A Jungian Union Paradoxium [Annie made that up] [but I like it] :o)
Let's return to the Land of Boys, Birds, Flight, & Autism as a Leap forward in Evolution. Am I eminently qualified to amble or ramble on this? Nah. But who really is? So, we'll give it a try because maybe we can continue to learn together. A pre-amble:
Music: Sammy FainLyrics: Sammy Cahn
From Peter Pan --- You Can Fly!
[Wendy:]But Peter, how do we get to neverland?
[Peter:] Fly, of course!
[Wendy:] Fly?
[Peter:]It's easy! You think of a wonderful thought!
[The children:] Any happy little thought?
[Peter:] Uh, huh
[Wendy:] Like toys at Christmas?
[John:] Sleighbells,snow?
[Peter:] Yeah, watch me now, here I go! It's easier than pie.
[Wendy:] He can fly!
[John:] He can fly!
[Michael:] He flew!!
[Peter:] Now you try!
[Wendy:] I'll think of a mermaid lagoon. Ahhh, underneath the magic moon!
[John:] I'll think I'm in a pirate's cave!
[Michael:] I think I'll be an indian brave!
[Peter:] Now, everybody try!
[All:] One, two, three!
[Children:] We can fly, we can fly, we can fly!
(they all crash)
[Peter:] This won't do. What's the matter with you?
All it takes is faith and trust... Oh, and something I forgot! Dust!
[Wendy and John:] Dust?
[Michael:] Dust?
[Peter:]Yep, just a little bit of pixie dust!
Now, think of the happiest things... It's the same as having wings!
[Wendy:] Let's all try it... just once more.
[John:] Look, we're rising off the floor!
[Michael:] Jiminee
[Wendy:] Oh, my!
[Wendy:] We can fly,
[Peter:] You can fly!
[All:] We can fly!!!
[Peter:]C'mon everybody, here we go! Off to neverland!!!
[Choir:]Think of a wonderful thought
Any merry little thought
Think of Christmas, think of snow
Think of sleigh bells Here we go!
Like a reindeer in the sky
You can fly! You can fly!You can fly! You can fly!
Soon you'll zoom all around the room
All it takes is faith and trust
ut the thing that's a positive must
Is a little bit of pixie dust
The dust is a positive must
ou can fly! You can fly!You can fly! You can fly!
hen there's a smile in your heart
There's no better time to start
It's a very simple plan
You can do what the birdies can
At least it's worth a try
You can fly! You can fly!You can fly! You can fly!
Maybe a good place to start is from the writings of The Stellar Marie-Louise von Franz.
Paraphrased:
.... The Latin term puer aeternus, meaning eternal youth, derives from Ovid's Metamorphoses, in which it is applied to the child-god Iacchus in the Eleusinian mysteries. In later times the child-god was identified with Dionysus and the god Eros. In Jungian psychology the term puer aeternus is commonly used to describe a certain type of man - charming, affectionate, creative and ever in pursuit of his dreams.
These are the men who remain adolescent well into their adult years, generally full of life yet strangely draining to those around them. We have worked with them, loved them and watched them wave good-bye.
Phillip Williams of New-Alchemy-MM further delineates:
... the puer aeternus, understood as an alchemical image, is, vis-à-vis the old king, the element that is destined to replace him. This is a symbol of the renewal of life or the reunion of separated opposites, the "new inner man," or the arcane substance resurrected, a more complete symbol of the self.
Seen in the light of alchemical symbolism and Jung's remarks on the subject, the father image of the old ruler and the winged son are not only not real opposites but have a single nature. Therefore the alchemists referred to their substance as senex et puer. Through the fusion that takes place in the alchemical opus, whether in the fire or the bath, through dissolution into chaos or mutilation, in one way or another the old man is transformed into the son. However, in this regard Jung showed that the old king represents not only a tradition-bound, excessively egoistic, stick-in-the-mud principle of consciousness, but rather ultimately the collective God image itself.
Therefore when it is said that the king is in need of transformation, it is ultimately our conception of the Divine that needs transforming, and it is clear that such a process is only possible within the psyche. In other words, the only thing we can do is orient ourselves towards the unconscious if we want to find out in what way our prevailing conscious dominants must change so that our image of the divine may once again be transformed, as Jung puts it, "into a real and workable whole, whereas before it had only pretended to wholeness."
