional issues at such a critical time in our culture.
This is not a judgement but a curiosity--a wondering at how we can make this community more relevant and meaningful in dealing with the difficulties that come our way--and in connecting more humanly with each other. Perhaps there are no words for the horror and despair; or perhaps many of us, me included, are introverts and find it hard to reach out, or find that the feeling function is our inferior function...
What do you think? How have you been affected by this tragedy and the increasing violence in the world today? I wrote a brief blog on the subject of witnessing, but it doesn't begin to address the depth of emotion I'm feeling and you may be as well... Please join in discussion, even if only to express your feelings here...
Replies
yes indeed john. i was sharing our exchange w. my husband over dinner. and we did speak about the aboriginal genocide and the indigenous genocide here as well.
and indeed: american imperialism/colonialism, albeit we'd never call it that, now would we? (>;) we call it "making the world safe for democracy." old wine in new wine skins. and i do find it rather amusing that europeans get so annoyed with us. i mean, we did have good teachers afterall.
heaven knows there's enough shadow for everyone to share!
John, there is nothing offensive in what you're saying. Living in America I can attest to the truth of your disclosure.
I live only minutes from where the shooting of the first responders to a fire in Webster, NY happened. My ex-husband knew the older of the firemen who was fatally shot.
So here it is, literally in my back yard.
For more than 30 years I taught high school students who were labelled as being "Emotionally disabled". Over those years, I watched as the students in my classrooms went from "simple" conduct disorders to outright psychopathologies. In my last years teaching, students were prescribed drugs --- but were not compliant about taking them. They were given 30 minutes of counseling a week, with a school social worker. More often than not, the student would miss more appointments than they would keep.
These students displayed violent behavior. They were not able to function in communal settings. The reality was, that once they left school, there are no structures or supports for them. While in school, it is recognized that there were issues to be addressed with these students, but once they leave school, they are just anonymous members of society. Over time I have noticed that I often come across the names of many of my past students in the news --- as either the perpetrator or victim of some violent crime. Far too often I have read the obituary of my students.
Just prior to retiring, a colleague and I had written a proposal for a "therapeutic classroom". The proposal was never even acknowledged by the school administration.
We do nothing in our schools to address the psychic health of our children. We educate about how to build healthy bodies, but what about a healthy psyche???? Nothing! Mental health only becomes an issue when significant pathology becomes evident.
SO -- what about educating the individuals in our society about psychic health?
After retiring from teaching, I have returned to school and am just finishing my coursework for a PhD in Depth Psychology, so in the above sentence I am purposely saying psychic health rather than mental health ---- for I also believe that traditional psychology has been too focussed on being scientific and has lost touch with that part of our lived experience that defies empirical measurement.
After the most recent tragedies, everyone is clamoring for some quick fix, but I don't think there is one. I think, as a society, we really need to make some very basic, everyday changes to the way we live with each other. We need to stop pointing solely to the individuals who are committing horrendous crimes, but look also to the society in which these individuals develop.
Bonnie,
Thank you for posting on this topic. I listened in to the telesiminar on Thursday and wanted to offer my perspective which is one informed by the Integral Theory of Ken Wilber, Jungian concepts, Michael Conforti's "archetypal field" theory, and the theory of the "simulacra" from French philosopher Jean Baudrillard:
From a posting I made to the Integral Life forum: http://integrallife.com/node/203532
A Third Order Simulation is the way an Archetypal Field maintains itself by hiding in plain sight. It's the Cultural Complex's defense mechanism.
Therefore, the question becomes:
What is the mass-media & new-media mediated enactment of this spectacle called "Catastrophe" actually hiding or veiling?
Simple example of a Third Order Simulation:
You want to make the inmates forget they're living in a madhouse? Give them a madhouse within a madhouse that they can look down at and feel superior to and project all of their own madness upon.
Basically, a Third Order Simulation is some spectacle made in a way that's very sticky for our collective projections.
(BTW: This is also what advertisers do when they make the commercial for the car or item seem much more real and entrancing than the actual experience of the car itself. They're co-opting archetypal images of the Self. It is the Shadow of Postmodern Culture. See a past posting of min.....)
When there is an autonomous cultural complex which we are not consciously aware of we end up projecting its contents out there into and onto "the world" as a judgment on some thing, person, event, etc...
