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In fits and starts, even after many years of familiarity with Focusing, and recent acquaintance with Core Transformation and Internal Family Systems Therapy, there has been this intuitive awareness of the psyche's inner parts as persons, which seems to make the kundalini process less daunting.
Along the lines of the church's body having many members, this is a sort of microcosm, where the errant internal dialogue that captures most of our attention has a sublayer within bodily sensing that is composed of these archetypal patters embodying a latent personhood.
Some years ago, while in prayer, I was drawn into my heart quite deeply; this drawing seemed to be the Holy Spirit's doing, so I surrendered to it (not an effort made, as in the Jesus Prayer), and all of a sudden I was inside my own heart and at the edge of the city of God.
Sounds a bit psychotic, but it was pure sanity and holiness beyond measure. There is simply no describing it adequately. This City was composed of light, but its life was alive as holiness beyond myself, yet as a creature I belonged, although I was standing at its edge and seeing, in marvel and praise, its center, which I could barely look upon even at this great distance. There was no desire to move forward, as I was smitten with a fear that was awe for my sense of place being just right where I was and none other in that moment. I was a guest, allowed to see this inner sanctum which is hidden in all of us, where the Trinity indwells and reigns.
In my prayers this morning, out of the Liturgy of the Hours, several Psalms echoed this sense of inner archetypes seeking personhood in Him:
Psalms 84 and 96
There is also Julian of Norwich's revelation of this, which confirms what a grace it was to see this in myself, although it was simultaneously quite beyond me, yet within everyone according to the Divine Indwelling promised by Jesus.
And so I'm finding that rather than aimlessly being drug around by the internal dialogue, one can follow this down into the body, where sensing leads us to these archetypal lands inhabitied by creatures seeking, or waiting, to be known for their intelligence and allowed to pray and yearn for their union in the heart. However, it seems they already know a great deal about communing with each other, yet require the true self to witness this as a kind of gentle arbitrator, expecting them to utilize their intelligence so that energies can heal one another where estrangement has been the case for so long, not unlike tribes or nations seeking peace and a better co-existence.
What is rather astounding is how simple it is, whereas there is a tendency to expect this sort of thing to be esoteric. In fact, these parts love to be treated as persons in their own right, as many members of one body. If given this respect, they seem to move forward rather quickly toward forming a more cohesive pattern of inner relations.
There is also the sense that these parts respond quite positively to being known by another person, where letting "in" the intimate other drawns them into increased unity as well. So not only recognizing their outlying relationship with God's indwelling in the heart, but with other people whose domain of inner persons is awaiting such intimate contact.
posted
Here is Julian of Norwich's revelation regarding the Divine Indwelling:
"But I lay still awake, and then our Lord opened my spiritual eyes, and showed me my soul in the midst of my heart. I saw my soul as wide as if it were a kingdom, and from the state which I saw in it, it seemed to me as if it were a fine city. In the midst of this city sits our Lord Jesus, true God and true man, a handsome person and tall, honorable, the greatest Lord. And I saw him splendidly clad in honors. He sits erect there in the soul, in peace and rest, and he rules and he guards heaven and earth and everything that is. The humanity and the divinity sit at rest, and the divinity rules and guards, without instrument or effort. And my soul is blessedly occupied by the divinity, sovereign power, sovereign wisdom, sovereign goodness.
The place which Jesus takes in our soul he will nevermore vacate, for in us is his home of homes, and it is the greatest delight for him to dwell there. This was a delectable and a restful sight, for it is so in truth forevermore; and to contemplate this while we are here is most pleasing to God, and very great profit to us. And the soul who thus contemplates is made like to him who is contemplated, and united to him in rest and peace. And it was a singular joy and bliss to me that I saw him sit, for the contemplation of this sitting revealed to me the certainty that he will dwell in us forever; and I knew truly that it was he who had revealed everything to me before. And when I had contemplated this with great attention, our Lord very humbly revealed words to me, without voice and without opening of lips, as he had done before, and said very seriously: Know it well, it was no hallucination which you saw today, but accept and believe it and hold firmly to it, and you will not be overcome."
"Julian of Norwich: Showings," in Classics of Western Spirituality, 1978, pp. 163-164.
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w.c.
