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Dark Adaptation. The Continuum between Good and Evil. Psychological Allergies and Complexes. Archetypes.
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Dark Adaptation The Continuum between Good and Evil
Archetypes When I committed my crime- and, please, I will ask you to spare me the relation of the details - it was so hideous, I think the mere remembrance of it would kill me to live through it again. But I had no choice in the matter. I had to commit it, though I was fully conscious at the time of what I did. Something inside me of which I had no previous knowledge, came to life, and was stronger than I was. Do you suppose I’d have committed a murder like that, if it had been left to me to choose? I, who had never taken life - not even that of the smallest insect... and wouldn’t be able to... even now (p.167). (Meyrink,1976).
Jung (1989) states: It was this frequent reversion to archaic forms of association found in schizophrenia that first gave me the idea of an unconscious not consisting only of originally conscious contents that have got lost, but having a deeper layer of the same universal character as the mythological motifs which typify human fantasy in general. These motifs are not invented so much as discovered; they are typical forms that appear spontaneously all over the world, independently of tradition, in myths, fairy tales, fantasies, dreams, visions, and delusional systems of the insane. On closer investigation they prove to be typical attitudes, modes of action – thought processes and impulses which must be regarded as constituting the instinctive behavior typical of the human species. The term I choose for this, namely, “archetype,” therefore coincides with the biological concept of the “pattern of behavior.” In no sense is it a question of inherited ideas, but of inherited, instinctual impulses and forms that can be observed in all living creatures” (para. 565).
Jung (1960) believed that Complexes are psychic fragments which have split off owing to traumatic influences or certain incompatible tendencies. As the association experiments prove, complexes interfere with the intentions of the will and disturb the conscious performance; they produce disturbances in memory and blockages in the flow of associations; they appear and disappear according to their own laws; they can temporarily obsess consciousness, or influence speech and action in an unconscious way. In a word, complexes behave like independent beings, a fact especially evident in abnormal states of mind.
The Story of Cain and Abel And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bares his brother Abel. And Abel was the keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the first lings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And the Lord said, what hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from my face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him, therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
According to Rhodes (1999): Selves are not given. They are constructed. They are built, modified, altered, refurbished, and even replaced over time. I was a child, but now I’m a man. I was a son, and now I’m also a father and grandfather. I was going to be a preacher, but I became a writer instead. A shy young woman becomes Eleanor Roosevelt, Saul of Tarsus becomes Paul in an overwhelming experience of conversion, a little Indian boy becomes Gandhi, and a child frightened by the sounds of violence from his mother’s bedroom becomes a brutal rapist. That selves elaborate across our lives is obvious, but what process inscribes the track of those elaborations remains to be determined, because not every shy young woman becomes a charismatic humanitarian, and not every frightened child becomes a violent criminal (p.55).
Table 2: Behavioral Chain S1 Stimulus - R1 Response > S2 Stimulus - R2 Response > S3 - R3 > S4 - R4 > S5 - R5 > S6 - R6 > S7 - R7 > S8 - R8 > S9 - R9 > S10-R10 Reinforcement
According to the Empirical -Behaviorist tradition: Decision becomes an instrumentality of such past reinforcements, so that it is not the decision making process that is free- the range of alternatives freeing the organism from a singular course of behavior defines freedom.
The Fallacy of Free Will Once I stood in a desolate square and watched a whole heap of scraps of paper chasing one another. I couldn’t feel the wind, as I was in the shelter of a house, but there they were, all chasing each other, murder in their hearts. Next instant they appeared to have decided on an armistice, but all of a sudden some unendurable puff of bitterness seemed to blow through the lot of them, and off they went again, each hounding on his next door neighbor till they disappeared round the corner. One solid piece of newspaper only lagged behind; it lay helplessly on the pavement, flapping venomously up and down, like a fish out of water, gasping for air. I couldn’t help the thought that rose in me: if we, when all’s said and done, aren’t something similar to these little bits of fluttering paper. Driven hither and thither by some invisible, incomprehensible wind, that dictates our actions, while we in our simplicity think that we have free will (p.25). (Meyrink, 1976)
In Memories, Dreams, Reflections Jung (1989) states In many cases in psychiatry, the patient who comes to us has a story that is not told, and which as a rule no one knows of. To my mind, therapy only begins after the investigation of the wholly personal story. It is the patient’s secret, the rock against which he is shattered (p.117).
