The Century of the Self

This BBC production divided into 4 parts is an extraordinary exploration of the impact of psychoanalysis in the area of marketing both for the benefit of consumerism in manufacturing as well as politics. It is perfect shadow material contrasting the world of the Islamic extremist explored by Wright. We have been controlled by our own desires and unconscious needs fulfilled through knowledge gained by focus groups and infused in the products we purchase and the politicians we elect. It makes sense to me that there is a population of individuals resisting this indulgent life style for the retaking of the self by the ego, the master. Through denial of these indulgences one takes back control of the unconscious desires rather than simply submitting to them. The Islamic extremist experiences the ordinary American as embodying the possibility of annihilation of the self. To avoid this he simply blows himself up along with a few of those he believes is willing to swallow his soul.

Parcifal and His Mother's Shirt

When Parsifal enters the grail castle he forgets to ask the master of the castle the appropriate question, "whom does one serve with the grail?" This question must be asked in order for the fisher king to be healed but instead the question is not asked and the castle and all the kingdon turns to wasteland. Years later Parsifal returns to have one more try and this time succeeds in asking the question and in turn the Fisher King is healed and Parsifal is able to see the grail.

The reason Parisfal does not succeed when he was young because he was not ready and this was symbilzed by his wearing the shirt given to him by his mother when he left home to follow the knights and the code of chivalry.

When I arrive to see Nic he is surrounded by women. His mother and two sisters. He is struggling to breathe. He seems the same except for his hair and some gray and some wrinkles. But not much different. He struck me as someone who never made it out of the mother realm. He was still wearing his mothers shirt. She was pissed off that he hadn't taken it off yet. It seemd like the "shirt of Nessus" that Hercules wore and caused him to burn. All these women anxious to mother him and deeply disappointed that they had to.

Fellini and Anima Husbandry

I spent a lovely evening alone at a local movie revival house that was showing two Fellini classics: "La Strada" and "Juliet of the Spirits." Both starred Fellini's real life wife Giulietta Masina, and together they offer complementary perspectives on the road to spiritual consciousness.

"La Strada" (The Road) is the earlier of the two films and also the simpler. In it, Gelsomina (Masina) is a poor, uneducated girl from a seaside town who is sold in marriage to a wandering carnival strongman named Zampano (Anthony Quinn). He is brutish, quiet and unfaithful. Gelsomina struggles to connect with him and love him. Though she is offered opportunities to leave, she can never quite do so. The pair encounter a trickster in the form of a circus clown called il Matto who lives to undermine Zampano's act. Zampano's conflict with il Matto ends in an accidental murder. Zampano must flee. Though Gelsomina wishes to stay with him, he must abandon her. Later, Zampano returns to the place by the sea where he left Gelsomina. He is told she is dead, and the final image is of Zampano at the beach, grieving in the shallow waves.

"Juliet of the Spirits" (Giulietta Degli Spiriti) is a later work by Master Fellini. In this story, Masina plays Giulietta Boldrini, a wealthy housewife who enjoys holding seances and speaking with the dead. She surrounds herself with psychics, artists and other eclectic characters in a pursuit of spiritual knowledge. Her husband, a successful man, is also unfaithful. When Giulietta's suspicions about her husband are confirmed by a private investigator, she takes the advice of a hermaphrodite mystic who tells her to pursue the pleasures of the flesh. For assistance, she turns to the expertise of her neighbor Suzy, a high-priced call girl with a zest for living. Suzy exposes Giulietta to many opportunities to indulge. In one scene, Giulietta comes very close to giving in to the seductive powers of a beautiful young man. In the end, however, Giulietta chooses to hold her desires in check. She returns to her house, where all the characters in her mind, past and present, swarm her. In the end, she looks inward, and confronts a shameful memory from her childhood involving her participation in a Catholic school play. In it, she played a Christian martyr who is burned and ascends to heaven. By rescuing her inner child from damnation, she returns to the present and is able to dispel the phantoms that plague her. As she leaves her house to walk alone in the woods, she hears for the first time the voices of the true spirits that can now finally speak to her.

The two films make an excellent pair, as many of the issues raised in the simple, poetic "La Strada" are more maturely explored in the carnivalesque spectacle of "Juliet of The Spirits." In each film, the cheating husband can be seen as the ego, unable to face it's failure and unwilling to relent to the spiritual. Giulietta Masina, Fellini's own partner in life, can be taken as his on-screen anima.

In "La Strada," this anima is neglected and denied. Much like the witches in Macbeth, the trickster helps the ego play out its own folly. Thus, the ego's triumph causes permanent separation from the anima. In the end, the victory is utterly Pyrrhic. The ego is left at the shore of consciousness, unable to immerse itself in the refreshing waters.

In contrast, "Juliet of the Spirits" refocuses on the anima as protagonist. The cheating husband here is a distant, almost secondary character. It is Juliet who must take the journey and heal herself. And there are many tricksters, indeed the whole population, that will act as a catalyst for her to do so. By pursuing but not being engulfed by the flame of her desire, Juliet gains spiritual power and is able to integrate and become whole. She is opened up to a wider world of infinite spiritual potential.

Taken together, it seems possible that Fellini was struggling with the problem of ego in 1954 when he made "La Strada," and had transcended to a higher level of psychological interest by 1965 when he made "Juliet of the Spirits." Death looms as the great teacher in both films. While Gelsomina must literally die in "La Strada" to teach Zampano a simple life lesson, Giulietta must speak with the dead to learn her lesson and get the chance to truly live.

Godfather

Robert Johnson reminds that in olden days the purpose of the godfather was to carry the spiritual gold of the godson until he was ready to take it on himself. As you chop wood remember that all turns to gold someday and amazingly when you are more prepared to do something with it. I see in you an extraordinary gift and it brings me great joy to provide some mentorship during this time. I hope you have a wonderful birthday. I love you and am very proud of you. D

Drowning

The image of drowning stayed with me last night. It seems entirely consistently that both your mother and father were unable to manage the unconscious forces that were controling them when you were born. Unable to consttruct enough ego strength to offset the power of these forces they spilled them out onto you. Just as Rapunzel's parents abandoned them to the enchantress so did your parents abandon you to face these unconscious waters alone. You relied on wits and a rich fantasy world to navigate through but there was much that was stored away behind a plaster wall encapsulating a deep shame. It seems to me a perfect image of your father submerging you under water as he himself could not swim, that is , swim in unconscious waters. He himself was drowning so he was symbolically taking you with. Much the same as your mother who asked you quite literally to be her husband because her real husband was not able to address her needs. She may as well have been along side your father holding you under water and laughing. But remember what Hillman says, "our wounds become your parents."

An afterthought. Your father is obsessed with his pool. There is something about the pool, the water that attracts him.

Darkmotherscream strikes again.

I found out today that a guy I went to high school with is very sick. He was someone I looked up to and I felt I could never compete with him. The summer before went to college (the first time) He and I spent a weekend at Notre Dame University in a dorm. He knew someone there and he was planning on attending there in the fall and I was starting at Quincy College. I remember him reading the Book of Job while we were there. It was like a sabbatical and I walked the campus and was intrigued by the idea of going to the school buit did not feel I had his intelligence. I always wanted to be Nic. Your father met him at Maroon Club function or one of his many organizational functions and Nic gave him his number to give to me. I never called him.

Now he has been diagnosed with advanced heart disease from smoking and drinking alcohol. He is in the middle of a divorce and is alone. I plan to go see him. It will be difficult. The dragon has hold of another victim. The mother realm does not let go of its most promising, most talented. Darkmotherscream strikes again. Wish me luck.