James Hillman's classic analysis of betrayal in archetypal psychology teaches us that in mythology betrayal seems to be a component of transformation. We recall the myth of Samson and his betrayer Delilah. The story of Jesus is rich with betrayal symbology. Peter denies Jesus three times and Judas himself becomes the betrayer. In Christian myhthology Juads, as one of the apostles, betrays Jesus and then commits suicide. There is however more to the Judas story that we need to explore.
The background of Judas parallel's that of Oedipus which suggests the influence of Greek mythology on Christian mythology. However, the background of Judas was stripped from the story of Jesus over the centuries and the extinction of this background demands some notice. If the Oedipal story is the story of the human condition then a comparison of the two is worth looking at. After Oedipus discovered what he done he blinded himself and spent his remaining days coming to terms with who he was and what he had done. This period of self-reflection and forgiveness is the pathway we all take at the end of life. The blinding of Oedipus is symbolic of the change of "sight" required at the end of life. This is also reminiscent of the change in attitude by the father in the Godfather Death story. But there is no such reflection and coming to terms by Judas; he commits suicide. Also the presence of the hero as Jesus in this story suggests that the transformation of hero as man from one stage of life to the next, as seen in Oedipus, is short-circuited in the Judas story to hero as God. The cloaking of the Oedipal background in the Judas story is significant and relevant for undertsanding our view of the world today.
In our culture betrayal is experienced by patients and families when the medical system decides the heroic approach is no longer effective. More on betrayal next time.
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Pharmakon
The physician plays a unique role in this very ancient ritual that somehow our culture has shortcircuited. In our Grimm's story the physician is instructed to be very clear to the patient when he is expected to die and he must use the words, "there is no remedy that can save you and no physician in the world can cure you". These words are deliberately very clear. Yet few physicians can say these words to his patient even when it is most obvious the words are correct.
In alchemy the term pharmakon is the mercurial agent that gets the reaction going. It is the change agent. It also has a paradoxical meaning;at once meaning remedy and at the same time poison. In homeopathy often the remedy is through treatment with what at larger dose would be a poison. Arsenic is sometimes used to treat like symptoms that resemble arsenic poisoning. In our story the physician is the pharmakon, both the poison and the remedy. The poison is of course the news that there is no cure; the remedy is the same news. But how is this perceived as a remedy?
We need to look at the process of dying from a particular standpoint. If we look at the heroic structure that is collapsing because the person is ill unto death at what point is the transition from heroic battle to acceptance. What does it look like? When I worked in a hospice inpatient unit a family was with the father who was dying of liver failure. He was brought there to die but the family was in between acceptance of this reality and the heroic pathway. As the father's breathing became labored and it was clear the man was dying the wife panicked and asked if she should send him to the hospital to be treated. This last minute doubt is very common and in this day and age much could be done to drag out the dying process without substantively change the underlying disease. In this situation the medical director was nearby and was asked to speak with the family. I was very aware the physician was assuming an archetypoal role. Perhaps it was as palpable to her. She proceeded to tell the family she could send their loved one to the hospital and they would engage heroic measures to save his life but it would cause more suffering while not likely changing the outcome. He would still die only on machines and involving invasive procedures and more pain. The family chose to keep him in the unit and provide only comfort measures.
I watched carefully the wife's reaction when told by the physician that there was no more that can be done to save her husband. At first she broke down into tears as did the rest of the family and then she gathered her strength and moved close to her husband's side and sat with him. She then called the rest of her family to come to the unit to say their goodbyes. In a short time she abandoned the heroic stance that was no longer serving herself, her husband or her family. So in that sense the physician as pharmakon became the catalyst for the transformation away from the heroic pathway. The physician was the poison (the bitter news) and the remedy (the transformation to acceptance).
In alchemy the term pharmakon is the mercurial agent that gets the reaction going. It is the change agent. It also has a paradoxical meaning;at once meaning remedy and at the same time poison. In homeopathy often the remedy is through treatment with what at larger dose would be a poison. Arsenic is sometimes used to treat like symptoms that resemble arsenic poisoning. In our story the physician is the pharmakon, both the poison and the remedy. The poison is of course the news that there is no cure; the remedy is the same news. But how is this perceived as a remedy?
We need to look at the process of dying from a particular standpoint. If we look at the heroic structure that is collapsing because the person is ill unto death at what point is the transition from heroic battle to acceptance. What does it look like? When I worked in a hospice inpatient unit a family was with the father who was dying of liver failure. He was brought there to die but the family was in between acceptance of this reality and the heroic pathway. As the father's breathing became labored and it was clear the man was dying the wife panicked and asked if she should send him to the hospital to be treated. This last minute doubt is very common and in this day and age much could be done to drag out the dying process without substantively change the underlying disease. In this situation the medical director was nearby and was asked to speak with the family. I was very aware the physician was assuming an archetypoal role. Perhaps it was as palpable to her. She proceeded to tell the family she could send their loved one to the hospital and they would engage heroic measures to save his life but it would cause more suffering while not likely changing the outcome. He would still die only on machines and involving invasive procedures and more pain. The family chose to keep him in the unit and provide only comfort measures.
