Thorn-Blower.

Author notes

Part of a collection with which I´m currently entangled   entitled "The Peripheral Visionary." inspired primarily by C.G. Jung´s Psychology and Alchemy, and attempting to extricate meaning from archetype symbology - The goal of which is attainment of harmonious equilibrium between subconscious demon and rational insangel: intellect and intuition.

I yield of course to the obvious contention that I remain indelibly a mere shadow cast upon utter darkness.  

An anima in this context alludes to the feminine aspect of the soul.  

Comments

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• 
  Bluebird
  October 3
  
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  The depth will require many readings... which is what " a mere shadow cast upon utter darkness" will need to extract total and true meaning. This is one of the few that is worth the time and thought. Bluebird

  . Rewarded 4
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    gnosisonG
    October 13
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    Cheers Bluebird.

    Nice of you to fly by and lay your nugget in this neurotic egghead´s nest.
    
    Regards
    
    gG
• Terry-too
  September 26
  
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  Two readings did not suffice.

  It was however sufficient to show me why I so much miss this place, and I will return. Just when?
  
  The replies I read are priceless as they so often have been concerning your poems, and the praise, so thoroughly deserved! Particularly I have affinity with Celestial Pie's discussion. Such sincerity belongs here in its truth.
  Time does not permit more at this time, and I cannot be more sorry, but I must go. All my best if I am delayed.
  
  Terry
• • 
    gnosisonG
    October 13
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    Thanx Terry!

    Your words whether plentiful or precious few always sparkle in my firmament.
    And I agree, CPie´s comment was a treat!
    
    Warmest regards
    
    gG
• Terry-too
  September 26
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  I will return--

  
• 
  celestialpie
  September 12
  
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  Hi, Simon. It seems, as usual, that our orbits cross at crucial points. Like you, I consider the archetype to be an invaluable tool for understanding the human psyche. Whether the archetype is the reality or merely our projection of it is a quantum as well as philosophical quandary indeed-- one that I highly doubt will ever be resolved, but can only be plumbed by the physicist/alchemist (O Newton! O Albert!) as well as we scribblers who hang our hubris on our sleeve. Certainly, one could consider archetypes limiting when seen through the narrow personality-probing scope of the Myers-Briggs. Here in the US, the Myers-Briggs personality test is used as a lark in elementary psychology courses. I'm an INFP, if you care to know-- Introvert, iNtutive, Feeling, Perceptive type. Does that sum up the entirety of my personality? Hardly.
  
  More importantly, such attempts by psychology to pigeonhole the soul are bound to end in dissatisfaction. Therein, I think, lies the crucial difference of opinion. Some people are strict materialists. Others are holistic, soulistic-- the personality does not encompass the sum of my being. I am more than my name, more than my predilections. I have the divine fire-- I have ANIMA. Intangible, imprecise, capricious, elusive, maddening. I think Jung only barely scratched the surface-- I'm sure he was only too aware of his limitations.
  
  Simon, as a couple of people united only by the strange network of Internet, that poor depraved shadow-puppet imitation of the spiritus mundi, we have experienced innumerable instances of kismet. How else to account for it, if not by some shared collective unconscious? (Oddly enough, in fact, the remark in your author's notes mirrors a thought in the poem I recently posted-- about being a shadow in the forest, only barely aware of myself.) How else to account for other synchronicities spanning miles and years? But knowing this only drives the urge to plunge deeper.
  
  Finally, I do agree we, to a great extent, hide behind our screen names-- our pen names, our writer personas and alter egos-- but I think that's just one more trick of ars est celare artem.
  
  As for me-- I AM the inverse of the spiral, and I like you BECAUSE you are an acerbic nihilist. You can wash your notched horn in my moon sap any old time, the Devil Intellect be damned. My soul and my psyche make me all the more aware of the limitations of my flesh. But my flesh is my vessel-- may I endeavor to deserve it.
  
  I am, more than ever,
  Celestial Pie
  

  . Rewarded 8
• • 
    gnosisonG
    September 16
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    One Helluva Anima, Pie!

    Thanx for a great uplifting comment, CP, sounding the clarion call to arms for all of us phantasmagorical diehards seeking substance behind materia!
    I agree Jung surely realised he was only scratching the surface as was Rudolf Steiner, Goethe, Paracelsus and all the other poetical philosophers or alchemists, hermeticists, blaspheming heretics - however you might describe them.
    I happened to chance upon your latest just after posting this and yesyesyes, again wierd synchronicities are at work - call it chaos, the play of goats or Akashic shadows.
    
    Cheers a myriad Celestial!
    
    gGarrulous gGit
• Brian Balzer
  September 11
  
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  Truthfully deeper than I am!

