Today, I want to share something familiar, maybe ordinary, yet an important issue: Marriage! Of course, we can translate it into the modern language as a partnership, friendship, bedmate or lifemate, etc. But the main point is how much a couple should merge into each other, how close they must be and how deep.
Rene Magritte; Perfect Woman
I’ve had various experiences in the realm of relationships. I’ve had many different connections with different women, and you can imagine how much effort it took to understand the intricacies of this adorable gender. However, my current wife is the first and only one I’ve married. It took me about twenty-three years until to say “yes” and marry her and two more years to move in together. It wasn’t easy for either of us, but we’ve slowly but surely learned to respect each other’s boundaries and individualities over the years. We share one Life but have our own dreams, all while maintaining love and respect for each other.
I have spent my life trying to understand the crucial topic in psychology called individuality. I finally succeeded with the help of Dr. Jung. It is essential for discovering and proving my uniqueness.
As it turns out, Kahlil Gibran also agrees with me. Here, I share a part of his book, “The Prophet”, about Marriage. I hope you enjoy reading it. Thanks, and have a peaceful weekend.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone. Even as the strings of a lute are alone, though they quiver with the same music.
“Love is the only freedom in the world because it so elevates the spirit that the laws of humanity and the phenomena of nature do not alter its course_” Text and art by Kahlil Gibran
On Marriage, From the Book “The Prophet”
An illustration of Khalil Gibran. (Shutterstock)
Then Almitra spoke again and said: And what of Marriage, master? And he answered, saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone. Even as the strings of a lute are alone, they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
Translated from volumes published by Lorenz Jung based on the edition “Gesammelte Werke” dtv.de The Symbols of Transformation (1952) and Aion (1950)
Here, I present another aspect of “Mana—Personality,” and honestly, I’m getting more and more excited to delve deeper and deeper into the subject! (The past episodes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,) In this part, Jung continues explaining the concept of Mana and its impact on our lives from childhood to adulthood. He describes our inner try of separation from our parents, the process of growing up within a religious context, and the acknowledgement of God. He also provides an excellent explanation of our attitudes and behaviours towards authority figures and those in power.
By distinguishing the “I” from the archetype of the Mana Personality, one is now compelled – just as in the case of the anima – to make conscious those unconscious contents which are specific to the Mana Personality. Historically, the Mana Personality is always in possession of the secret name or of the special knowledge or the prerogative of a special action (quod licet Jovi, non licet bovi), in a word: of Individual Distinction. Becoming aware of the content that builds up the archetype of the Mana Personality means for the man the second and true liberation from the father, for the woman from the mother and thus the first feeling of her own individuality. This part of the process corresponds precisely to the intention of the concrete primitive initiations up to baptism, namely the separation from the >carnal< (or >animal<) parents and the rebirth >in novam infantiam<, into the state of immortality and spiritual childhood, as formulated by certain ancient mystery religions, including Christianity.
One may not identify with the Mana Personality, opting to view it as an extramundane ‘Father in Heaven’ embodying Absoluteness, which many find significant; if faith is achieved, this leads to an absolute dominance of the unconscious, causing the entire world to flow toward it.
(Absolute means “detached”. To declare God to be absolute is to place him outside of all connection with man. Man cannot act on him, and he cannot act on man. Such a God would be a completely irrelevant thing. One can, therefore, only reasonably speak of a God who is relative to humans as is to God. The Christian conception of God as a “Father in heaven” expresses the relativity of God in exquisite form. Quite apart from the fact that man can make out less about God than an ant can about the contents of the British Museum, this urge to declare God absolute arises only from the fear that God might become ‘psychological’. That would, of course, be dangerous. An absolute God, on the other hand, is of no concern to us at all, whereas a “psychological” God would be real. This God could reach man. The Church seems to be a magical instrument to protect man from this eventuality, for it is said that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”.)
The logical consequence of this is that only a miserable, inferior, useless and sin-laden bunch of people remains. As is well known, this solution has become a historical worldview. Since I am only moving on psychological ground here and have no inclination to dictate my eternal truths to the universe, I must critically note that if I push all the highest value onto the side of the unconscious and construct a summum bonum from it, I have found myself in the unpleasant position of also inventing a devil of equal weight and size who maintains the psychological balance of my summum bonum. But under no circumstances will my modesty allow me to identify myself with the devil. That would be too presumptuous and would also put me in unbearable opposition to my highest values. But I cannot afford that, given my moral deficit.