I watched carefully the wife's reaction when told by the physician that there was no more that can be done to save her husband. At first she broke down into tears as did the rest of the family and then she gathered her strength and moved close to her husband's side and sat with him. She then called the rest of her family to come to the unit to say their goodbyes. In a short time she abandoned the heroic stance that was no longer serving herself, her husband or her family. So in that sense the physician as pharmakon became the catalyst for the transformation away from the heroic pathway. The physician was the poison (the bitter news) and the remedy (the transformation to acceptance).
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Rose's Shadow
In Depth Psychology it is understood whatever the ego does not accomodate is placed in shadow (personal unconscious)and in hospice I believe this shadow material tries to reach the light of day.
In Rose's life she deeply regretted not having a boyfriend when she was growing up. She felt she was fat and unattractive and this caused her to feel out of place and unable to fit in whith her peers. On top of this feeling of inadequacy she revealed to her best girlfriend thatshe had a crush on a particular boy and she was planning on asking him to her prom. Behind Rose's back her grilfriend batrayed her by asking the boy first and then telling Rose she had no good reason to do that accept to win him over because she knew Rose liked him. From that point on she cut off her relationship with the girlfriend and the boy and went on with her life never looking back.
These aspects of Rose's life were particularly shaming to her and she saw no need to delve into them. It was many months into our therapy that aspects of her life that were cast into shadow started coming forth. If these memories were placed into her uncosncious so too were her feels of anger, betrayal and desire for revenge. On the surface Rose proclaimed that her life would be free of such negative thoughts and that she saw herself as a good person. She would often tell me she believed in thinking about only the good things that happened to her, not the bad. This also was one of Rose's predominant attitude's toward the world and herself. She did not want to think about what was in her shadow including the betrayal of her best friend.
As the story of Godfather Death teaches us one's "king" or principle attitude toward the world must die to give way to the new. If we try to save it, as the physician in the story does, we disrupt the balance of the underworld and the physician must pay the ultimate price, death. But before this will occur the king's daughter, representing the feelings attached to the world view, is presented for death and she too is saved. These images remind us that we grieve the loss of the "status quo", literally meaning "what was before".
Another way of looking at the figures in the story is the king is the old world view and the daughter is the new. If the old is not allowed to die then the new must die because it was not given a chance to live. So the healer in us, represented by the physician, must let this death ensue for change to occur. Can you recall a new idea that you did not bring to fruition because it would require the demise of the old way?
Tomorrow I will discuss how Rose struggled with her world view and with letting it die so that the new perspective toward the world could help her die comfortably.
In Rose's life she deeply regretted not having a boyfriend when she was growing up. She felt she was fat and unattractive and this caused her to feel out of place and unable to fit in whith her peers. On top of this feeling of inadequacy she revealed to her best girlfriend thatshe had a crush on a particular boy and she was planning on asking him to her prom. Behind Rose's back her grilfriend batrayed her by asking the boy first and then telling Rose she had no good reason to do that accept to win him over because she knew Rose liked him. From that point on she cut off her relationship with the girlfriend and the boy and went on with her life never looking back.
These aspects of Rose's life were particularly shaming to her and she saw no need to delve into them. It was many months into our therapy that aspects of her life that were cast into shadow started coming forth. If these memories were placed into her uncosncious so too were her feels of anger, betrayal and desire for revenge. On the surface Rose proclaimed that her life would be free of such negative thoughts and that she saw herself as a good person. She would often tell me she believed in thinking about only the good things that happened to her, not the bad. This also was one of Rose's predominant attitude's toward the world and herself. She did not want to think about what was in her shadow including the betrayal of her best friend.
As the story of Godfather Death teaches us one's "king" or principle attitude toward the world must die to give way to the new. If we try to save it, as the physician in the story does, we disrupt the balance of the underworld and the physician must pay the ultimate price, death. But before this will occur the king's daughter, representing the feelings attached to the world view, is presented for death and she too is saved. These images remind us that we grieve the loss of the "status quo", literally meaning "what was before".
Another way of looking at the figures in the story is the king is the old world view and the daughter is the new. If the old is not allowed to die then the new must die because it was not given a chance to live. So the healer in us, represented by the physician, must let this death ensue for change to occur. Can you recall a new idea that you did not bring to fruition because it would require the demise of the old way?
Tomorrow I will discuss how Rose struggled with her world view and with letting it die so that the new perspective toward the world could help her die comfortably.
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