Symbolical Consciousness: A Commentary on Love's Body 089130083X, 9780891300830

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CONSCIOUSNESS

A COMMENTARY ON LOVE'S BODY WILLIAM C. SHEPHERD

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SYMBOLICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION AIDS FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION SERIES Edited by Gerald J. Larson

Number 4

SYMBOLICAL CONSCIOUSNESS: A COMMENTARY ON LOVE’S BODY

by William C. Shepherd

SCHOLARS PRESS Missoula, Montana

“SYMBOLICAL CONSCIOUSNESS: . A COMMENTARY ON LOVE’S BODY

by William C. Shepherd

Published by

SCHOLARS

PRESS

for

AMERICAN

ACADEMY

OF RELIGION

‘Theology Library 1.6) OS AT

4 SO Ge

Gers REM ON T

California

Distributed by

SCHOLARS PRESS University of Montana Missoula, Montana 59801

SYMBOLICAL

CONSCIOUSNESS:

A COMMENTARY

ON LOVE’S BODY by

William C. Shepherd

Copyright © 1976

by AMERICAN ACADEMY

OF RELIGION

Quotations from Love’s Body, by Norman O. Brown. Copyright © 1966 by Norman O. Brown. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. Vintage Books edition.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Shepherd, William C Symbolical consciousness. (Aids for the study of religion series ; no. 4) 1. Psychoanalysis. 2. Brown, Norman Oliver, 1913- Love’s body. I. Title. II. Series.

BF175.S495 150°.19°S ISBN 0-89130-083-X

76-26582

Printed in the United States of America

Printing Department University of Montana

Missoula, Montana 59801

,

For MRS

TABLE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER,

is

CHAPTER

LL:

CHAPTER

LLine

CHAPTER IV: CHARTER

Vis

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e

e

JNGHOy OVAISUEDS

BROWN:

e

e

e

TIONING

2LFE

APOCALYPSE:

HOWE SS BODE

SYMBOLICAL

OF

CONTENTS

e

°

Go

AGAINST

THE THE

po

e

e

°

°

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e

e

e

e

Go

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6

0

6

6

4

.

.

«

«

»

«

DEATH

PLACE OF MYSTERY LEBER OF THE MIND

6

66

CONSCIOUSNESS

6

6

AND

6

6

IN "a:

8

6

A CHOICE.

ele

3 Be

6

33

5 UT

Introduction

"To explore is to penetrate: the world is the insides of the mother.... Already in childhood the symbolic equivalents for the inside of the mother's body are discovered in external objects, the toys. Growing up consists in finding new toys, new symbolic equivalents; so that in all our explorations we are still exploring the inside of our mother's body." (pp. 36-7) "Having a soul, the hero with a thousand faces, is the same as having genital organization--to take the penis as the 'narcissistic representative of the total personalTig YS (Ges. Salt) "The endless task: to achieve the impossible, to find a male female (vaginal father) or female male (phallic mother). It is to square the circle; to desire the pursuit of the whole in the form of dual unity or the combined obWCEAaoG = Mio 745) "All work is women's work. Every commodity is, as Marx says, a fetish, that is to say a non-existent penis. An investment. From feudal investiture to capitalistic investment, the manufacture of clothes for their own sake, not to be worn but to be saved in the hope chest. Instead of fixed robes and roles, fashion design and the endless search for identity: new personalities from old, turn in

last

year's

model."

(p.

78)

"To make in ourselves a new consciousness, an erotic sense of reality, is to become conscious of symbolism. Symbolism is mind making connections (correspondences) rather than distinctions (Separations). Symbolism makes conscious interconnections and unions that were unconscious and repressed." (pp. 81-2) "Personality is persona, a mask. themsel fal theatrical creatlon.

The world | (pi. 90)

is

a

stage,

"Tt is not that children, neurotics, and primitives are so stupid as to be unable to discriminate between words and things; Le as that they are not so repressed as to’'be unaware that personality is a social fiction, and a name a magical invocation of a particular role in the social chasis (as. YA)

like the body politic, "The body, is symbolic, everything including

everything is a theater; The the sexual act....

function of the representative organ is to incarnate, incorporate in his own body the (peels)

impersonate, body politic."

"The divorce between soul and body takes the life out of the body, reducing the organism to a mechanism, dead in itself but given an artificial life, an imitation of life, by will or power." (p. 138) "To The

give up boundaries reality-principle,

is to give up the reality-principle. the light by which psychoanalysis

has

set

a

its

and outside; physical and "Literal

course,

is

false

boundary

subject and object; real mental." (pp. 150-1)

meanings

are

icons

become

between

and

stone

inside

imaginary;

idols."

(p.

185)

"Literal meanings as against spiritual or symbolic interpretation, a matter of Life against Death. The return to symbolism, the rediscovery that everything is symbolic--a penis in every convex object and a vagina in every concave one--is psychoanalysis. A return or turning point, the beginning of a new age (Aquarius?); the Third Kingdom, the age of the spirit prophesied by Joachim of Fiore; or the second coming, the resurrection of the body. It is raised as spiritual or symbolical body; the awakening to the symbolacals lite tof thesbody. “(ps ol) "Literalism is tutes the lost

to take pars pro (hidden) unity."

toto; symbolism (p. 210)

reconsti-

"In Ferenczi's apocalyptic theory of genitality the sexual act is a historical drama, a symbolic reenactment or recapitulation of all the great traumas in the history of the individual, of the species, of life itself. Psychoanalytic time is not gradual, evolutionary, but is discontinuous, catastrophic, revolutionary. The sexual act is’ a return) to i

:

:

‘

a

ay

i

23

i

c

t 4 4

a

#

=

P

n wi AY t -

-

;

:

Shwe,

See ; ~

‘

e

“a ry

oh 5S + in nialians,

ive

The

following

commentary chapter By

on

and of

way

and

Don

ping

I

"That "I

That

is

is

for.

the is

all

I

can

sense.

Birds

weed

"As

birds

"No,

he

imagination,

ly

broke

that

you

ings

of The

the

not

I

portion of

a

second

it,

been

trip-

Devil's

the

Didn't

you?"

did

body

my

simple

you.

fly

like

flies

as

such."

as

a man

cannot of

you

portion

tell

fly?

Did

I

the will

answer.

learn

matter. of

the

What

you

want

birds

and

a man

You

devil's

weed

how

to

A man

fltes

devil's

weed.

to

makes

know

who

has

flew. is fly with That

taken

no the

do?" who

has

taken

Maardnetenealilvetilyv,.

Don

uuan..,

in

Where

my

mind

Juan

trouble

alone.

he

laughter

understand Don

questions

bushes,"

into

me.

I mean,

more

flies

imnnent

con-

himself

have or

each. a

Juan?"

told

second

is

the

devil's

"In

ask

take It

of

you

Don

Juan.

the

you

help

fly,

Don

always

perfectly.

on

between

Weed

each

to

refer

They

man.

chapter

thoughts to

like

Jimson

calls

by from

a bird?"

what

As

brief

Castenada

holy

Yanqui

what

like

"You

Carlos

Juan

really

know,

off

some should

I

chapter

begins:

Carlos "Did

take

passages

by

the Don

what

Weed.

a

quoting

suggesting

recorded

Juan,

on

present

Body,

introduction,

versation

e.Body

remarks

Love's

then

Love

replied

again.

things

only

with

you

is

in pp.

that

38

my

trouble one

weed."

£ flew

cuttingly, "The

[Ballantine],

was

the

way"

ian my

body?" but with

immediateyou

is

(The

Teach-

understand

things

130-31). you

34

in

only

as

well. in

I with

said

to

earlier

mind

How

to

forge

it

and

body,

union

symbols

which

Brown

is

bodily

jections.

I

from

with

object,

and

vagina a mere

object.

well.

