Life Without Games, Part VI
Sep. 26th, 2023 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
readoldthings
The Nature of Thymos
In order to talk about purifying the thymos, we first need to discuss exactly what the thymos is. Yesterday's discussion was a bit incomplete-- I was in a rush, and realized later that I hadn't finished writing out the definitions of each part of the soul. (I suppose I could go back in and revise that post without mentioning it, Ministry of Truth-style, but honesty is one of the themes of this series of posts, so we'll just leave it as it is.)
The difficulty with translating "thymos" into English is that it combines concepts in a way that we are not used to. There is another difficulty as well, which we'll come to. The easiest way to understand thymos is simply to think of it as the social emotions. In terms used by contemporary evolutionary psychologists, you can think of the epithymia as the "lizard brain," concerned with basic animal wants and needs, and the nous as the human "forebrain," which is capable of reasoning. Between these two is the "mammalian brain," which allows us to form social groups.
But the thymos is not just that. It's also associated with spirit, courage, energy. By spirit, mind, I don't mean the same thing as either "immortal soul" or "elemental Spirit." When one refers to a "spirited horse," the spirit in question is thymos; when you tell someone "You're in good spirits today," this also is thymos.
The Parts of the Soul and the Energy Centers
In traditional anatomy, the nous was centered in the head, the thymos in the heart, and the epithymia in the abdomen. If you're familiar with Chinese internal alchemy, you will notice that these correspond exactly with the three dan t'iens or energy centers. If this suggests to you that there is a half-lost system of energetic anatomy native to the Western world, well, it does to me too, and recovering it is one of my long range projects. For now, though, it's enough to know that this image was a commonplace at one time, and it is preserved in our language to this day.
The Cosmographia is a 12th Century poem written by a one Bernardus Sylvestris, which describes the creation of the world and of mankind. Cosmographia was, at one time, considered orthodox enough to have been read before the Pope. Here is how it describes the creation of the three energy centers in man:
Physis carefully divided the bodily material into three portions... The first she called the head, the second the breast, and the third the loins, according to the properties she found in them. These three in particular of the body's many parts, these narrow chambers ouf ot its general extensiveness she chose to receive the brain, the heart, and the liver, the three foundations of its life. Physis knew that she would not go astray in creating the lesser universe of man if she took as her example the pattern of hte greater universe. In the intricate structure of hte world's body, the firmament holds the preeminent position. The earth is at the lowest point, the air spread between. From the firmament the godhead rules and disposes all things. The powers who have their homes in the ether and the atmosphere carry out its commands, and the affairs of the earth below are governed by them. No less care is taken in the case of man, that the soul should govern in the head, the vital force established in the breast obey its commands, and the lower parts, the loins and those organs placed beneath them, submit to rule. So Physis, skilled artist as she was, prepared the brain as the future seat of the soul, the heart as the source of vitality, and the liver as the source of appetite...
Yes, "Physis" is the Greek world for Nature or the Physical Plane (see how that works?), and in this work, she is explicitly given the role of a goddess. Actually it's almost all goddesses in the Cosmographia; the story opens with Nature complaining to Nous about the Chaos (Silva) that exists before creation, and God, entirely off stage, giving the ladies permission to form the chaos into a universe. One is tempted to read a work like this and dream about a Catholicism that might have been; Sancte Bernarde Silvestris, ora pro nobis.
In any case, the point is that the thymos is located at the heart, and you can hear echoes in our language today when a sports team is described as "having enough heart" to win the game.
Given its social rule, it seems clear that the purification of the thymos is especially important in this discussion of becoming free of social games.
Justice and Thymos
And so the nous rules from the head, but only with the aid of the thymos; epithymia, as Sylvestris says, "submits to rule."
But why should this be so?
The answer is simply that, left to its own devices, nous is basically powerless against epithymia. In the Republic, Plato gives us an image of each of these parts of the soul. The nous is like a man. Epithymia is a many-headed monster. Alone, the man is powerless against it. He needs help. He gets it in the form of a lion, the thymos. Note that the lion symbolizes at once strength, sociability, and kingship. With the aid of the lion, the man overcomes the monster. Were the lion to serve the monster instead, the man would be devoured. This is the condition that we find oursevles in when we submit to our passions.
