Dear Dan,
Today I come back to your text triggered by Newton. Thank you for
sharing! Allow me sharing further considerations about it. Like a sword to
another, so may a man be to another. It will not be short, as it refers to
no treat for MacDonalds either.
J. R. R. Tolkien (cath.) and C. S. Lewis (angl.) voted for re-enchanting the
world. Currently versions of their myths, The Lord Of The Rings and
Narnia, have entered the cinemas and images of the masses. Interpretations
may be legion and keeping emotions high; which may depict complexes and
projections involved. In particular Lewis treated the split of/into science
and mysticism and their reunion in his science fiction Ransom Trilogy;
most clearly in That Hideous Strength, which seems less known.
Where would you locate the languages Martin Buber employs, say in I And
Thou on the one hand, and in Gog And Magog on the other hand? It seems to
me he used different languages depending on what he treated and still serves
well for an inspiring example.
I propose integrating the development from gods via heroes to man and the
according languages, as far as an individual can, to remain a contemporary
human. I mentioned already Van Peursen, who discerns the magic from the
ontological from the current dynamic mode of being, observing and intending
similar integration. Can I, after for example Jung, Neumann and Hellinger,
still responsibly live and work with less than the maximum possible
conscious integration of the unconscious?
It may only be functional to employ any of the languages discerned by Vico
or another, be they three or thirty. Less may simply turn out in regression
to forms of previous stages. In his earliest experiment, Vatu Hiva, the
Norwegian experimental archaeologist Thor Heyerdahl concluded, there is no
way back to nature. One can regard this as a philosophical and as a
practical advice.
It seems important to me for systemic work, to be aware of approach and
language employed and not to confuse the employed with reality, which
always will be still more complex and layered than what I can see. Doing so,
I may be able to know more and to achieve more, while at the same time
also know better how much I still do not know and maybe never will.
I could respond to the current state of complexity and fragmentation, in
subjective experience and in academic disciplines for example, in various
ways, of which many may just be reductionist. I mentioned already
dogmatism and enthusiasm as maybe two common forms. Could I render
constellation work into forms or religious praxis when any of such
unconsciously carries me away? This may be as justified as anything else,
but should it find my acceptance?
You point into a direction that appeals to me. I appreciate your quote of
Quote
Jung (1953), who spoke the language of myth, cautioned against losing this
original meaning, Learn your theories as well as you can, but put them
aside when you touch the miracle of the living soul (p.4).
End of Quote
If I studied the life of Jung well, he came to no end with learning. And,
Jung did not only speak the language of myth (which you did not say, and I
mention only to avoid misunderstanding), but also the language of man, for
example when he digs eloquently into the Sprit in Fairy Tale, without
leaving the grounds of a science study.
Where does this lead to for constellation work?
For me it infers for example, that I can employ shamanic approaches in a
constellation to deal with a clients intra-personal issue, without
confusing myself with a shaman and remembering from whom all I learned. Or,
as a representative, I can enter the mystic state of Simchat Torah, without
confusing myself with a Chassid and remember on whom all I draw. Or, as a
facilitator I can set up the entire Dutch system of education as relevant
for a particular school, without confusing myself with the Dutch minister of
education and remember the organisation theorists and facilitators that
inspire me. Does not the issue of power in and by constellation here look
around the corner, too? Is it maybe a taboo?
Awareness and consciousness, integration and individuation, balancing
emotion and intellect, which can be cultivated and trained to some degree,
make for me a difference, and help me to remain myself in all and to be the
most for my neighbour. And I still need little to nothing of all of that,
when I hold open the entrance for my neighbour when he enters with his
shopping bags to friendly greet him.
Finally back to Newtons alchemy. I thought Jung proposed that alchemists
unconsciously dealt with alchemy for their process of individuation, using
alchemic concepts to project their inner process onto an outer to accomplish
the inner. What a concept of spiritual discipline, too. In the development
of a person like Newton, whose writings on alchemy I have not read, I
could perceive that he had reached a dead end street with his achievements
as for his inner development and saw in alchemy what he could not find in
what he had achieved before. As he had looked deeper and wider than some
contemporaries, he might have known better the limitations of what he had
found and thus maybe was even more convinced of the possibilities of
alchemy? I think he had little economic reason to turn lead into gold. I
wonder if some channelling in our days has a similar function to alchemy
then.