  To me the first part says that you are part of something bigger than yourself. After that I honestly don't know for sure what to make of it. It makes you think. As far as the technical part of writing I'm not much of a critic.

  . Rewarded 4
• • 
    gnosisonG
    September 11
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    Cheers B.B:

    And welcome to the site. Your intuition is spot on about my trying to convey a being part of something bigger than self - that s the most important thing, that and "It makes you think". Thanx for that. The poem s based on Jungian dream-analysis but read what you will into it otherwise it would just be pretentious shite. I´ll be sure to check out your work. This site has made me a much better critic than I used to be but I still have a loooong ways to go before technical insights are guaranteed to serve a poem justice. Its learn as you go for us all here.
    Warm regards
    
    gG
• 
  Gagiikwe
  September 10
  
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  articulate as always

  Psychologists Briggs and Myers have done a lot of study on Jungian archtypes. However, I find Jung's archtypal approach much too limiting of the capacity for change by the human psyche. Too many pidgeon holes. Why handcuff the numan personality to an archtype; which is merely a human construct, and not the reality itself?
  
  Ah. from Jung back to Plato, eh? A shadow cast on utter darkness? Oxymoron?
  Please pardon my promotion of one of my own poems; but it sounded so much like you:
  
  Penname Anonymity
  
  When in times of
  taciturn verbosity
  I take up my quill
  and dip the inkwell deep,
  I am not illuminating self,
  but hiding in the web
  of crafted words -
  that I
  may not be seen.
  
  And all these words and images
  are merely shadow puppets
  on a screen,
  telling stories soundlessly,
  the meaning known alone -
  to me.
  
  And when this poem endeth
  and all the verses run,
  you are then none the wiser,
  for all that has been sung.
  For in these my crafted words,
  carved in deepest shades,
  my heart
  this ink has hid from thee,
  and all that’s left
  is wordiness -
  that I
  may not be seen.
  
  James Gagiikwe © 2007
  
  You have lots of talent gG, when you are not being too ascerbic or stiving to be the ultimate nihilist. I look forward to more of these poems.
  
  Have a great day,
  
  JG
  

  . Rewarded 8
• • 
    gnosisonG
    September 11
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    Paging Doctor Gag

    Constraints of work and family have hindered an immediate reply but here it is - probably less acerbic than my initial impulse dictated.
    Naturally I disagree with your casual disregard for Jung´s forays into depth-psychology, alchemical symbolism and archetype ressonances – the argument you present is, I believe, rather misconceived. The underlying point as far as I have ascertained IS change – personal transformation more readily enabled through a comprehensive study of subconscious elements comprising our core natures.
    Each “pigeonhole” is a perforated matrix of permutations, often perplexing, but nevertheless avowedly liberating for the creatively inclined (even those self-deludedly so).
    Not everyones cup of chai, but so what.
    Consider your self-promotion pardoned, btw, but certainly not the affront within it you convey.
    I refute your shallow contention that I employ wordcraft as a means of concealing the sentiments of my heart and feel nothing but withering contempt for your baseless accusations that my writing equates to shadow puppets on a screen – without substance – an essentially meaningless affair devoid of emotional investment.
    Your armchair etch-a-sketch analysis depicts an impoverished notion of who I am and what I am about Mr Gagiikwe, evincing a disappointing dearth of insight and a questionable degree of cocksure arrogance in your venal appraisal – but perhaps you are merely projecting? You are its author afterall.
    You take issue with my use of pen-name?! Hiding behind it as if to occlude my true identity? How ridiculous! The gG-thing is just fun and at times a useful tool to convey mood , as I´m sure it is for the majority of nom-de-plumes at sharepoetry (funny – you never struck me as being so humourless). My identity is no secret to the many worthy peers I correspond with on this site. If I choose to retain an Egyptian amalgam of symbols as my “image” it is because it represents items of personal relevance, as perhaps the preening, rather pompous portrait of military alcoholic, U. S. Grant does for you.
    I assume an amount of research went into your presumptuous diagnosis or was this inclination to insult my poetic proclivities an impulsive off-the-cuff opinion?
    And I am reasonably confident I have one or two poems, which with requisite conjecture and sufficiently puffed-up gall , I might superimpose upon you and the weaknesses in the way of why you write, but truth be told the impressions left by your work have been somewhat less than indelible – interesting topics safely and predictably packaged for the most part.
    Then again perhaps my observations have been too rushed, my views too few – my conclusions too hasty.
    No. I would not presume to deduce your character from a few poems Mr Gagiikwe – if I did I´d feel like a total tosser.
    gG´Day
    Simon
    
    
    
• 
  Windhover
  September 8
  
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  Hardening arteries

  \Hey gG. Way over my head (as always) but pleasingly succint and obviously deep. Its condensed nature makes it one to be sipped at and savoured like a good brandy. To do so is to be rewarded. It almost seemed to suggest rocks as secretions. Rich in double entendre (if that's the right phrase, I know it ISN'T ) like 'birth-fright' and 'Hell's haven' (Heaven and hell suggested - that sort of thing). This could be a rich vein for you. Nice to see you back in harness here. >W<

  . Rewarded 8
• • 
    gnosisonG
    September 9
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    Cheers Windhover.

