CONNECTED BY PSYCHE
THE ANGEL IS THE HEAVENLY TWIN
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Embrace_of_the_Daimon/zPvsNXT6NMoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=,embracing+the+daimon&printsec=frontcover
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Healing_the_Wounded_God/FZJxgHW_wgsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=healing+fiction+james+hillman+pdf&printsec=frontcover
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Anger_Madness_and_the_Daimonic/NgB0yim87cQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=,embracing+the+daimon&printsec=frontcover
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Embrace_of_the_Daimon/zPvsNXT6NMoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=,embracing+the+daimon&printsec=frontcover
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Healing_the_Wounded_God/FZJxgHW_wgsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=healing+fiction+james+hillman+pdf&printsec=frontcover
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Anger_Madness_and_the_Daimonic/NgB0yim87cQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=,embracing+the+daimon&printsec=frontcover
In fictive dialogues images speak directly with us in their process of recomposing life into a new story. The importance is the dialogical mode, in which the dualism of self/other and subject/object breaks down.
Invisible guests: The development of imaginal dialogues by Mary Watkins describes the dialogues we carry on silently—"with our reflection in the mirror...with a figure from a dream or movie, with our dog...with critics, with our mothers, with our god(s)..." They are not an incidental aspect of mental life but central phenomena, laden with both cognitive and emotional significance. Imaginative life deserves analysis based on appreciation of its centrality and generative nature.
Dialogue is a fundamental—perhaps the primary—form in which we think. Operating "inwardly" or "outwardly," psyche is an exquisitely dialogical process. In both Jungian and archetypal soul work the bridging of conscious and unconscious occurs through dialogue, as in the practice of active imagination. Such bridging activates what Jung called the transcendent function. Hillman uses the language of "soul" for that space that opens up through dialogue.
Invisible guests: The development of imaginal dialogues by Mary Watkins describes the dialogues we carry on silently—"with our reflection in the mirror...with a figure from a dream or movie, with our dog...with critics, with our mothers, with our god(s)..." They are not an incidental aspect of mental life but central phenomena, laden with both cognitive and emotional significance. Imaginative life deserves analysis based on appreciation of its centrality and generative nature.
Dialogue is a fundamental—perhaps the primary—form in which we think. Operating "inwardly" or "outwardly," psyche is an exquisitely dialogical process. In both Jungian and archetypal soul work the bridging of conscious and unconscious occurs through dialogue, as in the practice of active imagination. Such bridging activates what Jung called the transcendent function. Hillman uses the language of "soul" for that space that opens up through dialogue.
THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE REAL LONG BEFORE
OUR PUNY, FINITE MINDS CAN APPREHEND THEM.
"The Greek words daimon and daimonion express a determining power which comes upon man from outside, like providence or fate, though the ethical decision is left to man. He must know, however, what he is deciding about and what he is doing. Then, if he obeys he is following not just his own opinion, and if he rejects he is destroying not just his own invention." ~Carl Jung, CW 9i, Page 27.
Meaning is born as 'Knowing'
from the symbol that was pregnant with it.
Myth always feels real – otherwise it would not be myth,
and would have no effect.
The master on a relative level, the appearing aspect, is ultimately the magical display of awareness itself. There, the master, self-manifesting empty awareness, abides primordially together with us. We release our mind, this knowing, into all-encompassing awareness.
Contact, Knowledge & Conversation
We explore the methods used by past and present practitioners for obtaining one's Holy Guardian Angel, a primordial helper, guide, and companion. But, what is this Angel, Daimon, or Duende that carries our fate and destiny? Soul-tending means directly engaging the Angel. Who doesn't seek to know how it informs our lives with meaning, from signs, to insight, to inspiration? Yet, we cannot move too quickly to the archetypal and symbolic meaning.
The Angel/Daimon is an ultimate symbol, purpose, and telos or goal of each unique life. Many cultures and disciplines describe it, from Neo-Platonism to archetypal psychology. The philosopher Aristotle refers to it as the full potential or inherent purpose or objective of a person or thing, similar to the notion of an 'end goal'. As a psychic entity, the Daimon bridges material and spiritual worlds. It combines psychological and mystical understanding that taps the Source of Knowing. Magick has tended to mystify and over-complicate it.
We make enlivened engagement with this Being a priority of soul, of psyche, with an innovative approach to relationship-based interaction. Focusing on the mystical approach of Abramelin, we look into the diaries of several magicians, as well as exploring the rich background and the latest versions of this archetypal Work. We also reveal its role in the Art Path, Sacred Psychology, and Self-Initiation including aesthetic, poetic, and artistic means as a way to unfold our potential.