Thank you Dan for such good food for thought and inspiration!
Franz
From: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dan Booth Cohen
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 3:40 AM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [ConstellationTalk] Sailing
Dear Franz and Deborah
I have been a student of alchemy since my undergraduate days in the 1970s at
Northwestern University. My professor, Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs, had been a
high school science teacher in a small town in rural Arkansas. In her late
40s, she was inspired to expand beyond the boundaries of her circumstances
and ended up getting a Ph.D. in the History of Science at Cambridge
University. Her research topic was Newtons alchemical papers. These
papers had been removed from Cambridge at the time of Newtons death and
hidden for two centuries. The great economist John Maynard Keynes
discovered them. After examining these documents over a period of 10 years,
Keynes made his famous claim that Newton was not the first of the age of
reason. He was the last of the magicians. Dobbs was the first graduate
student to examine these papers in detail. My coursework with her was based
on her research.
As it applies to the study of Constellations, the difference between alchemy
and chemistry is that the former is based on the concept that there are two
inextricable qualities of knowledge of the universe: that which is revealed
by God through divine revelation and that which is obtained by observation.
The latter assumes that subjective knowledge is inherently illusory and
unreliable. I have written on this topic at length. So as not to overwhelm
CT readers, I will paste a small portion of text from one essay on the
general topic. This is a precursor to a discussion about alchemy, fields,
and Sheldrake.
Dan
There is no single history of psychology [in the United States], but three
prominent streams, each with their own lineages and epistemologies. These
are Academic Laboratory Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Folk
Psychology. The distinction of three streams contrasts to a more unified
historiography. The standard textbook (Schultz and Schultz, 1992) notes
that modern psychology has tributaries that trace back to Greek and Roman
philosophy. However they assert that psychology as an independent formal
field of study did not emerge as a distinct entity until the last quarter of
the 19th century when speculating, intuiting and generalizing gave way to
the rigors of carefully controlled observation and experimentation to study
the human mind (p. 4). This application of precise and objective
methodologies, first developed in physics, chemistry and biology, has led to
the development of tools and techniques that have refined not only the
questions psychologists asked, but also the answers they obtained (p.4).
If answers obtained are functions of questions asked, one can begin by
examining the fundamental questions psychology seeks to address, or even
more basically, the language in which the question is spoken. Vico (2000),
in his 18th century opus New Science, delineates three archaic languages
that correspond to the three ages of history: the sacred language of the age
of gods, the symbolic language of the age of heroes, and the vulgar language
of the age of men.
Each language structures the questions asked and answers received according
to its particular orientation. If we overlay the three streams onto Vicos
matrix we can see they correspond to different ways of knowing.
The stream of laboratory psychology is concerned with the study of mind and
behavior using a positivistic reductionist methodology. The questions must
strictly conform to what can be learned from controlled experimentation. To
McCourt (2001), the soul is as extinct as a dry riverbed. Its origins are
traced from Aristotle to Descartes. Afterwards, the soul becomes a medieval
concept, having no more contemporary validity than bodily humors or the
ether of the celestial sphere.
This corresponds to the age of man in which the linguistics of myth has been
lost.
Clinical psychology speaks the language of the age of heroes. At this level
psychology asks three questions: What are we? Where do we come from? Where
are we going? When Kepler employed the scientific method of observation and
calculation to prove the heliocentric solar system, he not only overthrew
Ptolemaic cosmology, but the Genesis creation myth as well. The new science
of psychology created its own macrohistory giving humanity answers to the
basic riddles of life. Freuds Oedipus theory or Heideggers Dasein are
myths that organize the complex data of creation into a coherent narrative
form.
Folk psychology corresponds to the age of gods, using the language of
mystics and seers to help the individual move out of an ordinary mind into
the hieroglyphic modes of gods and angels. Unlike the scientists, who
willingly overthrew the religious world order, the shapers of folk
psychology, from Mary Baker Eddy to Ken Wilbur, were integrators who sought
to reconcile the scientific and spiritual world views.