Good and Evil A symptom suffers most when it does not know where it belongs (Hillman, 1999, p.189)
Evil -----------------<>Consciousness <>----------------------Good
Hillman (1979) cautions: The decent to the underworld can be distinguished from the night sea journey of the hero in many ways. We have already noticed the main distinction: the hero returns (as Beowulf from his battle with Grendel) from the night sea journey in better shape for the tasks of life, whereas the nekyia takes the soul into the depth for its own sake so that there is no return. The night sea journey is further marked by building interior heat whereas the nekyia (vampire) goes below that pressured containment, the tempering in the fires of passion (Coniunctio), to a zone of utter coldness. (p168). {Added parentheses are from this author}.
“Secure Symbolizing Field” Goodheart states: This is the field where circumambulation of dream and fantasy, active imagination, non verbal work with art materials or sand play and clear discussion of transference experiences will occur virtually spontaneously, the patient almost falling into these activities by himself “(p.9).
James (1902) advises us that: Different individuals present constitutional differences in this matter of width of field. Your great organizing geniuses are men with habitually vast fields of mental vision, in which a whole program of future operations will appear dotted out at once, the rays shooting far ahead into definite directions of advance. In common people there is never this magnificent inclusive view of a topic. They stumble along, feeling their way, as it were, from point to point, and often stop entirely. In certain diseased conditions consciousness is a mere spark, without memory of the past or thought of the future, and with the present narrowed down to some one simple emotion or sensation of the body (p198).
Gurdjieff (Ouspensky,1949) talks about mans’ soft underbelly when he states: If there is anything in man able to resist external influences, then this thing itself may also be able to resist the death of the physical body. But think for yourselves what there is to withstand physical death in a man who faints or forgets everything when he cuts his finger (pp. 31-32).
I left the house from my previous dream for the darkness, not out of any kind of bravado but more for the lack of anything else to live for. I did not care what happened to me because it could not possibly be any worse than my current life. It took awhile for anything to happen. I eventually looked back and realized that I was still in the light of the windows of the house in the wilderness. I stepped further away from the lights and into the shadows—deeper into the blackness. Then suddenly the face of a wild, large cat was nose to nose with my own. I could see the glint of its eyes. The pointiness of its ears were like the ears of a Lynx. Then it opened its mouth and ate me. I cried deeply.
PART TWO: The Psychological meaning of Monsters
Ginette Paris (2007) All monsters ask for a chance to evolve, an occasion to appear on stage and react with disgust at fantasies of redemption. What they are asking for is much simpler: to join the living. In exchange, they will do some of the living for us; they love to participate, to play, to write a few chapters in our life stories (p.78).
Who is evil? Who is sick? Who should receive treatment? Who will benefit or has benefited from treatment? Who is ready to be returned to the community at large and who should perhaps remain safely locked away?
Importantly, I wish to state that my thoughts, ideas, and findings are not meant as a way to excuse violence, or criminal behavior in its widest definition. Such behavior must be met and countered with the most tenacious, and containing responses available to us. Such responses should be geared first at maintaining the safety of society and its people. Many of the characters discussed in this paper, even if therapeutically treatable, would need to remain in an institution separated from society for the longest possible period.
Chapter V:Frankenstein (The need for justice through the act of revenge) Shall I respect man when he condemns me? Let him live with me in the interchange of kindness, and instead of injury I would bestow every benefit upon him with tears of gratitude at his acceptance. But that cannot be; the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union. Yet mine shall not be the submission of abject slavery. I will avenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my archenemy, my creator, I do swear inextinguishable hatred. Have a care; I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth (Shelly, 1816/1992, p.146-147, Ch.17)