All

are

the

link

way

out

of

surrection The

p.

reunion"

(Beyond

religions as

great

Christian

and

Buddhist

mystical

traditions:

all

Reltgions

are

symbolism

built

for

individual, loss

Roszak's

is

the

of

way

meaning

words

"the

on

in

effort

body to

and

and

loss

Making

to

road

this

of

recover

but

for

of a

the

to

re-

is

scheme as

con-

dealing psychofrom

relevant

alienating:

symbolism

is

235-36).

and

overcoming

sleep"

Bellah, it

symbolism

available

repressive

and

symbolism,

symbolism,

are

"Two-

in

forms

some-

Blake:

traditions,

become

no

thing.

the

pp.

places

which

symbolism,

Body

Beltef,

is

is

and

Robert

it

convex

one

says

their

religious

that than

vision

symbols

Ligtous

Theodore

find

There

pro-

fol-

every

unconscious,

and

not

literalism,

and

early in

from

stems

dreams,

single

"Symbolism,"

conscious

Brown.

the

quotes

keep/From

literalisms,

great

primitive

more

dividing

reality.

analytic

49).

between

great

of

Brown

us

always

And

basically

one.

is

body;

say.

Freud's

mean

all

Brown's,

veyors

God

It

to

transcendent,

might

a penis

concave

things

symbolic. May

("Apocalypse,"

Love's

every

as

always.

with

in

of

idiom.

symbolism,

and

fantasies,

is

How

tries

is

symbolism

one

body?

as

mind

what

one

erotic

there

as

"is

of

that

else

things

fold

all

Brown

link of

do

conscious

and

mysticism,

view

that even

thing

thing All

a

its

to

splits

contemporary

that

much

had

dualisms,

mind

the

suggest so

Ferenzci,

say

in

important,

Freud

can

project

intellect,

integrate

Symbols

to

perhaps

Brown

minded.

overall

say

symbolism.

lowers,

such

not

society

Thus

understand

and

to

dualism?

and

we

emotion

ultimately

learned

from

that

is

pernicious

we

through,

a

Love's

literal

are

Brown's

as

body

link

of

erasing

how

together?"

especially

that

But

overcome a

that

with

unconscious. "get

We

way.

one

integration,

between

and

only

Body

message

of us indictment

Brown's

things

basic

the

That's

way.

one

for

but

the

way

reout

fragmentation, enjoyment.

Counter

from

this

In

Culture,

patholog-

35

ical

culture

ness

and

based

the

to

on

fashion

the

repression" ciple

is

bols are is

of

that

not

only

infinite

literally

on

literalism of

framework,

exercise, by

is

we

by

bodily

more a

to

level by

the

a new

advent

that

brought live

but

and

sense

can

bring,

and

sym-

body

fragmentation

we

dualism,

of

prin-

through

symbol

thing:

whole-

principle

reality

symbolically,

consciousness

avoid

one

predated

one

recommending

psychic

reality

instincts:

than

new

a

such

living

reinforced

of

to

on

about. this

avoid

chaos

equally

fragmented

remarks

setting

the

that

especially and

sort al-

living

as

that

complex

institutions.

those

our

remnants

which

fragmentation only

social

With

begin

is

disintegrated

Creating

all

and

think,

level,

sets

unity

mean

overcome I

our

these

115).

reflect both

thus

most

organic (p.

of

of

accomplished

one:

Brown,

traces

preliminary

may

turn

effort

quoting

from

to

to

the

test,

interpret

Chapter

I,

to

and

our

hence

Liberty:

our

conceptual

hermeneutical

to

learn.

I

36 IV.1

Liberty

Freud's myth of the rebellion of the sons against the father in the primal, prehistoric horde is not a historical explanation of origins, but a suprahistorical archetype; eternally recurrent; a myth; an old, old story.

(Pius) ..etaboos which prescribe sexual separation, mutual avoidance; the castration complex. Without an understanding of the seamy side of the sexuality there is no understanding Oe OOMCSem Dreme) The ideology of utilitarianism which in the origin of the state and everywhere in life sees only obedience to necessity and the satisfaction of elementary vital needs, is senile, and in politics sees only senatorial activity. Youthful energy has that exuberance which overflows the confines of elementary necessity, and rises above labor into the higher, or is it lower, sphere of play. (p. 14) Academic orthodoxy, senile and senatorial, is against fraternities; against Sparta; against Plato; against athletics; against play; against sex; against youth. (p. 14) In the end, in accordance with the Freudian law of the return of the repressed, the murdered father returned and put an end to the quarreling of the brothers; it came to a choice between libertas and pax;... (p. 28) Political parties are conspiracies to usurp the power of the father, "a taking of- the sword out of the hand of the Sovereign." Political parties are antagonistic fraternities, or moieties;... (p. 29)

hd

Behind

liberty,

democratic primal

father

Remus,

the

so

party;

we

his

and

ganization, coitus.

in

the

the

breaking

game

needs

we

pair,

the

killing

fratricide: the

primal

dual

Hiss,

need

every

of

off

Romulus

the

and

organization

brothers

democracy

his

particularly

need

of

each

the

warring

Abbie

Hoffman

Hoffman.

apparent what

rationality think

male

reflects

between

analogue

the

putative

organization:

political

and

as

Julius

Politics

genital as

the

behind

notion

patricide,

undergirded

Just our

our

lies

king,

which

Nixon

Judge

Behind cess

in

there

the

Rome.

every

needs

or

myth

republican other

freedom,

freedom,

of

boundaries

is

and

female,

dual

the

political

lies

in

the

the

parties,

polymorphous

game all

is

structured

even

which

between

the

power.

perversity

pro-

genital

warring

organization

and

of

of

freedom

is

orin

reflects sexes, The

anarchy:

organization.

38

IvV.2

"Maiden most ful, lady of She

is

our

beautiful, mother most beautilands, Queen and republican--"

real

mother:

"Hast thou known how Child, underground?" Geography jeorsly7g Gig

Nature

is the SG)

I fashioned (p. 34)

geography

of

thee,

the

mother's

Already in childhood symbolic equivalents for the inside of the mother's body are discovered in external objects, the toys. Growing up consists in finding new toys, new symbolic equivalents; so that in all our explorations we are still exploring the inside of our mother's body. (p. 37) The dance of life, the whole story of our wanderings; in a labyrinth of error, the labyrinth of this world. We wandering in the wilderness: Israel, Aeneas and his band of brothers to find Britain; the band of Pilgrims, compact together in one ship, to fly into the wilderness from the face of the dragon, from England to New England. The exodus is an inLeLatvon.. (pi 40) "Embryos we must be, till You ambient, azure shell,

(p. You The

we burst the shell and spring to life."

44) The woman penetrated is a labyrinth. emerge into another world inside the woman penis is the bridge; the passage to another

world

is coitus;

the

other

Cave man still drags cave all coitus is fornication ground arched vault). (p.

world

is

woman to (fornix, 48)

a womb-cave. his cave; an under-

The wandering heroes are phallic heroes, in a permanent state of erection; pricking o'er the plain. The word coition represents genital sexuality as walking; but the converse is also true: all walking, or wandering in the labyrinth, is genital-sexual. All movement is phallic, all intercourse sexual. Hermes, the phallus, is the god of toads, of doorways, of all goings-in and comingsout? all goings-on. (p. 50)

39

In

the

philosophy

of Freud's

Beyond

the

Pleasure

Prinetple and Ferenczi's Thalassa, life itself is a catastrophe, or fall, or trauma. The form of the reproductive process repeats the trauma out of which life arose, and at the same time endeavors to undo it. The "uterine regressive trend in the sex act” is an aspect of the universal goal of all organic life--to return to lifeless condition out of which life arose. "The goal of all life is death." In this philosophy life and the main stages of biological evolution (sexual differentiation, adaptation to dry land) are catastrophes excited by external forces: these catastrophes create "tension"; and the aim of life (or of evolutionary adaptation) is to get rid of the tension, and so die. Life is a temporary (accidental) disturbance in a lifeless (and thus peaceful) universe. It is best, then, never to have been born; and second best, quickly to die. Nirvana is release from the cycle of rebirth. The real death is the death we are dead with here and now. (p. 53)

40

god,

sky

the

In

universe. or

for

as

mother earth

the

only

up

theme

mobility.