The separation of psychology into three streams is not merely a function of
philosophical orientation. The relative merits of a pill, a couch or a
prayer as tools to treat mental health disorders can be argued in a lively
debate among peers. However, the waters of American laboratory psychology
do not run so deep because its proponents have won such a debate. It is
economics that dictates why only three percent of American Psychological
Association members identify as Humanistic Psychologists. Medications to
treat psychiatric illnesses generate $20 billion in annual sales revenue, by
far the largest component of the entire pharmaceutical market (National
Institute for Health Care Management, 2002). As Thompson (1981) observes:
As the lie commonly agreed upon, history becomes the apology for whatever
class is in power
.From the raising of children through the techniques of
behavioral modification in the elementary schools to the philosophical
indoctrination of students in graduate schools, a class of behavioral
scientists has positioned itself at the strategic places of power in our
secular society
.Small wonder when these social scientists write history,
they write only a history of economics and technology (p. 247).
In addition to these three eras, Vico warned of a fourth age, the age of
chaos. This would be a transitional stage when civil society collapses
under the weight of greed and barbarism and the course of history spirals
back on itself towards a new age of gods.
There now is a great divide between the mechanists and the mystics. One
camp of psychology is caught up in visions of total control; the other is
caught up in spiritual visions.
In this age, the three streams have overflowed their banks and churned the
waters white with confusion. The experimentalist, who seeks solace from
existential angst by manipulating the molecules of the brain, cannot fully
escape from the dark night of the soul. The transpersonalist, who gains
serenity in Tibetan chanting, struggles with mounting credit card debts. If
either speculating, intuiting and generalizing or carefully controlled
observation and experimentation could actually unravel the mystery of the
human mind, wouldnt psychologists by now have more fulfilling marriages and
better adjusted children than bus drivers or actuaries? It is tempting to
believe that one stream is preferable to another, but it is the nature of
this age of chaos that it continually thwarts our attempts to stand on solid
ground.
At its source, psychology is knowledge of the soul. Jung (1953), who spoke
the language of myth, cautioned against losing this original meaning, Learn
your theories as well as you can, but put them aside when you touch the
miracle of the living soul (p.4).
Beaumont (Hellinger, Weber and Beaumont, 1998) uses a stream metaphor to
illustrate this point. He tells of a young man who sat by a river and
wondered to himself where it came from. After a long search uphill, he
found the very source of the main branch. Just as he began to celebrate his
great discovery, it began to rain and tiny rivulets appeared. He followed
one these until he found its source. When he finally did, he renewed
celebrating until he saw droplets coming off a bird in a tree. He studied
the bird for a long time and finally declared its beak was where the stream
began. Once he got home he told the story of his journey and discovery
again and again to a growing number of admirers. After awhile his story
grew so popular that he no longer had time to visit the river. An old man
who loved him recognized the danger and asked him where the rain comes from.
The young man began setting a plan to measure the raindrops and follow the
clouds, but in realizing the futility of it all he became ashamed and jumped
into the water. The old man thought, Thats a good answer, my son. Dive
in, feel the current, let the river carry you. Its longing to go home,
flowing to the source (pp. xvi-xvii).
-----Original Message-----
From: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Deborah Breesnee
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 8:12 PM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [ConstellationTalk] Sailing
Dear Franz, I am not familiar with Kampenhout, but perhaps you have inspired
me to explore these connections. There is much to be said for synchronicity!
Perhaps we will have more to discuss. Perhaps these words are just our
different ways of saying much the same things? And perhaps Sheldrake is wise
to skirt the issues of the psycho-social dimensions of life experiences, lol
On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 3:14 PM, Franz Kalab <franz@kalab.
<mailto:franz%40kalab.nl> nl> wrote:
Interestingly I have listened to Sheldrake only a few weeks ago inPresence
Birmingham, after having studied his A New Science of Life and The
of the Past. For my taste he could have dwelled much more on the meaningof
his theory for the psycho-social dimension. An updated version of A Newto
Science of Life is to come out soon. I plan to carefully read it. I have
also read carefully C. G. Jung on transference and alchemy. I have an
understanding of the similarities between the concepts of archetypes and
morphic resonance.