In a well-known essay that deserves regular re-reading, the redoubtable C.S. Lewis explains the matter very succinctly:
Without the aid of trained emotions the intellect is powerless against the animal organism. I had sooner play cards against a man who was quite sceptical about ethics, but bred to believe that ‘a gentleman does not cheat’, than against an irreproachable moral philosopher who hadbeen brought up among sharpers. In battle it is not syllogisms that will keep the reluctant nerves and muscles to their post in the third hour of the bombardment. The crudest sentimentalism about a flag or a country or a regiment will be of more use. We were told it all long ago by Plato.
One of the tales collected in The Mabinogion concerns a Sir Owain, cousin of King Arthur. After a series of adventures, Owain finds himself wandering in a wasteland.
And as he journeyed, he heard a loud yelling in a wood. And it was repeated a second and a third time. And Owain went towards the spot, and beheld a huge craggy mound, in the middle of the wood; on the side of which was a grey rock. And there was a cleft in the rock, and a serpent was within the cleft. And near the rock stood a black lion, and every time the lion sought to go thence, the serpent darted towards him to attack him. And Owain unsheathed his sword, and drew near to the rock; and as the serpent sprang out, he struck him with his sword, and cut him in two. And he dried his sword, and went on his way, as before. But behold the lion followed him, and played about him, as though it had been a greyhound that he had reared.
From then on the lion serves Owain, and helps him in battle against fearsome giants. The implication is that Owain has established Justice in his soul, and I believe that teaching this is part of the purpose of this particular tale. Our goal is to become like Owain ourselves. But how? Let's look at a few different practices intended to train and purify the thymos.
Charity, Forgiveness, Blessing
One of the most important teachings of our occult tradition is that our souls are not isolated to our bodies. Material science teaches us that "consciousness" is isolated to individual brains. Now, none of us here believe that sort of thing, but the truth is we tend not to be very far off. Most of us, most of the time, believe in or act like we believe that our consciousness is trapped inside of our individual bodies. Occult philosophy teaches that this is not so. Every time humans come together in a group, we form a group consciousness-- a group soul-- sometimes called an egregore. Each of our psyches is a participant in a larger psyche. Critically, that group soul is not limited to the sum of the individuals who compose it. It has its own life, just as you have a life which is not reducable to the individual lives of your cells. Just as an individual soul can become neurotic or even psychotic, so too an eregore can become toxic.
In fact, this is precisely what the games of Eric Berne, the Victim Triangle of Stephen Kartman, and similar models are referring to. If there is a Rescue Game afoot within a group, that group's soul has become neurotic. When games, especially the Rescue Game, reach their peak in intensity, an egregore can go psychotic. Genocides and civil wars, school shootings and murder-suicides are the results of egregores large and small going insane. This work is very serious.
Fortunately, we are not without recourse. A Long before the development of social psychology, our Western tradition included a number of techniques for the purification and healing of collective souls.
Charity is a word that we all use often enough; say it and people usually think of either donations to nonprofits or of soup kitchens. I recommend a regular practice of charity, and I recommend making certain seasons and certain days of the week to devote especially to charity. But I am not talking about donating to NGOs, or to working at soup kitchens. By all means, do these things if you feel called to them-- but they are far from the only opens available.
Charity is a word that we all use often enough; say it and people usually think of either donations to nonprofits or of soup kitchens. I recommend a regular practice of charity, and I recommend making certain seasons and certain days of the week to devote especially to charity. But I am not talking about donating to NGOs, or to working at soup kitchens. By all means, do these things if you feel called to them-- but they are far from the only opens available.
There are other ways to do charity. Leave a $100 tip at a restaurant, and I promise you will make a difference in someone's life. Do this even if you don't get great service. (Do not do this if you find your server attractive, or if they flirt with you. That will ruin it.) If you don't have $100... well, honestly, I think that you do; put aside $20 every first Friday for the next 5 months, and at the end of that time go out to dinner.
Group souls aren't limited to human beings, by the way. We participate in every collective of which are are a part. In the Middle Ages, a common way to refer to someone's entire household was to add the phrase "mouse, cat, and dog." The animals, the plants, and even the physical structures that you spend time around are parts of the collective soul in which you participate.
