I realized a long time ago that all elevated truths are beyond polarity and are therefore paradoxical in nature. This is because they transcend polarity. From a point of view of universal truth, opposites always true at the same time. And depending on where you are looking from, you will see one or the other aspect. A kind of Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle applied to truth. However it is difficult to describe transcendence of polarity in a polarity world with a polarity language. How do we express paradox? All descriptions are limited in describing what is ultimately the territory of the mystic.
In the case of our discussion on the Nazis. Were the Nazis creative? Yes they were. Were they destructive and a force of involution? Yes they were. Both, at the same time, depending on what level one is coming at it from. I am going to approach this from an astrological perspective here.
Astrologically the time of the Nazi was the time of the discovery of Pluto. When a planet is discovered the energy represented by that planet bursts into consciousness. Alternatively one could say that the collective consciousness is such that it is ready to see the energy of that planet, hence the planet is discovered. Pluto represents the path of transformation through the shadow. Pluto is the ruler of volcanoes and boils. It brings stuff that was underneath to the surface. Psychologically it brings into consciousness the unconscious dark side and shoves it right in your face. Pluto transits on a personal level can be very uncomfortable, especially if one has a lot of repressed material. However, Pluto is also the ruler of death and rebirth. From the death of a part of the self through the confrontation with the shadow, a new more evolved self is born.
When Pluto was discovered or entered into consciousness, it was time for a certain aspect of the shadow of humanity to surface. The Plutonian energy was calling for an embodiment and some beings answered that call. It is not by chance that there were the Nazis in Germany, the fascists with Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain and more totalitarian energy in Japan, etc. all happening roughly at the same time in various parts of the world. And that there were also many people in the various countries happy to go along with what was going on. Pluto was affecting the whole planet, not just one nation. These were manifestations of Pluto acting on a collective level. All were feeling Pluto in one way or another either by embodying the shadow or by fighting against it. However the shadow was that of all of humanity, not just of those that embodied it. The evil- for lack of a better word- that we saw belonged to the collective psyche, with some of the collective acting it out and some being the receivers or victims of it.
The opportunity presented here was that of transcending it. Seeing the horror and saying- no more. Seeing the horror and aspiring for a more evolved expression as human beings, with more compassion, more love, more wisdom. In this sense, taking the bigger picture approach, the Nazis could be seen as the ones that volunteered, consciously or not, to embody the shadow for all people. One could even go as far as being thankful to them for providing such a good wall to push against. In this sense, the Nazis could be seen as creative, as, although individually destructive and devolving, they served a creative function when looked at from a larger prospective, by serving the collective evolution of their times. There are even deeper levels to this, as we can go into describing the various dimensions, their nature and their purpose, but I am choosing to stop here. A good series of books to read for an inter-dimensional cosmology that includes light and dark as well as the cyclical nature of dimensional shifts is “The RA Material” channeled in the 80’s by L/L Research.
Using again the model of astrology for this, as it works well in describing these phenomena, interestingly, when 9/11 happened there was the same Plutonian aspects as at the beginning of the Nazi regime. Saturn opposite Pluto, if you want to check this out. Growth is cyclical in nature as can be seen clearly using astrology. Astrologically, we were at a half growth cycle of the energy that produced the Nazis. Time for another embodiment of the shadow, time for another look at the unresolved baggage festering underneath the surface in the collective psyche. So here we have the Bush gang - but also notice similar people in charge in England (Blair), Italy (Berlusconi), etc. Pluto is calling for embodiment and the collective responds by providing dark players. This way we get to see the shadow very clearly. The danger is thinking it is their shadow and not ours. In Jungian analysis this is called shadow boxing. We project our shadow out there onto someone else and then we fight them. Somewhat it is inevitable that we do so. But the problem only solves when the shadow is integrated. Fighting it is the first stage, but integration must follow.