The main idea here is this: If the spectacle or simulation (as a sticky target for our collective projections) is made so real and so convincing then what happens is that it makes it just that much more difficult (if not impossible) for us to withdraw that projection in order to discover that energy, principle, emotion, or value within ourselves - individually or collectively.
The more convincing the projection (3rd order simulation or simulacrum), the more addictive the idol, the more difficult it is to let it go in order to discover that value within ourselves - and therefore the collective autonomous complex or collective archetypal field is able to maintain its cohesion.
A More Relevant Example:
Taking the recent tragedy in Newton CT, as a more relevant example:
We look at this tragedy (as mediated to us by various media) and experience a whole host of affect - sadness, grief, anger, confusion, and wonder what can be done about it? Then we witness the spectacle of two factions attempting to grapple with this tragedy and with each other.
And no matter which group one has a greater affinity for, both groups are fighting with each other and little gets done. Neither group is able or capable or even interested in investigating to a deeper level what might be behind the catastrophe, because to do so as a matter of public discussion might put them at a disadvantage relative to the other group and their values and legislative goals.
Thus, once again the collective complex / archetypal field maintains itself. Each side has their own 3rd Order Simulation, their own simulacra, their own sacred image of ultimate value which carries the collective projection of their group's "god image" and thus is more real and important to them than coming together to investigate what's actually going on.
In terms of what to do about it, I would say that first, we have to find a way individually and collectively to turn from the projection to its source - to turn from the catastrophe as spectacle and start to look at the holons themselves which have enacted the spectacle as a way of keeping us fixated to its perspectives. Then we will have a chance to actually understand why this young man did the unthinkable, and begin to free both ourselves and those unfortunate ones who have fallen completely under the archetypal possession of these collective complexes.
Joe
Meanwhile, several of you have asked about the article I referenced in the first teleseminar from Glen Slater. Here's the info for those wishing to read the whole thing: it's titled "A Mythology of Bullets" and was published in Spring 81: The Psychology of Violence. More info from the publisher here: http://www.springjournalandbooks.com/cgi-bin/ecommerce/ac/agora.cgi...
Bonnie,
I listened in to this evening's discussion and wanted to share some impressions and insights. The arena for aggression in our modern world is the economic realm of work and the corporation where both men and women have become gladiators on that field of battle. Women have developed their masculine side, and have or are in the process of achieving outward equality, but what of the feminine principles themselves? Many of these less quantifiable feminine values are being marginalized as society pursues and competes for the external and material.
And so regarding the unconscious "contents" which are overflowing the banks of inadequate containers, the image that's coming to me right now is that of these repressed feminine principles erupting from the shadow as autonomous complexes taking archetypal possession of those who are most susceptible - troubled and marginalized young men. Archetypally this is Medea taking vengeance upon the children, and in this case using the young men as pawns (as Morgana used Mordred to bring about the end of the Arthurian age).
This also has implications for the development of young men in our society as well. If one grows up with the feminine principles being marginalized or repressed in a culture what does this shadow look like in the projections of these young men when they "see" the feminine out in the world? The resulting autonomous complexes are going have archetypal cores related to angry and oppressed feminine figures. And the resulting projections are going to be of a world where the females look hard, or angry, or unwelcoming, and so this can create problematic relations with women, and "mother," as well as nurturing institutions such as church and school.
Just some brief initial thoughts for now... still working out some of these possibilities.
Joe Camosy
Joseph, what a brilliant discourse! Right on! I have a very strong feeling that that exactly must be the case. I'm still pondering on the symbolic constellation of the events at Sandy Hook, that - to me - are telling just that - an assassination of a feminine psychic principle that went on unchecked and unbalanced for too long, retreated into the shadow and now lashing back with demonic force. To be sure, there is no mature masculine principle to "husband" the energy, so a hero-villain dichotomy ensures..
Thank you, Bonnie, for addressing this unspeakable tragedy. It has taken me until today to be able to speak about it as my feeling function was on overload....and I didn't even watch the t.v. coverage. Yes ,the horror and despair are overwhelming but there is also the anger that this sort of mass killinghas occured over and over again,with the same results.....NOTHING.
As a country,we weep,demand gun reform ,and forget until the next tragedy occurs....the horror and despair become apathy and helplessness.