And that is because ... Annie believes ... the unconscious from which the prevailing "dominant" conception stems is the feminine. So, our conception of the "Divine" remains essentially and unbeknownst to our "awake" selves ... feminine. One autistic man wrote "women develop later, so they get hysteria." In this context .. it makes perfect sense. Women remain, for the most part, immature and without true individuation. We pretend a lot. We want to be strong and independent people ... but yet have this rampant inner pull for protection. Maybe countries like Iran -- while barbaric still in many ways -- can actually show us true "equality." As noted in previous post ... there is no privilege afforded based on gender. Men, women, boys, girls are stoned equally. Our West still moves and flows in the unconscious realm of what some call the "mothers." And our men ramble around there too, wanting to crawl back into that comfort. So, sorry Feminines ... I must report that it will be the Masculine element that MUST take the lead in helping us become whole. We play grown up, we play mature, just like playing Barbies and soldiers. I use the "ine" form as both immature men and immature women still paddle the Sea of Chaos. And this paradox of which we wrote? It is autistic masculinity that will lead us to Wholeness. Dicey, hm? Just like a cubed raw carrot in the middle of a spoonful of mashed potatoes. I am sorry Annie's Bowl is so spinny. We just cannot clear this for you if you're feeling a bit lost. Annie's Truth comes from living with such souls and being mostly impressionistic, she should really be painting a picture for you ... rather than trying to paint with words.
While off wondering about how quickly we could capture our impression for you .... we stumbled upon the artistry of Daniel Muller - Artist & Autie. Danny has painted with the media of crayon, oil pastel, and fingernails since age 11. Yep. He scratches the images into the color media with his fingernails. Yup! This kid is amazing. I took one glance at his stuff and was a little scared. He could easily have popped in and plucked the impressionistic images right outta my head. zzzzing! Clonk & erk sounds. Similar to the images portrayed by Peter McFarland [featured in the previous Rock post with "Bird Boy."] Goya does this to me too. Back to Danny Muller. The image on the left below is called "Nightshadows." The image on the right is "Daylight." See, we have to go DOWN to the dark roots of our Souls ... into the Earth ... before we can come UP into the brilliance of the Sunny side of Reunion.
Be sure to visit Daniel Muller's Gallery HERE
I do believe our Western Culture tends to focus on this "eternal boy" theme ... we don't see much overtly written on the feminine aspect of the same "eternal girl" .. or puella aeternus. However, she is blatantly and incessantly symbolized by none other than that "eternal plastic gal in pink" ... Barbie. Are we a Culture of People that just plain needs to grow up? Can't we keep a playful song in our hearts and enough cellular memory of our youths to sustain us in achieving mature wisdom --- but not become stuck in the glue of that past?
Our children need strong and whole adult models from whom they can achieve sane psychological patterning. We hunger in the extreme for maturity and guidance from both the Father and Mother, but never more so than from the Father.
Maybe the Puer in its most immature and baser forms gives us the likes of Gary Glitter, Mikey Jackson, Georgie Bush, Joanie Crawford, and Andwea Dworkin. In its most spectacularly mature form the archetype is called the "Senex" or the "wise old man." That Senex is often written of as a cranky, cantankerous curmudgeon and reference is sometimes seen to "cronos." And to find the balance in between is the goal of whole union with masculine self.
I've not yet seen a Jungian term for the mature version of the feminine. Maybe Sophia, but not specifically as a direct polar of the puella. Wouldn't it then, in comparison to the Senex, be a cranky, cantankerous, curmudgeonette like uh ... a crone? It may be that I've not explored enough Jung or Franz. And it may or may not be so ... but the focus seems constantly on the puer. My salad bowl spins a tizzy. Why why why it squeaks. Further, it seems that early on ... even Jung was hesitant to openly confront the Shadow of the Mother or the feminine. He called the archetypal wisdom Sophia, not Crone. And she is beautiful, wonderful, marvelous wisdom. No curmudgeon. So, while Jung and Jungian thinkers were/are genius to me --- they still afford a strange level of privilege to the feminine. I think this bears some thought.
Come on now ... spin the lettuhs crispy with me: why why why why why why why why why why!
And unbeknownst to so many ... we've been given the most astonishing paradox in the History of Man. If Marie von Franz knew about it ... she never publically or, perhaps, consciously wrote about it. Jung may have come pretty close in his explorations of UFO symbology, brought closer to refinement by Remo Roth. I'll call it the "PuerSenX." Or "Person X" if you prefer. Some call this the "Paradox of The Retards." I'm not making this up. And in the end, it is this paradox of Nature or --- dare I say --- God? that will Redeem our very souls. Return us to wholeness.