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And some counsel from St. John of the Cross, although I'm not sure what he would have thought about dialoguing with inner parts of the psyche as persons seeking Christ in the heart:
"What more do you want, o soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfaction and kingdom -- your beloved whom you desire and seek? Desire him there, adore him there. Do not go in pursuit of him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and you won't find him, or enjoy him more than by seeking him within you."
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quote:Originally posted by w.c.: And some counsel from St. John of the Cross, although I'm not sure what he would have thought about dialoguing with inner parts of the psyche as persons seeking Christ in the heart:
Hard to say what he or other mystics would have thought had they been exposed to, say, Jung's psychology. I'm sure they wouldn't have them for God, but it's quite likely that they would have been OK with our relating to them as personal entities, of sorts. If nothing else, it affirms how all the aspects of our being are ordered toward the highly personal and relational life of the soul. That they seem to respond as persons might say more about how we relate to them then what they are in and of themselves, no? One thinks, here, too, of Francis' "brother sun" and "sister moon."
-------------------- "The Light shines on in darkness . . ." - John 1: 3 - Posts: 7539 | From: Wichita, KS | Registered: Aug 2001
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Phil:
There really does seem to be a viscerally real sense of personhood from the pov of these parts. I know it sounds metaphorical to speak of it in this way, but that's not what I mean. In my experience, and for so many that have been involved in Focusing, Internal Family Systems, Core Transformation or similar approaches, there is this meeting of the parts as one might in a dream, yet while waking. We could speculate that they are un-integrated aspects of the true self, or perhaps outlying dimensions of the interiority of the bodily temple, like Teresa's interior castle, but at the collective unconscious level. In any case, they have their own intelligence, and may correspond to cellular intelligence, which is self-sustaining beyond our self-awareness. And so this may be the body reflecting the soul's belonging to the "hosts," but suffering from the Fall as expressed in the lack of unity.
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Phil:
Some more thoughts as to how bodily knowing might involve personhood . . . .
Given that bodily energy seeks resolution or completion in the heart, it shouldn't be unusual to find these parts of body consciousness expressing a personal identity.
As everything is created through the personhood of the Trinity, organic life appears to function according to a relational intelligence.
As for how extensive this is in animals, one could ask:
As a true self function of the soul, can animals observe their own inner life?
posted
w.c., I wasn't meaning to say that ascribing personal aspects to archetypal symbols was treating them as merely metaphorical. As you note, they do seem to have an energy and intelligence of their own when manifesting in dreams, and the same in active imagination. What I was tuning into more was that it is indeed natural for them to orient toward the higher spiritual dimension of human consciousness, inasmuch as the soul is the life principle to which they are now ordered.
I don't know if you've read Jim Arraj's book, Jungian and Catholic?This chapter on the archetypes seems to be relevant to the present discussion. A couple of quotes . . .
quote:If the archetypes are soul-like inasmuch as they act like faculties that organize and form the archetypal images, then the collective unconscious must be the matrix in which these various faculties are found. The archetypes are not simply floating islands in the sea of the unconscious, but rather are the very structural components that constitute it.
. . .
Archetypes do not only differ in content, but are connected to each other in a certain organic pattern which reflects the psyche's movement towards wholeness. If we deal with one archetype our progress might be signaled by the constellation or activation of another archetype attached to the bottom of it, as it were. The archetypes are connected to each other and are leading us deeper into a confrontation and reconciliation with the unconscious which reaches a certain maturity with the emergence of the self. Through this process of individuation, the ego learns that it is not the absolute center of the psyche, as if growth were always a question of ego expansion. If before, in growing up we had to learn to adapt our egos to the people and things around us, now the process of individuation shows us the inner world of the archetypes and the collective unconscious which also demands our adaptation. Individuation is our lived recognition that our self embraces both ego and unconscious.