Archetypal psychology is a neo-Jungian aesthetic approach engaging the transpersonal numinous, relationships, and dreams; a framework including the arts, humanities, and cultural imagination, as primary modes of inquiry and aesthetic appreciation of a life story. Classically, spirit is related to heights, and soul to fathomless depths. This is a sacred depth psychology. We wrestle to avoid being possessed and overwhelmed by them while daring to bring socially useful archetypal ideas or innovations into consciousness.
We hope this educational resource helps others find inspiration, resonance, and encouragement for their journey. Any musician, artist or writer knows the calling of the muse or daimon, and even the ordeals we can be driven through, including self-defeating, self-destructive, and and near-fatal life passages -- the trauma and dissociability of Self and its unconscious effects. In binding traumatic memories, images and affects, the dissociated complex protects the ego from being overwhelmed.
There is always a struggle for Art, yet we 'wrestle that Angel' and battle forward as a way to balance the real needs of our personalities with Temperance. In doing so, we hone the relationship with our Daimon. The Art of this battle, as well as the Art produced from it, is our Work and Calling. Anything worthwhile is hard won and at great price. Many cultures and systems revolve around the Angel, and these are approaches used by some of them.
Endogenous trauma is caused by conflictual fantasy. The psyche splits into different personalities or systems of consciousness as an aspect of normal, that is, supposedly non-trauma-related complex formation. These complexes originate in the archetypal depths of the psyche, deep structures, patterns and ways of living that represent an inherited memory of the history of human culture.
Jung proposed that this dissociative capacity of the normal psyche promotes the expansion of the personality through greater differentiation of function. He said that dissociation "allows certain parts of the psychic structure to be singled out so that, by concentration of the will, they can be trained and brought to their maximum development....This produces an unbalanced state similar to that caused by a dominant complex -a change of personality" (Jung (1960), p122).
Early trauma can stimulate the creation of adult heroes, prophets, artists, and healers, for example, Moses, Frida Kahlo, Mozart, or Jung himself, exceptional individual cases who were able to creatively transform their traumatic experiences. Creative individuals spontaneously discover some form of conscious expression of the emergence of healing images and symbols from the unconscious, via dreams, art work, dance, active imagination, sandtray, etc. -- our own images and archetypal fantasies.
This relates to Jung's concept of the individuation process and Hillman's soul-making, of wholeness of the personality and polytheism, the normal, pre-patriarchal, capacity of the psyche to dissociate into multiple systems of consciousness. In actual fact, most creative individuals are not well-rounded, but are one-sided and "unbalanced" in the direction of their area of genius. The area where they seem so often immature, if not pathological is in the area of inflations, eroticism, death, and relationships. So, relationship with the Daimon is core to our process.--Iona Miller, 2021
OUR PUNY, FINITE MINDS CAN APPREHEND THEM.
"The Greek words daimon and daimonion express a determining power which comes upon man from outside, like providence or fate, though the ethical decision is left to man. He must know, however, what he is deciding about and what he is doing. Then, if he obeys he is following not just his own opinion, and if he rejects he is destroying not just his own invention." ~Carl Jung, CW 9i, Page 27.
Meaning is born as 'Knowing'
from the symbol that was pregnant with it.
Myth always feels real – otherwise it would not be myth,
and would have no effect.
The master on a relative level, the appearing aspect, is ultimately the magical display of awareness itself. There, the master, self-manifesting empty awareness, abides primordially together with us. We release our mind, this knowing, into all-encompassing awareness.
Contact, Knowledge & Conversation
We explore the methods used by past and present practitioners for obtaining one's Holy Guardian Angel, a primordial helper, guide, and companion. But, what is this Angel, Daimon, or Duende that carries our fate and destiny? Soul-tending means directly engaging the Angel. Who doesn't seek to know how it informs our lives with meaning, from signs, to insight, to inspiration? Yet, we cannot move too quickly to the archetypal and symbolic meaning.
The Angel/Daimon is an ultimate symbol, purpose, and telos or goal of each unique life. Many cultures and disciplines describe it, from Neo-Platonism to archetypal psychology. The philosopher Aristotle refers to it as the full potential or inherent purpose or objective of a person or thing, similar to the notion of an 'end goal'. As a psychic entity, the Daimon bridges material and spiritual worlds. It combines psychological and mystical understanding that taps the Source of Knowing. Magick has tended to mystify and over-complicate it.
