Sunday, December 11, 2011

The primal collective and the power of shame


<< primal collective >>

that phrase came to me in the dreamtime
night before last

on waking this morning, more comes to me
about the power of shame

there is no greater description of the milieu
conscious and unconscious

of my birth:

the power of shame

indeed, this observation holds on both sides
of West Sullivan Street

my house and Keith's house

but the power of shame was not operative only
within these houses

it was the primal collective that held this power

* * *

<< primal >> leads me through the recursive spiral:
mental >> mythic >> magical to

the archaic

the archaic bonds of collective life
from which we all emerge

to experience the full power of shame
is to experience the forces of archaic bonding

archaic primal volcanic forces

* * *

these are the originary powers of creation/destruction

the powers from which we are created are the same powers
that destroy the unchosen

the survivors are the chosen

the chosen enjoy the benefits of further emergence
of the magical, the mythic, the mental

the chosen, who are not subject to obliterating shame,
gain the options to live, to explore, to discover

the possibilities of individuation emerge with survival
of the destructive powers of the primal collective to select

for those who have the strength for the ordeal, facing shame
may be the primal entry into the individuation process

facing shame and the legacy of shame is the mythic path of the hero
who transcends and transmutes the powers of the primal collective

to select one's own being in the world

thus for better and/or worse to take on the powers of the primal collective
and emerge

* * *

"We shall destroy you" is the collective attack the infant must first survive.

thus thrown into the battle, an { I } must emerge, capable of facing the collective attack
and successfully acting: "I will destroy you first; I will survive on my own."

thus the mythic hero emerges from the archaic and the magical...

in quest of furthering ontological battles of self-appropriation, civilization, and transcendence


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