That I feed the hungry, that I forgive an insult, that I love my enemy in the name of Christ — all these are undoubtedly great virtues. ~C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections Carl Jung Depth Psychology
For psychological reasons, I would, therefore, recommend not constructing a God from the archetype of the Mana Personality, that is, not making it concrete, because, in this way, I avoid projecting my values and non-values onto God and the devil, and, in this way I preserve my human dignity, my own specific weight, which I need so much in order not to become the unresisting plaything of unconscious powers. When you deal with the visible world, you have to be crazy to assume that you are the master of this world. Here, the principle of non-resistance to all superior factors is naturally followed up to a certain individual limit. At this point, even the most peaceful citizen becomes a bloody revolutionary. Our bowing to law and state is a recommendable model for our general attitude toward the collective unconscious. (>Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s. <) Our bowing would not be difficult up to this point. But there are also factors in the world to which our conscience does not necessarily say yes, and we bow before them. Why? It is practically more beneficial than the opposite. Likewise, there are factors in the unconscious where we have to be nothing but clever. (>Do not resist evil. < >Make friends for yourselves in the huts of unjust mammon. < >The children of the world are cleverer than the children of light<, ergo: >Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. <)
Today is the birthday of an excellent and extraordinary man (he would be ninety today). He was a specialist in the philosophy of love and hate, in patience and passion, expressing it through poetry and songs. He had profound insights into society, and with his poems, he dug deeply into the human psychological mind and narrated it through his verses.
Although he is well known, I add it as the custom introduction: Leonard Norman Cohen(September 21, 1934 – November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist. His work commonly explores themes such as faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, social and political conflict, and sexual and romantic love, desire, regret, and loss.
I’ve been listening to all the dissension… I’ve been listening to all the pain… And I feel that no matter what I do for you… It’s going to come back again. But I think that I can heal it… But I think that I can heal it… I’m a fool, but I think I can heal it… With this song…
To be honest, I’ve intended to write an article about Cohen and the film “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” for a long time, since I saw this movie last year in the cinema), but time failed, and then I thought, well, his ninetieth birthday is also a good pretext.
And honestly, again, I am not a great fan of this song! I just went to see this film because it was Leonard Cohen, which was enough rationale. But what caught my attention was that: first, this song is much older than I assumed, and second, many famous musicians had performed it before Cohen did it himself!
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song (The Movie)
Cohen wrote “Hallelujah” in 1983, using “an old Casio keyboard”, as someone reported. Cohen once said, “To find that song, that urgent song, takes a lot of versions, work, and sweat.” He recalled being in his underwear, banging his head on the floor of New York City’s Royalton Hotel until he finally thought the song was up to snuff.
“Hallelujah” was initially influenced by religion, reflecting Cohen’s Jewish background and making allusions to King David and Bathsheba (“The secret chord that David played”) and Samson and Delilah. As different versions emerged, the song became more spiritual and sometimes included sexual references. For instance, lines such as “When David played, his fingers bled” were omitted in some versions. Cohen noted his first meeting with Dominique Issermann in his notebooks. She recalled, “We used to have coffee together in the morning before he began working on ‘Hallelujah.’ He would play various versions for me. But it’s such a puzzle, such a symbolic poem. It’s obscure – like a bird flying around the room.
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic ’til I’m gathered safely in Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove Dance me to the end of love…
He was a great friend of Al and me in our youth in Iran; he helped us to endure injustice and protected us as a good companion. I still appreciate it.
Finally, as his songs always carry a message, I chose the most beautiful and relevant one for our lives today: “Passing Through!” Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.💖🙏🤗🌹
I saw Jesus on the cross on a hill called Calvary “Do you hate mankind for what they done to you?” He said, “Talk of love not hate, things to do, it’s getting late I’ve so little time and I’m only passin’ through.” Passin’ through, passin’ through Sometimes happy, sometimes blue Glad that I ran into you Tell the people that you saw me passin’ through (Come a little closer, friend) I saw Adam leave the garden with an apple in his hand I said “Now you’re out, what are you gonna do?” “Plant some crops and pray for rain, maybe raise a little Cain I’m an orphan now, and I’m only passin’ through, so are you” Passin’ through, passin’ through Sometimes happy, sometimes blue Glad that I ran into you Tell the people that you saw me passin’ through I was with Washington at Valley Forge, shivering in the snow I said, “How come the men here suffer like they do?” “Men will suffer, men will fight, even die for what is right Even though they know they’re only passin’ through” Passin’ through, passin’ through Sometimes happy, sometimes blue Glad that I ran into you Tell the people that you saw me passin’ through I was at Franklin Roosevelt’s side on the night before he died He said, “One world must come out of World War Two” (ah, the fool) “Yankee, Russian, white or tan,” he said, “a man is still a man We’re all on one road, and we’re only passin’ through” Passin’ through, passin’ through Sometimes happy, sometimes blue Glad that I ran into you Tell the people that you saw me passin’ through Let’s do it one more time Passin’ through, passin’ through Sometimes happy, sometimes blue Glad that I ran into you Tell the people that you saw me passin’ through
This impressive piece is another fascinating treasure, not because of the quantity of it by using jewellery to make it but because of its inner precious spiritual quality.