From

the

in

From

parents

absurd.

cut

the

to

Taking

grave:

rinth is

of

the

and

The wake life,

adult

from

either

earth

mother:

walks

one

man:

acid

mother

on

step

on

this

womb

is

is We

the

of

the

must

and

of

is: be

resurrected

lives

or

outside. growing

in

enter

Road;

move-

world

parentts:

and

bus

the

our

own

decisions: alone

Ken

into

Kesey:

you're

off

The out

The the

analogue

analogue

of

life:

and

"This of

of in

bus

body.

to

laby-

movement out:

in

sleeping.

the

new

Polymorphous

more

cave

the

our and

life=slumber=death.

again

means

labyrinth:

The

waking

this born

everything

the

is

decisions,

the

tomb."

in

alternation equation

into

vagina.

go

our

past

the

to

Nature

test.

and

life

of

On

on

loco

life:

the

on

cave

we

always."

the

get

each

home in

burdens

the

up:

symbolism:

ancestral

Kerouac:

kool-aid of

penis.

out:

chapter

college:

off

Jack

--electric

is

Brown's

the

Trip--you're

Out

manner:

into

ourselves

future.

Bus

we

god

medicine

sacred

a

in

hands--initiation to

sky

Sioux

the

sacred.

Another ment,

the

the

Elk,

running

magisterially

figure

of

place

Black

earth is

father

of

rejection

the

is

chapter

this

in

themes

the

of

One

than

one

life,

We the

must real

perversity: thing,

"twofold

41 EWA 3} Aireshinbliesye

The parents in coitus make one flesh; not a juxtaposition of two separatenesses, but a genuine Two-in-One, incorporated; making one corporate body. "The father's penis incorporated in the mother"; “at this early stage of development the principle of pars pro toto holds good and the penis represents the father (p. 60) in person." Mother and child as one body is mother with a penis. The symbolic equation, penis= child. The king entering the arch; the priest in the tent or tabernacle: "He is the Lamb and I the fold"; both a penis and a child.

(p.

62)

In the ascent of the soul, the doffing of garments, the slipping of knots, the loosing of bonds, disaftftiiation: “the sum of these knots is called ‘psyche':--the complexes, or conplaicatvons. (po. 7/4) Zeus has an erection, in the head; and bears a child. And he bears a child via castration; his head is split by the blow of an axe. The father produces children from his head. Paternal power is not natural virility or paternity but castration denied; a lie, a veil made of the pubic hair of mother. "The father-image is a thin mask covering the image of the pre-Oedipal mother." "A great advance was made in civilization when men decided to put their inferences upon a level with the testimony of their sense and to make the step from matriarchy to patriarchy. The pre-historic figures which show a smaller person sitting upon the head of a larger one are representations of patrilineal descent; Athena had no mother, but sprang from the head of Zeus. A witness who testifies to something before a court of law is still called 'Zeuge' [literally, 'begetter'] in German, after the part played by the male in the act of procreation; so too in hieroglyphiesia “witness® is represented pictorially by the male genitals." But the witness that stands up in the court is denying Castration; the testimony is. false tesLr lesmeanGmcivalazatvon sas Irenes. All work is woman's work. Every commodity is, as Marx says, a fetish, that is to say a non-existent penis. An investment. From feudal investiture to capitalistic investment, the

42

manufacture of clothes for their own sake, not to be worn but to be saved in the hope chest. Instead of fixed robes and roles, fashion deSign and the endless search for identity: new personalities for old, turn in last year's model. The industrial revolution. Work is a masturbation dream, punishment for the Fall, which is falling asleep; and also a fall into

division

of

the

sexes.

(pp.

77-78).

43 Trinity: All

the

combined.

object, and

unity.

child

dream

The

both

and

in

head

Holy

ian

homogeneity

Spirit

we

do

and

sky,

stead work

we but

having

miss

to

up the

self

and

sexual

only

our

part

the

primordial

with is

rather onanism,

a

the

unity,

diverse a

penis

father,

We the

and

than

the

womb:

out,

We not

trinitar-

do

are

dream.

but

do

not

con-

earth

love.

our

But

not

between

only

Son,

object.

primal

divide

in

Father,

nature:

coitus,

penis

both

combined

the

inversions

In-

interminable

symptoms

of

our

whole--sado-mashochism,

homosexuality--all are attempts unity is

ultimate

remarkably with

penis

the

others.

also

female

tarian

promises.

connection,

ourselves,

it

in

its

castrate

female

wish:

wish,

the

and

one

the

basic

in

child.

combined

symbolism,

being,

is

between

regain

The

one

also

the

transvestitism,

in

sameness,

fulfill

We

womb,

Christian

mother,

hole:

child

or

unity

not

quer.

father,

mommy's

the

the

In all

in

as

for

are

family:

penis

same

waking.

and

This

nuclear

Daddy's

the

of

symbol cultural is

the

mother,

the

symbol of

combined of

unity

child

object. we

that

settings.

ultimate and

what

so

has

The

cropped

symbol

symbol

of

all

one.

in

dearly

trini-

of

44 ID EE AOpen ey

a cure; there a way out; an end to analysis; there such a thing as health? as in wholesome; To heal is to make whole, this to unify or reunify: to make one again; Eros is the instinct that is Eros in action. and Thanatos, makes for union, or unification, is the instinct that makes the death instinct, for separation, or division. (p. 80) Is is

Crazy Jane

Jane

in

both

is

who

William

the

Butler

student

Yeats--Crazy the

and

teacher--

says, Nothing can be sole or whole That has not been rent. We have been rent; there is no health in us. We must acknowledge the rents, the tears, the splits, the divisions; and then we can pray, as Freud prays at the end of Civiligzatton and Its Discontents, “that the other of

the

two

heavenly

forces,

eternal

Eros,

will put forth his strength so as to maintain himself alongside his equally immortal adversary." (pp. 80-81) The unification of the human race: a mental fight, a struggle in and about men's minds. The rents, the tears, splits and visions are mindmade: they are not based on truth but on what the Buddhists call illusion, what Freud calls unconscious fantasies. The prevailing sense of reality, the prevailing forms of knowledge, are fueled by the instinct of aggression and vision, are under the dominion of the death instinct. We are in Satan's kingdom; to build a Heaven in Hell's despite is to construct an erotic sense of reality. To

make

in

ourselves

a

new

consciousness,

an erotic sense of reality, is to become conscious of symbolism. Symbolism is mind making connections (correspondences) rather than distinctions (separations). Symbolism makes conscious interconnections and unions that were unconscious and repressed. (pp. 81-82)

souls. the

Union and unification is of bodies, not The erotic sense of reality unmasks

soul,

the

personality,

the

ego;

because

soul, personality and ego are what distinguish and separate us; they make us individuals, arrived at by dividing till you can divide no more--atoms.... Souls, person-

45

alities, and egos are masks, spectres, concealing our unity as body. For it is as one biological species that mankind is one--"the species-essence" that Karl Marx looked woah so that to become conscious of ourselves as ae is to become conscious of mankind as one. Demo) If we are all members of one body, then in that one body there is neither male nor female; or rather there is both: it is an androgynous or hermaphroditic body, containing both Sexese res Lhendiyas1on OL theone: man anto two sexes is part of the fall; sexes are secelem, (ae, We) In the collective unconscious Freud finds what he calls an "archaic heritage," or "phylogenetic inheritance." "Phylogenetic inheritance," i.e., belonging to the "speciesessence" of the human species. "Archaic heritage," i.e., archetypes; at any rate the phylogenetic factor is the symbolic factor, the former identity or lost unity which symbolic consciousness recovers. "There probably exists in the mental life of the individual not only what he has experienced himself, but also what

he

brought

with

him

at birth,

fragments

of a

phylogenetic origin, an archaic heritage." Not in entire forgetfulness do we come. Freud comes to the conclusion that "the archaic heritage of mankind includes not only dispositions, but also ideational contents, memory traces of the experiences of former generations." The nucleus of neurosis turns out to be precisely in this phylogenetic factor: not in the individual's own murderous impulses against his individual father, but in the primal crime against the primal parent or parents. For Freud, then, in the end, as for Christianity, in Adam's fall we sinned all, and there is just that one collective sickness of the human race in all its generations: we are all in the same boat, or body. (PP mnoi — clo) The td is instinct; that Dionysian "cauldron of seething excitement," a sea of energy out of which the ego emerges like an island.... The reality is instinct, and instinct is impersonal energy, an "it" who lives in us. I live, yer mot 1, but at lives in me; as in Creation, frat. Let at) be; no “1,” but an ee (15 {3}

46

Once be

no

we

unity,

cation

of

is

Unification egos.

no

combined

the

very

it

to

body-soul

as

survival

The Brown of

be,

"mystical

humanity

in

not

mankind

neither

says

is

of

male or

Life today

Eros.

is

the

souls, is nor

a

and body.

and female,

symbolical

can

Unifi-

with

androgynous,

Against is

there

biological,

anatomical

bodies of

dualism,

triumph

to

and

body

bisexual,

no

is

do with

unified

subject. But

if

anatomical,

has The

with

unification,

hermaphroditic,

Utopian.

cursed

mankind,

biological

not

are

the

body."