-------------------- "The Light shines on in darkness . . ." - John 1: 3 - Posts: 7539 | From: Wichita, KS | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:If the spiritual soul is a reflection and creation of God, if it comes forth from the hand of God, then its deepest center will be marked with the imprint of this god-likeness. It will have inscribed in its very being a natural desire to return to God and it will do this by becoming itself to the greatest degree possible. The soul possesses a genuine movement towards God, for it is only in relationship to God that it can understand its own nature. The psyche possesses a god-archetype, or self-archetype in its deepest center which is no different than this natural orientation to God which is not imposed from the outside but is an expression of our very being. And the self generates a whole spectrum of archetypal images in its ceaseless striving to awaken us to this god-likeness. This identification of the archetypes with the very fabric and being of the soul helps us understand the spontaneous and non-conscious nature of the archetypal images. They appear in dreams, for example, whether we remember the dreams or not and whether we understand the images or not. The archetypal images are a ceaseless call for us to realize consciously and freely, the god-like nature we possess
-------------------- "The Light shines on in darkness . . ." - John 1: 3 - Posts: 7539 | From: Wichita, KS | Registered: Aug 2001
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Those are helpful descriptions . . . rich and revealing, which one expects from Arraj.
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What is most important for me in this is learning to receive these energies as they show their personal identities and qualities - how they really want to know me, and be known in my conscious awareness. There is much talk among Buddhists about the raw physical qualities of energy as contractions melting when emotions are released from narrative mental habits by the witness. I've been experiencing that for many years, but only in the last five years has this personal intimacy been known. What's different now is that it has become almost routine. That is, whenever I turn my intention inward, eyes open in the middle of the work day, there is less need to pull away from what is happening between myself and others, and a sense of how relatedness is arising from the inside-out and then between myself and the other person in this far richer way.
That is why I said quite literally that there are many persons inside me: not simply as split off or exiled parts, but in terms of a richness that the ego is only sharing in. The more they come into awareness the more personal and intimate they are, but not as an artifact of the personal ego, but from within their own deep sense of personhood. For instance, different areas that would roughly correspond to chakras commune with each other and with my own sense self, not merely an effect of the observer, but a kind of intimate engagement where I ask them to commune with each other over an issue, and I with them, as a kind of friendly arbitrator. They appear as people and creatures and places with a personal sense of meaning that is beyond the ego yet very much willing to generate a healing outcome and deeper understanding of themselves and of the interactions I'm having with other people.
"And the self generates a whole spectrum of archetypal images in its ceaseless striving to awaken us to this god-likeness. This identification of the archetypes with the very fabric and being of the soul helps us understand the spontaneous and non-conscious nature of the archetypal images."
And so this description by Arraj is very close to what I'm trying to say, except that the spontaneity includes an emerging conscious awareness of how these aspects of the soul are personal and inter-relational from their own point-of-view. I can feel them coming into awareness on their own and don't know what they'll reveal, except that they are intimate and earnest and able to make new connections the more I respect them as personal in their own right.
.....It will have inscribed in its very being a natural desire to return to God, and will do this by becoming itself to the greatest degree possible.
Oh yes, yes and yes again. The seeker longing to know the unknown Beloved God, ever reaching upwards, searching, awaiting, desiring above all else, yearning for the embrace, loving.......until finally home once again.
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It seems that without thinking about it, we usually react to these inner body responses with some form of resistance as we attempt to accomplish the conscious mind's-internal dialogue's contents. What is happening now, for me, is a slowing down of awareness, or an increased tendency to allow the inner movements to unfold and form their connections (often vague, but nourishing) rather than fight them, which during such a resistance is usually experienced as a projection/externalization of some kind. Much of the trouble of the day seems to involve this sort of resistance. IOW, what seems to be external problems may exist as issues to deal with, but the stress and strain are the outcome of this energy not being allowed to unfold at the sensing level into personal awareness. Another difficulty, of course, is that most of the routine world is formed around the projected expression of this largely unkown, inner life.
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The other bit that is somewhat novel is allowing this to be a home-grown process, rather than referencing it in terms of what I've learned in the past. Although surely those teachings have been helpful, there comes a point where you have to let them go and trust the uncertainty of coming to these things fresh and without a belief system in the formal sense; otherwise, the interpersonal quality can get buried under techniques that diminish trust.
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And so this description by Arraj is very close to what I'm trying to say, except that the spontaneity includes an emerging conscious awareness of how these aspects of the soul are personal and inter-relational from their own point-of-view. I can feel them coming into awareness on their own and don't know what they'll reveal, except that they are intimate and earnest and able to make new connections the more I respect them as personal in their own right.