The scarab beetle was a revered symbol in ancient Egyptian culture, associated with gods like Jepri and Ra. Tutankhamun, an Egyptian pharaoh, had a gold scarab bracelet adorned with precious stones like turquoise and lapis lazuli. The Egypt-museum.com report describes the bracelet as having an incredible design.
Via Meisterdrucke
Scarab bracelets, resembling scarab beetles, were popular in ancient Egypt. They were made of gold or precious stones and believed to ward off bad luck and evil spirits. Both men and women wore them as stylish jewellery representing spiritual and religious convictions.
Here, we read the story and discovery of this magnificent treasure, which should have belonged to the young Pharaoh, Tutankhamun, by our adorable lady Marie Grillot.
Bracelet decorated with a scarab – gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise, quartzite – New Kingdom – 18th Dynasty from the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62) discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter Carter 269-n – JE 62360 – photo from the Egyptian Museum
According to Howard Carter’s estimate, “at least sixty per cent of the finest ‘unattached’ jewellery had disappeared” from Tutankhamun’s tomb, taken by looters who, in antiquity, violated the tomb on at least two occasions.
As terrible as this observation is, we can only rejoice that two hundred jewels have reached us! Made by the best goldsmiths of the Theban workshops, they fill us with their beauty and originality and captivate us with their luxury and brilliance.
Bracelet decorated with a scarab – gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise, quartzite – – New Kingdom – 18th Dynasty from the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62) discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter Carter 269-n – JE 62360 – photo from the Egyptian Museum Featured here in “Tutankhamun: His tomb and his treasures”, IES Edwards, 1976
The symbolism they carry is omnipresent, whether through the motif represented, the properties of the stone used, or even the magical effectiveness linked to the association of colours, all of which combine and charge them with virtues and protective powers.
This gold bracelet with a lapis lazuli scarab is a beautiful example and particularly moves us. Indeed, its small diameter (5.4 cm) and the signs of wear it bears testify to the fact that the young pharaoh wore it in his youth… And the fact that it also accompanies him in his afterlife is just as moving…
Bracelet decorated with a scarab – gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise, quartzite – New Kingdom – 18th Dynasty from the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62) discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter Carter 269-n – JE 62360 – photo from the Egyptian Museum Featured here in “Discovering Tutankhamun”, Zahi Hawass
“A gold and lapis lazuli scarab crowns this bracelet, which is small enough for the child Tutankhamun to wear. On each side of the scarab are inlaid mandrake fruits with sexual connotations and poppies,” explains Zahi Hawass in “Discovering Tutankhamun.”
In “The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo”, Silvia Einaudi gives a beautiful description, of which there is an extract: “A hinge and a clasp join the two semicircles that compose it. Its upper part, whose surface gradually widens, supports a large scarab, whose back, reproduced in the most minor details, is formed of inlaid lapis lazuli set in gold sockets and whose abdomen is entirely gold. The legs are executed with precision and realism: the front legs are provided with a five-pointed rostra, while the hind legs end in hooks. The surface on which the insect is fixed is surrounded by a continuous row of tiny gold grains, bordered on the outside by lapis lazuli, gold, turquoise and carnelian segments. The two parts of the bracelet that surmount the hinge and the clasp are occupied by a delicate composition of inlaid floral motifs, which fills the small trapezoidal space in a balanced way: a yellow quartzite flower is flanked by two carnelian buds; two small gold rosettes separate their stems. The lower part of the bracelet is decorated on the outside with four parallel rows of tiny gold grains.
Bracelet decorated with a scarab – gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise, quartzite – New Kingdom – 18th Dynasty from the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62) discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter Carter 269-n – JE 62360
In “Jewels of the Pharaohs”, Cyril Aldred analyses the floral motif thus: “The two trapezoidal spacers are filled with a floral design of a mandrake fruit flanked by two poppy buds and daisies”.
In “The Gold of the Pharaohs”, Christiane Ziegler gives us details on the materials and fine stones used, allowing us to better decipher the choice made by the goldsmiths during its design…
First of all, gold, whose brilliance brings it closer to that of the sun… Reputed to be unalterable, it is thus assimilated to the flesh of the gods. As for lapis lazuli, she explains: “In ancient myths, it constituted the beard and hair of the gods and possessed virtues comparable to those of turquoise”. Turquoise “méfékat”, with its luminous blue-green colour, evoked: “the growth of young shoots in spring and was synonymous with vitality and joy. Its presence in funeral equipment undoubtedly conferred on the deceased the joy of rebirth”. As for carnelian “Héréset”, it: “possessed the invigorating virtues of blood” and was thus linked to life…
Bracelet decorated with a scarab – gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise, quartzite – New Kingdom – 18th Dynasty from the tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62) discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter Carter 269-n – JE 62360
As for the most essential element, the scarab, finely worked in a deep and luminous blue lapis lazuli, is the symbol of renewal, of rebirth. Its representation is persistent in Egyptian jewellery, especially in the young king’s finery.