Death,

utopian

even hope.

ids

47

IV.5

Person

Fixed personalities; unchanging masks; character is carving. When.Marcus Aurelius says, "carve your mask," he means "develop your character." Stereotypes. All personality is rigid--"This is the way to do things, and this is the only way"--magical, and mechanical; a mechanization of a particular way of reacting; a repetition-compulsion. (p. 95) A person is always a feigned or artificial person, persona ficta. A person is never himself, but always a mask; a person never owns his own person, but always represents another, by whom he is possessed. And the other that one is, is always ancestors; one's soul is not one's own, but daddy's. This is the meaning of the Oedipus Complex. (p. 98) Instead of the cyclic recurrence of rary role, the historical personage continuous performance and achieves ous existence. (p. 100) The

ego

is

public

relations.

Patrilineal inheritance is the sons, but for the sake father. (p. 102) The construction open-air theater

(p.

a tempooffers a a continu-

101)

not for the sake of the defunct

of the super-ego moves indoors. (p. 103)

of

the

Freud says that the condition for giving up love-object is to make out of onean external part of for the lost object; self a substitute the ego dresses up as father and says to the you-ocan just I am so° Vike father; id») "Lock, So Roheim can say, as well love me instead." "By personality we mean that each individual grows up by wearing a mask, by imitating one (p. 104) of his parents."

nor God does not go for personalities; does the Last Judgment consist in the award for the perforof prizes to personalities The performance prinmance of their parts. (ore ciple must go; the show must not go on.

105)

48

round

and we

see,

we

and

home,

genu-

but

conviction

modern

the

time

do,

we

theatrical

all

seriously,

roles

We

masquerades.

roles,

victims

as

relationships,

Puritans

are

we

that

those

all

that

aware

interpersonal

those

all

is

thing

unfortunate

the

and

primitive,

the

like

not,

are

things

the

all

roles

play

is

we

masquerade;

unselfconscious

world

life

that

is

chapter

Person

the

in

theme

master

The

we

spiral

insight.

ine

in

premise,

fashion,

intellectual

just

not

insight:

have

premise,

nailed

are

points

its

until

premise, in

moves

it

Rather

deduction. round,

logic:

Aristotelian

of

tern

pat-

the

to

according

move

not

does

Body

Love's

of

gument

ar-

The

context.

a new

in

again

appear

to

only

disappear

and

transformed,

are

appear,

themes

score,

orchestral

an

Lake

form.

new

in

recur

themes

old

some

and

chapter,

this

in

appear

which

themes

important

some

are

there

Again

of

the

are

those

take

performance

principle. Brown a

pins

historical

in

Greece

ery

to

is

the

we

must

of

us;

after to

we

tations thetr How

can

is

be

the

voice

make We

have modern

and

all

theatre

it;

our

from

me,

of

us

involved of

the

or

must

death

in

on the me

in

or and to

the

the sons

is

the

voice

of

well

we

are

linear

his-

their

their sons?

expec-

up

for going?

immorThe

fa-

conscience,

internalized

perpetuity:

what

think

make

via

slavout:

performances

unless

of

via

ship

which

not

thetr

superego

telling

egoistic

we

deeds

themselves

living

of up

fathers,

keep

the

or

form Shape

others

are

man

individualism

non-cyclical

thus

by

Western

of

expectations

to:

escape

inside

cowards

modern

make

incarnate

voice,

are

vast

the

In

father

modern

principle.

attended

they

on

development

they

Conscience

of

of

must

guaranteed

prohibiting

same

all,

reincarnate

watchful

doth

we

shortcomings

superego. voice

root

children

else

thers

the

meet.

must

tality

indictment

performance

perform,

supposed tory,

this

analysis--the

it

is

authority,

I cannot

do.

| the

the Conscience

all. in

this

absurd.

same And

public

show,

we

all

are

this so

vain:

49

we

all

do

think

maniacal: of

we

approbation,

far

richer

activity Signed

show to

and

also Big

not

to

the

sively

to

in

more

stage

continue

song

thinking

the

all

only

we,

us.

We

project

of

of our

seeing, the

than

our

are

for

inactivity

others

Otherwise

theatrical

to

life

ourselves

God

on.

about

performance

that

convince

convince

is

frenetic

fruitful

to

Father, go

endless a

this

never

designed

The

world's

that

engage

be

hurly

burly

performances:

we

thoughtlessly

make

it

so.

a

and

de-

for

the

worth.

must

die

children,

if

sake

might

worth

own

ego-

the

are

but

all

and

self

doomed

the repres-

50 IV.6

Representative

the young men of the war .eethe Couretes, More and more dance, have a Leading Man. they differentiate him from themselves, make him their vicar. Their attitude becomes More and more and more one of contemplation. of his actzon: more they become spectators, Theatrically speaking, they become an audience; religious speaking, they become worGradually they shippers; he becomes a god. lose all sense that the god is themselves. "He is utterly projected." (ie ALT) It

is

a

duction as

in

mental

alienation;

of

self

the

minors

Vicarious

or

to

madmen.

satisfaction:

a

a

permanent

condition Gel, Nake), the

deed

of

is

re-

tutelage,

both

On this self-contheirs and not theirs. tradiction, this hypocrisy, this illusion, representative institutions are based. In vicarious experience there is both The mediator identification and distance. is to keep reality ata distance, to keep the multitude in remote contact with reality. Hobbes saw the paradigm in Exodus XX, 18-19: "And all the people saw the thundering, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when they saw it, they removed, And and stood far off. they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die." Representative institutions depend upon the distance separating the spectators from the actor on the stage; the distance which permits both identification and detachment; which makes for a participation without action; which establishes the detached observer, whose participation consists in seeing and is restricted to seeing; whose body is restricted to the eyes. Everything which is merely seen is seen through a windowpane, distantly; and purely: a pure aesthetic experience. Representative institutions depend upon the aesthetic illusion of distance. (pp. 19 =2:0)) The garden is polymorphism of the senses, polymorphous perversity, active interplay; and the opposite of polymorphous perversity is the abstraction of the visual, obtained by putting to sleep the rest of the life of thes body.» Wpemk2as)

5a

The penis which still belongs to another; even aS our superego still belongs to Daddy. The super-ego is borrowed strength; or a stolen trophy; a head cut off, a monument erected high in our house. To idealize is to idolize; to make an idol; to translate into a fixed image for contemplation; to turn into monumental form; to turn into stone. To concentrate on seeing is to turn into stone; Medusa's head; castration. (p. 124)

a2

Politically authority. We

foist

Toward off

vicariously ers,

and

tatorship with

a

our in

the

coitus:

mal

scene

are

authority

our

places.

presidency

just

and is

participators.

endlessly we

under

our

view

"the

Genital

others:

we

become

be

turned

lethargic of

the

We

after

become

vicars

detached

into

Brown

organization

lust

our

gazes.

primal as

We

infantile-dependent.

on

So

effect,"

castration."

perversity.

can

docile.

are

responsibility

child's-eye

in

morphous

we

a

observ-

virtual

The

dic-

parallel

scene,

the

parents

says,

"of

the

voyeurs rather

act

rather than

is

prithan

poly-

5S

IV

Head

The apocalypse lays bare the mystery of kingship; stripping off the Emperor's New Clothes, to reveal the harlot. Kingship is fornication-the identity of politics and sex. In the apocalypse the walls do fall; the walls separating inside and outside; public and private; body physical and metaphysical. The identification (p. of sex and politics; as in psychoanalysis. 126) Psychoanalysis shows the sexual organization of the body physical to be a political Organization; the body is a body politic. Psychoanalysis stands or falls on the expansion of the idea of sexuality to comprehend the entire life of the human body; attributing a sexual ("erotogenic") action to all parts, organs, or "zones"; or rather, envisaging sexuality as an energy diffused throughout the whole body, and capable of displacement from one part to another, and of transformation from one mode of manifestation to another (polymorphism; metamorphosis). What the psychoanalytically uninitiated call "sex," psychoanalysis calls "genitality," or "genital organization," seeing in it an arrangement, a modus vtvendt, a political arrangement arrived at after stormy upheavals in the house of Oedipus. The arrangement is to concentrate sexuality in one part of the body, the genital; this concentration, or organization, establishes the "primacy" of one "componentimpulse," which is now the "dominating" or "supreme" component-impulse in the sexual life of the body. It is, says Freud, a wellorganized tyranny of a part over the whole.

