Query of a paragraph in Steve's book ...

Yes. Mother Earth. Warm dark, womb dark, like soil holding the baby seeds ever so gently and ever so safely in nutrient-rich stillness till the time is right to stretch up and out to the heavens while roots sink and spread comparably deep. Easy to forget in our rootless, superficial times that getting our hands dirty is the stuff of life. Cooking, gardening, love-making...all the best things and most sensual joys demand a feast of touch and aroma and taste. So much is manufactured and superficial* in our modern world that my nostalgia for the past spills into yearning; scrumping apples (ruing the tummy ache), climbing my favourite trees (getting stuck up there), chasing boys (this I still do), and baking cakes (flour everywhere). It is this intimacy with darkness I cherish.

*I read today that Kim Kardashian has insured her caboose for $21 million. She has a very nice arse but it is not a shrine.

 

I believe we must let the darkness be and accept it for what it is. Darkness/Winter is not a big fat momma trying to break us (my husband is singing 'Lazin' on a Sunny Afternoon. I adore being married to a musician).

Without Winter there can be no Spring and therefore no flowers. This denial of death and rest is the crux of the issue.

 

I believe there is a mis-perception of Darkness. What you and I consider 'darkness' bears little resemblance to the darkness being expressed elsewhere. Darkness is being put forth as violence, the acting out of anger, the action-thoughts manifesting from rages. I consider this a dangerous darkness, and I shy away from such expressions. I do not understand these urges. This is why the original post was created. It invoked a sort of despair and isolation. If someone hurts me, my inclination is to pull away, and possibly even just flee ... permanently. This, I have done often. In a fantasy-realm, I have wished for the ability of Powder (movie), who linked a dying deer and the hunter through his touch, and the hunter felt the pain and fear of his prey. If an abuser had to feel the pain of the abused, if they experienced empathy, then it could end the cycle.

This Freudian darkness, it is not the True Darkness. It is not Winter. Winter is part of life, that dormant, quiet, mourning time, where life stirs slowly, relentlessly, gathering strength. This is the Darkness I understand, This is the part that seeks unity with my other aspects.

Under the Thread - A VERY Short Intro to parts, I posted this: I think it must be possible to have both at once ... at least for brief moments. After all, there can be sun and rain, and thus ... the rainbow. Where the two intersect, this might be a sacred place, where there is unity. This place where we accept all aspects of ourselves.

I am realizing my definition of parts are not of the same category at all.

To injure someone is to injure myself. It is that simple.

with grace and gratitude,
^_^

 

"Why fear ye the Dark Queen, oh men?
She is your renewer."

~Dion Fortune

Blessed Be, Lily Rose and Ellen.

 

Lily Rose, I love your thought that if someone can feel the pain they are inflicting on others,
they would not do it.

It reminds me of thinking that if politicians who push us into wars would have to take up a rifle and fight,
or their sons and daughters would, they would not vote for war.

 

Right on chickenbone,

I can't for the life of me remember who said this, "You can never understand the Self or become whole, if you can't understand that as you hold the baby chick in your hand, that you have the equal and opposite thought of crushing it." It was either Hanh or Jung, or some spiritual guru. It's also the essence of The Divided Mind, and of course Jung's shadow work.

I believe it is also the reason that most people have trouble healing. They feel they don't have these thoughts or emotions, and that only others do. This of course is referred to as projection. This denial, as Jung stated, simply makes the shadow even darker and denser, to the point that it begins to rule the person, control them, and at some point a shadow eruption will occur. But to prevent any eruptions and chinks in the superego's stranglehold, TMS develops to prevent these thoughts and emotions from entering awareness. As the good doctor Sarno, said, "TMS exists to keep thoughts and emotions that are too powerful, too sad, and too threatening from entering consciousness."

Jung said, "the shadow is the thing we have no wish to be"--and everyone carries a shadow. It's the undeveloped, self centered self that is the reflection of our fears. It manifests itself in order to surrender to light, in order to move beyond darkness. It's the catalyst by which the spirit grows. From Isaac Newton, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Something must cause something. For light to grow it must have a force to grow against. Within generosity you will see how the shadow is manifest, and the reasons by which we do good things.