In her “Dictionary of Egyptian Mythology”, Isabelle Franco specifies, “The scarab is the bearer of a renewed energy which preludes all existence; it presides over the transformations which lead to all maturity. It is the animal attribute of Khepri. The sign of the scarab is used to write the word kheper, which evokes the idea of birth but also of returning.”
The discoverers of Tutankhamun’s tomb: Lord Carnarvon (left) and Howard Carter, near KV 62 (photo (Harry Burton?) taken between November 1922 and April 1923)
The young king “came back to life” in November 1922, thanks to the perseverance of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon, who discovered his tomb in the heart of the Valley of the Kings, finally bringing him out of the oblivion the centuries had left him.
The bracelet decorated with a lapis lazuli scarab (Carter 269-n – JE 62360) was in the wooden box inlaid in the shape of a cartridge (Carter 269 / JE 61490 / GEM 242) Provenance: The tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62) discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter The Griffith Institute – Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation The Howard Carter Archives – Photographs by Harry Burton
It took seven long weeks to empty the antechamber, and the official opening of the burial chamber took place on February 17, 1923. On that same day, as they continued their extraordinary exploration, they noticed “A low door, on the right, which gave access to another, smaller room. (…) This door had neither been blocked nor sealed. A single glance was enough to make us understand that it was this which contained the real treasures of the tomb …” (Howard Carter)
This bracelet was found in this room, precisely in a dark wooden box in the shape of a cartouche, whose lid reproduces the name of Tutankhamun in a delicate coloured rebus. Harry Burton’s photos, identified as it, are placed on the ground in front and to the left of the gilded wooden naos protected by the four goddesses.
The bracelet decorated with a lapis lazuli scarab (Carter 269-n – JE 62360) was in the wooden box inlaid in the shape of a cartridge (Carter 269 / JE 61490 / GEM 242) Provenance: The tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62) discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter The Griffith Institute – Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation The Howard Carter Archives – Photographs by Harry Burton
This box, number Carter 269, contained wonders! The various jewels and artefacts it contained received this number, followed by a letter as a reference. Thus, this bracelet received the number “269 n,” and it was then registered in the Journal of Entries of the Cairo Museum JE 62360 … while waiting for the new referencing that will be given to it by the Grand Egyptian Museum, where it will soon be exhibited …
Egyptian Museum, Cairo – Tutankhamun’s bracelet with a scarab http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=15044 Howard Carter, The Tomb of Tutankhamun, Volume 3: The Annex and Treasury, Bloomsbury Academic, 2014 Jean Capart, Tutankhamun, Vromant & Cie Printers-Publishers, 1923 http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5611389t/f60.texte Nicholas Reeves, Tutankhamun, life, death and discovery of a pharaoh, Editions Errance, 2003 Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Tutankhamun and his time, catalogue of the exhibition Petit Palais, Paris, February 17-July 1967, Ministry of State for Cultural Affairs Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Life and Death of a Pharaoh, Hachette, 1963 Zahi Hawass, Discovering Tutankhamun, Editions du Rocher, 2015 Zahi Hawass, Tutankhamun, Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, exhibition catalogue, IMG Melcher Media, 2018 Francesco Tiradritti, Treasures of Egypt – The wonders of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Gründ, 1999 Cyril Aldred, Jewels of the Pharaohs, Ed. Thames & Hudson Ltd. London, 1978 Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards, Tutankhamun: his tomb and his treasures, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977 Christiane Ziegler, The Gold of the Pharaohs – 2500 Years of Goldsmithing in Ancient Egypt, catalogue of the summer 2018 exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, The Griffith Institute – Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation – The Howard Carter Archives – Photographs by Harry Burton http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/php/am-makepage1.php?&db=burton&view=gall&burt=&card=269&desc=&strt=3&what=Search&cpos=51&s1=imagename&s2=cardnumber&s3=&dno=25 Émile Vernier Egyptian jewellery and jewellery, MIFAO, Cairo, 1907 https://archive.org/details/MIFAO2/mode/2uphttps://archive.org/details/MIFAO2/page/n1/mode/2up Thomas Garnet Henry James, Howard Carter, The path to Tutankhamun, TPP, 1992
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to write this story at first, but after reading the heartfelt verses of “So What” by my wise friend Mike Steeden, I felt encouraged enough to write it. Mike’s poem felt very familiar to me!
