Evolution of the Self: Male and Female Initiation
No matter if it is the Buddha or the modern male, all will desire a consort, the erotic quality, to know it, assimilate it and to act from it consciously as an individuated being, this is the highest –ultimately to act from a place of wholeness. The unexamined unconscious being will seek it also, yet it is unknown to him, and when he finally finds it –it will possess him. Women have a similar problem. They are Eros naturally- their body and being is a manifestation of the Erotic quality- the pulse of love-yet it is immature in its external expression without proper alignment and maturity which comes from the Logos of the masculine quality. She can also be possessed by the animus- her undeveloped qualities and this is usually manifested through the male she chooses.
The greatest initiation accomplished
by a human is the transformation of the base sexuality into a marriage with the
soul or mind. The initiations begin by bringing
consciousness to the unconscious expression of sexual energy so that the male
or female is not possessed by the unknown.
The Greeks understood this in ancient times as most of their myths are
symbols of the unconscious and conscious in conflict and or sacred union. The myth of Psyche and Eros is the most
complex account of the essence of both the male and female qualities
interacting and evolving together. With
our modern scientific psychology we have still not attained a level of
understanding of how each being has both qualities within them. Most people are living unconsciously, thus
they are possessed by their inferior or undeveloped self. Jung stated that our evolution as human
beings must progress so that we become individuated. This means we become less unconscious, which
means we must face our emotional bodies, which form unbeknownst to us. The self
which has male and female qualities must be fully developed. Each quality complements the other and one is
not more powerful than the other.
Our emotional bodies form between the age of three and five years
old. We don’t have logical skills then,
but that does not mean we aren’t receiving feelings and categorizing our lives
to please the ones we love. We are
essential highly intelligent emotional beings at the early ages. The impressions of the others are
powerful. They may be positive or
negative depending on our environment.
All these feelings are still imprinted within us as our anima, animus,
shadow and ego. The ego regulates all
these attributes becoming too strong or too defensive. When the self is finally individuated every
unconscious monster or negative feeling is brought into the light, the ego acts
as only a mediator between the unconscious and conscious.
Eros and Psyche might be the most
accurate account of how difficult and complex the initiate must be to become an
individuated human. The Greeks were
masters at mythology, which means they allowed the community dream to manifest,
thus stories guided their unconscious and conscious self to wholeness. Jung states that each male has a feminine
quality which he named the anima. The
female has a masculine quality inside her also.
If these are ignored then male and females project this unconscious
quality onto the opposite sex. They do
this without knowledge. If the qualities
are completely inferior then male or female can become possessed by the
projection which is embodied by the opposite sex. For example, if a male’s feminine quality is
undeveloped or denied, then when he marries his wife, he projects his own
feminine quality onto her and then becomes possessed by this relationship
without his knowledge. This is why some
men are one way before marriage and then shift completely after marriage. It is as if they are completely different
people and have totally different behavior.
The Greeks somehow understood both men
and women’s nature with amazing accuracy.
Many modern psychologists are studying female and male sexuality, and
the Greeks seemed to know it all already.
“Making an incursion in the philosophical, mythological and archetypal aspects of sexual psychology, I think that, from these points of view, we can consider women as being and possessing the "erotic body" by nature. While the principle of Eros predominates in women, the principle of Logos predominates in men. Both are principles of diverse and complementary nature. Nevertheless, I must remark that, obviously, Logos is also present in women, as well as Eros is also present in men. Therefore, the differences lie mostly in the principle that predominates in each sex - that is, in the quantitative, and not in the qualitative in absolute terms. This also means that in the female psychology there are elements of male psychology and vice versa. (Adapted excerpts from "Novas Perspectivas em Ginecologia" Nelson Soucasaux)
In the myth Eros and Psyche, Eros is the son of Aphrodite, and he represents the love impulse that heated passion that erupts from beauty. The Greeks were experts on beauty in all of its dimensions. Obvious it is more complex than just the physical appearance. The male is hardwired to be provoked by his sight of the object of beauty. The female is beauty, yet she must have the male as her mirror to believe that she is beautiful. We know this to be so from studies of art. Men and women both paint women’s bodies. Women do not paint men’s bodies as objects of beauty. Women draw themselves. This is a strange anomaly, which promotes the ideas that a woman erotic body is a natural to her, yet for her to feel beautiful she must be seen by another. Thus her emotional reaction must also travel through a male so that she is connected to him. So a woman’s emotional feeling is not about seeing a man in the distance and having this overwhelming spark of erotic feeling. The woman’s emotional response is provoked with a relationship between the people who seeks her erotic nature. If a woman’s animus is stimulated she will be emotionally moved by a male’s words, intellect and spiritual attitude. She is actually responding to her own unconscious words, intellect and spiritual attitude. These qualities are not felt on an emotional level or even known until the opposite sex is involved. A woman can know her intellectual reasons and nature, but she may not be emotionally or erotically stimulated until her animus is identified opposite sex.
“Most of these troubles
stem from projecting the anima/animus image onto our loved ones, then
maneuvering them into fulfilling our expectations. Internal conflicts come from
the split nature of anima/animus which we experience in modern life. This again
revolves mainly around the gulf between the "spiritual" and
"sensual" aspects of the inner figure.