We make enlivened engagement with this Being a priority of soul, of psyche, with an innovative approach to relationship-based interaction. Focusing on the mystical approach of Abramelin, we look into the diaries of several magicians, as well as exploring the rich background and the latest versions of this archetypal Work. We also reveal its role in the Art Path, Sacred Psychology, and Self-Initiation including aesthetic, poetic, and artistic means as a way to unfold our potential.
Archetypal psychology is a neo-Jungian aesthetic approach engaging the transpersonal numinous, relationships, and dreams; a framework including the arts, humanities, and cultural imagination, as primary modes of inquiry and aesthetic appreciation of a life story. Classically, spirit is related to heights, and soul to fathomless depths. This is a sacred depth psychology. We wrestle to avoid being possessed and overwhelmed by them while daring to bring socially useful archetypal ideas or innovations into consciousness.
We hope this educational resource helps others find inspiration, resonance, and encouragement for their journey. Any musician, artist or writer knows the calling of the muse or daimon, and even the ordeals we can be driven through, including self-defeating, self-destructive, and and near-fatal life passages -- the trauma and dissociability of Self and its unconscious effects. In binding traumatic memories, images and affects, the dissociated complex protects the ego from being overwhelmed.
There is always a struggle for Art, yet we 'wrestle that Angel' and battle forward as a way to balance the real needs of our personalities with Temperance. In doing so, we hone the relationship with our Daimon. The Art of this battle, as well as the Art produced from it, is our Work and Calling. Anything worthwhile is hard won and at great price. Many cultures and systems revolve around the Angel, and these are approaches used by some of them.
Endogenous trauma is caused by conflictual fantasy. The psyche splits into different personalities or systems of consciousness as an aspect of normal, that is, supposedly non-trauma-related complex formation. These complexes originate in the archetypal depths of the psyche, deep structures, patterns and ways of living that represent an inherited memory of the history of human culture.
Jung proposed that this dissociative capacity of the normal psyche promotes the expansion of the personality through greater differentiation of function. He said that dissociation "allows certain parts of the psychic structure to be singled out so that, by concentration of the will, they can be trained and brought to their maximum development....This produces an unbalanced state similar to that caused by a dominant complex -a change of personality" (Jung (1960), p122).
Early trauma can stimulate the creation of adult heroes, prophets, artists, and healers, for example, Moses, Frida Kahlo, Mozart, or Jung himself, exceptional individual cases who were able to creatively transform their traumatic experiences. Creative individuals spontaneously discover some form of conscious expression of the emergence of healing images and symbols from the unconscious, via dreams, art work, dance, active imagination, sandtray, etc. -- our own images and archetypal fantasies.
This relates to Jung's concept of the individuation process and Hillman's soul-making, of wholeness of the personality and polytheism, the normal, pre-patriarchal, capacity of the psyche to dissociate into multiple systems of consciousness. In actual fact, most creative individuals are not well-rounded, but are one-sided and "unbalanced" in the direction of their area of genius. The area where they seem so often immature, if not pathological is in the area of inflations, eroticism, death, and relationships. So, relationship with the Daimon is core to our process.--Iona Miller, 2021
Anatomy & Autonomy
“Since she has not been present in the culture, she has not been readily accessible to the conscious awareness of modern women. Without her, even the dynamic symbols of Virgin and Mother are distorted. The Crone is that part of woman's psyche that is not identified with any relationship nor confined by any bond. She infuses an intrinsic sense of self-worth, of autonomy, into the role of virgin and mother, and gives the woman strength to stand to her own creative experience.”― Marion Woodman, Dancing in the Flames: The Dark Goddess in the Transformation of Consciousness
“Since she has not been present in the culture, she has not been readily accessible to the conscious awareness of modern women. Without her, even the dynamic symbols of Virgin and Mother are distorted. The Crone is that part of woman's psyche that is not identified with any relationship nor confined by any bond. She infuses an intrinsic sense of self-worth, of autonomy, into the role of virgin and mother, and gives the woman strength to stand to her own creative experience.”― Marion Woodman, Dancing in the Flames: The Dark Goddess in the Transformation of Consciousness
The Winged Personification of Fortune on a Wheel. circa. 1550. Florentine School.
We do not know what a spirit is any more than we understand matter. We are really enclosed in a psychic world of images. We label everything as physical or spiritual but the only reality is purely psychic. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lecture XI, 3 Feb 1939, Page 75.