Bush and gang are where they are, doing what they are doing because, on some level, in the unconscious of humanity, we have created them. They represent an amplification of an energy of greed, ruthless individualism, disrespect for nature, pursuit of self interest, judgement of what is different and blind black and white thinking. Extreme self-protection and fear of death within a materialistic world view. Resistance to the end of a certain kind of lifestyle. Are these energies really totally outside of ourselves or are they within us? Doesn't all of our western society, to some extent, have these ideas somewhere within it? Each one of us carries some of these energies, in a microcosm kind of way.
Look at how many people sacrifice their true vocation to financial security, stay in bad marriages for fear of change, shun their sons and daughters if they happen to be too different, will compromise their ideals for a promotion, will buy prepackaged food and don't recycle, use toxic chemicals to clean their bathrooms, dump their shit into the oceans, drive SUVs when they could get the bus for the sake of convenience. Here in California there is not even proper public transport - nobody wants it- and millions drive on their freeways each day, one person in each SUV, with their "promote peace and love" stickers on their rear. Bush is the shadow of all this, embodying the contradictions. Through the Bush gang the shadow is being magnified and externalized in all its ugliness for all to see. And we have the opportunity to say “actually this sucks, lets create a world that is a bit more evolved than this”. We have the opportunity to create something new. But the integration will happen when we all recognize the energy of Bush within us and do something about it by truly walking our talk.
By finding the festering anger and judgements within, the laziness that makes us cut corners because it is convenient. Laziness that allows us to continue to buy products without thinking of where they came from, without questioning, without asking about for example who suffered so that we could have a cup of coffee at Starbucks, who suffered so we could eat our burger, how many trees were cut so we could have white paper for our printers and so that we may continue to read our exaggeratedly filled Sunday papers... Are we willing to let go of the little things through which we are contributing to what is going on at larger levels? Are we willing to be the change?
So, again, the individual energies of people like the Bush gang are definitely focused on involution, but unwittingly are at the service of evolution, as they trigger the collective, unwittingly becoming catalysts for change. When the collective really wants change and has “grown up” so to speak, energetically, this outer world dark shadow will dissolve in a second. The more the collective resists evolution, the darker the shadow will get- and the darker the deeds of the men that embody it. It is a natural dynamic, as there is no separation between us and them. That is why we – all of us – need to work on ourselves and become more conscious of our blind spots. The nature of Pluto, the great purifier, when not taken seriously, is deadly. In psychological astrology, Pluto is seen as a force that does not care for the survival of the ego and the personality. It would rather kill the form than for it not to transform, in this case the form being our society. And it might use the embodied dark lords to accomplish its task. Luckily, I think most of us are doing our homework this time around and I trust fully that integration will occur.
Copyright 2004-2011 Katie Gallanti. All Rights Reserved. http://katiespapers.blogspot.com
Since the advent of contemporary psychology the issue of childhood sexual abuse and its after-effects has been a part of the clinical experience. Freud himself encountered patients wrestling with a variety of symptoms (amongst which the famous hysteria of some of his female clients) that under hypnosis or via the talking cure, the name he first gave to psychoanalysis, would reveal what seemed like memories of molestation or sexual abuse incurred in childhood.
Freud, Psychoanalysis and Incest
It was not easy for Freud to accept that the very well to do Viennese society was hiding disturbing skeletons under its Victorian façade of respectability. And some of his theories in this area may reflect the uneasiness he was experiencing with regards to his very own findings.
The harsh reality of childhood sexual abuse was hard to accept and integrate even for Freud. Alice Miller, a modern Austrian Freudian psychoanalyst, which subsequently distanced herself from her ideological roots, believes that Freud’s theories of the “polymorphous perversus“, the sexual drives of the child, and the oedipal and Electra complexes, were nothing but a way for Freud to rationalize sexual abuse and incest into a more palatable theory, which shifted the sexual urge from parental dysfunction to that of a child’s imagination and desire. An interesting thought and one that may very well be true. It’s hard for many to accept the reality of abuses of a sexual nature perpetrated on children.