(pp.

126=7)

It is part of the tyranny of genital organization that its slaves are blind, and see not tyranny but natural necessity. The status quo bears the seal of familiarity, until the seal is broken; the apocalypse. The revolutionary idea in psychoanalysis is the idea of the body as a (political) organiZacVon, auboGy politic; as @ historical variable; as plastic. Man Makes Himself, his own body; his image of the body; the Eternal Body OL Manse nerermacenate tom se 2)7/)) The body, like the body politic, is a theater, everything is symbolic, everything The principal part including the Sexual act.

54 is-a public person taking the part of the community as a whole: persona publica tottus communitatits gerens vitcem, The function of the representative organ is to impersonate, incarnate, incorporate in his own body the body politic. Incorporation is the establishment of a theater (public); the body of spectators depend on the performance for their existence as

one

body.

(pp.

131-32)

The penis is the head of the body, the band of brothers; the rest of the body is to the penis as chorus to tragic hero, hypocritically and from a safe distance enjoying the thrill of being spectators at their own execution. (p. 132) The head, the husband, and the soul of the body. The classic psychoanalytical equation, head=genital. Displacement is not simply from below upwards; nor does the truth lie in Simply reducing it all downwards (psychoanalytical reductionism). The way up is the way down; what psychoanalysis has discovered is that there is both a genitalization of the head and a cerebralization of the genital. The shape of the physical body is a mystery, the inner dynamical shape, the real centers of energy and their interrelation; the mystical body which is not to be arrived at by anatomical dissection and mechanical analysis; the symbolical life of the body, with which psychoanalysis can put us in touch. (p. 136)

55

To about

talk

the

about

imagination.

also

reeroticize

tion

is

to

to

and

roles

ly

said

emptied

prick: of

Throw

off

would

be

chains.

we

Sex

have

overcome

that

our

overcome dualism

part

Politics we

and

and

politics:

"Workers

hard

to

do

because

both

riches

ourselves

said

we

of

our

into of

Marx: we

to

the

both

fetishes

ejaculated

chains,"

body

talk we

body

organiza-

over

are

in

the

to

the

play

leading and

theatre

are

poor,

love

selfof

Psychic

and and

unite! said

with

the

precise-

commodities

Freud

is

presi-

the

world,

but

the

organization

them.

the

must

overcome

self-repression

deprivation: your

to

genitality:

allow

Amidst

made

of

is

genital is

genital

theatrical

Talleyrand.

or

symbolic

one

egoism.

part

because

To

to

forgetfulness. poor

head.

of

perversity

reeroticize, the

finally,

the

is

To

body-soul

domination

and

overcome

dent

the

overcome

tyrannical others,

polymorphous

our

that own

56 IV.8

Boundary

The possibilities adumbrated in infancy are as in Wordsworth's to be taken as normative: "Ode": "before shades of the prison house

close

in;

condition "The sole thing ship trol

we is

shrink normal

up

into

the

adulthood."

fallen (p.

141)

ambitions of the Id, while that was the governing force, were towards being the at the other side of whatever relationit established. When the Ego takes conof the Id's impulses, it directs them

towards "The

before which

having."

natural

man

(p. is

145) self-centered,

or

ego-

centric; everything he regards as real he also regards as outside himself; everything he takes ‘in' immediately becomes unreal and "spectral.' He tries to become an armored crustacean alert for attack or defense; the price of selfishness is eternal vigilance. This kind of Argus-eyed tenseness proceeds from the sealed prison of consciousness which Blake calls 'opaque.'" (p. 148) Separateness,

then,

is

the

fall--the

fall

into division, the original lie. Separation is secrecy, hiding from one another, the private parts or property. Ownership is hiding; separation is repression. It is a private

corporation.

(pp.

148-49)

There is, then, after all a sense in which the body is not real; but the body that is not real is the false body of the separate self, the reality-ego. That false body we must cast off; in order to begin the Odyssey of consciousness in quest of its own true body. (p. 154) Reality is not things (dead matter, or heavy stuff), in simple location. Reality is- energy, or instinct? “(p< 155) To

Overcome

of

sleep;

dualism

to

arise

would

from

be

the

to

dead.

awake

(p.

out

159)

Definitions are boundaries; schizophrenics pass beyond the reality-principle into a world of symbolic connections: “all things lost their definite boundaries, became iridescent with many-colored significances." Schizophrenics pass beyond ordinary language (the

Si

language of the reality-principle) more symbolic language: (p. 160)

into

a

truer

The mad truth: the boundary between sanity and insanity is a false one. The proper outcome of psychoanalysis is the abolition of the boundary, the healing of the split, the integration of the human race. (p. 160)

58

mine

Possessions

establish

and

yours.

what

parts.

If

possess, to

then

say,

there, thus ity

no

everything

made

it

of

to

eroticize talking that

about

sort

Ronald

reality mad,

is

dead Not

of

madness. insists,

truth

that

truth.

we

me

is

down and

and

we

Otherwise

things. to

or

the

divide;

be

It

mad

Captain

to

is

may

Ahab:

schizophrenics non-schizophrenics

I

that exist

out and

the

real-

of

We

must

live

must we not

power

dead

a

or

only matter

be

madness

do

me.

energize are

indeed

have

boun-

and

the

or re-

pernicious thee

is

there

projected

us.

between

experience

which

reality

made

is

private

domain

control

what

reality:

comes

the

have

and

than

inert,

Laing

and

to

my

things

projected

real.

matters.

Dionysian

inner

outer

to

rather

which

an

breaking

and

love,

unite that

really

maddest

things

by

the

real

between

I own,

into

there"

possess

inner to

is

I have "Out

reality

learn

of Eros

have

the

between

must

longer that

lines

am what out

me.

actually

inner

daries

I

myself

real.

principle:

claim

As

I

outside

possessed

We

is

I empty

boundary

the

maddened.

hold

not.

on The

59

IV.9

Food

Eating is the form of redemption. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of*man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. We must eat again of the tree of knowledge, in order to fall into innocence. (p. 167) Transubstantiation--the whole problem of symbolism. Metaphor is really metamorphosis: (pe L68) From the bloody to the bloodless sacrifice: from the literal to the spiritual body. Real presence, in a bloodless sacrifice; not sublimation, but transubstantiation of the body... (pe l/s)

60 Brown's symbolism eat,

for

ism.

chapter

as

its

this

Eating

and

the

growth

all

symbolism,

the

body.

for

Thus

And

chapter,

learning to

never

to

unity.

Nothing

rent

communal

away

sharing.

he

can

from

also

is

be

is:

whole

egoistic

that

course

or

Brown

undertones

one

self

of

based

in

another,"

sacrifice

striking

oneself.

the ego

eating=communion= by

about

again

of

ultimately

nourished

talks

giving

And

super

and

symbol-

incorporate

sexual

is

"Take

eucharistic

to

the

Christian

theme.

internal

guilt.

are

Brown

by

of

from

equation

I think love

son

up

symbolism

"They

when

the

of

far

all

the

copulation.

says.

rent,

is

utilizes

structural

Christian

building

Freudian

obviously

body."

the

the

this

my

again

conscience

he

is

food

central

Cannibalism.

father:

oral

on

most

the

Separation has

hoarding

not

and

in

theme gives

first

thrown

of way

been toward

61

IvV.10

Fire

The choice is between partial incorporation and total incorporation (integration). Partrerpation (playing a part) ‘of fusion, Total incorporation, or fusion, is combustion in iEbaeeys (ey5 AlZio) The true sacrifice is total, holocaust. Consummatum est. The one is united with the ali anearconsumimng fave. tp. 1577) Love is all fire; and so heaven and hell are the same place. As in Augustine, the torments of the damned are part of the felicity of the redeemed. Two cities; which are one city. Eden is a fiery city; just like hell. or 1879) Find the true fire; of which the fires of war are a Satanic parody. Fight fire with fire. The true teachers of peace are those who have the highest power, who can work miracles, who are masters of fire. fore the Buddhas are called Jinas,

(pe

TS)

but

The thing, to find the

Heart

of

in

Love.