'a symbol without love, without sympathy, without participation is not a symbol. If touching the symbol does not touch me, that is not a symbol. The symbol is only when I am there, and at the same time, I am not there, because there ' is more. [...] When I think the symbol, the symbol starts to disappear. If I am looking for what it means, the symbol starts his dissolution.
The symbol is pure report, a lived report. The report is so strong that it empties me. It is only in the report ' are you there. You are there I '; The important of the report I am not the poles of the report, but the report itself. [...] The fragmentation of knowledge has led to the fragmentation of acquaintance, and in particular to divorce between knowledge and love. But knowledge without love is mere calculation, does not penetrate in what she knows; love without knowledge is simple emotion; it does not identify with what you love. Their relationship is intrinsic and constituent, what allows us to see ', To touch.' To be in contact with the reality is our nature lover - acquaintance, is our Capacity of intelligence of love, for which we have lost a proper definition in our ordinary language when the ' heart ' has lost its symbolic power.' (Raimon Panikkar )
'a symbol without love, without sympathy, without participation is not a symbol. If touching the symbol does not touch me, that is not a symbol. The symbol is only when I am there, and at the same time, I am not there, because there ' is more. [...] When I think the symbol, the symbol starts to disappear. If I am looking for what it means, the symbol starts his dissolution.
The symbol is pure report, a lived report. The report is so strong that it empties me. It is only in the report ' are you there. You are there I '; The important of the report I am not the poles of the report, but the report itself. [...] The fragmentation of knowledge has led to the fragmentation of acquaintance, and in particular to divorce between knowledge and love. But knowledge without love is mere calculation, does not penetrate in what she knows; love without knowledge is simple emotion; it does not identify with what you love. Their relationship is intrinsic and constituent, what allows us to see ', To touch.' To be in contact with the reality is our nature lover - acquaintance, is our Capacity of intelligence of love, for which we have lost a proper definition in our ordinary language when the ' heart ' has lost its symbolic power.' (Raimon Panikkar )
Participatory Knowledge;
Soul Never Thinks Without a Picture
In later Neoplatonic cultivation of visionary states, vision is real but not literalized.. They understood themselves as engaged in the work of Hermes, with both a visionary receptivity and a critical reflection on what has been received.
Soul Never Thinks Without a Picture
In later Neoplatonic cultivation of visionary states, vision is real but not literalized.. They understood themselves as engaged in the work of Hermes, with both a visionary receptivity and a critical reflection on what has been received.
THE EMERGING DAIMON
Full Consciousness
You are carrying me, full consciousness,
god that has desired all through the world.
Here, in this third sea,
I almost hear your voice; your voice, the wind,
freeing entirely all movements;
eternal colors and eternal lights,
sea colors and sea lights.
Your voice of white fire
in the universe of water, the ship, the sky,
marking out the roads with delight,
engraving for me with a blazing light my firm orbit:
a black body
with glowing diamond in its center.
--Juan Ramon Jimenez
James Hillman sees individuation as the recognition of the motivating and protective daimon, who invents or "often forces deviance and oddity upon its keeper, especially when it is neglected or opposed" (1996, 39). He says, the daimon "cannot abide innocence."
The daimon’s call is the summons to find them, regardless of cost. Kafka made the journey alone for the most part. He recorded his search in his writings. The Trial and The Castle are stories, if not of love and truth, a creative response to the dilemmas of life.
Dialogue with the Other, unpleasant or painful, is the catalyst for individuation. We are obliged to meet the other, who we also are. It knows us and more than us. Intimacy with wholeness, even transient, is ultimately religious. Beyond rationality, the Self carries the divine cosmic Presence, found even in the ordinary.
Persinger cited two senses of self in the human brain-- the left side has the language center, and the right side is the silent self. "What I think is happening is that when we're experiencing God, an angel, a non-physical being, a demon... [or] a sensed presence...the you that is on the left side of the brain and the you on the right side of the brain are not in communication the way they normally are...they've fallen out of phase, and the sense of self on the right side of the brain emerges into our awareness as a prevalence outside of ourselves." --Todd Murphy, Sacred Pathways
Trauma can separate us from the daimon by splitting us from the vital shadow that informs it. We lose our compass of personal direction and meaning ... We need to form a stable internal object, a psychological reference point, a 'golden mean'.