Since the 80s however, we have come a long way in recognizing the unfortunate truth that childhood sexual abuse is, sadly, a more frequent phenomenon than most people would like to imagine. And that the effects of such abuse can continue to impact, sometimes severely, the adult lives of those that survived it for years after the abuse occurred. Recent statistics estimate the incidence of sexual abuse to be 4-16% amongst boys and 20% amongst girls, crossing all racial, ethnic and economic boundaries. But what is considered to be childhood sexual abuse today?
The Definition of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Childhood sexual abuse is defined as "any action on the part of an adult or an older child toward a child that is intended to sexually stimulate either the older person or the child”. Based on this definition, it can be seen that sexual abuse encompasses a wide spectrum of behaviors. Some behaviors that many interpret as normal or acceptable are classified as sexual abuse solely on the basis of intent. Consequently a wide range of incidents and behaviors fall under the umbrella of childhood sexual abuse. Research seems to evidence that the more physically intrusive the abuse, the more it can create disturbances to the natural development of the child and the more likely to result in psychopathology in adult life.
The physical differences in the nature of the abuse are, however, only one of a variety of factors that determine the intensity of the abuse's lasting after-effects. A significant factor seems to be that of the closeness of the perpetrator to the child and the power-relationship that the perpetrator has over the child. This is particularly so when the perpetrator is a trusted member of the family or the person in soul charge of the child, such as a parent, step-parent or a foster parent. In these cases the child not only experiences the physical side of the abuse, but also experiences a betrayal of trust that, along with threatening the feelings of safety of the child within the family unit, can literally be shattering for the personality. The effects of such shattering of trust are seen to be so central to the issue of childhood sexual abuse that some authors are re-classifying the notion of sexual abuse under the label of "Betrayal Trauma".
If the abuse is experienced repeatedly, for example over a period of years, the impact and effects in the adult life are also more likely to be significant. However, it is important to note that even just one unrepeated incident of even a "mild" form of sexual abuse experienced in childhood can produce pathology inducing effects. There are no hard and fast rules as to what degree of trauma will produce what effects, although there is a general correlation between degree of trauma and effects. So what are the most likely lasting after-effects of childhood sexual abuse that might occur in adult survivors?
After Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Physical Symptoms
Physical symptoms are observed frequently in abuse survivors. A wide variety of somatic manifestations may occur: frequent sore throats; difficulty swallowing; migraines; unexplained vaginal/anal pain; frequent bladder/vaginal infections; skin disorders; numbness; and tingling in the arms/legs.
Emotional Symptoms
Emotional and psychological problems are even more frequent. Emotional and psychological effects include: anger/rage outbursts; mood swings; depression; anxiety; panic disorder; dissociation; dissociative identity disorder; memory loss; time blockages; extreme fears/phobias; addictions (food, drugs/alcohol); compulsive/obsessive behavior; flashbacks (triggered by sights, sounds, smells, touches); abusive behavior (pattern repetition); self-destructive behavior (suicide and self-mutilation); eating disorders; nightmares; bed wetting (past the age of eight), destruction of property and fire setting; general delinquency; overwhelming confusion; severe guilt and shame; helplessness.
Impaired Relationships
Negative effects are also observed in relationship with others. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse seem to have difficulty generally in sustaining successful intimate relationships. A history of child sexual abuse is reported to be associated in adult life with insecure and disorganized attachments as well as increasing the likelihood of experiencing divorce. Particularly in the case of the more physically intrusive types of abuse experiences, there seems to be an increased risk of social, interpersonal and sexual problems in adult life. Many survivors seem to have problems with trust and opening up to a partner, but some become extremely promiscuous and dangerously risk taking with their sexuality.
Childhood Sexual Abuse and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Many studies have drawn parallels between the symptoms of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and those of who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, a psychological disorder first addressed in relationship to the symptoms displayed by traumatized veterans returning from the Vietnam war.
