“But beyond that [the normal daylight working of the intellect] there is a thinking in primordial images—in symbols that are older than historical man; which have been ingrained in him from earliest times, and, eternally living, outlasting all generations, still make up the groundwork of the human psyche. It is possible to live the fullest life only when we are in harmony with these symbols; wisdom is a return to them.” Italics mine—Carl Jung, quoted from Joseph Campbell’s Primitive Mythology

  A quick one today as I’m off to pile wood and then accompany my visiting one-day-to-be-sainted mother (for putting up with me) to the train station. 

  In an age when “the normal daylight working of the intellect” is drummed into us from the earliest of years it becomes extremely difficult to fathom that another mode of communication might exist. Our “thinking in primordial images” has become garbled and incoherent and as a consequence we in the West have lost touch with “the groundwork of the human psyche.” 

  Instead of a healthy Shaman-Type tradition which would plumb and interpret—reinterpret— the primordial poetically mythic images for us and compose them into a meaningful narrative that would enrich and enliven our lives to the fullest we have Goth Death Metal and cult conspiracies galore, we have horror films and Sci-Fi opuses, we have Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. And we have video games exploiting the societal symbolic/mythic emptiness in order to trap young boys and men into their fantasy worlds. 

  “It is possible to live the fullest life only when we are in harmony with these symbols; wisdom is a return to them,” wrote Carl Jung. 

  Wise words….