night by day - a poem

the cicada song makes it's way to my ear
this croaking chorus of lonely males
desperately seeking mates, longing for immortality
not unlike the song of the mendicant monks
whose lilting voices rise to the buttressed roof
on a plain in a cathedral, heavenly light everywhere

and the lilt of the whipporwhill lifts to the arched limbs
in a forest still where it's mates all dance in unison
on the breath of the humid airs, above the glistening pool
as the first leaf dies and falls from it's tree, trailing
the current of tropical stream, following an impossible path
through an infinitude of space, it takes this way, then that

what law governs this chance, that can be united by similitude?
by what art does the bird of paradise make his way?
dance, dancing now here, now there, the perfect hypnosis?
what first sets this idea into meaning, this notion into reality?
what track does it follow, by what engine is it propelled?
though it has the force of a whirlwind, it is not a train on the tracks

and yet the world moves on in constant cause, in linear fashion
it marches along in step with the clock, the arms moving in precise sweeps
mechanical minutes beating the drum of the already done
while inside, the circular wall makes way round the great floor
light slowly making it's way through shadow, i wonder which came first?
and the fluid motion from thought to thought, free flowing one to the other

belies what lies beyond....

(short) Parable

A fish one day found himself alone for a moment from his fellows and overheard two men talking about 'water.' How wonderful it was. How the light shone through. There were marvelous things to be had there. Upon returning to his school, the young fish announced to the whole of them he was off to find water. How wonderful it was. How the light shone through. Marvelous things were to be found therein. Years later, the questing fish, now old, worn and world weary, returned to his school, and his mates hardly even recognized him. 'We thought you were off to find 'water', " one of the school exclaimed. Did you find it? 'Yes, yes, ' came the reply...you wouldn't believe what I found...as he slowly turned and swam away.

Synchronicity

Throughout his writings, Jung was always asking, there is the three, so where is the fourth? While often referring to the Trinitarian Archetype, Jung seemed at times to eschew it for the Quaternity, where a static state was realized in the symmetrical symbolism of the Four...as realized in the Circle/Square Mandala being a representation of the Self.

Beginning with Erdinger, perhaps, the Three was first illuminated as being asymmetrical and dynamic. This author perhaps grasps the same conclusion, realizing the importance of breaking symmetry in order for emergence to occur.

And emergence into the field is what the subject matter, Synchronicity, is all about.

The argument goes, classical deductive Physics ala Newton, where cause and effect are the two necessary factors against the backdrop of Absolute Space and Absolute Time, was incomplete and more, too fragmentary. The sciences were resolute each in their expression, yet seldom explained or even empathized with one another. The binary aspect of Cause/Effect, Light/Dark, Space/Time carried over into Descartes' radical dualism of the soul and body.

The time was right for a more unitary, inductive worldview to break the now age old deductive reasoning of the previous centuries. Thus the discovery Light was neither particle or wave, but both, there was not Time, or Space, but Spacetime. In Faraday's lab there was the electric, then the magnetic, then the electromagnetic.

Once again, the new physics effected the picture one had of the human soul. Rather than there being a radical difference between Mind and Body, there was found to be a unitary bond between the two...where each were found to be operating differently metaphysically. Synchronistically, one could say. Just as the body could take on many shapes and motions, the mind could take on many meanings and thoughts.

In this nice book, the author doesn't concern himself or us with grandiose themes and examples of Synchronicity, but rather observes how Synchronicity unfolds into our day to day world of Space and Time, Cause and Effect, still the harbingers of popular consciousness. Examples provided include Emergence, Empathy, and Kairos, or 'timing'. Although this tends to elucidate the subject, my one complaint is Synchronicity is looked at from mostly a scientific view, and little to nigh is explained through the psychoanalytic lense.

That said, the book does end with examples both good and evil of Synchronicity where it is shown to be the harbinger of good and ill. Synchronicity, the author warns and reminds, is not all Good all the Time.

A wise, erudite writing on a tough subject we are just beginning to understand, in my humble opinion!

Later in this book, Mr. Edward Erdinger drops a Jungian bomb on me. The Ego, being conscious, the very center of consciousness, is apriori and derives it's existence from the older unconscious, and symbolically has a heavenly origin to which it will return, a Star.

This is just one of the many elucidations Erdinger makes concerning Jungian psychotherapy, and really Kantian phenomenology and Platonic philosophy. Let's face it, Jung was heavily influenced by both these last heavy hitters in Western thought.

Throughout the rest of the book, Mr. Erdinger relates the Ego and Self (Archetype) to us through the use of Christian symbology, Greek mythology, and the dream analysis of various patients. The Ego, upon being confronted with the challenges and vagaries of Life, goes into a natural state of inflation, where it identifies itself with the Self, in order to meet the challenges of gaining a broader consciousness. This is the preparation for the great initiation: Individuation, where the Ego recollects the broken up unconscious complexes and reintegrates them into a new, now unified Whole. The Ego, having weathered the dark night of the soul after the attempted usurpation of the Self, now recognizes it's rightful place in the Psyche and thus attains it's rightful yet limited estate.

Especially useful I found was the explanation of the Sign, an abstract word, picture, etc. that points to the state of the objective, exterior world, while the Symbol, living breathing signifier of the internal, subjective world is understood to provide meaning for the individual. The perfect state of things is to know the difference between the two, to not mix their properties, and to allow deep religious truth to be communicated symbolically as opposed to signally, and vice versa, for the Sign to communicate external factual data of the way things are.

Erdiniger has done a wonderful job of conserving the psychology of Jung while even adding his own flourishes to the picture and carrying the whole thing forward. This, in my view makes him a worthy torch bearer for Jungian thought.