Definition of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is described as a disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape. People who suffer from PTSD often re-live the traumatic experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged. These symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person’s daily life. PTSD is marked by clear biological changes as well as psychological symptoms and is complicated by the fact that it frequently occurs in conjunction with related disorders such as depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and other problems of physical and mental health. The disorder is also associated with impairment of the person’s ability to function in social or family life, including occupational instability, marital problems and divorces, family discord, and difficulties in parenting.
It is easy to see the parallels between the symptoms ascribed to PTSD described above and to those experienced by childhood sexual abuse survivors. If the abuse is interpreted as a form of severe trauma, the adult psychopathology deriving from it can be interpreted as a chronic form of PTSD and even be treated accordingly. The wealth of counseling techniques employed to help Vietnam veterans recover from their traumas, is possibly transferable to childhood sexual abuse survivors. One of the most valuable aspects of conceptualizing the symptoms of survivors as a form of PTSD is that it is then possible to transfer the studies on the effects of trauma on memory and the dissociative effects of trauma to the dissociation and memory issues experienced by survivors of sexual abuse and incest.
Childhood Sexual Abuse and Memory
It is a very common phenomenon for people who have experienced sexual abuse in childhood to suddenly remember episodes of abuse in their adult years that they were not previously aware of. Especially in cases in which the perpetrator of the abuse is someone that the child depends on for its survival, conscious memory of the abuse can be so threatening to the child's psyche that in order to adapt, the child needs to dissociate and repress the conscious memory of the event. The memory disappears from conscious awareness, however, it is shown by general studies on memory and trauma (see for example Van der Kolk’s studies on memory and trauma), that the memories are often retained in the form of dissociated mental imprints of sensory elements of the traumatic event, such as visual, olfactory, affective, auditory and kinesthetic experiences.
It is therefore possible for an adult survivor to have no conscious memory of the abuse but to retain sensory elements of it on other levels of their being.
Sometimes survivors will encounter triggers in their environment that will remind them of the abuse at a subconscious level and the survivor will experience flashbacks. Flashbacks may take the form of pictures, sounds, smells, body sensations, feelings or numbness. Many times there is no actual visual or auditory memory. One may have a sense of panic, of being trapped, feeling powerless with no conscious visual memory attached to these sensations. These experiences can also happen in dreams.
The experience of flashbacks was encountered extensively by Vietnam veterans, whose reported experiences have contributed to normalizing this effect on memory as a natural response to an overwhelming traumatic event. Flashbacks are one of the most definite symptoms that suggest a link between survivors of childhood sexual abuse and PTSD.
Flashbacks sometimes occur as a survivor start to recover memories of their experience of sexual abuse. The survivors’ abuser might have died, their children might have reached the age they were when the abuse started or they might have reached a peaceful stage in their life, in which they feel safe from harm, such as having established a nurturing stable relationship. Memories may start flooding through, first as disjointed sensory experiences, and eventually piecing themselves together as "explicit memories".
Memory retrieval can be instrumental for the survivor’s process of healing and there seems to be evidence to support that it might be a commonly experienced byproduct of the healing process itself. However in recent years the validity of the accuracy of retrieved memories has been called into question by some who have been accused of childhood sexual abuse by their adult children and other organizations.
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation
These organizations sustain that "retrieved memories" are false and accuse the therapists that have been treating their adult children of planting the memories of abuse, in some cases engaging in law suits against the therapists involved.The first and most militant organization to support these views is the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, an organization whose mission statement is to research the reason for the spreading of false memories, to work ways to prevent alleged false memories as well as providing support to the families destroyed by false accusations.
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation believe that therapeutic methods such hypnosis, regression therapies, guided imagery, body memories, literal dream interpretation, and journaling, as well as any use of consciousness-altering techniques, such as drug-mediated interviews or hypnosis, can distort factual information about any past experiences, including sexual abuse. The term False Memory Syndrome, was actually created by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. False Memory Syndrome, however, although a term that has become now frequently used in the mainstream media, does not constitute a scientifically approved definition of a psychiatric disorder. There is no mention of a False Memory Syndrome in the DSM IV, for example. Or in any other published journals. False Memory Syndrome is not a medical or psychiatric diagnosis.