It is Tuesday, and I must write my usual weekend posts earlier because this coming weekend will be jam-packed with a mixture of moans and revel, grief and joy!! On Saturday, we (must) drive southwards to another town to participate in Regina’s sister’s birthday party. Still, the day before that, on Friday, there is the funeral of a 25-year-old young man, the son of a long-time close friend of my wife and me, who was found dead last week in his apartment. Of course, this incident belongs to the inner circle of acquaintances, so I decided to preserve everyone’s anonymity. Unfortunately, similar stories occur frequently, but I believe this one is noteworthy due to specific details worth sharing.
I have known the mother of this boy since the early nineties; a beautiful girl and a close friend of my wife (still a girlfriend of mine at the time) with full wishes looking to the future. After a while, she married a bit older gentleman, with the dream of having a family with children. It didn’t happen because, after some medical research, they discovered that the required sperm were too slow to reach the egg. As a result, they decided to opt for using donor sperm from foreign donors (Artificial Insemination). When she talked to me about her decision, I shared my opinion and asked if it was important for her to specify the origin of the sperm, such as whether it belonged to a German donor or not. She let me enjoy her beautiful smile awhile and told me she preferred to take a pure German sample; she added that, in all honesty, she knew my son as cute and sweet (he was about nine those days) but very strenuous and demanding. She believed it was because of his mixed heritage, with me as a non-German and Regina as a German. So, she thought that a straight mix would give a better result!
Anyway, the child was born a very handsome boy, although the mother’s dream didn’t go as well as it should have. After a short time, the man lost his feelings toward his wife and, most of all, toward his non-son! The couple separated, and everyone went their own way. The man found another woman, and the woman first tried it alone, and after a short affair with my brother Al, married another man with two children. I didn’t get much information about the boy, but I did hear that Al believed the boy was a genius because of his strange behaviour; he could hear the boy banging his head on the wall at night! As the boy got older, he went to school and seemed to be doing fine. However, as he became a teenager, I found out from my wife that he became addicted to drugs.
I remember once she, the mother, confided in me about her despair and asked me if I could talk to him and tell him about my experiences with drugs and how I managed to quit. I did it, of course, even though I knew it would never work because every addicted person has their own way of being involved with this devil and must find their own soul’s path to be rescued. I could only try to analyze it with his father complex, as he never had a good relationship with his non-father. Maybe it would be better if he knew the truth about his real father or how he himself has been made. That might be the reason why he never wanted to quit drugs.
Long story short, She had tried numerous methods to help her son overcome his addiction, visiting doctors, hospitals, and various aid institutions for healing. However, again and again, after a while, he relapsed, and the cycle continued, becoming a seemingly never-ending story. Till then, another purchase was a big plan to send him to a new version of quitting. He asked his mother to give him a sum for meeting his girlfriend in another town before he got to the hospital. She trusted him, but he repurchased some stuff, got into his apartment, and (apparently, as I believe) put an end to his sad story with a golden shot!
That was a short story about the brief life of a young man who was brought up into life with such great efforts and wishes, but he faded away as ado about nothing! As the holy books say, we humans are the highest of creatures, a confection of love, lust, greed, needs, and before all dreams, but so incredibly fragile!
Illustrations and paintings by Sky Black Art.
An addendum Now, it is Friday, and I’m writing this after I return from the funeral; there was a vast audience I never expected. It made me mirthful, and I do believe if the boy knew to have so many fans would choose another way! I send my heartfelt blessing to his soul.🙁😐💖
PS: And as I reached Saturday today, I must hurry to the birthday party. It seems like I’m playing a part in the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral”! Tomorrow, there’s another planned event: the communion celebration for my daughter-in-law’s sister, but that’s another story!!😜
Translated from volumes published by Lorenz Jung based on the edition “Gesammelte Werke” dtv.de The Symbols of Transformation (1952) and Aion (1950)
Continuing the concept of Mana-Personality, Dr. Jung advises us not to underestimate the unconscious mind and even offers a prescription for better managing this issue. (I dearly share here the last parts, 1–2–3–4–5, if someone wants to check out!)🙏
As I read more from Dr. Jung, I find that the issues he discusses do not pertain to a specific time period; they are fundamental and timeless, as we can clearly observe them in the present.
So, I believe following his concepts can heal our ailing society. He did an excellent job of helping us understand our inner unknown. Let’s read another chapter of this Mana riddle.