Fate is metaphor to the dialogue inside Self over the fate of whichever aspect of ego is currently uppermost. Self can appear demonic, threatening to destroy everything stable. wished-for omnipotence cannot ever be attained. Jung supposes Deintegration is opening of Self to percepts, reintegration is closure of ego to a particular percept and its subsequent incorporation into Self.
To summarize all our Inner self is the real self of us all. None can exist without the presence of the Inner self. Every living body on Mother Earth owes its existence to the presence of an Inner self within every body. It is this Inner self which has been defined as daimon and angel. Each human is accompanied by their daemon: a being which reflects its essence and fate.
"Which is the most reasonable, and does his duty best: he who stands aloof from the struggle of life, calmly contemplating it, or he who descends to the ground, and takes his part in the contest?"
-Thackeray, Pendennis
Full Consciousness
You are carrying me, full consciousness,
god that has desired all through the world.
Here, in this third sea,
I almost hear your voice; your voice, the wind,
freeing entirely all movements;
eternal colors and eternal lights,
sea colors and sea lights.
Your voice of white fire
in the universe of water, the ship, the sky,
marking out the roads with delight,
engraving for me with a blazing light my firm orbit:
a black body
with glowing diamond in its center.
--Juan Ramon Jimenez
James Hillman sees individuation as the recognition of the motivating and protective daimon, who invents or "often forces deviance and oddity upon its keeper, especially when it is neglected or opposed" (1996, 39). He says, the daimon "cannot abide innocence."
The daimon’s call is the summons to find them, regardless of cost. Kafka made the journey alone for the most part. He recorded his search in his writings. The Trial and The Castle are stories, if not of love and truth, a creative response to the dilemmas of life.
Dialogue with the Other, unpleasant or painful, is the catalyst for individuation. We are obliged to meet the other, who we also are. It knows us and more than us. Intimacy with wholeness, even transient, is ultimately religious. Beyond rationality, the Self carries the divine cosmic Presence, found even in the ordinary.
Persinger cited two senses of self in the human brain-- the left side has the language center, and the right side is the silent self. "What I think is happening is that when we're experiencing God, an angel, a non-physical being, a demon... [or] a sensed presence...the you that is on the left side of the brain and the you on the right side of the brain are not in communication the way they normally are...they've fallen out of phase, and the sense of self on the right side of the brain emerges into our awareness as a prevalence outside of ourselves." --Todd Murphy, Sacred Pathways
Trauma can separate us from the daimon by splitting us from the vital shadow that informs it. We lose our compass of personal direction and meaning ... We need to form a stable internal object, a psychological reference point, a 'golden mean'.
Fate is metaphor to the dialogue inside Self over the fate of whichever aspect of ego is currently uppermost. Self can appear demonic, threatening to destroy everything stable. wished-for omnipotence cannot ever be attained. Jung supposes Deintegration is opening of Self to percepts, reintegration is closure of ego to a particular percept and its subsequent incorporation into Self.
To summarize all our Inner self is the real self of us all. None can exist without the presence of the Inner self. Every living body on Mother Earth owes its existence to the presence of an Inner self within every body. It is this Inner self which has been defined as daimon and angel. Each human is accompanied by their daemon: a being which reflects its essence and fate.
"Which is the most reasonable, and does his duty best: he who stands aloof from the struggle of life, calmly contemplating it, or he who descends to the ground, and takes his part in the contest?"
-Thackeray, Pendennis
ANGELS & DAIMONS
Iona Miller (c)2017
"We would like otherworldly visitations to come as distinct voices with clear instructions, but they may only give small signs in dreams, or as sudden hunches and insights that cannot be denied. They feel more as if they emerge from inside and steer you from within like an inner guardian angel. . . . And, most amazing, it has never forgotten you, although you may have spent most of your life ignoring it." --JH
"The character truest to itself becomes eccentric rather than immovably centered, as Emerson defined the noble character of the hero. At the edge, the certainty of borders gives way. We are more subject to invasions, less able to mobilize defenses, less sure of who we really are, even as we may be perceived by others as a person of character. The dislocation of self from center to indefinite edge merges us more with the world, so that we can feel blest by everything." --JH
...you find your genius by looking in the mirror of your life. Your visible image shows your inner truth, so when you're estimating others, what you see is what you get. It therefore becomes critically important to see generously, or you will get only what you see; to see sharply, so that you discern the mix of traits rather than a generalized lump; and to see deeply into dark shadows, or else you will be deceived." --JH
It helps to regard soul as an active intelligence, forming and plotting each person's fate. Translators use "plot" to render the ancient Greek word mythos in English. The plots that entangle our souls and draw forth our characters are the great myths. That is why we need a sense of myth and knowledge of different myths to gain insight into our epic struggles, our misalliances, and our tragedies. Myths show the imaginative structures inside our messes, and our human characters can locate themselves against the background of the characters of myth.
