Eros and Psyche, an ongoing story of union and separation...The myth sets the ultimate task for Psyche, to bring beauty from the dark places of the underworld. Psyche needs a pair of twin coins to pay Charos on her way in and out of the unknown difficulties. The way inwards and outwards is one and the same...I see the coins as a symbol of creativity, poetry, myth...anything that captures, pays attention to Love and Soul. Creativity is the way to 'erotically' unify with the other half, the invisible, and the same path to bring outwards its inner beauty and eachness.
Nan Sierra > Georgios TheodoropoulosJuly 23, 2013 at 8:18pm
Very well put! For me, at least, it really encapsulates the discussion. Thank you for posting it.
Good bit on the coins. Got me musing on a dream a year or so ago.....I'm at my apt. and find in my closet a several dozen or so stacks of very rare Morgan Silver dollars (some auction in the six figure range). A business acquaintance of mine ( who can confirm their value) asks, "what are you gonna do with them"?
I've been asking myself the same question ever since. I feel strongly the "Morgan's" are my poems and dreams. I'm ( or was) for better or worse a poet. I've written thousands of poems ( not unlike Mr. Bukowski, Williams, Whalen, Stafford or Bly ...who generally speaking wrote something each day).
Some of my poems are signature ( not unlike the rare Morgans). I've also thoughtfully considered dreams ( I've lost count long ago) both in and out of analysis. All this and more is worthless (my Morgans are worthless) if I can't bring them to the collective. Thanks again for your thoughtful comment..
Eros and Psyche…What a timely question for me to ponder! Saturday, I facilitated a Men Only Workshop. Generally i only offer Women's Empowerment Workshops but recently I have had a felt need to offer support to "fatherless" men. So, I listened to the sounds of my heart, went out onto a ledge, and somehow in the middle of a sunny Saturday afternoon came life changing moments. I was expecting only to tap into their need for new tools for healthier relationships. Instead, I tapped into soul. What occurred was a seamless interplay of Eros and Psyche. We embarked on an inner voyage supercharged with inspiration and love. I became a guide to nurturing their inner artist, to nurturing their own inborn creativity in a community of "salt of the earth" type men who felt themselves authentically connected to each others' stories. I, from a calm professional demeanor, witnessed their inner hunger for connection take on a life of its own! Charlyne Gelt, Ph.D www.drgelt.com
Charlyne Gelt, Ph.D.
Dr. Charlyne Gelt works with individuals, couples, families, and groups and is particularly committed to encouraging individuals move towards self-di…
Eros and Psyche meet continually in male and female love. I see it as an eternal power struggle with the two to unite in heaven upon earth. It is not for the faint hearted. I would refer to Jung's work for creativity, or to art, literature and poetry.
is this just too simple, or is it just the basic truth?
well said. lot a mystery. Jung said ( paraphrasing) : It's not what you know that heals but who you are. Also being aware of likes and dislikes in therapist and client is really important. I'm getting old enough that when someone doesn't like me or something I said .....I don't take it as personal as I use to ( I guess I can thank exwife and daughter for some of that). Conversely it sure feels good when someone does ( understanding it's part of a greater mystery).
"...we can see the psyche going to therapy in search of eros. We have been looking for love for the soul. That is the myth of analysis." (Hillman, p. 296)
The second question brings to mind Jung's statement: "The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves." His description of the the "building game" he had the courage to allow himself to play in Memories, Dreams, Reflections was certainly an embodiment of this statement. I think the combination of play and that sense of inner necessity/foreboding(!) are probably good clues about what to do. Such as taking up improv, as Mark Sipowicz suggests!
I have a friend who indulges, quite happily, in trips to used clothing stores to create outfits that seem to express a new side of herself that may be wanting to come into being.It's a low-cost, low-risk method of trying on something new and seems to be a first, pre-articulate step for her in her journey.
Another friend has a penchant for creating elaborate city walking tours which involve some planning but mostly spontaneous discoveries. Once in a while I've been invited along on more formalized "tours" that resulted from these explorations. One I recall particularly began with viewing some stone gargoyles atop a building, a trip to a museum to look at one particular painting and, after many other intriguing diversions, ended up at a church for derelicts with alcohol problems. It struck me afterwards that he had mapped out a psychological journey, beginning with passing the gargoyles and ending with a resolution that, since he had a drinking problem he adamantly claimed he could fix himself as well as a distinct dislike of religion, may have been the psyche's way of pointing him in another direction. It was all done very playfully, but the entire walk was accompanied by some very rich conversation that the different stops triggered.
My own experience with psychological play began when an artist friend insisted that everyone could be an artist, a statement with which I disagreed. She insisted that I grab whatever I had around, lipstick, mustard, eyebrow pencils and just let my hand paint whatever it wanted. I felt extraordinarily silly but went ahead and did it. The resulting art work spoke to me in some fashion and I ended up buying paints and finding that whenever I felt stuck with a problem, a dream, or in the fiction I was writing (my "serious" art form,) I could just "let my hand" paint and I would frequently get unstuck. I also discovered a minor talent for art that gives me great joy as long as I refuse to take it "seriously."