Individuation The Mana Personality (P6)
The Mana personality develops historically into a heroic figure and a god-man (according to popular belief, the highest Christian king could cure epilepsy with his Mana by laying on hands), whose earthly figure is the priest. The analysts can tell us something about how much the doctor is still a man-personality. Insofar as the “I” apparently draws the power belonging to the anima to itself, the ego becomes a mana personality. This development is an almost regular occurrence. I have never seen a more or less advanced development process of this kind where identification with the archetype of the Mana personality did not take place, at least temporarily. And it is the most natural thing in the world that should happen this way because not only you do expect it yourself, but everyone else expects it too. One can hardly help but admire oneself a little because one has seen deeper than others, and the others have such a need to find somewhere a tangible hero or a superior wise man, a leader and father, an unquestionable authority, that they are very willing to build temples and burn incense to even petty gods. It is not just the lamentable foolishness of the uncritical followers but a psychological law of nature that what was before will always be again. And this will always be the case as long as consciousness does not interrupt the naive concretization of the archetypes. I do not know whether it is desirable for consciousness to alter the eternal laws; I only know that it sometimes alters them and that this measure is a vital necessity for certain people, which, however, does not prevent them from placing themselves on the throne of the father in order to make the old rule come true once again. Indeed, it is difficult to see how one could escape the overwhelming power of the archetypes.
Johfra Bosschart Occult Surrealist
I don’t believe that one can escape this overwhelming power. One can only change one’s attitude towards it and thereby prevent oneself from naively falling into an archetype and then being forced to play a role at the expense of one’s humanity. Being obsessed with an archetype turns a person into a mere collective figure, a kind of Mask behind which humanity can no longer develop but instead increasingly atrophies. One must, therefore, be aware of the danger of falling prey to the dominant Mana personality. The danger is not only that one becomes the FatherMask oneself but also that one falls prey to this Mask if someone else wears it. In this sense, master and student are the same.
The dissolution of the anima means that one has gained insight into the driving forces of the unconscious, but not that we have rendered these forces ineffective ourselves. They can attack us again in a new form at any time. And they will inevitably do so again if there is a gap in the conscious attitude. Power stays against power. When the “I” assumes power over the unconscious, the unconscious reacts with a subtle attack, in this case, with the dominance of the Mana personality, whose enormous prestige captivates the “I”. The only way to protect oneself against this is to fully admit one’s own weakness in the face of the forces of the unconscious. In this way, we do not oppose the unconscious with power, and as a result, we do not provoke the unconscious either.
Illustration: Nikolai Zaitsev
It may sound strange to the reader when I speak of the unconscious, so to speak, in a personal way. I do not want to provoke condemnation by thinking of the unconscious as personal. The unconscious consists of natural processes that lie beyond the human-personal. Only our consciousness is >personal<. So when I talk about >provoking<, I don’t mean that the unconscious is somehow offended and – like the old gods – does something to someone out of jealousy or vengeance. I often mean something like a psychological diet error that upsets my digestion. The unconscious reacts automatically, like my stomach, which figuratively takes revenge on me. If I assume power over the unconscious, that is a psychological dietary error, an unsatisfactory attitude that is best avoided in the interest of one’s own well-being. My unpoetic comparison is, however, a little too mild considering the far-reaching and devastating moral effects of a disturbed unconscious. In this respect, I would prefer to speak of the vengeance of offended gods.
….the man who adopts the standpoint of Eros finds his compensatory opposite in the will to power, and that of the man who puts the accent on power is Eros.
Dr. Jung once expressed his sadness because he wasn’t sure if his message reached people and if they comprehended it. He was an extraordinary man with incredible imagination and insight into the world, people, and their inner unknown. However, his genius mind was too vast for many to understand, and he often felt alone. He also said that if a man knows more than others, he becomes lonely!
While translating and publishing the series about Mana-Personality, I often encountered Jung’s humble, honest, and profoundly wise words. I thought it would be great to share some of his explanations about his intentions and efforts to help us better understand his message.
His works, as we know, have become very popular now. I noticed it when I kept trying to buy more of his books (complete works 1, 2, 3, etc.). They are (for me!) quite expensive. Of course, I may have downloaded some of them from the internet, but as I prefer to hold the book in my hand, I reached for the collections he published in such small but fine pieces. One of them is this book, “The Relation Between “I” and the Unconscious”, which I have shared some translations. This time, I want to share with you the preface of this book to get to know him better. I found his explanation with such honest words fascinating and touching, and I hope you will feel the same way I did.
Preface to the Second Edition
This little book originally arose from a lecture that I published under the title ‘La Structure de l’Inconscient’ (cf. The Structure of the Unconscious, CW 7.) in the Archives de Psychology in December 1916 (vol. 16, p. 152). It was also published under the title ‘The Conception of the Unconscious’ in my ‘Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology’ (2nd ed., 1917). I mention this fact because I want to show that the present work is not a one-off phenomenon but the expression of an effort that has extended over decades to understand the peculiar character and course of the > drame intérieur <, the process of transformation of the unconscious soul, and to present it – at least in its main features. This idea of the independence of the unconscious, which distinguishes my view so fundamentally from that of Freud, dawned on me as early as 1902 when I was studying the psychological development of a young somnambulist (cf. On the Psychology and Pathology of So-called Occult Phenomena, GW 1.).