    The good thing about a tasty brandy is that you don´t need a breakdown of its molecular structure to enjoy the bloody thing.
    This might be said to be true of much poetry and perhaps/hopefully(!) of my own jiggery-wordery-hermeticy-alchy-psycho-babbly bollox.
    To add an olive to your drink (though it might NOT improve the texture of the experience!) may I refer to my long-winded reply to Mr Backwards below.
    Nice to back beneath the saddle.
    
    gGiddyup
• 
  mr backwards
  September 8
  
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  A pagan love note?

  I found myself reading this several times though, and by the end asking myself how widespread love is. Humans think of it as purely their own concept, but as I read this I began to wonder "do plants feel love? does stone?"
  What parts are merging to create the concrete? is there love there?
  is what love is... really just the capacity to exist?
  
  indeed, it s quite late my my brain likes to go off on a tangent. suffice to say, a masterpiece, stretching the concept of love so far for me.
  
  thank you for the comments, it gives me great pride to be referred to as a favorite, since your stuff was what drew me into the site in the first place.

  . Rewarded 8
• • 
    gnosisonG
    September 9
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    Cheers Mr B!

    "is what love is... really just the capacity to exist?" Love is Life in other words?
    I suppose that is one way of looking at it - in a very general context.
    Another facet of essentially the same question might be: Is anything truly inanimate? (Or to use your equation: beyond the capacity of love).
    The simple answer being: of course NOT.
    Psychological alchemy is about combining/merging apparent opposites in order to reveal (eventually transcend) their true natures.
    As your average fucked-up human, discovering our true nature is a tricky business requiring the peeling away of all those sticky layers of psychic disarray we accumulate thru a lifetime - the masks of acquired behaviour we project to protect our splintered personalities.
    Attaining deep-level awareness of the molten fluidity of solid stone or the "crust" of a dew drop´s liquidity are a type of koan contemplation - hermeticism and psycho-alchemy being in many areas a "Western" equivalent of "Eastern" esoterica (Buddhism, taoism etc)- underlying goals are highly comparable though methodology may differ.
    "Thorn-Blower" is an alterego of sorts (the mouthy git I often am)and the poem is a "status-RAPPORT" with my own pathetically inadequate struggles to merge with my own internal opposites = my feminine side or anima; in order to improve my dismal self-knowledge.
    In my myopic view Mr B: love=empathy=knowledge=gnosis.
    
    Thanx for sharing your off-on-a-tangent thoughts, your fav-status is well deserved.
    
    Mucho regards
    
    gGropinginthedark
    
    
    
• 
  iphios
  September 7
  
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  Hey Gg,
  This poem tickled the psychologist in me. Though not a big fan of the psychoanalytic approach, between freud and jung, i liked Jung. His discussion on collective unconscious is fascinating. Hence, the collection you mentioned in your author's note is something i'd love to read.
  Anyway, the poem as usual is tight. You subtly unfold this feminine archetype. The images are dancing in my head and maybe i would need an nth read to fully embrace this surreal -like dwelling of jung's archetypes. Beautiful poem Gg, as always.
  
  -iphios

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• • 
    gnosisonG
    September 8
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    Thanx Dr Iphios.

    I would also thoroughly recommend The Modern Alchemist by R. and I. Miller which clearly and precisely describes the terminology used by Jung and its inherent relevance to the psychological challenges facing creative wannabes (in the good sense) of today.
    I`ve written about 15 or 16 pieces for The Peripheral Visionary - I hope to make it to 20 or so.
    Oh and my Anima still eludes me - which is a pain in the arse (anima or enema?).
    
    Warm regards
    
    SigGmund
• dave ochs
  September 7
  
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  hey gG

  intriging and ambitious, if were a millionare exploring arch types and i needed someone to construct a personal mandala for me, it'd be you. i might include some of the authors notes in the poem for the uninformed.
  dave

  . Rewarded 4
• • 
    gnosisonG
    September 7
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    You ve Seen Right Thru Me Dave

    In my attempts to portray myself as a comely esoteric slut eliciting millionaire malcontents with gormless guru needs to finance my continuous poetic escapades into self-absolved debauchery masquerading as artistic integrity.
    But sheeeiiit - I´m on my third sleeping pill (as a valium novice) and the pharmaceutical bollox ain t fuckn workn - so the night is still Jung.
    
    gGainingmomentum