Perhaps we can keep the discussion alive in this community . I am grateful that you have asked Dr.Comforti to speak to this group as trauma is his speciality and I,for one, am looking forward to his comments. Patricia
Some very thoughtful comments have been posted. Thanks to Bonnie for her particularly well articulated initiation of the discussion. I humbly offer my thoughts on this general subject. In light of this great tragedy and deep wound to all of us, I feel it is ok for me to take the liberty to share my thoughts for whatever it might possibly add to the discussion.
Unfortunately this is not a singlular occurrance, an odd accident, or something void of observable causation. We all can agree, in society and in psyche just about "nothing happens in a vacuum", meaning there is a whole backdrop of coalescing factors and precursers that generate events, even those as irrational and twisted as these shootings. So on many levels, the recurrance of this type of incident is telling us there are many things that need work, there are many things that are broken in our society today.
First I would like to say that an abosulte non-functioning madman should not have access to weapons whether gun or machete, chemical or bomb. Even a slightly disturbed son or daughter should not have access to mom or dad's guns, and they themselves really should abstain from owning such weapons for that very reason. The mother who posted the message about her delimma with her voilently distrubed son should have easy access to institutionalization of the child, these embodied time bombs should be (when volatile) contained somehow, unfortunately we have as a nation that has neglected to maintain such facilities. Prevention is key in stemming the rise of any disease. That being said, If we are to really try to find a fix, we must begin with the field, being the culture from which this violence is stemming.
No one can deny that we have a culture of voilence in the entertainment media from video games that simulate mass killing and which many adolescents are submersing themselves in, movies and television, and rap music all of which contribute to desenstization and a triviliazation of violence, killing, and sexual perversion. I bet a good 80%+ of all the "Hollywood" industry productions (movie's and television) involve murder, rape, and other types of extreme violence. Many of those stars in Hollywood (I call them dark stars) have absolutely no credibility when it comes to commenting on any of the ills of society for they are often serving as instruments of psychic distruction on a mass scale. Next we have a culture of broken families usually leading not nearly as often the loss of the mother as to the loss of the father. Single mothers carry a very heavy burden in this particularly challenging economic environment and can hardly be blamed for the crisis in our youth. Insert a culture of intentional miseducation for political and economic gains of the educators or those controlling the content and agenda in educational materials in our public schools. The promotion of secularism that is stripping our society of symbols and meaning; the psuedo-intellectual scoffing at "traditional values" so pervasive in the mainstream news and information media; the loss of symbols and meaning leading to the loss of values and morality; then the prevalance of fundamentalism (religious,secular, and socio-political) which tends to set up the pattern of extremism in the mind. Both the sense of entitlement (which currently happens to be being promoted by the media today) and the resultant projection of blame on others are closely related to the state of the disgruntled individual. Lastly add to that the continual state of war which we have been in as a nation - rightly or wrongly - it has its effects on the collective and individual psyche. Adding all that together, and what you wind up with is a society in which the masses are in a steady state of psychic turmoil and imbalance. I think most psychoanalysts would agree that the average person is much more screwed up in the head than they realize. If you have a great mass of people living on the edge, you certainly are going to have a higher incident of people falling off the edge than if they were living further away from that metaphorical cliff.
We must begin by re-establishing traditional values of family cohesion, hard work, service to others, self-sufficency, charity, kindness, non-violence at all levels of life, and compassion which will in turn yeild a more peaceful place in which we live. These states of mind also do not occur in a vacuum, they too are the result of a soil which cultivates it. As a society, a nation, and a culture we must rework this soil and reset the focus. I beleive that begins with the family, extends throught the myriad levels of education, and will then be naturally expressed in the arts, entertainment and information media. Religion plays a key role, yet it too is currently sick and in need of repair. There needs to be a religious culture of inclusion and sacredness and a harmony of religious ideals. Religious views that promote violence, exclusion and hatred of others should be totally rejected. We must put meaning and loving-kindness into the forefront our individual lives and collective psyche. Only then and until then can we expect to cultivate a healthy and functioning and much much less violent society. I believe, if we can make a conscious effort on the individual and collective levels to change the dynamic, recultivate the depleted soil of our society, we will see a significant reduction in these kinds of horrific acts of voilence.
Hi Michael - I just finished reading everyone's contributions and my offer is as long as we have prayer for change, a voice, the gift and breath of life; together in massive loving-kindness connections - healing is possible!
Thank you for your collective wisdom. Regards Linda
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
of 4 Next