C. G. Jung described alchemy's function for integration and individuation
to
those who practised it (like Newton J). The concept of morphic resonance
can
be compared to the concept of archetypes. In my experience, a field in a
constellation may be similar to and different from both. I regard
Shaldrake's field theory and Kampenhout's soul theory as possible frames
understand constellation work to some degree. During constellation days Iyahoogroups.com<ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
experience much mutual love between participants. I could agree to call
constellation one possible cauldron among many to experience love.
I still liked you to tell more about your findings on Sheldrake and Jung.
Kind regards,
Franz
From: ConstellationTalk@ <mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@ ;<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>yahoogroups.com<ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>]
On Behalf Of Deborah Breesneeyahoogroups.com<ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 7:45 PM
To: ConstellationTalk@ <mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [ConstellationTalk] Sailingmore
I was exploring the work of Rupert Sheldrake and the concept of morphic
resonance (as an organizing field), as a reference to Jungs concept of a
unitary science in my dissertation on the archetype of sovereignty and our
interconnectedness with all that is. As I have stood in the 'field' of a
constellation, I was aware of information that I was not usually connected
to. My sense is that this 'cauldron' or field is the crucible of the
alchemical forces - or the power of divine love?. Its been a while since I
have talked about this so my response may not be very clear. It may be
of an intuition than anything but I do agree that the binding force is<mailto:franz%40kalab.nl> nl<franz%40kalab.nl>
indeed, Love. Or perhaps even Amore in the classic sense that it combines
the passion as well as the devotion of divine love.
You are very kindly welcome Franz
On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 12:29 PM, Franz Kalab <franz@kalab.
<mailto:franz%40kalab.nl ;<franz%2540kalab.nl>> > wrote:yahoogroups.com<ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
Dear Deborah,list.
Thank you for your acknowledging and kind words to a newcomer on the
May I ask which correspondence you see between ´field´ and ´alchemy´?
I have not thought of that before.
Kind regards,
Franz
From: ConstellationTalk@ <mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com<ConstellationTalk%2540yahoogroup
yahoogroups.com<ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com><ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@ ;<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com<ConstellationTalk%2540yahoogroup
yahoogroups.com<ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com><ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>]
On Behalf Of Deborah Breesnee
Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 3:56 PM
To: ConstellationTalk@ <mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com<ConstellationTalk%2540yahoogroup
<mailto:franz%40kalab.nl> nl<franz%40kalab.nl><ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [ConstellationTalk] Sailing
As in ancient times, the voice of Reason stands between the pillars of
Justice and Truth.
And the field is another name for Alchemy.
Nameste to you as well.
On Sat, Jan 17, 2009 at 4:53 PM, Franz Kalab <franz@kalab.
<mailto:franz%40kalab.nl ;<franz%2540kalab.nl>> <franz%40kalab.nl>not
<mailto:franz%40kalab.nl ;<franz%2540kalab.nl> <franz%2540kalab.nl>> >wrote:
Good evening to you all,
Which might just be a good morning to some. The Gandalfs among us may
wonder
what I mean when I wish you such with a smile...
Some of you I know and I like ´meeting´ you here again! Many I seem
thetofrom
know. So, since I am new to the list and read along silently since alittle
while, it seems only fair to briefly introduce myself before sayinglive
anything
else.
My name is Franz Kalab. I am a 56 year ´young´ Viennese, Austrian, and
and work in the Netherlands since 1990. I have studied and worked in a
variety of areas, and received an M. A. in Social-Cultural Sciences
the
Free University in Amsterdam in 1999. Since 2001 I am divorced from
Dutchtomother of our only and dear daughter. Since 2003 I am in a permanent
relationship again.
Also in 2001, reluctantly I took knowledge of systemic work. From 2002
2005 I exposed myself to the training at DHISC, the former German
butInstitute for Systemic Constellations, not to become a facilitator,
atto
work on my own issues. However, since 2005 I facilitate in groups and
individually. Since 2006 I participate in the intensives in Bernried,
Germany. A little more about me and from whom I learned one can find
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_Constellations>www.kalab.nl.
Systemic <http://en.wikipedia
isorg/wiki/Dogma> , ´eternal´ truth, stability,
topromising,
me now not again another ´gospel´. I regard it a beautiful and
abut also developing and vulnerable discipline and method, which stillfall
deserves to be carefully and thoroughly explored, theoretically and
practically, while already applied.
