Category Archives: S
Sin
Seven Sins by Hartwig HKD
(1) Sin is an ancient Mesopotamian moon god, also called Nanna. His cult was most prominent at the Sumerian cities of Ur and Harran. Bestowing light in the dark, Sin maintained justice through the night hours.
(2) In Catholic theology sin is any thought, speech or action that results in a transgression against the law of God, where one chooses to enact one’s personal will in conflict with God’s.
St. Augustine is often quoted by Catholic writers when trying to explain sin:
Something said, done or desired that is contrary to the eternal law.¹
The Catholic Church further breaks the idea of sin up into several categories, the most important being original sin, venial sin and mortal sin.
The general concept of sin is widespread but treated differently among world religions–e.g. transgressing God’s decrees (Judaism, Islam), acting against the cosmic order or Will of Heaven (Taoism), or harmful action arising from ignorance (Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism).
Contemporary thinking people believing in God and the importance of acting ethically are faced with a dizzying array of prescriptions on how to do the right thing and not sin. When all is said and done, it seems the most sensible approach to living right and avoiding sin is to follow one’s own lived experience and reflections upon it.
Many, however, seem unable to act as mature adults and prefer to allow some perceived authority, distant or near, to guide them on how to best live the life God gave them.
This arguably schoolboy and schoolgirl approach to ethics may afford psychological comfort (through a ready-made personal identity and sense of community) for those unable or unwilling to embrace the degree of freedom and responsibility involved in making up one’s own mind. But in the long run it seems immature and, indeed, unworthy of our potential as human beings created by and forever journeying toward God.²
—
¹ St. Augustine, Con. Faust 22.27 cited in Catholic Bible Dictionary, ed. Scott Hahn, 2009, p. 850.
² See comments on this complex issue.
» Adam, Calvinism, Contemplation, Donatism, Eden, Fasting, Felix culpa, Jainism, Jesus Christ, Madonna, Milton (John), Virgin Mary
On the Web:
Stages of Psychosexual Development
Freud, explícame tú esto: tnarik / Eduardo
Sigmund Freud‘s theory outlines four early stages of psycho-sexual development in which the ego and libido are developed:
- The oral stage of 0-1 years where infant gratification is achieved through sucking the primary object¹ of the mother’s breast (or substitute objects)
- The anal stage of 1-3, in which sexual gratification is achieved through the child’s control over and actual production of feces. From his or her toilet training the child first learns the reality of restrictions from the external world
- The latency period – occurring between the phallic stage and adolescence – in which the child pays less attention to the body and more to the acquisition of essential life skills
- The genital stage at which time the adolescent’s attention is oriented to developing mature, loving human relationships with others
According to Freud’s theory, so-called normal individuals proceed through these stages without major difficulties while some become fixated at a given stage. Fixation in this sense refers to an unconscious attachment to a particular object of libidinal gratification.
For instance, the alcoholic fixated at the oral phase substitutes liquor and the bottle for the mother’s nipple. Whereas those disregarding or, conversely, obsessed with cleanliness, order and regularity would be fixated at the anal stage.
In general, fixation manifests in excessive behavior such as excessive housecleaning and/or extreme emotional states such as depression, fear, anxiety and forced elation.
For Freud, normal human development pretty much ends at the genital phase. Behaviors such as celibacy, fasting and prolonged solitude may be viewed as pathological by Freudians. Other more holistic thinkers, however, see this as a reductive and potentially dangerous approach, one suggesting spiritual ignorance, immaturity and perhaps sin.
The International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health sums up Freud’s theory as follows:
Although Freud’s theory of psychosexual development was extremely influential and continues to be taught in professional psychology programs today, empirical research has failed to generate significant support for these ideas and it is generally not an accepted model among practicing psychologists. Additionally, this theory has drawn criticism for being constructed on sexist ideas. Regardless, terminology associated with the stages of psychosexual development has found wide popular usage in a variety of registers and fields of activity.²
—
¹ Freud’s usage of ‘object’ includes other people.
² http://www.psychotherapy.ro/resources/constructs/psychosexual-development/
Szasz, Thomas
Anti-Psychiatry Demonstration in Washington, D.C.: Jettero Heller
Szasz, Thomas (1920 – )
Hungarian psychiatrist and author of many books, including his best known work, The Myth of Mental Illness (1960).
Almost a decade before collaborating with The Church of Scientology, Szasz argued that the science behind psychiatry provides an example of scientism.
For Szasz, the term mental illness is a socially constructed myth rather than an actual fact. He believes that the concept of mental illness is generated within, not above, other historically positioned truth claims.
Written before Henri Ellenberger’s The Discovery of the Unconscious (1970) and Michel Foucault‘s poststructural analysis, Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique (1961), Szasz’s work is often on the reading list for undergraduate courses in the Humanities at liberal-democratic universities.