Wars

of

(p.

182)

then, is not to true war. Open Mutual

ThereConquerors.

abolish war the hidden

Benevolence,

Wars

Save us from the literal fire. The literalminded, the idolaters, receive the literal fire. Each man suffers his own fire. (p. 182) Maes

real

f£une,

the

chariot

of

fire,

the

Fiery Chariot of his Contemplative Thought. The real fight, the mental fight; poetry, a sword of lightning, ever unsheathed, that consumes the scabbard that would contain it. (oR 83)

62

In the

this

fiery

bodied house

of

native

the

Not

capacities

occur

of for

eralism

and

caust:

only

ing of

the

embodied

mundane

but

the

visionary,

mind.

trip.

mind.

Fire

apocalyptic to

idolatry:

literalism

transcendent the

whether

then

shall must

truth

the

new

Purification and

egoism

is

and

power

symbol that,

Fire

be

with

of

the

mystical,

the

make

fire

computer-like

reversal

survive.

we it

can

literal

as

mankind

of

consciousness, head

of

contrasts

the

mind

information,

question

ical

Brown

imagination,

mind.

Apocalypse, must

chapter

is

it.

consumed

an

imagi-

of

the

for

Brown,

answer is

as

in

a

symbol-

emerge,

the

truth

of

for

the

first

time

of

the

head

a

by

to

Error

and

thus

emstore-

fiery

liberation

of

litholo-

endurpurge the

63

IV.1l

Fraction

There is a seal or sepulcher to a rock to be broke open, to disclose water; an eruption. Begin then with a cesura, a rent; opening a crack in world, a shatt of light. (p. 185) Literal meanings are icons idols; the stone sepulcher, the OL the Law. (Pp. 185)

be broken, the living a fracture, this fallen

become stone stone tables

The crucified body, the crucified mind. The norm is not normality but schizophrenia, thersplit,. broken, crucified mind. (p..186) Exaggeration

the ness;

cost. it

or

extravagance;

Go

for

broke.

goes

too

far.

the courage to risk madness. (p. 187)

its

Aphorism

not

is

to

count

reckless-

Intellect

is

courage;

own

to

play

life;

with

Symbolism, or grotesque: "A fine grotesque is the expression, in a moment, by a series of symbols thrown together in bold and fearless connection, of truths which it would have taken a long time to express in any verbal way, and of which the connection is left for the beholder to work out for himself; the gaps, left or overleapt by the haste of the imagination, forming the grotesque character." (pp. 188-89) Broken speech; speech broken by silence. To let the silence in is symbolism. "In symbol there is concealment and yet revelation: here therefore, by Silence and by Speech act-

ing

together,

(oe

ESO)

comes

a double

significance."

64 Brown chapters

to

forming erupt

act

in

barely

the

it

our

16),

peace,

there

is

an

as

intuitive

opposed

and

bound

by Aristotelian

can

there

be

is

why

not all

said.

ended both

and

and

and

can

fill

in

following

McLuhan, read

thought: of

us

that

so

view

of

we

the is

the

gaps

a

cool

cannot

in

our

to

own

with

to

the

gaps;

one-sided,

is

for we

Aphorism,

system

be

open

thus

participate

observer.

which

allows

ourselves.

the

said

all,

and

of thought

the

aphorism

of

of

to

Only

time,

the

system

it

can

defense

opposed

say

per-

I

whole

the

last

will

of

silence,

genuinely

detached

which

aphorism

medium; is

the

to

same

for

were

unsuccessful,

the

the

then,

Body

fill

at

he

nirvana.

logic.

The

playful:

Brown,

Love's

point

are

serious.

these

ideas

as

and

tries

thought

so

and

speech

system

silence

Really

to

of

oh

lively

speech

readers

The

systems

fragmentary,

both

in

important

insight

packaged

the

minds

characterizes

aphorism

if

primary

aphorism and

as

with

(ch.

that

notice,

almost

mentioned

In

magical,

must

intensity,

style

Body:

you

intercourse

chapter.

thought:

as

Nothing

the

aphoristic

Love's

in

of

end

list

fraction

beginning,

build

an

and

simply

the

is

read It

is

in

from

must

otherwise,

hot.

Brown's

the

engage

it

too

fails. To

mention

through: courageous birth

find

primary

grotesque:

old

himself.

in

Fraction:

which

paradox:

is

only

a

rock

of

he

to

break-

intellectual

thought=semen=life:

brokenness,

There

themes

exaggeration:

intellect:

through

mysterious

other

course

who

be

courage:

painful

re-

expresses

the

loses

broken;

himself

go

for

can

broke.

65

IV.12

Resurrection

Literal meanings as against spiritual or symbolical interpretations, a matter of Life against Death. the The return of symbolism, (p. rediscovery that everything is symbolic.

191)

The return to symbolism the Protestant era, the literalism. (p. 191)

would be the end of end of Protestant

So also the psychoanalytic principle of overdetermination: "Psychical acts and structures are invariably over-determined." The principle of over-determination declares that there cannot be just one "true" interpretation of a symptom or symbol: it forbids literalmindedness. (p. 193) The book is a materialization of the spirit; instead of the living spirit, the worship of a new material idol, the book. (p. 195) There is another kind of Protestantism possible; a Dionysian Christianity; in which the scripture is a dead letter to be made alive by spiritual (symbolical) interpretations; in which meaning is not fixed, but ever new and ever changing; in a continuous revelation; by fresh outpouring of the holy spirit. Meaning is made in a meeting between the holy spirit buried in the Christian and the holy spirit buried underneath the letter of scripture; a breakthrough, from the Abgrund, from the unconscious of the reader past the conscious intention of the author to the unconscious meaning; breaking the barrier of the ego and the barrier of the

book.

(p.

Redemption

196) is

symbolism.

(p.

202)

The spirit is understood by the spirit; by the same spirit, i.e., in the same style. The proper response to poetry is not criticism but poetry. (p. 205) The dead letter. The dead metaphor. It is only dead metaphors that are taken literally, that take us in (the black magic). Language is always an old testament, to be made

to

be

new;

made

rules,

alive;

to

be

broken;

literal

dead

meaning,

metaphor,

to

be

made

:

66

symbolical, oldness of letter byethes SpaciitemaoeneZ Ome

to

Literalism, and futurism, are to from the reality of the present. We

must

rise

from

history

to

be

made

distract (p. 207)

mystery:

(p.

new

us

214)

To rise from history to mystery is to experience the resurrection of the body here now, aS an eternal reality; to experience the parousta, the presence in the present, which is the spirit; to experience the reincarnation of the incarnation, the second coming; which is his coming in us. (p. 214)

67

This one

in

tian

chapter Body.

symbolism

to

do

on

a

religion which

based

have

you

Unless

scathingly

The

hortation

the

image

happen in

a

literal

testant

if

we

thought

us

somewhere.

all.

aimed,

it

ligion

and

seems

the

breach

the

hard For

us

To

beyond

at

for the

involve

ourselves

indicts

in the

menon

that

to to

that

get read

the

academic but

a

calls

proper

hearts

of

in

the

response

to

Simon:

open-ended,

all

that

These

is are

it

the

"how

good

with

beyond Pro-

its

dead

is

between

re-

as

well and

really that

that

pheno-

happened" also

poetry: to

a

symbolic,

old

same

fundamentalism."

is

in

happened"

literalism

the

it

approach poetic, us

the

scholastic

really

course

history

about

move

against

humanists

mechanical

Of

to

researchers.