I liked to add to the current discourse that there may be many ways to
from a horse. That is, to be mistaken, to misunderstand, and to misuse
waysdiscipline and method, to the end to harm oneself and another. A few
andtodescribed
fall off though may seem more common than others. Such have been
with various words and metaphors, all limited, more useful in one way
beless in another. Probably none fits sufficiently and the art may ever
to
discern and to grasp the content within an imperfect wrapping; whichadd
requires ever to leave things open at least to some degree. So, let me
some more wrinkled paper onto flat and other screens.
A structural or momentary inclination to dogmatism
<http://en.wikipedia ;<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma>
humansecurity,higher
rigidity, may tend to hold teachings, theories, structures, orders,
than the human being concerned, even so far as to ´sacrifice´ the
notbeing to keep the teaching conveniently ´pure´ and ´true´. What may
remainbe
cannot be. In theology, dogma has to be rewritten continually to
standconstellationmeaningful during time. If similar might be valid also for
willwork, for example for ´the orders of love´, what could that mean
theoretically and practically?
In systemic terms, for example, what we call ´order of love´ can and
actbe
at times handled like a dogma. Within the order, the ´right´ place or
ofclient
a person could appear ´obvious´. However, it may be that neither the
nor his ´field´ allows it at the moment. The ´field´ just may not
voluntarily ´yield´. A facilitator could then force the client to
org/wiki/Enthusiasm> , excitement, passion,onhim
his or her ´proper´ position, to act ´properly´, like forcing her or
to
bow to a parent, and to say the ´proper´ words. If he does, just whatwill
he do and where will he come?
A structural or momentary inclination to enthusiasm
<http://en.wikipedia ;<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enthusiasm>
ardour,trance
zeal, rapture, ecstasy, to the exceptional, unusual, mysterious,
sense,ofexperience, intuition and the like, may hold the subjective impression
andthe moment higher than the human being concerned. What could be must
passing.will be. Again in theology, visionaries, prophets, enthusiasts and thelike
deserve room, yet their expression requires to be tested by time
meanIf
similar might be valid also for constellation work, what could that
to,theoretically and practically?
In systemic terms, for example, there may be almost no end and limit
hopewhat ´the field´ may ´show´ to a facilitator, and what a new systemicconsider
approach may promise for the future. Who could possibly even only
questioning subjective experience and hope? The client may go along
onlookers.for
improvement and change, or may be only used to follow therapists and
counsellors, and so confirm what maybe better should be questioned.
Enthusiasm may even appear contagious for representatives and
mercifulness
Humanness, a quality of being humane, compassionateness, and
seem to be at stake in the former case and in the latter, common
kisstosensibility, patience, discernment, an ability or at least an attempt
seeseem
a great distance, to remember and to make connections where there may
to be none. How can righteousness (enforcement) and love (amnesty)
org/wiki/Wisdom>another happily? How to balance wisdom <
http://en.wikipedia ;<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom>
org/wiki/Sailing> . The passenger may be thebetween knowledge and compassion?
To me, constellation work is in a sense like sailing
<http://en.wikipedia ;<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing>
org/wiki/Tacking#Beating> ´ as the onlyclient,for
the boat the very session we are in together and the harbour to sail
cliffs,the
answer to her or his desire or need. The ´given´ landscape´, its
ofislands, continents, bays, seas and their currents may be the ´right´
orders, known from tradition, literature, ´maps´, experience or a mix
whichthem all and more. The ´field´ of a client may compare to the wind,
spacecan change even fast and dramatically. The constellation, set up in
and imagined within, may be like the sail, showing the wind´s nature,almost
presence or absence, direction and strength. The captain can sail in
every direction, except against the wind. Often enough the goal mayrequire
to advance against the wind and leave ´beating
<http://en.wikipedia ;<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacking#Beating>
possibilityorg/wiki/Wu_wei> ´effortless doing´ can be
left.
Sailing the way to the goal may be seen as following a ´natural´ path
resulting from the forces present. Similar, in Wei Wu Wei
<http://en.wikipedia ;<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei>
conceived.
So,
By the way, I fell through the exam for a sailing-license last summer.
I
will have to try it again.
Namaste!
Franz
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