Magical Path - Psychosynthesis Notes 3

Psychosynthesis Notes 3

The following are various notes and chapter summaries of Roberto Assagioli's book:

Chapter 4

Catharsis – I have some mixed views on Catharsis. I can understand that if it is done correctly it can indeed lead to an emotional discharge. It is stuck in my mind for some reason though, from first year Psychology, that Catharsis is a myth. It seems something which is still contended today. For me, I can understand the rational behind Catharsis being a 'myth'. If other aspects of the personality are not changed also, then the emotion which one is discharging can build up to new levels, ie. If anger, it could go from mild anger, to more and more explosive anger, however it may take a lot more to push the buttons so to speak. I can relate to this from personal experience. Even now, I'm not sure that certain things wouldn't set off a blind rage. However, I would suggest that where the 'failing' is, is not in Catharsis itself, but in integration of the sub-personalities one is acting out of. Once these other areas are dealt with, and integrated / synthesised and emotion is discharged through Catharsis, then true resolution can be achieved.

The other 'problem' I have with Catharsis is from an esoteric / spiritual point of view, and can be somewhat moralistic. I've had suggested to me that one can visualise the person, or people, who have 'wronged' you in the past, and direct your anger and aggression at them. To me though, this would be an act of black magic, and contravenes the 'not harming others' maxim. Theory: magic = creating change through a willed act. Therefore utilising intense emotional discharge, focused intently via the will at a target can indeed bring about change. Beyond 'right' and 'wrong' I'm in two minds as to whether retribution type magic is valid or appropriate. Seeking the understanding from within the event is perhaps more appropriate for me.

Assagioli talks about symbolic satisfaction and the act of symbolic retaliation as though it is a good thing, but I wonder if it is more acting out of subpersonalities, and that learning unconditional love and forgiveness techniques may be more beneficial and appropriate.

I still have much to ponder on here.

Self Identification – I don't really have a lot to comment on this. I see it has great merit to be able to see that one has a centre, which exists no matter what the condition of the mind, emotions or body. It can allow a powerful space to work from when overwhelmed by emotions or internal/external conflict. And conversely, being able to strongly identify with an emotion, feeling, thought, or body part can be extremely useful and provide a powerful space to learn and grow from also. To me, all this starts to get to the core of 'Know Thyself', from where one can really being to grow and start to learn what indeed am 'I', what is my 'Self' and what is it's place in the big picture and the small picture. Perhaps these techniques, of disidentification and identification could be seen as revealing the seed of the 'Self' from which can grow the overall personality (in it's renewed form, free of the previous lack of understanding, and unconscious control by sub-personalities).

The Will – The Will is something I need to spend a lot more time on contemplating and learning about. I can understand some of what Assagioli is putting across, and parts I agree with, and parts I disagree with. Many of his exercises seem to be around strengthening determination, which he seems to use synonymously with the Will. To me these two things are vastly different. One can be extremely determined, but if one doesn't actually will the act (through blockages) then 'failure' to perform is inevitable. An example of this from a personal point of view would be when I was in Doubtful Sound and went swimming at 6:00am in the cold water of the sounds. I made the choice to go swimming, got all ready and stood at the end of the boat. I basically said 1, 2, 3, go… but I didn't jump in. There were fears coming up surrounding the depth of the water and it's temperature. It took 3-4 attempts to actually mobilise my body to take the plunge. This is comparative to Jay's technique for demonstrating the Will by holding one's arm out in front of them, deciding to drop it, but not actually dropping it, then finally dropping it. The Will then is the 'thing' that transfer concept into action. From form to force maybe.

A lot of Assagioli's techniques seem to me to be incidental to actually following one's life path. To me, in esoteric terms, one is to find one's "True Will". To me, this comes from the centred Self, and essentially the Higher Self. I don't see that it needs 'strengthening' but uncovering (dis-covering). There is merit in doing some of the exercises Assagioli suggests, for sure, for instance if one is working in a mundane job then framing tasks in the light of exercises to achieve more spiritual or therapeutic ends can be beneficial. On the other hand, it could be suggested it is more advantages to discover what the reason behind being involved in this kind of work is, the mechanisms and energies which have lead to this situation in life, and what it reflects or relates to on an inner level. And if it is something which makes one extremely unhappy then I would suggest it is out of line with the True Will and life path. And energy is being wasted on doing something unnecessary.

On "the performing of useless exercises" I would suggest that most government departments do a lot of this, with very little real achievement, I would conclude it is not really very effective at 'strengthening' the Will. From more spiritual perspectives, performing of any mundane exercise, as mentioned above, can be used to draw enlightenment from (as Zen asserts also).

The only other comment I have to make on the Will at the moment is that it seems around the time of Assagioli there seemed to be a lot of interest in various places about the Will. The occultist Aleister Crowley termed his system / religion "Thelema" which is Greek for Will. It is also suggested he 'stole' his idea in a large part of Francois Rabelais, whose book "Gargantua" talked about the Thelemites, in a not dissimilar fashion to Crowley. I believe Crowley claimed to have been Rabelais in an earlier life to get around this fact however...

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Psychosynthesis Notes 3