In a lecture at the Zurich town hall, >The Content of Psychosis< (CW3), I approached this idea from a different angle. In 1912, I presented some of the main parts of the process using an individual example, and at the same time, I showed the historical and ethical parallels of this apparently universal psychic process (cf. Transformations and Symbols of the Libido, 1912. See also the 1952 version, which was extensively revised and expanded by Jung: Symbols of Transformation, GW 5.). In the essay mentioned above, La Structure de l’Inconscient, I attempted for the first time to give a summary of the whole process. It was a mere attempt of whose inadequacy I was only too convinced. The difficulties of the material were so great, however, that I could not imagine that I could do them any justice by the explanations in a single essay. I, therefore, left it at the ‘preliminary report’, with the firm intention of taking up this subject again at a later opportunity. Twelve years of further experience enabled me then in 1928 to thoroughly revise my formulations of 1916, and the result of these efforts was this present little book. This time, I tried mainly to describe the relationship of ego consciousness to the unconscious process. Following this intention, I have been particularly concerned with those phenomena which can be described as reactions of the conscious personality to the influences of the unconscious. In this way, I have attempted to approach the unconscious process indirectly. However, these investigations have not yet reached a satisfactory conclusion, as the answer to the main question of the nature and essence of the unconscious process has not yet been found. I did not dare tackle this difficult task without the greatest possible experience. Its solution is reserved for the future.
The reader of this booklet will forgive me if I ask him to regard it – when he reads it – as a serious attempt on my part to intellectually grasp a new and as yet unexplored area of experience. It is not a matter of a sophisticated system of thought but of formulating psychic experience complexes, which have never before been the subject of scientific consideration. Since the soul is an irrational given and cannot be equated with a more or less divine reason according to the old model, it is not surprising that in psychological experience, we very often come across processes and experiences that do not correspond to our reasonable expectations and are consequently rejected by our rationalistic consciousness. Such an attitude is, of course, unsuitable for psychological observation because it is highly unscientific. One must not try to dictate to nature if one wants to observe its undisturbed workings.
I am trying to summarize 28 years of psychological and psychiatric experience, which is why my little book can make a specific claim to being taken seriously. Of course, I could not say everything in this one presentation. The reader will find a continuation of the last chapter in the book >The Secret of the Golden Blossom< (see the commentary on The Secret of the Golden Blossom, GW 13.), which I published together with my late friend Richard Wilhelm. I did not want to omit to refer to this publication because Eastern philosophy has been concerned with inner psychological processes for many centuries and is, therefore, of inestimable value for our psychological research precisely because of the much-needed comparative material.
In October 1934 Carl Gustav Jung
In the end, here is a short description of uttering one’s acknowledgement based on knowing and believing. Socrates said, “I know that I don’t know!” Let’s hear Dr. Jung’s words about this! Thank you all for being there.🤗🙏💖
Today, I’m sharing an exceptional article by Marie Grillot about the excellent painter Alaa Awad, who combines the new age with the old style of ancient Egyptians.
Awad is an Egyptian artist famous for his public murals in Cairo and Luxor. He gained recognition for his murals on Mohamed Mahmoud Street in Cairo, Egypt, during the 2012 Egyptian Revolution, which attracted significant media coverage. His public murals and paintings depict the Egyptian people’s history, dignity, and charisma. Additionally, he has showcased his oil paintings and outdoor public murals internationally in solo exhibitions.
Above an ancient mural fresco, below an impressive perception by Awad.
“The West Bank of Luxor” in Paris, with the paintings of Alaa Awad!
“Alaa Awad, here is a new talent that Egypt offers us, and not the least. This young artist, who grew up in Mansoura and teaches at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor, has been steeped since childhood in the prestigious heritage bequeathed by the Pharaonic civilization. By that, he will draw all his inspiration, developing his art where great finesse and extraordinary sensitivity are combined.” Could one dream of a more beautiful presentation than that of this other “Theban”? Christian Leblanc
Detail of a large mural by Alaa Awad West Bank of Luxor (near the Messala Hotel)
Alaa has masterfully and grandiosely expressed his street art in Egypt, the USA, Germany, and Denmark. Whether he is painting a room at the Street Art City in Lurcy-Levis (France) or the Cairo windows of a “Bulgari” boutique, his art explodes as much as it fascinates.
In the old Gournah, on the west bank of Luxor (the “West Bank”), he set up his studio at the edge of the arable land, facing the Theban mountain. This environment is flooded with this exceptional light, which offers itself to him in an infinitely rich palette, ranging from the shades of the fields to the pink tones of the Theban peak, from the white Galabeyas of the Gournawis to the black dresses of the women.
A stone’s throw away rises the majestic temples of millions of years of the greatest Pharaohs. A stone’s throw away, the eternal homes of artisans, nobles, queens and sovereigns hide in their entrails the most beautiful scenes of funerary art…
So many sources of inspiration could kill inspiration by an excess of sensations, but NO, it is only sublimated!