In the Druid tradition, we are encouraged to spend time in nature, and, especially, in getting to know the particular land we our selves live on. What we are doing is becoming active participants in the collective soul of the land, along with the animals and plants, the rocks and the water. You can direct your charity toward Nature as well as toward people. Here again, the things people usually think of aren't very helpful. I'm not talking about donating to Greenpeace or fretting over your "carbon footprint." I bet that there is a trail or a park or a patch of woodland near your house. Go there with a pair of gloves and a trash bag, and pick up all the litter you find. I promise the spirit of the place will appreciate it. Don't ask for permission to do this, and don't make sure everyone sees your big group trash pickup. Just go do it yourself. Don't even tell anyone.
Forgiveness is a central feature of the Christian tradition, and it is one of that tradition's great contributions to world spirituality. Of course it is found in other traditions too. It's worth taking a moment to consider just what it means. The words of the Lord's Prayer in English are usually rendered "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." This is too vague. What precisely are "trespasses"? Are we only talking about not getting mad at people who wander onto our lawns?
The Latin is more precise. Here the words are Dimite nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimitus debitoribus nostris. That is, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
When we forgive someone, we aren't accepting their bad behavior, or inviting more of it. We're simply letting go of any idea that they owe us anything. We erase their name from our internal ledger. We stop trying to collect. Most social games go on and on, round after round, precisely because each player is trying to make up for the last game. You victimized me, so now I'm going to victimize you. Oh no, I've been victimized yet again! Well, I'll get you back later. Social games are more like 500 Rummy than Go Fish. If you're down a few points, there's always another round. Forgive, and you walk away from the table entirely.
Blessing as a regular practice is somewhat less well known, though many in our circles are familiar with the idea via the Modern Order of Essenes. The practice of that organization includes the "Blessing Walk." This consists simply in taking an ordinary walk, and mentally directing a blessing at every person you meet.
This is a very good practice, and it's not necessary to be part of the Order of Essenes to put it to use. Actually, it's not even necessary to go out of your way to do a special walk. take any time during the day when you will encounter a number of people. Perhaps it's a walk, perhaps a commute, perhaps a trip to the grocery store. Especially if you would be tempted to become frustrated with people or mentally curse them-- people driving 50 mph in the fast lane, grocery store clerks taking their sweet ass time at the checkout line-- bless them instead. Bless everyone, silently, without them knowing it, and without judgment or exception. Just look at them and silently say a prayer. "God bless you" is enough. If you're squeamish about "praying for people without their permission," you can say "May God bless you," or "May you be blessed."
Most of the world outside of the modern West-- and many within it-- is familiar with the idea of the "evil eye." This is a kind of curse that we can pass onto people when we direct jealousy, anger, or hatred toward them, especially if we do so while looking at them. The unfortunate truth is that platforms like Facebook and Instagram give us the opportunity to look at each other with jealousy on a regular basis. Thus we may find ourselves constantly cursing others and being cursed in our term. Imagine the impact on our collective psyche and our personal karma!
As every (normal) culture knows about the evil eye, so every culture has its remedy. In Ireland of old, it was the custom to say "God bless you" any time you glanced at someone's farm or their house-- or their wife or their daughter, one supposes-- in order to avoid placing the evil eye upon them. I believe that this custom is the origin of the Essene Blessing Walk. Either way, it's a very good habit to get into. I don't know about you, but often when I'm out driving I look at houses and think about what I'd like to buy after we sell our current place. Knowing that the gaze and the thoughts have power, what effect might I have on a home and its residents if I simply look at it and think "I want to live there"?
Another Forgiveness Practice
Unless I'm very wrong, methylethyl is already thinking about another practice, one found within the Orthodox Church at the beginning of Great Lent, in which every member of the parish from the bishop on down to the little children get together and ask one another forgiveness for every sin they have committed against one another over the preceeding year.
This is an excellent practice. I've never experienced it myself, but I can only imagine the profound effect that it must have on the collective soul of the church and its people. We don't need to be Orthodox or even Christian to recognize its value. Imagine if the United States had a similar institution, and there was a certain point-- perhaps just prior to, or just after, every election-- in which every representative in Congress, plus the Supreme Court and the President, ceremonially asked forgiveness from another, for every sin commited since the previous election, by themselves and their constituents. Imagine if this request for mercy was especially directed at the other political party and the representatives of other states and districts. Can you imagine the effect this would have? Now, it would only work if everyone was required to do it. People on the radical Left sometimes have parodies of this practice in which white people have to beg forgiveness from black people or Indians. This is not forgiveness. This is just another form of the rescue game.