Open your heart, your gaze, to the visitations of angels, even if the gifts they bring may not be centeredness and balance but eccentricity and a wholly unfamiliar sense of pleasure called joy.
Allegory of Hope - Oil on canvas, Francesco Guardi
In the banquet, Plato narrates (through the priestess Diotima) that Eros is not a god but a daimon, that is, he is an intermediate between the divine and the mortal, he lies half-way between the gods and men, he fulfills the void and, therefore, in him all is bound together. Eros is a mediator whose function is to interpret and transmit.
Plato reveals:
"Eros possesses a special power. He interprets between gods and men, conveying and taking across to the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to men the commands and replies of the gods. He is the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them and, therefore, in him all is bound together, all find their way. For God mingles not with man; but it is through this being that all the intercourse and converse of god with man, whether awake or asleep, is carried on.
"Eros, for being the son of Poros and Penia, reveals himself perpetually unsatisfied and restless, dearth in constant search for completeness, a subject in search of an object. He is psykhopompós like Hermes and he shares with Dionysus an inexorable living energy. He is a pure life instinct, an inner force that seeks to eroticize the relations in order to preserve what is proper to life.
In the banquet, Plato narrates (through the priestess Diotima) that Eros is not a god but a daimon, that is, he is an intermediate between the divine and the mortal, he lies half-way between the gods and men, he fulfills the void and, therefore, in him all is bound together. Eros is a mediator whose function is to interpret and transmit.
Plato reveals:
"Eros possesses a special power. He interprets between gods and men, conveying and taking across to the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to men the commands and replies of the gods. He is the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them and, therefore, in him all is bound together, all find their way. For God mingles not with man; but it is through this being that all the intercourse and converse of god with man, whether awake or asleep, is carried on.
"Eros, for being the son of Poros and Penia, reveals himself perpetually unsatisfied and restless, dearth in constant search for completeness, a subject in search of an object. He is psykhopompós like Hermes and he shares with Dionysus an inexorable living energy. He is a pure life instinct, an inner force that seeks to eroticize the relations in order to preserve what is proper to life.
“Eternity isn't some later time. Eternity isn't a long time. Eternity has nothing to do with time. Eternity is that dimension of here and now which thinking and time cuts out. This is it. And if you don't get it here, you won't get it anywhere. And the experience of eternity right here and now is the function of life. Heaven is not the place to have the experience; here is the place to have the experience.”
— Joseph Campbell
— Joseph Campbell
'There is nothing very remarkable about being immortal; with the exception of mankind, all creatures are immortal, for they know nothing of death. What is divine, terrible, and incomprehensible is to know oneself immortal. I have noticed that in spite of religion, the conviction as to one’s own immortality is extraordinarily rare."
--BORGES
BORGES ON IMMORTALITY by Jon Stewart
The various conceptions of immortality in most every culture evince at once the basic human fear of death and at the same time the equally basic hope for a more congenial future beyond mundane existence.
The Greek and Christian views of immortality, which have been so influential in Western philosophy and theology, represent two different, yet generally quite positive, visions of eternal life. Although for the Greeks immortality in Hades was not, as Achilles' lament indicates , a thing to be eagerly anticipated, nevertheless the Olympian gods with their immense power and influence represented a positive picture of perennial existence.
The Christian account presents another perhaps even more optimistic view of immortality since it teaches that eternal existence is possible for humans who live righteous lives and hold correct beliefs. The Christian promise of an everlasting life in heaven in the state of perfect bliss has long been held up by theologians as representing the apex of human happiness and fulfillment.
"The Immortal," by Jorge Luis Borges, hints at something fundamentally wrong about the very concept of immortality. Most philosophical criticisms of this concept concentrate on attacking the notion of a separable soul which survives the death of the human body, thus approaching the question of immortality essentially as a mind-body problem. Borges's story, on the other hand, focuses on the concept of immortality itself and on what we might call its internal consistency.
Reflecting on "The Immortal," Borges says that the story shows us "the effect that immortality would have on men," and he explains that the Philosophy and Literature, © 1993, 17: 295-301 296 Philosophy and Literature story offers "a sketch of an ethic for immortals."
