The Map of the Soul - Week #3
This week we continue our exploration of the Map of the Soul by taking a look at: (1) the Persona-ae that we “project”, or “wear,” in connecting to our personal relationships and relationships within society, (2) the different ways these function in Eastern and Western societies/cultures, (3) the distinction of elemental ideas and folk ideas, and (4) the Animus/Anima aspects of the person as understood by Jung and subsequent analytic psychologist.
Perona-ae/The Masks We Wear
(6) Persona-ae are the roles and tasks to do within society. (Persona-ae is based upon the Greek root word “prosopon,” meaning “masks.”) These are the *“folk” ideas with local particular inflections. Persona answers the question: how do we relate to nature and character? The answers provided by engaging and utilizing the various prosopons are conditioned by and change with each culture and society.
For example: Western societies allow for separation from the social role. We may discover our "bliss" (Campbell's word here) and are free and mobile to move into different roles within our societies. In Eastern society, you are your social function. In these societies "bliss" is an integration of one's self while fully in the social role (cast systems).
This is why many in the West have difficulty with the eastern tradition. The breaking down of the ego is difficult for the western person. In the East, you are your role (i.e. the wife throws herself on the husband burning grave as her character is fully identified with him).
This is why many in the West have difficulty with the eastern tradition. The breaking down of the ego is difficult for the western person. In the East, you are your role (i.e. the wife throws herself on the husband burning grave as her character is fully identified with him).
Side Note: Bastain, Element/Ethnic Ideas, Archetypes
Adolf Bastain was an important cultural anthropologist who influenced Carl Jung. A basic concept of Bastain's was the function of two different "ideas": (1) elemental ideas - universal across time, and (2) ethnic/folk ideas - different inflections of universal ideas expressed through local variations. The ethnic ideas are at times the elemental ideas in their particular “clothing.” That is to say, elemental ideas are collective representations that are broken down into constituent ideas within a particular culture. Geographical regions often exhibit similar patterns of folk ideas. Bastian called these “idea circles” which described the collective representations of particular regions.
Joseph Campbell understood his primary work to be as an exploration of what is universal and what is provincial. Historians and scientists focus on the “difference" in emphasizing the distinctions. The examination of the universe is a sociological and anthropological problem (who often ask, "why do these 'things' seem to show up everywhere?"). This comparative work is often downplayed or seen with disdain within the academy which emphasizes continuous footnoting, adolescent appeals to “authority,” and emphasizes distinctions down to the their small components.
Carl Jung studied the universals and sought to articulate and make workable for the development of the human person the elemental ideas. He later called them, “archetypes.”
Animus and Anima
(7a) Anima - The unconscious feminine element of a man. The experience of the anima issues forth from the man’s relationship to a woman (women), born out of the mother of the environment; the male baby is born and put at the mother’s breast; the first object of the animus projection in the mother. KEY QUESTIONS: how was the mother? Calm, anxious, respectful, skillful or resentful, anxious, incompetent; all of this forms a foundation into the larger environment and creates to within child (around 2 years old) the capacity or lack of capacity to answer the question of the developing self, “I am this, or I am that.” See Projections analysis for further description.
(7b) Anima - The unconscious masculine element of a woman. The experience of the animus issues forth from the woman’s relationship to a man (men), born out of the post-mother environment in relation to the father; the female baby is born and put at the mother’s breast, develops within this environment, and then moves to the second object of the animus projection in the father. KEY QUESTIONS: how was the mother? Calm, anxious, respectful, skillful or resentful, anxious, incompetent; all of this forms a foundation into the larger environment and creates to the child’s (around 2 years old) capacity or lack of capacity to answer the question of the developing self, “I am this, or I am that.” How was the father? Present, loving, compassionate, skillful in emotional intelligence or absent, anxious, angry, dangerous, cut off from the world of emotions, etc.? See Projections analysis for further description.
Next week we'll look at the drawing of the map in its complete form (as shown in week one) and explore each classic project in turn.
Look forward to completing this journey with you,
Jason+
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