In his book, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Jung uses an interesting phrase, "deprived of the contemplation of God," which he equates with Hell.
Since the so-called "Enlightenment," when Europeans and Americans decided to rely on human reason alone and to cast out all mythos as fanciful blather, we have, despite all the technological advances and promises of an earthly nirvana, moved "progressively" closer to an earthly hell.
In "depriving (ourselves) of the contemplation of God" (and all that little three-letter word encompasses), we pride ourselves on not being superstitious and find easy targets for ridicule among those we categorize as "religious." Our rationality has become an exclusive club as dogmatic and short-sighted as that which it ridicules.
We have been living in the post-Nietzschian era of God-Death. In Freudian terms, we have killed the Father and raped the Mother (Earth). In so doing, we have created a Hell. Look around.
Well, good news. God is not dead. She was only sleeping, lying dormant in our consciousness, and is waking once again. It is time to bring the Mystery back into our lives. There can be no enlightenment without endarkenment. Both have their place.
This is not a case of going back to the old God-Image. One can never go back. A new God-Image is being born.
Something to contemplate.
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Thanks for the thoughts, George. I shall contemplate them while fly-fishing in northern Michigan. BTW, you present a paradigm that fits my view too. God is re-emerging from our unconsciousness just like the mayfilies do each year when the trout feed voraciously.
ReplyDeleteTroutbum
Good fishing, Troutbum, you old poet!
ReplyDeleteIt's curious how we're often unwittingly swept away by the enantiodromic currents which ebb and flow between mythos and logos. Mythos voices our ancient, indigenous consciousness; the conquistadorial temperament of logos, however, devalues, paralyzes, disables, and then sequesters mythos—like the European concurring of indigenous people on our continent.
ReplyDeleteLogos, at the extreme, is the fallen archangel: it offers empty promises of 'illuminating' the world over which it reigns. Its siren song irresistibly enchants. Yet, when we relinquish our souls to it in blind servitude, we deprive ourselves of "...the contemplation of God."
I do thank God that God's reemerging from an age of "endarkenment." A new manger is being prepared...
--MCB
MCB, thank you for your spiritual insight. And for the use of that beautiful word "enantiodromic."
ReplyDeleteSynchronistic!-- I was just reading some of Jung's writings on the "enantiodromian structure."
He says, "Its beginning is almost invariably characterized by one's getting stuck in a blind alley or in some impossible situation; and its goal is, broadly speaking, illumination or higher consciousness, by means of which the initial situation is overcome on a higher level." Sounds like about where we are societally.
Your comment helped bring that home. Good to read your commenting on the blog again!
Thank you for this...i love it. you said: "In "depriving (ourselves) of the contemplation of God" (and all that little three-letter word encompasses)," :) I remember a long time ago you spoke/wrote about "Contemplation" and where do you go for that? yeah...LOL...the compass of the soul ;-)
ReplyDelete(((Hugs)))
ps. having computer problems :(