"The Immortal" can be seen as a thought experiment: Borges proposes that we imagine that we are immortal, and he then calls on us to examine our conception of that imagined existence to see if it can be thought consistently. We shall see that in the end our traditional views of immortality are contradictory and that the consistent conception represents something quite different from our preconceptions and—surprisingly—something far from desirable.
Although the most obvious target of criticism in Borges's story is the Greek conception of immortality, on closer inspection he is, I would like to argue, also concerned to criticize the Christian view. This reading has, in my opinion, been neglected by many commentators, the majority of whom would see in this work an affirmation of the power of literature over death and finitude.
According to Augustine and Aquinas, the immortality of the blessed souls in the supernal state consists essentially in participating in the vmo beatifica. To behold God in this vision is to take part in eternal life. Aquinas claims that only by viewing God can one obtain "perfect bliss" and immortality. In an argument largely appropriated from Aristode's Nicomachean Ethics, Aquinas contends that man, who naturally desires to know, is never perfectly satisfied provided that there remains something unexplained. In his terrestrial condition, always seeking and desiring, man is in a tragic situation since he can never unravel the ultimate causes and thus attain perfect beatitude.
In heaven, however, man obtains ultimate bliss since in beholding God, who is the first cause of all things, man thus sees and understands the workings of all things. With the comprehension of the first cause, all the other causes become apparent as well. Aquinas also argues that when we behold the workings of the entire universe in the visio beatifica, in fact, we are merely beholding God himself or more exactly the omnipresent divina substantia.
Augustine describes the vision as follows: "Similarly, in the future life, wherever we turn the spiritual eyes ... we shall discern . . . the incorporeal God directing the whole universe." Observing how God governs the universe, our intellect gains ultimate satisfaction, and there remains nothing more to be known. But yet God does not exist in time as do finite things. This means that our vision of God is not a temporal one but rather an eternal one. Likewise, since the universe is nothing other than the divine substance which is God, we behold the...
*
Dr. James Hollis: The Self is an archetype of development and purpose in our life. The Self is not an object. If it were an object, we’d call it a noun and therefore, it would show up in an MRI or x-ray.
It’s, rather, an energy system and you sew it to yourself. It is ‘selfing.’ I know that is not very good English, but it’s more accurate psychologically.
The Self is an energy system that is attending to the digesting of your food, the maintenance of your very complex bodily operations, and emotional operations in your life. At the same time, it is invested in your own growth development and purpose in life.
When our life is not being experienced as a meaningful experience from the standpoint of the Self, it pathologizes.
And so, pathology is how I, as a therapist or other therapists, track backwards to say, “All right. What is the Self asking of me since my ego hasn’t been able to figure this out?” And then you begin to realize, “All right."
"The Self is an autonomous other that is present within me.”
Again, I don’t make up my dreams, the Self makes up the dreams. The Self is trying to communicate. Therefore, the invitation to the ego is, “Hey, why not pay attention? You might learn something here.”
The numinous comes from a Latin verb that means to nod or beckon, so it’s something that reaches out and speaks to us. So the numinous is that which calls us to awareness or attentiveness. Terrible events too, tragic events, losses, betrayals, disappointments are also numinous events because again, they are triggers to our awareness.
And we need to ask a question, and that is, “Of what should I be mindful when I reflect on this experience?” And again, “What agenda or task does this bring to me now?” Something inside of a person is always seeking it’s expression, is an encounter with a numinous inside of each of us.
https://how-to-write-a-book.com/dreams-creativity-and-the-inspiration-of-the-numinous-with-dr-james-hollis/
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Angels_Keep_Their_Ancient_Places/CqQ_gLLepjIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Imaginal+body+Roberts+Avens&pg=PA26&printsec=frontcover
https://core.ac.uk/reader/237426160
--BORGES
BORGES ON IMMORTALITY by Jon Stewart
The various conceptions of immortality in most every culture evince at once the basic human fear of death and at the same time the equally basic hope for a more congenial future beyond mundane existence.
The Greek and Christian views of immortality, which have been so influential in Western philosophy and theology, represent two different, yet generally quite positive, visions of eternal life. Although for the Greeks immortality in Hades was not, as Achilles' lament indicates , a thing to be eagerly anticipated, nevertheless the Olympian gods with their immense power and influence represented a positive picture of perennial existence.
The Christian account presents another perhaps even more optimistic view of immortality since it teaches that eternal existence is possible for humans who live righteous lives and hold correct beliefs. The Christian promise of an everlasting life in heaven in the state of perfect bliss has long been held up by theologians as representing the apex of human happiness and fulfillment.