Critics of Szasz’s perspective point out that psychiatry like any other science is in a constant state of development. Depending on factors like the patient’s actual condition, the competency of the psychiatrist and the political climate of the country in which assessments are made, it may be used for good or ill.
Szasz continues to be prolific, however. His latest publications contain some sociological and philosophical insights but seem to represent the unrealistically polarized views of a somewhat isolated but well-meaning humanitarian (e.g Schizophrenia: The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry, 1988; Psychiatry: The Science of Lies, 2008).
Most recognized psychiatric associations have rejected his ideas, a situation which some say resembles an orthodox Church marginalizing heresies.
The polarization of anti-psychiatry vs. psychiatry is a sad state of affairs because it probably makes otherwise intelligent figures like Szasz more uncompromising and extreme, lessening their ability to see other perspectives.
When someone is convinced they’re right and the other is entirely wrong, constructive dialogue usually disappears.
» DSM-IV-TR, Madness, Postmodernism, Unconscious
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
Syntonic Counter-Transference
Watch Over me: stonethestone
Syntonic Counter-Transference
In depth psychology this is a type of transference suggested by Michael Fordham in 1957 where the analyst enters into a kind of “primitive identidy” with the patient.
Apparently the analyst senses the patient’s unconscious feelings, usually at the same time as the patient but sometimes before the patient becomes conscious of them.
Clearly a mysterious and extremely difficult hypthothesis to verify, SC-T nonetheless raises questions that figures like Stanislav Grof and C. G. Jung have examined within their respective schools of transpersonal psychiatry and analytical psychology.
Another problem with the theory is that in some instances it might assume a sort of grandiose expertise on the part of the analyst, as if he or she comes to the correct realization about the supposed truth of the dynamic before the client does.
The potential for psychological abuse relating to a dysfunctional relationship and misplaced trust in the analyst and his or her ideas is arguably no small matter here.
To counteract this problem, responsible therapists speak of a “therapeutic relationship” where both doctor and client learn something from one another while maintaining emotional objectivity.
This is the ideal, of course. It’s a well known fact that Jung himself had an affair with Sabina Spielrein, one of his clients.
On the Web:
- Some thoughts on Transference: http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mstaples/thoughts_on_transference.html
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
System (The)
Lost in the system: id iom
The System
A term that describes and enables individuals to speak about various interlocking social institutions, discourses and practices in a positive, negative, ambiguous or ambivalent manner.
The idea of The System usually carries negative connotations, however.
This is perhaps best exemplified in the song lyrics of “Maybe the Poet” by Canadian folk-rock musician Bruce Cockburn:
Don’t let the system fool you
All it wants to do is rule you
And more commonly, we hear people say something to the effect of… “s/he’s a nice person… I hope s/he doesn’t get gobbled up by the system.”
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
Synthesizer
newscool software synthesizer
Originally uploaded by Dean Terry
Synthesizer
Most associate the idea of the synthesizer with electronic music equipment but this could be a misperception.
Since ancient Greece, people have been experimenting with combining different sounds and also with playing more than one instrument at once.
In the 3rd century BCE, for instance, the Greek engineer Ktesibios invented the hydraulos, a prototypical pipe organ using a hand-pumped air chamber located in a tub of water.
In the 1400′s, the hurdy gurdy played several melodies with a background drone.
In 1761 the panharmonicon automated the playing of flutes, clarinets, trumpets, violins, cellos, drums, cymbals, triangle and other instruments, and was even used by Beethoven.
In 1867 we have one of the first electronic keyboards from Switzerland. And in 1899 the Singing Arc was used to obtain sound from different lamps.
In the 1960s and 70s the analogue synthesizer made its debut in pop music. It mimicked symphonic strings and also created new, fascinating sounds. Some groups used it to poor effect (e.g. the early Doors) while others created distant sonic landscapes that arguably rival the classical greats in terms of sheer innovative brilliance (e.g. Yes, Close to the Edge and Fragile).
In the 1980s digital sound conquered the market, replete with digital sampling where any natural sound could be digitally copied and reproduced at will without any sound quality degradation from the original sample.
Taken for granted today, this was a sonic revolution in the 80s, giving birth to a new era of musical innovations with groups like Depeche Mode, The Eurythmics and The Art of Noise.
In the 1990s (and beyond) the rise of home computers along with the development of the internet, the mp3 file format, Flash, YouTube and other technologies enabled just about anyone with a PC and a keyboard to become a hobbyist superstar, publishing and sharing their musical creations with anyone else on the web willing to listen.
» Orpheus
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
Synoptic Gospels
Jesus Christ baptism site: "In the synoptic gospels, Jesus is baptised by John the Baptist. Site...is considered by many to be the site of the baptism of Jesus." Photo and text (abridged): Vyacheslav Argenberg
Synoptic Gospels
The first three gospels appearing in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Although they differ in some details, there’s a great deal of overlap.
Most scholars believe that Mark is the oldest gospel, possibly written around 30 CE. Its form and content is simpler than Matthew and Luke.