So, I think those elements--play, taking some awkward fascination seriously, especially at the risk of feeling silly, and taking concrete, though tiny steps, may be some of the elements in unleashing the creativity of the psyche.
Replies
It sounds like it might be from his essay "Stages of Life."
Very well put! For me, at least, it really encapsulates the discussion. Thank you for posting it.
Good bit on the coins. Got me musing on a dream a year or so ago.....I'm at my apt. and find in my closet a several dozen or so stacks of very rare Morgan Silver dollars (some auction in the six figure range). A business acquaintance of mine ( who can confirm their value) asks, "what are you gonna do with them"?
I've been asking myself the same question ever since. I feel strongly the "Morgan's" are my poems and dreams. I'm ( or was) for better or worse a poet. I've written thousands of poems ( not unlike Mr. Bukowski, Williams, Whalen, Stafford or Bly ...who generally speaking wrote something each day).
Some of my poems are signature ( not unlike the rare Morgans). I've also thoughtfully considered dreams ( I've lost count long ago) both in and out of analysis. All this and more is worthless (my Morgans are worthless) if I can't bring them to the collective. Thanks again for your thoughtful comment..
Once again, for always and forever, no matter where, how, why or when...soul wants love and love without soul only skims the surface..
Eros and Psyche…What a timely question for me to ponder! Saturday, I facilitated a Men Only Workshop. Generally i only offer Women's Empowerment Workshops but recently I have had a felt need to offer support to "fatherless" men. So, I listened to the sounds of my heart, went out onto a ledge, and somehow in the middle of a sunny Saturday afternoon came life changing moments. I was expecting only to tap into their need for new tools for healthier relationships. Instead, I tapped into soul. What occurred was a seamless interplay of Eros and Psyche. We embarked on an inner voyage supercharged with inspiration and love. I became a guide to nurturing their inner artist, to nurturing their own inborn creativity in a community of "salt of the earth" type men who felt themselves authentically connected to each others' stories. I, from a calm professional demeanor, witnessed their inner hunger for connection take on a life of its own!
Charlyne Gelt, Ph.D
www.drgelt.com
is this just too simple, or is it just the basic truth?
well said. lot a mystery. Jung said ( paraphrasing) : It's not what you know that heals but who
you are. Also being aware of likes and dislikes in therapist and
client is really important. I'm getting old enough that when
someone doesn't like me or something I said .....I don't take it as
personal as I use to ( I guess I can thank exwife and daughter
for some of that). Conversely it sure feels good when someone
does ( understanding it's part of a greater mystery).
"...we can see the psyche going to therapy in search of eros. We have been looking for love for the soul. That is the myth of analysis." (Hillman, p. 296)
The second question brings to mind Jung's statement: "The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves." His description of the the "building game" he had the courage to allow himself to play in Memories, Dreams, Reflections was certainly an embodiment of this statement. I think the combination of play and that sense of inner necessity/foreboding(!) are probably good clues about what to do. Such as taking up improv, as Mark Sipowicz suggests!
I have a friend who indulges, quite happily, in trips to used clothing stores to create outfits that seem to express a new side of herself that may be wanting to come into being.It's a low-cost, low-risk method of trying on something new and seems to be a first, pre-articulate step for her in her journey.
Another friend has a penchant for creating elaborate city walking tours which involve some planning but mostly spontaneous discoveries. Once in a while I've been invited along on more formalized "tours" that resulted from these explorations. One I recall particularly began with viewing some stone gargoyles atop a building, a trip to a museum to look at one particular painting and, after many other intriguing diversions, ended up at a church for derelicts with alcohol problems. It struck me afterwards that he had mapped out a psychological journey, beginning with passing the gargoyles and ending with a resolution that, since he had a drinking problem he adamantly claimed he could fix himself as well as a distinct dislike of religion, may have been the psyche's way of pointing him in another direction. It was all done very playfully, but the entire walk was accompanied by some very rich conversation that the different stops triggered.
My own experience with psychological play began when an artist friend insisted that everyone could be an artist, a statement with which I disagreed. She insisted that I grab whatever I had around, lipstick, mustard, eyebrow pencils and just let my hand paint whatever it wanted. I felt extraordinarily silly but went ahead and did it. The resulting art work spoke to me in some fashion and I ended up buying paints and finding that whenever I felt stuck with a problem, a dream, or in the fiction I was writing (my "serious" art form,) I could just "let my hand" paint and I would frequently get unstuck. I also discovered a minor talent for art that gives me great joy as long as I refuse to take it "seriously."
So, I think those elements--play, taking some awkward fascination seriously, especially at the risk of feeling silly, and taking concrete, though tiny steps, may be some of the elements in unleashing the creativity of the psyche.
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