"The Immortal," by Jorge Luis Borges, hints at something fundamentally wrong about the very concept of immortality. Most philosophical criticisms of this concept concentrate on attacking the notion of a separable soul which survives the death of the human body, thus approaching the question of immortality essentially as a mind-body problem. Borges's story, on the other hand, focuses on the concept of immortality itself and on what we might call its internal consistency.
Reflecting on "The Immortal," Borges says that the story shows us "the effect that immortality would have on men," and he explains that the Philosophy and Literature, © 1993, 17: 295-301 296 Philosophy and Literature story offers "a sketch of an ethic for immortals."
"The Immortal" can be seen as a thought experiment: Borges proposes that we imagine that we are immortal, and he then calls on us to examine our conception of that imagined existence to see if it can be thought consistently. We shall see that in the end our traditional views of immortality are contradictory and that the consistent conception represents something quite different from our preconceptions and—surprisingly—something far from desirable.
Although the most obvious target of criticism in Borges's story is the Greek conception of immortality, on closer inspection he is, I would like to argue, also concerned to criticize the Christian view. This reading has, in my opinion, been neglected by many commentators, the majority of whom would see in this work an affirmation of the power of literature over death and finitude.
According to Augustine and Aquinas, the immortality of the blessed souls in the supernal state consists essentially in participating in the vmo beatifica. To behold God in this vision is to take part in eternal life. Aquinas claims that only by viewing God can one obtain "perfect bliss" and immortality. In an argument largely appropriated from Aristode's Nicomachean Ethics, Aquinas contends that man, who naturally desires to know, is never perfectly satisfied provided that there remains something unexplained. In his terrestrial condition, always seeking and desiring, man is in a tragic situation since he can never unravel the ultimate causes and thus attain perfect beatitude.
In heaven, however, man obtains ultimate bliss since in beholding God, who is the first cause of all things, man thus sees and understands the workings of all things. With the comprehension of the first cause, all the other causes become apparent as well. Aquinas also argues that when we behold the workings of the entire universe in the visio beatifica, in fact, we are merely beholding God himself or more exactly the omnipresent divina substantia.
Augustine describes the vision as follows: "Similarly, in the future life, wherever we turn the spiritual eyes ... we shall discern . . . the incorporeal God directing the whole universe." Observing how God governs the universe, our intellect gains ultimate satisfaction, and there remains nothing more to be known. But yet God does not exist in time as do finite things. This means that our vision of God is not a temporal one but rather an eternal one. Likewise, since the universe is nothing other than the divine substance which is God, we behold the...
*
Dr. James Hollis: The Self is an archetype of development and purpose in our life. The Self is not an object. If it were an object, we’d call it a noun and therefore, it would show up in an MRI or x-ray.
It’s, rather, an energy system and you sew it to yourself. It is ‘selfing.’ I know that is not very good English, but it’s more accurate psychologically.
The Self is an energy system that is attending to the digesting of your food, the maintenance of your very complex bodily operations, and emotional operations in your life. At the same time, it is invested in your own growth development and purpose in life.
When our life is not being experienced as a meaningful experience from the standpoint of the Self, it pathologizes.
And so, pathology is how I, as a therapist or other therapists, track backwards to say, “All right. What is the Self asking of me since my ego hasn’t been able to figure this out?” And then you begin to realize, “All right."
"The Self is an autonomous other that is present within me.”
Again, I don’t make up my dreams, the Self makes up the dreams. The Self is trying to communicate. Therefore, the invitation to the ego is, “Hey, why not pay attention? You might learn something here.”
The numinous comes from a Latin verb that means to nod or beckon, so it’s something that reaches out and speaks to us. So the numinous is that which calls us to awareness or attentiveness. Terrible events too, tragic events, losses, betrayals, disappointments are also numinous events because again, they are triggers to our awareness.
And we need to ask a question, and that is, “Of what should I be mindful when I reflect on this experience?” And again, “What agenda or task does this bring to me now?” Something inside of a person is always seeking it’s expression, is an encounter with a numinous inside of each of us.
https://how-to-write-a-book.com/dreams-creativity-and-the-inspiration-of-the-numinous-with-dr-james-hollis/
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Angels_Keep_Their_Ancient_Places/CqQ_gLLepjIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Imaginal+body+Roberts+Avens&pg=PA26&printsec=frontcover
https://core.ac.uk/reader/237426160