On the other hand, I heard of an event some years ago in which American Indian elders from-- I believe-- the Cheyenne or Lakota tribe went on tour simultaneously teaching people about the massacre of their people by American soldiers, and begging forgiveness for massacres that their people had committed against white settlers. Events like that, on a regular basis, and with any group (racial, ethnic, regional, religious) invited to partcipate, would go a long way toward healing the country. Don't hold your breath.
In the meantime, we can adopt a version of this practice, and there are two possibilities. First, we can transfer it to whatever group we happen to be a part of, be it familal, religious, or otherwise. A family can sit down and let every member ask one another for forgiveness once a year-- at the beginning of Lent, if Christian; during another appropriate season, if not. A church or spiritual organization can do it the same way. In ancient times, the Census was originally not just a way of counting people so that bureaucrats could tax them. The purpose of a census was to gather together every citizen in order to make amends to the God of the city. This was always a ritual, and modern pagans might do well to study these sorts of rituals and see how they could be re-worked for modern times. The ancient city was always a spiritual organization, never merely a political one, and the ancients were well aware of the polluting effects of sin upon the collective psyche.
If you are unable to get a group together, you can work with this practice on your own. Pray, enter into a meditative state, and then call to mind, in succession, every member of a group in which you participate. One at a time, imagine any offenses that you are holding against each member of that group. Picture the scenario from their perspective. Imagine yourself saying to them, "I understand why you have acted as you have, and I forgive you." Then tell them, mentally, all the ways that you have sinned against them-- again, remember that sin or hamartia is not an exclusively Christian concept, and we can simply define it as "acting against the Good." How have you acted against this person's good? How have you acted against your own Good? How have you acted against the Good of the group as a whole? Ask for forgiveness, mentally, from eacdh person. Picture the spirit of the group, perhaps as its guardian angel or daimon, or its patron saint if appropriate, and ask for its forgiveness as well.
Penitence and Amendment
In 12 Step programs, the Fifth Step consists of "admitting to God, ourselves, and one other person the exact nature of our wrongs." But the Ninth Step consists of making amends to every person that one has harmed. Now, in popular culture, this is often represented as "apologizing to everyone." But that isn't it, exactly. Sometimes apologies are very helpful, but oftentimes druks and addicts are experts at saying "I'm sorry." Far more helpful is the idea of the amendment, which means a change in behavior. Here again, we will have to examine ourselves carefully. If we have discovered that we like to play the Victim, say, in our family, and initiate rescue games by telling our spouse how awful our child has been to us, we now need to consciously practice a contrary mode of behavior. The sorts of prayer and self-examination we have already engaged in will help us. And so will other techniques, which will also aid us in purifying the Epithymia. We will discuss these tomorrow.
When we forgive someone, we aren't accepting their bad behavior, or inviting more of it. We're simply letting go of any idea that they owe us anything. We erase their name from our internal ledger. We stop trying to collect. Most social games go on and on, round after round, precisely because each player is trying to make up for the last game. You victimized me, so now I'm going to victimize you. Oh no, I've been victimized yet again! Well, I'll get you back later. Social games are more like 500 Rummy than Go Fish. If you're down a few points, there's always another round. Forgive, and you walk away from the table entirely.
Blessing as a regular practice is somewhat less well known, though many in our circles are familiar with the idea via the Modern Order of Essenes. The practice of that organization includes the "Blessing Walk." This consists simply in taking an ordinary walk, and mentally directing a blessing at every person you meet.
This is a very good practice, and it's not necessary to be part of the Order of Essenes to put it to use. Actually, it's not even necessary to go out of your way to do a special walk. take any time during the day when you will encounter a number of people. Perhaps it's a walk, perhaps a commute, perhaps a trip to the grocery store. Especially if you would be tempted to become frustrated with people or mentally curse them-- people driving 50 mph in the fast lane, grocery store clerks taking their sweet ass time at the checkout line-- bless them instead. Bless everyone, silently, without them knowing it, and without judgment or exception. Just look at them and silently say a prayer. "God bless you" is enough. If you're squeamish about "praying for people without their permission," you can say "May God bless you," or "May you be blessed."
Most of the world outside of the modern West-- and many within it-- is familiar with the idea of the "evil eye." This is a kind of curse that we can pass onto people when we direct jealousy, anger, or hatred toward them, especially if we do so while looking at them. The unfortunate truth is that platforms like Facebook and Instagram give us the opportunity to look at each other with jealousy on a regular basis. Thus we may find ourselves constantly cursing others and being cursed in our term. Imagine the impact on our collective psyche and our personal karma!