There really isn't much written about this in the mystical literature, w.c. I wonder why that is? It seems that the way you're describing and working with this is most conducive to inner wholeness.
Do you find that these inner "persons" as you call them cease to exist after you're in relationship with them? Do they morph into other representations? Does it seem that they become inner resources of strength and wisdom?
There's something about the way you describe this process that sounds attractive and inviting, reminding me of years past when I did extensive dream work. OTOH, it also sounds like it could be quite time-consuming, and even possibly tip the balance of the conscious-unconscious relationship to the point where the Ego could become a bit overwhelmed by all these inner characters. Do you see that as a danger?
-------------------- "The Light shines on in darkness . . ." - John 1: 3 - Posts: 7539 | From: Wichita, KS | Registered: Aug 2001
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Phil:
So far this process seems to soothe and strengthen the ego, where it has access to a way of letting go of emotional drama and connecting with inner resources that root it more securely. There isn't a deep trance state involved, as in dream work, where the ego might feel suspended or like it's dissolving. I'm actually engaging with these inner persons, or sort of trusting the archetypal culture will manifest in that way if it wants.
But I do find some of these distorted patterns, in order to have the support they need, require the presence of the intimate "other," in my case a therapist, since really early relational traumas/deficits need a presence that is isn't their own.
And yes, there is, at times, a kind of reabsorption of these presences into the conscious true self awareness, but not entirely, perhaps because the depth of the true self is seated in God and beyond our full embrace at the conscious level.
They are wise and strong and really understand the pain of life without the view of this chaos being an actual, external problem. It's just a matter of being strong enough in terms of conscious presence to activate or engage and relate with their hidden presence.
And so I think a key for this in terms of stability of integration is the intimate "other," since so much of the process seems rooted in the "love thy neighbor as thy self" dimension, where the real self is eternally interdependent with someone it can't know fully.
I wouldn't rule out dangers, though, but would say, at this point, that a healthy motivation would be becoming more heart-connected with others. So your cautionary remarks are worth paying attention to.
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posted
W.C., I find your experiences with these "inner persons", unknown within myself. It is a brave attempt for you to integrate them within your psyche.
Like Phil, I do see some dangers in your work and attempts to do as such. Our minds are really quite fragile. Thank God for His graces, love and power in this ardurous journey of your healing.
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posted
w.c., what you're describing takes the term "intrapersonal development" to a new level of meaning. You're really something of a pioneer in this area, owing to your extensive work in focusing and related methods, I'm sure. All very interesting, including the metaphysical implications!
-------------------- "The Light shines on in darkness . . ." - John 1: 3 - Posts: 7539 | From: Wichita, KS | Registered: Aug 2001
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As I shared with Grace on another thread, I'm discovering how parts that are in pain, that are sensed in the body as in Focusing, are already responding in their own way to the presence of grace - already partially forming themselves as prayer. So in prayer it is possible to allow these parts to pray as well as I ask the Holy Spirit to help them open to Him.
When the Holy Spirit takes over during prayer there is less of a particular sense of this, but the intention seems to be encouraged by Him as a real offering of who I am: that I'm not just these parts, but that they are aspects of yearning and intimate connection feeding the authentic self; it is sort of like bringing your family to prayer with you, so to speak - an inner communal response.
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Something you said caught my eye. That you experience the archetypes as animals, people and places. Would you happen to know if you have Native America ancestry?
Thanks
{"They appear as people and creatures and places with a personal sense of meaning that is beyond the ego yet very much willing to generate a healing outcome and deeper understanding of themselves and of the interactions I'm having with other people.
"And the self generates a whole spectrum of archetypal images in its ceaseless striving to awaken us to this god-likeness. This identification of the archetypes with the very fabric and being of the soul helps us understand the spontaneous and non-conscious nature of the archetypal images."}
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Ajoy:
I'm pretty sure not. But many years ago I did participate in some New Age - Native American rituals, which preceded this interior awareness probably by ten years. There are also Hindu totems, which probably result from my connection to a Hindu Vedanta teacher, also in the past. And occasionally Egyptian ones as well. So the possibility of re-incarnation could be considered, which isn't in every way contradictory to Christian theology, at least as Phil and I have discussed it over the years. IOW, the soul's experiences through different cultural filterings of the collective unconscious might remain as memories.
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