Historical trauma and falling from Grace tends to repeat over and over until we make it right. Perhaps in this Century, our collective Soul will do just that. And the ones who move us along will surprise many. Shock many. Be hated by many. Embraced by many. And all they want is for us to love and believe in the Grace of a Higher Power, formed when we come together with them to shift our consciousness toward Union. Many human rights activists and even autistics themselves will tell you that those who are different do not and should not have to be viewed as anything "special" in order to be accepted and respected simply as human beings. Absolutely true. But, mark Annie's salad bowl croutons because there is a soul group within the autistic population that has a very different purpose and reason for being than most of us. It doesn't make that group "better" or "more special" than any other ... but it is unique. And they come here with purposeful intent specifically to Heal our very fractured and wounded psyches. For their jobs to be accomplished, our belief and help is needed.
What we are and experience reflects the outer world and vice-versa. When studying the Puer as related to the story of Peter Pan, I believe that even the author James Barrie recollected History's repetition. The narrator begins the story with: "All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again."
I hope that this time around, we can finally put Peter Pan to rest as simply a recollection of past rather than a re-enactment in the present. Do you remember the story of the NeverBird in Peter Pan?
"In fanciful stories people can talk to the birds freely, and I wish for the moment I could pretend that this were such a story, and say that Peter replied intelligently to the Never bird; but truth is best, and I want to tell you only what really happened. Well, not only could they not understand each other, but they forgot their manners."
We have to work hard to understand and accept those who are different, but we shouldn't *have* to! We're sometimes unbelievably pathetic people. Really. I wonder a lot if deep, deep down in the blackened shards of our souls we really subconsciously envy those differences and the people who live 'em. some barely graspable level ... we recognize the Divine in some of our brothers & sisters who are so outwardly different that we actually confuse ourselves into a state of resentment. We want what they got --- not realizing that you can't touch the Divine if you can't see it within your own self. Rather than appreciate our *piece* of the divine ... acting as branches of the Tree ... we confuse ourselves to be the *Tree* itself. Such arrogance and willfullness. As stated earlier, we absolutely cannot judge what resides in the Soul and what authority rests therein only by looking at the external. The NeverBird had an important growth lesson for Peter, but his will for self was yet too powerful to hear what the Bird was telling. Many of our "low functioning" autistic people have an important growth lesson to teach. But, we have to go beyond our preconceptions and relax our tight grasp on self-will for a time --- in order to hear.
Trying to fly through the Upper Realm of Spirit without first understanding how to land or where you're going can be disastrous. That's mighty high flying and leads to fairly rapid decompression sickness. If you want to understand the "Puer/SenX--Person X" ... you'll have to fly lower to the ground with the "authorized spokesmen." To gain understanding of these "low born sons," you may want to begin with the best "modern" explanation Annie uncovered late in 2003. I call the novella "Not Your Average Kid." Best to remember it as: "NEW KID." Here is a very small sampling:
Things AREN’T going to Stay the Same. Get used to it.
In the Republic, Plato declares that what James Joyce, two thousand years later, called the “nightmare of history” is doomed to continue until and unless a fundamental paradox can be contained between the body politic and the eternal, between the earthly king and the shaman. Plato calls for a marriage between Augustus and John the Baptist, between Machiavelli and the archangel. He calls such an amalgam a Philosopher King.
Much later, in the same tradition, alchemists called them Philosopher Sons, the filius under myriad surname.
It is the accuser, the outcast, the fallen, the loathed messenger who stands in this relationship to society, bearing news like a millstone.
The King is the hated amongst us, our beloved Scapegoat, village outcast and fool. Like us he is born of earthen matter, in darkness and pain. He labored a thousand lifetimes to rise one foot off the Earth, and a thousand more to gain and know the Upper Worlds. Having done so, he now must descend again in consciousness not merely to surface Earth (“middle Earth”), but to the very core of matter, to Tartarus itself, until even the faintest traces of spirit, the most broken and hopeless prisoners of darkness, hear the song of release.
Once you've managed to wrap your head around *that* then visit your KIN and understand your own role in either thwarting or aiding a return to Wholeness. Then again ... I could be completely wrong.
It's a little bit funny ... but the individual who wrote "NEW KID" and scribed interpretation for "KIN NOTES" started out as a rather skeptical observer of the things to which I write. So, I encourage healthy skepticism as it makes for spectacular awakening when understanding is finally achieved. I can't make you understand or even think. That's the work of yourselves and your S-Elves. But, Annie hopes we can help you feel a little thirsty. A fair and final judgment is rarely achieved until the exploration all sides is undertaken. Experience is probably the best Teacher. It takes some practice to fly into the Earth.
He who binds to himself a joy
does that winged life destroy
But he who just kisses it as it flies
Shall live in eternity's sunrise
---- William Blake
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