For example, a
Madonna/whore complex, which is a split between the holy mother and the erotic
love goddess is often manifested. Or, the spiritual animus might be projected
onto the figure of a wise man, a ghostly lover to whom a woman faithfully goes
in her fantasy-life, or onto an idealized brother/sister relationship devoid of
sexual options.” (http://zero-point.tripod.com/pantheon/ErosPsyche.html)
Psyche is the most beautiful daughter of the King. She is so beautiful that even the Goddess Aphrodite is upset. Psyche is unaware of her extreme beauty. Psyche means soul in Greek. It is normal that each of us is unaware of how extremely unique our soul is, until we address it, seek it and understand it. Everyone around Psyche is worried or upset at her, so thus the initiation begins. So beauty in it external form is erotic, thus even Eros cannot help but to fall in love with Psyche. He is not supposed to, but who can resist. So he makes Psyche a deal that he will be her husband but she cannot see him. This is Psyche and Eros in the immature relationship of love and erotic play. In the night they are together and Psyche’s own Erotic feelings are hidden, and kept secret. This is when our sexual nature is hidden, or unconscious. We do not understand it, but we think we love the person who makes us feel good for a couple of minutes. This is not mature soul-level love. Both Eros and Psyche are not individuated at this point. The Erotic body is separated from the Psyche- the soul.
We all seek Eros and psychologist say that we are really looking for that kind of bond that makes us feel like we did when we were a child, a complete intelligent emotional being. We transfer these feelings into our modern day lives with our ego and shadow, unconscious self who are all interacting for attention. If many of these aspects come from a negative childhood emotional experience then it is a very chaotic dysfunctional addictive life one leads. Becoming individuated then becomes the hero’s journey with monsters that want to eat you at every turn. The monsters that form as anger, shame and unworthiness take up residence in your unconscious and will eat a piece of your soul each day until you shed light on your shadow self. Frodo and Luke Sky walkers journey will seem like child’s play when the person who is addicted becomes clean, then must deal with the emotional body that has been suffering with extreme pain for many years. The ego defends its lost heart like a demon, and there is no penetrating this defensive mechanism in some people. If the pain body is predominant then most people are living almost completely unconscious lives.
When the light is shed on Eros by Psyche at night, she realizes that he is beautiful also, and not a monster. Eros takes flight, he leaves Psyche. Eros might feel betrayed, but the main focus is Psyche. She is in love with Eros and now wants to find him. This represents the passion for true soul- love, where she and Eros are together at a different level, in the daylight fully revealed. Many people think this should be this blissful pleasurable union- so idealized it could not exist on Earth. Yet what it really is, is two people or one individuated person who is autonomous and whole existing in a space and time, which is imperfect. The imperfection of the other is part of the unveiling and maturing. The idealized relationship is replaced by a physical manifestation of soul love that includes wounds, pleasure, trust and chaos. We do not step away from imperfection, but embrace our new found sacred union that draws new spirit from the light we infuse into the relationship. A sacred marriage assumes two people transformed by their own inner work. Each one, both Eros and Psyche have amazing attributes, these are not erased but enhanced when they are united. And in this uniting they are able to approach the imperfection of space and time with a new found attitude and tools. These attributes actually work, and an evolution of consciousness continues as each autonomous being grows individuated yet within a new realm of sacred union.
Psyche cannot find Eros and is forced to approach his jealous mother Aphrodite. This is the attainment of beauty within. Aphrodite sends Psyche on impossible tasks before she will reveal any information about where her son it. Aphrodite represents the jealous mother who does not want her son to be with someone more beautiful than she. This is the initiation stage. Psyche must work on her own inferior qualities which is her animus. The masculine within her is dormant. She must be accurate, tenacious and courageous. At one point she is sent to the Underworld which takes great courage. She wants to kill herself. This is her ego defense. The fear of accomplishing something is a goal, the fear of being beautiful in all aspects of her soul. She is capable of everything. People think fear is often fear of failure, but I think people fear their intrinsic beauty. So she must face her fear, and have courage which is very external thing to develop for a female. The usual hero is the male. So she accomplishes each task with the help of providence. This shows that when you are on the path of evolution of consciousness doors are opened to mystic occurrences. Synchronicity and mystery seem to accompany you on your path. When you feel like you are at your breaking point some miracle or sign will lead you on, so that your soul if finally revealed.
The Psyche and Eros myth reveals the essential nature of relationships and that there really four energies confront each other. Each person has two aspects that within their selves. One is unconscious and one is conscious. It is like there are four people in every relationship between couples.
“The Self's proper role in relationship is concerned with
self-analysis or getting to know one’s inner workings better. Each marriage or
relationship consists of a union among four aspects -- the normal consciousness
of the partners and their subconscious or inner Self. Thus, a woman loves not
only a man as he behaves in outer life, but his inner "feminine"
soul; a man embraces his wife and her inner "masculine" soul. This
relationship was depicted in alchemy as the marriage of the alchemist and his
mystic sister who is his inner nature.”( http://zero-point.tripod.com/pantheon/ErosPsyche.html)
Essentially we must face our own inferior self. The qualities that we deny will manifest with or without our knowledge. We are a complex being with many levels of consciousness. The mystery permeates through us. When our soul is aligned with our sensual nature we become whole. When our ego can only be present to regulate the different aspects of our psyche then we can function in the world as an individuated individual who is an evolution of consciousness. The mythology of the Greek is an amazing phenonena that should be studied and told. Their art and culture show us that they were extremely attuned to human nature.
Further reading and many ideas originated from this blog: http://zero-point.tripod.com/pantheon/ErosPsyche.html Synergetic Qabala- The Lovers: Psyche and Eros