"how

“establishment on

to

for

moves

healing

the

linear

not

barrage

at

university,

poetry.

only

breach

soft

historical-critical

to

the and

hooked

as

this

thing,

modern

being

playful,

approach Carly

off

history

orthodoxy

experimental

do

Catholic

All

about

is

ex-

process

enslaved

arguing

Roman

healing

to

opts

they

time

that

is

one

worry

to

is

Brown

the

Brown But

move

against

the

Bellah

recur,

in

an

us

again

that

to

upon

historical

Brown

become

me,

to

the

hold

is

books.

of

Christian

first

that

think

academic

to

ever

To

to

between

heads

bonds

against

science,

modern

insisting

fashion

fundamentalism, and

of

these:

Things

spirit.

pseudo-commitment

is

time.

one-way

the

of

some

chapter,

is

me

as

cyclical

literalism,

to

getting

to

ago.

brilliant

some

this

Brown

seem the

for

event

years

literature

but

underbelly

that

chapter

and

the

Chris-

institutional

scholarship.

historical.

letter

soft

an

historical

in

in

Christian

using

thousand

spot,

of

linear,

the

all

out

of

once

to

is

as

two

Brown

emphases

time,

really

thoroughly

Brown

training

by

the

for

some

hard

biblical

to break

historical were

and

some

offered

major

most

course

in Christianity

are

Resurrection

the

of

once

finding

and

theology

But

had

they

are

vignettes

perhaps

happened

purportedly

Christianity

the

is

Love's

the

not

dead

the

thing,

polymorphous

present.

days.

means

Again,

68 TVl1s.)

BuLealiment

God being thus hidden, every religion which does not affirm that God is hidden, is not true; and every religion which does not give the reason of it, is not instructive. Psychoanalysis passes the test. (p. 216) Symbolic consciousness is between seeing and not seeing. It does not see self-evident truths of natural reason; or visible saints. It does not distinguish the wheat from the tares; and therefore must as Roger Williams saw, practice toleration; or forgiveness, for we never know what we do. The basis of freedom is recognition of the unconscious; the invisible dimension; the not yet realized; leaving a space for the new. (p. 217) The unconscious to be made conscious; a secret disclosed; a veil to be rent a seal to be broke open; the seal which Freud called repression. Not a gradual process, but a sudden breakthrough. A reversal of meaning; the symbolism suddenly understood. The key to the cipher: the sudden sight of the real Israel, the true bread, the real lamb. (p. 217) Symbolical consciousness--Christian, or psychoanalytical, or Dionysian--terminates in the body, remains faithful to the earth. The dreamer awakes not from a body but to a body. Not an ascent Erom body to Spirit, but the descent of spirit into body: incarnation not sublima-

Literalism makes the world of abstract materialism; of dead matter; of the human body as dead matter. Literalism kills everything, including the human body. (p. 223) Literalism

makes

a

universe

of

stone,

and

men

Literalism is the petrified. astonished, Ministration of death, written and engraven in stones; tables of stone and stony heart. (Diem 2i23))

To return the word knowledge carnal again; immediate by perception (p. 224) bodily senses. Life

is

is

the

phallic,

(Gomera)

power

and

to

to the flesh. To not by deduction, or sense at once;

make

fiery;

the

new

god

life;

is

the

make but the

spirit

Dionysian.

69

To reconcile body and spirit would be to recover the breath-soul which is the life-soul instead of the ghost-soul or shadow; breathconsciousness instead of head-consciousness; body-consciousness instead of head-consciousness. The word made flesh is a living word, not a scripture but a breathing. A line that comes from the breath, from the heart by way of the breath. Aphorism as utterance: a short breath, drawn in pain. Winged words, birds released from the sentence, doves of the spirit. (p. 23)

70

Brown dream

then

dream,

argues

that

we

interpret

can

which

is

to

dream

means

Thus,

everything

means

Shadow body. the edly

To body

to

to

is

the

(the

literalism

is

one

us

central;

and

to

be

a

sort

understand

it

as

we

do

and

for

never

everything

again

everything

just

one

is

light

or

to

say

a ina

thing.

that. happens

which

of

is

that

thing.

is

to

as

turn

realities over

the

Christ

fulfillment

bodily

life

things,

sublimation

shadowy to

consider and

of

meaning;

sublimate

symbolism

body

is

we

polymorphously;

that

in only

extolled

brating

say

a multitude

overdetermined nothing

if

symbol)

repressive

of

like TV. is

the

and

away

from the

here

Word

final

away

sublimation.

made

turn

from

is

to

reality

commodities

Again the

dawn the

the

to

the of

devot-

Christian flesh, the

adum-

symbolic

darkness

of

Wal

IV.14

Judgment

Symbolic consciousness; a trance, in transit: going over, from this world to the next. Overcoming this world. (p. 233) From this world to the next; from-utility to creation. Instead of words as market-place utilities, brand names to advertise established items, the creative words which make it new. Words made new again, as on the first day of creation; eternity's sunrise. Words used not to interpret the world but to change it; not to advertise this world but to find another. To pass from this world to the next; from ordinary to extraordinary language. (p. 234) Overthrow for

the

persons,

reality-principle: not

to

be

fooled

by

no

respect

masks;

no

clothes, no emperor. All power is an impostor; a paper tiger, or idol; it is Burnt up the Moment Men cease to behold it. The Last Judgment is the Vision; the political act is the poetical act, the creative vision.

(p..5235) Psychoanalysis is that revolving stage which completes this revolution, disclosing the bedroom and the bathroom behind the bourgeois facade, disclosing the obscenity of the onstage scene, abolishing the realityprinciple and its unreal distinction between public and private, between head and genital.

(p.

236)

Everything is symbolic, everything is holy. There is no special time or place or person, privileged to represent the rest. And then democracy can begin. The many are made one when the totality is in every part. When one thing is taken up, all things are taken up with it; one flower is the spring. Tt is all there all the time. (p. 239)

Not the reality-principle Upside down. a systematic Surrealism, but surrealism. illumination of the hidden places and a a perprogressive darkening of the rest; petual promenade right in the forbidden Zone. (pi. 241)

72

Politics vision only

if

dissolves

into

and

our

consciousness.

we

are

respecters

so-called

leaders,

are

poetics

we

Political

of

the

if

it.

grains

alter

power

All

of

us,

of

sand

is

not

which

our powerful just are

our

infin-

SEN?S Symbolical between

sacred

"Freud's

consciousness and

discovery:

underworld

of

seem,

things

we

can

profane,

that

"Seduce

the

Freud's

the

between

universal

means

actually world

overcomes and

to

that are

distinction

underworld."

things

upside

madness"

the

master

and

slave.

But

that they

are

not

what

down,

and

perhaps

after

all.

IvV.15

Freedom as

Freedom

is poetry,

taking

»

.

liberties .

with

.

i

.

——

ae: a |

words, breaking the rules of normal speech, +) | : violating common sense. Freedom is violence. ( (“i [4

en \uyerd MMOek ey ey

ped LXDi iota

pee ee)

Vv

+h Vd

The original sense is nonsense; and common sense a cover-up job, repression. Psychoanalysis, symbolic consciousness, leads from disguised to patent nonsenses--Wittgenstein, surrealism,

Finnegan's No

Wake.

things,

(pe. but

245) an

iridescence

in the

void.

Meaning is a continuous creation, out of nothing and returning to nothingness. If it is not evanescent it is not alive. Everything is symbolic, is transitory; is unstable. The consolidation of meaning makes idols; established meanings have turned to stone. (p. 246) Meaning is not in things but in between; in the iridescence, the interplay; in the interconnections; at the intersections, at the crossroads. Meaning is transitional as it is transitory; in the puns or bridges, the correspondence. (p. 247) Meaning

aeLoOnwOm newness

one

at

all;

OL

nOtaatwvall

is

thing

legal

not

NOteateral ls poctry

is

the

and

fiction,

new,

or

metaphor,

or

another.