Some hypothesize the existence of an undiscovered document called “Q” which would account for the commonalities in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark.
According to this view, the writers of Matthew and Luke drew upon both Mark and Q to further embellish Mark. As of yet, however, no actual Q document has been found so it remains a convenient scholarly fable.
» Bible, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Q Document
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
Symbol
THE POWER OF LOVE: Material Boy / Aart van Bezooyen
Symbol
M. H. Abrams says that at the most fundamental level a symbol is anything that signifies something else.
Abrams also notes that a distinction is often made between the public and private symbol. The public symbol, such as the cross, is apparently understood by everyone in a given culture whereas the private symbol, such as an obscure poetic allusion, isn’t.
This distinction, however, seems open to debate: Surely not everyone in a given culture interprets the cross in the same way.
In literature a symbol is
a word or phrase that signifies an object or event which in turn signifies something, or suggests a range of reference, beyond itself (A Glossary of Literary Terms, 2005, p. 320).
In depth psychology, Carl Jung says the symbol is a meaningful image that mediates healing or destructive forces from the collective unconscious to ego consciousness–for example, the symbol of the Cross or Serpent.
Jung says symbols arise from the unknowable archetypes but are recognized as archetypal images. Archetypes interpenetrate among themselves; likewise, archetypal images are discrete but exhibit similarities. For Jung the flow of psychic energy between the collective unconscious and the symbol is a two-way process.
Jungian Erich Neumann says that the symbol acts as both as an “energy transformer” and as a “moulder of consciousness.” As an energy transformer the symbol facilitates the ego’s experience of the numinous, arising from the collective unconscious. As a moulder of consciousness, the symbol operates on the level of collective consciousness by contributing to the ideology of a given culture.
Jung says the interconnected conscious and unconscious aspects of humanity cannot be severed. He’s widely quoted as saying in The Undiscovered Self (1958):
You can take away a man’s gods, but only to give him others in return.
Likewise, political leaders of the mass state cannot avoid being glorified or demonized. This occurs through brute force, clever calculation and also through public fascination and projection.
Jung believes, for example, that a mass-produced placard image of Joseph Stalin expresses an archetypal force articulated on the conscious level that both sways and oppresses individuals.
Skyscrapers: swisscan / Reto Fetz
A more contemporary example would be the disempowering psychological effect that massive bank towers (symbolizing ‘Big Business’) have on the poor and disenfranchised. And in ancient cultures such as Greece, Rome and Egypt, impressive architecture apparently had a similar effect on slaves, the exploited, the underprivileged and on less powerful visitors from foreign cultures.
» Abyss, Agape, Alchemy, Anima, Animus, Atlantis, Censor, Cirlot (J. E.), Cylons, Dean (James), Death and Resurrection , Denotation, Dreams, Eden, Ego, Eleusinian Mysteries, Eucharist, Felix culpa, Geertz (Clifford James), Goddess vs. goddess, Hero, Individuation Process, Jonah, Kraken, Kundalini, Labyrinth, Language, Mandala, Mead (George Herbert), Miracles, Object, Psychoid, Pyramids, Square Cross, Sublimation, Theosophy, Totem, Transubstantiation, Tree of Life, World Tree
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
Surrealism
Still life after death? - (C'è vita oltre le nature morte?): foodriver / Vittorio
Surrealism
A form of art and literature developed between WW-I and WW-II particularly in France.
The groundbreaking surrealist treatise of André Breton (1924) challenged 19th century Realism by advocating humor, dreaminess and the absurd.
Surrealism now refers to any noticeably distorted or enhanced representation or interpretation.
In cultural expression and perhaps as a lifestyle the intent is to explore sublime (or bizarre) realities laying behind the everyday world of conventional perceptions and paradigms.
The art form was greatly influenced by Freud‘s model of the unconscious. And the surrealist works of Salvador Dali depict the shadowy world of dreams. Other important surrealists are Max Ernst and Jean Arp, and its impact extends to Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee.
In literature, surrealism is found in the verse of Paul Eluard, the absurd, ironic plays of Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Beckett as well as in the psychologically charged novels of William S. Burroughs.
» Bosch (Hieronymus)
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
Superego
superego: Ana Carolina Machion
Superego
In Freud‘s psychoanalytic theory, the superego is the conscious or unconscious element of the ego that is formed from the child’s internalization of parental values, beliefs and prohibitions.
Because the superego is internalized in childhood, its moral injunctions are partially based on imagined rather than actual parental demands.
A common mistake among popular psychologists is to equate the superego with the conscience.
Although influencing moral attitudes, the superego differs from the conscience. Internal conflicts can arise between the superego and the conscience or between the superego and more recently acquired attitudes and beliefs.
» Censor, Conscience, Defense Mechanism, Dreams, Ego, Electra Complex, Introjection, Psychopath, Repression, Totem
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