As every (normal) culture knows about the evil eye, so every culture has its remedy. In Ireland of old, it was the custom to say "God bless you" any time you glanced at someone's farm or their house-- or their wife or their daughter, one supposes-- in order to avoid placing the evil eye upon them. I believe that this custom is the origin of the Essene Blessing Walk. Either way, it's a very good habit to get into. I don't know about you, but often when I'm out driving I look at houses and think about what I'd like to buy after we sell our current place. Knowing that the gaze and the thoughts have power, what effect might I have on a home and its residents if I simply look at it and think "I want to live there"?
Another Forgiveness Practice
Unless I'm very wrong, methylethyl is already thinking about another practice, one found within the Orthodox Church at the beginning of Great Lent, in which every member of the parish from the bishop on down to the little children get together and ask one another forgiveness for every sin they have committed against one another over the preceeding year.
This is an excellent practice. I've never experienced it myself, but I can only imagine the profound effect that it must have on the collective soul of the church and its people. We don't need to be Orthodox or even Christian to recognize its value. Imagine if the United States had a similar institution, and there was a certain point-- perhaps just prior to, or just after, every election-- in which every representative in Congress, plus the Supreme Court and the President, ceremonially asked forgiveness from another, for every sin commited since the previous election, by themselves and their constituents. Imagine if this request for mercy was especially directed at the other political party and the representatives of other states and districts. Can you imagine the effect this would have? Now, it would only work if everyone was required to do it. People on the radical Left sometimes have parodies of this practice in which white people have to beg forgiveness from black people or Indians. This is not forgiveness. This is just another form of the rescue game.
On the other hand, I heard of an event some years ago in which American Indian elders from-- I believe-- the Cheyenne or Lakota tribe went on tour simultaneously teaching people about the massacre of their people by American soldiers, and begging forgiveness for massacres that their people had committed against white settlers. Events like that, on a regular basis, and with any group (racial, ethnic, regional, religious) invited to partcipate, would go a long way toward healing the country. Don't hold your breath.
In the meantime, we can adopt a version of this practice, and there are two possibilities. First, we can transfer it to whatever group we happen to be a part of, be it familal, religious, or otherwise. A family can sit down and let every member ask one another for forgiveness once a year-- at the beginning of Lent, if Christian; during another appropriate season, if not. A church or spiritual organization can do it the same way. In ancient times, the Census was originally not just a way of counting people so that bureaucrats could tax them. The purpose of a census was to gather together every citizen in order to make amends to the God of the city. This was always a ritual, and modern pagans might do well to study these sorts of rituals and see how they could be re-worked for modern times. The ancient city was always a spiritual organization, never merely a political one, and the ancients were well aware of the polluting effects of sin upon the collective psyche.
If you are unable to get a group together, you can work with this practice on your own. Pray, enter into a meditative state, and then call to mind, in succession, every member of a group in which you participate. One at a time, imagine any offenses that you are holding against each member of that group. Picture the scenario from their perspective. Imagine yourself saying to them, "I understand why you have acted as you have, and I forgive you." Then tell them, mentally, all the ways that you have sinned against them-- again, remember that sin or hamartia is not an exclusively Christian concept, and we can simply define it as "acting against the Good." How have you acted against this person's good? How have you acted against your own Good? How have you acted against the Good of the group as a whole? Ask for forgiveness, mentally, from eacdh person. Picture the spirit of the group, perhaps as its guardian angel or daimon, or its patron saint if appropriate, and ask for its forgiveness as well.
Penitence and Amendment
In 12 Step programs, the Fifth Step consists of "admitting to God, ourselves, and one other person the exact nature of our wrongs." But the Ninth Step consists of making amends to every person that one has harmed. Now, in popular culture, this is often represented as "apologizing to everyone." But that isn't it, exactly. Sometimes apologies are very helpful, but oftentimes druks and addicts are experts at saying "I'm sorry." Far more helpful is the idea of the amendment, which means a change in behavior. Here again, we will have to examine ourselves carefully. If we have discovered that we like to play the Victim, say, in our family, and initiate rescue games by telling our spouse how awful our child has been to us, we now need to consciously practice a contrary mode of behavior. The sorts of prayer and self-examination we have already engaged in will help us. And so will other techniques, which will also aid us in purifying the Epithymia. We will discuss these tomorrow.