It

which

liberates

from

the

new

cre-

othe

nonsense--saying

meaning

of the law and from meaning. (p. 248)

a

tyranny

of

is

the

the

letter

literal

Symbolism is polymorphous perversity, the translation of all of our senses into one the interplay between the senses, another, The the free translation. the metaphor, their mutual isoseparation of the senses, is sexual organizais sensuality, lation, tion, is bondage to the tyranny of one leading to the absolute impulse, partial and exclusive concentration of the life of (p. the body in the representative person. 249)

sexuality, Polymorphously perverse through every organ of perception:

in

If in the morning sun I find it, there my eyes are fix'd/In happy copulation. (p. 249)

and

74 Knowledge is carnal knowledge. A subterranean passage between mind and body underlies all analogy, no word is metaphysical without its first being physical; and the body that is the measure of all things is sexual. All metaphors are sexual; a penis in every convex object and a vagina

in every

concave

Every sentence Overs a(Pien25 2)

one. is

(pp.

249-50)

dialectics,

an

act

of

Fusion: the distinction between inner self and outside world, between subject and object, overcome. To the enlightened man, the universe becomes his body: "You never enjoy the world aright till the Sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars.' (pp. 253-54) Symbolical consciousness, the erotic sense of reality, is a return to the principle of ancient animistic science, mystical participation, but now for the first time freely; instead of religion, poetry. (p.

254) But the outcome of psychoanalysis of discovery that magic and madness are where,

and

dreams

is

what

we

are

made

the everyof.

The goal cannot be the elimination of magical thinking, or madness; the goal can only be conscious magic, or conscious madness; conscious mastery of these fires. And dreaming while awake. (p. 254) Sleepers,

awake.

Sleep

is

separate-

ness; the cave of solitude is the cave of dreams, the cave of the passive spectator. To be awake is to participate, carnally and not in fantasy, in the feast; the Greateconmunvon (pe) 25'5))

Us

Freedom Our

means

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is

Speech

is

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ied

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a

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phallic

So

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The

sex,

self

all then

acts

all

spoken,

and

and of

word-act,

genuinely

also

union

like

between

others.

language

and

Can

to

be

spoken

stance

in

right

the

silence, the

we

so

that

disembodied.

self

Speaking

love.

reality

of

cerebral,

the

properly

like

the

silence: we

sexual.

a mystical

between

resexualization abstract,

speech,

thrust:

language,

symbol

the

never

and

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becomes

poetic

XVI,

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like

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the

culture. and

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the

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much

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philosophy

one

as

is

a way

being

formally

it

sterile

the

forms,

one

can

our

among

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the

implications

badly

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fragmented

art

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and

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is

ordinarily an

any

to

longer

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literalism

polysymbolic

speaks

development explored

students

read

to

do

each

own

view

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me

to

little

religious of

which

what

polysymbolism.

is

If,

into

an

important

is

reason

Love's

forms dog-

tradition.

as and

as

that

to

the and

the

society,

respond

the

Brown

I regard

Brown

of

I have

significance

writing.

seem

without

narrowness

possibility

to

transcend

developed

and

not

sensitive

a way

how

ordinary-

transcending

the

considerable

my

our

cul-

which

herald

I think, religious

enough

Body,

a

and

to

ask

I shall

so.

risk

been

in

by

religiosity, of

has

shows

and

the

eclectic

in

the

of

to

in

alternative

to

most

traditions,

our

thinking.

He

other

polysymbolism

the

know

does

Yet

religiously

being

called

has

of

be

in

and

At

way

avoid

religiously

But

me

religious

alternative.

religious.

Body

continue

my

I can

Love's

I have

science

fields.

appear

available

as

to

that

matism

which

of

many

sensical-secular-empirical-scientific

shows

of

has

implications

of

better

world

tural

me,

implications

personally,

any

Marxism me

to

all.

of

Speaking in

has

religious

Significant

believe

seems

Choice

reunification

book

education

perhaps

and

it

potential

Consciousness

a

of

one

succumbing target

of

to

the

Brown's

Wi

academic thought,

literalism I want

to

78

conclude has

my

now

that

remarks

more

and

is

gone

it

is

differences

clear

apocalyptic,

The

February

and

issues

that

Brown

anathema gave, from

the to

happiness;

at

classes

keep

to

delusion

happiness

tory

is

lower

deliberate

classes

in

be

in

gained

and

therefore

Marcuse

the the

in

synthesized

the but

are

found.

At

tool

of

away

deluded best

and

earthly

the

ruling

falling

for

satisfaction--if

future,

"The

unhappiness status

radical

religious simply

be Marx

before

they

inequitable

attacks:

to

reasons

persons

line,

to

terminates

not

a

of

thinks

has

the

revolution

non-worldly

now,

history

the

is

Marcuse

problems

be

the

ultimate,

legitimated. of

it

for

of

is

bearable

ultimately

(and Marcuse

that

to

where,

in

Mystified,"

and

earthly

sphere

disastrous

worst

him,

attention

pressing

will

"Love simply,

precisely

the

worldly

happiness

on

1967

[Beacon]):

Put

in-

appeared

Commentary,

essay,

due

turns

and

other

is

his

religious

it

apparent

of

Brown.

Marxist

controversy

Negattons

in

by

gone

that

religion

the

Body

the

some

think,

then

March

Marcuse's

reply

has

for

namely

them to

a

deep,

are

late,

reprinted

Love's

view

revolution

there

the

is

type

socio-economic that

was

there

Marxist

Marcuse

Brown's

work.

and

the

If

with

visionary

criticizes

Marcuse.

to

by

deliberately

in

to

back

overcome

rearrangement,

eradicable

returning

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repression

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by

is

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is

destruction

tale,

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negated,

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abolished"

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controversy.

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penis

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the

crux

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and

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in

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business symbol, Berlin

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and

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take

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airplane," you

roots

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to

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politics,

of

states

repression

their is

says,

couple

Marcuse of

imagi-

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ina As

Teutonic

fertile

totally

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as

is

235).

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the

Brown's it

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roots;

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best

disagreement: real

the

always,

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the

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seriously--at

to a

matters,

eradication

be

abolished

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such

exploitation

as poverty. Brown's of

Short

of

this

purpose

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defeated,

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discovery

turns

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the

tent"

(pp.

235-36).

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world,

realms

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of

object

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tion

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next

lies

a

the

proletariat; pp.

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poli-

in

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not

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men

leave down

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to

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make

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original

what

you

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rea-

arguments; Love Cordelia,

like

246-47).

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stakes

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Freud

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~

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reality-principle.

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of

meaning

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language

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world

genital are

in

Symbolic

shrouded

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out

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body;

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fusion

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love.

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technology's

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its

mystification

Absolute,

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sub-

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Marcuse's

lesson,

into

him

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the

in

as

final

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parts

label

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tion.

for

between life,

freedom,

the

tics

And

must

that

accepts

human

or

accepts

hidden

even to

of

the

world

Fusion

goals

all

and

the

subject/object

unsublimated

envisions

needs,

real

238).

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up

sense

fantasy.

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reply

con-

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symbolism,

eralism

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consciousness: a commentary CMissoula, Mont.] Scholars

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for American Academy of Religion [c1976] 80p. 2hcem. (American Academy of Religion aids

for

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study

of religion

series,

no.})

1. Psychoanalysis. 2. Brown, Norman Oliver, 1913Love's boar. J. Titie. Ii. Series. Figen

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WILLIAM C. SHEPHERD It is odd that the most penetrating and creative contributions to religious studies seem to come so often from persons not in Departments of Religious Studies. Norman O. Brown —a classicist — is a case in point. For some of us who came into our academic maturity (more or less!) during the late 1950’s and the 1960’s, Brown’s books have been deeply and powerfully influential.

Brown’s vision has engaged the energies and attention of the most provocative — and in-vocative — critics of the second half of our

century’s dark night of the soul. It is, therefore, a matter of more than passing interest that William

C. Shepherd

has constructed

this

commentary on Brown’s consummate, but penultimate, work — Love’s Body. The value of the commentary is that it is designed to guide undergraduates through Brown’s labyrinthine aphorisms without betraying the spirit of Brown’s insight. It is inevitable, given the nature of Love’s Body, that there will be disagreements with Shepherd’s interpretations at some points. But I

believe his commentary will help a new generation of students and teachers to unravel, without de-mystifying, the body of love’s language Brown spins with such passion and poetic clarity. I know I will find the commentary helpful in my classes and I recommend it to others. Richard A. Underwood The Sanskrit symbol on the front and back covers indicates the sacred syllable OM.

AAR Aids for the Study of Religion Published by Scholars Press for the American Academy of Religion