When Christ entered the desert he was confronted by a thing called devil. It's easily conceived that darkness, or ignorance, or anti-light is devil within someone. Being fully awake, and knowing He wielded the full power of the universe, He was tempted to use His power for ill-will, or self-serving goals. l. So, having both forces simultaneously within the Self, it comes down to the decision of which one you will serve, dark or light? Will you pretend to be light and serve only darkness? Or will you know that darkness exists within you, and use it to serve light? We have free-will.

When Christ emerged from the test, or desert, He only said one thing, "I am a beloved Son." He chose light, but He was fully aware of the power of darkness that existed in the universe, and of the fear that accompanies having a human body.

So when people feel they have no thoughts or ideas of suicide and rape and murder, they don't understand that if one person has committed these acts, that we all have, and equally possess these potentials. We're all cut from the same spirit. One sin all sin. And by not admitting the existence of these traits of potential, they simply give rise to an even darker shadow, and more denying of the Self. In my experience these are the more trouble healers, because not only does the truth set us free, TMS is also a diversion from from darker thoughts, and exists to prevent us from seeing a side of ourselves that we have no wish to be.

Good question Lily the Rose, by any other name would smell just as sweet.

Steve

 

Thanks for the wonderful and inspiring thoughts on light and darkness.
I have known pessimists and they are the least happy people inside and out.
I also know some optimists and think of one in particular who is my best friend.
Larry has a smile that could light the darkest night, and his laugh fill the voids.
He is a happy fellow who spreads his light wherever he goes.

How lucky I am to have him as a best friend for 40 years.
He lives in Colorado and I in Illinois so we only see each other once a year or so,
but we both feel like we're brothers.

When I think of Larry's friendship, I think happy.

Think of your best friend or friends and see how happy you feel.

 

See Prudentius, Psychomachia ('battle of light and dark forces') in C.S. Lewis's Allegory of Love.

 

Possess these potentials. This phrasing alters the concept of stating that everyone has these thoughts. Having the potential of having a thought is not the same at all as having the thought. Potential is an un-realized event. It is possible, but not actual.

Much of this explanation is also very male-biased. There are many many threads of truth, but it neglects the feminine aspects, which men (really, is there any man who understands a woman?) don't as readily understand. The religious aspects are also male-biased, as the bible is written primarily by men. The psychology of Freud and Jung are also male.

Wherein lies the influence of women?

The Great Pain Deception is a magnificent book, filled with a field of gold nuggets. I am enjoying it quite immensely. Aspects, though, disrupt the emerging patterns. These aspects are what I question, seeking more insight, more clarification.

I also hear the echos of "But I'm not feeling angry, Steve". This has become a phrase my saint-husband and I banter with. "Ow," I say, then follow it with, "But I don't feel angry, Steve!" This injects humour into a painful situation, thus diffusing it.

A circular argument, however, cannot be a final answer. We may be souls on a human journey, but our humanness doesn't make us all identical. Some people do not feel any emotion for anyone (psychopath), some people feel too much for others (empath).

Darkness does not always mean violence.

Many of my questions stem from a language perspective. No language is perfect, and words have many shades of meaning. It is all how we interpret and perceive.

I feel words as tangible sensations. Some words are abrasive, some soft, some strong, some carry scents and flavor, some are neutral, and so forth. To make sense of the world around me, I seek through my senses. Words are sounds. Sounds are vibrations. Vibrations create sensation.

Discussion is valuable, and perceptions add insight. I love being here.

with grace and gratitude,
^_^

 

Freud famously said " The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is 'What does a woman want?'"

He was unable to extricate himself from the premise of female wickedness. I have need to take leave of this place. There is too much celebration of narcissism and denial. As a woman and a carer I am offended by people who walk away from those in need and proclaim this a cure. Dr. Schu once said 'selfish people do not feel pain'. I believe there is much truth in this.

What do women want?
To be loved.

 

The serman at Mass this morning was a reminder that to do God's work is mainly a matter of
spreading love to others.

I think a woman does mainly want love. I believe men, do, too. And certainly dogs do.
Selfish people are to be prayed for.

A friend emailed me a video this morning about a dog's reaction to the return of his soldier master.

http://tammybruce.com/2013/07/possibly-the-best-soldier-dog-reunion-video-ever.html

It says more about love than words could.