The False Memory Syndrome Foundation, founded by the Rockefeller Foundation, however, have been very proactive in obtaining media coverage and publicity for their cause. And have generally succeeded in securing public opinion in their favor, by employing convincing experts and psychologists to back their claims. However, the public and the media are often unaware that FMSF's impressive array of scientific advisers represents just one part of the broad spectrum of psychological thought. Their board is dominated by research psychologists, biologically oriented therapists along with older, psychoanalytically oriented psychiatrists.
FMSF was founded in 1992 by Pamela and Peter Fryed as a reaction to the accusation of childhood sexual abuse brought towards them by their adult daughter Jennifer Fryed. It is interesting to notice that Jennifer Fryed is one of the references quoted in this paper: a respected multi-published psychologist and memory researcher from the University of Oregon, the creator of the very label of "betrayal trauma" we were talking about above, as a new description of the trauma suffered by incest survivors. The Freyds, at the time, blamed their daughter's therapist for her memories of abuse, but Jennifer Freyd denies that her memories surfaced through hypnosis or any of the other therapeutic practices that FMSF attacks. There is no mention of Jennifer Freyd and her published work on the trauma and memory in the False Memory Syndrome Foundations web site or literature.
The Importance of Memory
Media hype or scientific reality, the issue of false memories remains a hot topic for all who are involved in the healing of the after effects of childhood sexual abuse. Many survivors experienced not being believed in childhood for the disturbing stories they reported to disbelieving adults and/or parents in denial. Many were told to be quiet about their abuse and threatened by their abusers if they were to talk. Having their truth denied in childhood, often leads survivors to question their memories, regardless. When memories resurface they are often patchy and dreamlike and the process of dealing with memories of trauma is a therapeutic setting is a delicate one for both the adult survivor and the practitioners that support them. Believing one's own memories and being able to speak out about the abuse is considered, in survivor recovery groups, to be a large component of the recovery process. The current trend against the validity of retrieved memories, leading to the questioning of childhood sexual abuse survivor’s memories could prove to be quite destructive for survivors healing and recovery.
Conclusion
Concluding, it would seem that there is ample evidence to support that trauma has effects on memory and that childhood sexual abuse is a form of trauma. Some of the studies presented supporting the theory of false memory syndrome seem debatable when further investigated. Harvard psychologist and brain researcher Daniel L. Schachter believes that both true and false memories exist, but states that there is no conclusive scientific evidence that false memories can be created. The False Memory Syndrome Foundation, the main organization fueling the public debate with regards to memory retrieval, is not as scientifically authoritative as it may appear at a first glance. A possible follow up to this article could be to verify in more detail the claims and funding of organizations such as False Memory Syndrome Foundation and their supporters and to find if there is substantial scientific evidence to back their position.
Meanwhile, at a first glance, it would seem that truth lies, as usual, somewhere in the middle. Many retrieved memories appear to be consistent. The loss of specific memory and memory retrieval appear to be a frequent pattern in the recovery from trauma, but suggestions from therapists and false memory are also possible. However, it is important for workers in the field of psychology and counseling to acknowledge that the negative repercussions resulting from the general public espousing the false memory syndrome theory could be damaging to both survivors and therapists. Therapists might increasingly refrain from exploring alternative techniques or probing areas of obvious denial in survivors for fear of possible law suits and loss of licensing. Survivors could become reluctant to accept their memories as real, fearing disclosure and the disbelief of others, just as happened to them in childhood. It is vital to keep the debate on memory retrieval open, allowing for discernment, but being careful not to create a situation in which survivors of childhood sexual abuse and the therapists that support them in their healing are forced to operate underground.
Let the therapeutic community continue to support to survivors and their healing. Let there be room for their memories.
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