If Alaa admires his “current” masters, the great Egyptian artists, and also Gauguin, Van Gogh and Rodin, he has unlimited respect and esteem for the Pharaoh’s artisans… For those who engraved the walls of temples, painted the walls of tombs in the faint light of oil lamps, decorated sarcophagi, or sculpted statues…
With his intelligent, deep and concentrated gaze, he seems to read all this, penetrate it, and, perhaps, finally, understand “the codes”…
And he restores it with his own sensitivity, with his personal interpretation imbued with his references to street art.
“The Mourners” of the Tomb of Ramose (Valley of the Nobles – West Bank of Luxor) wonderfully reinterpreted by Alaa Awad, right
“From themes with a funerary consonance to those reproduced on the walls of temples, a whole repertoire will serve as a guide to reinterpret and even update these age-old scenes in a shimmering of colours and an exuberance of movements.” (Christian Leblanc)
The mourners at Ramose’s tomb are as thin and slender as top models. They are dressed in brightly coloured clothes; their legs are thin, and their arms and fingers are disproportionately long. Hairstyles like stars, their eyes made up in black sometimes let golden tears flow.
His “Isis”, the “mother” of the goddesses, against a backdrop of a starry sky, with eyes heavy with kohol and his “Hathor”, with their benevolent physiognomy, overflows with colour and vitality.
Alaa Awad’s rich and shimmering palette
Alaa is an artist with a rich and powerful palette. Véronique Sedro, Egyptologist and writer, felt this very well: “The artisans and artists of Pharaonic Egypt used natural pigments: multiple ochres, black, but also white, solar yellow, celestial blues and deep blues and this inimitable turquoise like the stone that bears her name. When I entered Alaa Awad’s studio in Luxor, my eyes immediately stopped on her palette. A painting in itself, a palimpsest of her works. A large square of wood where painting knives rested on a firework of thick colours.”
Alaa likes to draw parallels between the history of yesterday and that of today, between the reminiscences of a past, distant or more recent, combined with a subtle interweaving of religions or cultures…
Thus, its processions of sacred boats of the Opet festival “rejoin” the celebration of the local saint, Abou el-Haggag. Its buffaloes from the Gournah cattle market seem to come straight from certain nobles’ tombs.
Workers at the Theban Necropolis Excavation Sites by Alaa Awad
So, the “current” daily life is a source of inspiration. It could be the long procession of workers on the excavation sites who tirelessly work on the mountainside, handle their shovels, or carry black leather bags filled with rubble.
It can also be festivals and traditions. The “tahtib” – the stick dance – is again a reference to antiquity, as proven by the scenes from the tomb of Kheruef. Or the “Mermah”, a morning event during which the gournawis mount their horses and challenge each other with sticks in an immemorial ritual misted with sand dust…
Commentary on “Le Marmah”
Alaa likes to paint the men of the village in Galabeya and turban and the women with big dark eyes and long black hair covered with a black Malaya.
If horses are very often represented in his paintings, we also sometimes find extraordinary creatures, like those from Nagada’s palettes … or even the Burak, which is “according to Islamic tradition, a fantastic steed, mount of the prophets”: a winged horse with a woman’s head.
Different faces of “La Zarqa el Yamama” by Alaa Awad
And his favourite subject is perhaps the “Zarqa al Yamama,” a “blue-eyed woman with an ability to predict events before they happen”—in a word, an Egyptian Cassandra. He gives her a face and a look of beauty that is as mysterious as it is attractive and covers her hair with scarves that one would wish a couturier could create…
Alaa est un artiste totalement – et fièrement -“égyptien” : “Du street-art à ses toiles néo-pharaoniques, de sa technique de l’acrylique et du pinceau, son œuvre, d’une indéniable élégance, s’adresse d’abord au peuple égyptien avec qui il partage ce si fabuleux héritage culturel que bien des coutumes et des traditions perpétuent encore jusqu’à présent”nous dit Christian Leblanc. Quant à Véronique Sedro, elle nous confie : “A travers lui j’ai identifié l’âme égyptienne”.
It is with mastered art that Alaa Awad interprets the fabulous heritage of Egypt.
At the same time, La Villette welcomed Tutankhamun, Alaa Awad arrived in Paris and was invited to participate in the Cultural Year France—Egypt 2019.
His exhibition – which could not have any other title than “The West Bank Luxor” – will be held at the Egyptian Cultural Center – 111 Boulevard Saint-Michel – 75005 Paris, from Saturday, March 23 to Saturday, March 30, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. (except Sunday and Monday).
Marie Grillot
Alaa Awad at “Street Art City” (Lurcy-Lévy – France) – August 2018
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