Regarding collective evil and nazi Germany in particular it's no coincidence that this feeling of grandiosity has been pumped up by psychoactive drugs.
Thanks for the link! I've wanted to dig into Nazi drug use for a while--Hitler himself was an intense addict. There's also a really strange thread of occultism that runs through the Nazi party.
I went through a similar experience after taking lsd some years ago, initially I came out of it with humility and awe in the face of what I'd experienced but this quickly turned to grandiosity. It was as if this most beautiful thing I had found began to rot, and I had to keep fighting to try and see it in a light where it was still beautiful and pure.
I still value the experience and everything that came after, as it taught me about the ego and how unwittingly it can adopt the clothes of the 'guru' or the 'enlightened one' if you don't have strong enough roots established. A striking quality I notice looking back at myself from that period and at others I see going through something similar is a lack of ability to laugh at one's self. Nowadays I try to make a habit of occasionally letting the good-natured jester inside take me down a few pegs.
Thank you for this review! I'm super interested in the three ways we've learned to cope with our grandiosity- accepting it as the self, projecting it onto a person, or projecting it onto a tribe. I'm intrigued by the idea of humans evolving to project that grandiosity onto the human race as a whole. I feel that still ignores the natural flow and inherent connection of universal energy and continues the dualistic paradigm of thought that hides us from harmony. Do you think that we might evolve to project grandiosity onto the unity of all energy?
I think individually we can move towards healthier projections, and that maybe as a society we can get better on average. But the work is never done! It wouldn't take much for a person or group to start inflating again
As someone that went trough the same kind of manic psychosis followed by a descent in hell trough the use of psychedelics like you, i always say to people i dont think i could have found my way back if i didnt already had read this book ( and a few others from other jungians ) before my trip.
Good article. I don't think the Dragon is thinking anything, the Dragon is unconscious, it is the unconscious. Just the Hellish part of the Infinite ocean of Mind.
This was spectacular. What an amazing summary of the book I loved the respect with which you summarised and slapped the book. It's what we should all be striving to do - kill your darlings and all that. I think you did a good job of separating the wheat from the chaff in it. I like that you covered his death as well and thought you handled that well. And above all I loved the personal aside. Might be my personal taste but I just love to see how someone has digested the book and the meaning it has but in this case it was particularly effective: firstly because you handled the book so even-handedly that to read about its effect on you was a surprise and secondly because you did such a thorough job outlining the book it didn't make the piece seem like an opinion piece at all it seemed like a cherry on top. I've struggled with this in my work and have tended to separate my relationship to the work into a different piece but seeing how you've done it I actually thought it was amazing. So all in all a very long winded way of saying that I loved this piece and am looking forward to reading more. Keep up the fine work!
Great review thank you!
Regarding collective evil and nazi Germany in particular it's no coincidence that this feeling of grandiosity has been pumped up by psychoactive drugs.
https://time.com/5752114/nazi-military-drugs/
In fact it has been said that if it weren't for the drugs, things might have never gotten that evil...
Thanks for the link! I've wanted to dig into Nazi drug use for a while--Hitler himself was an intense addict. There's also a really strange thread of occultism that runs through the Nazi party.
Reading this article, I think that you would perfectly connect the drug induced complex with the atrocity...
I mean the first time I heard about it I was awestruck.
Those "details" should be on history books...
I went through a similar experience after taking lsd some years ago, initially I came out of it with humility and awe in the face of what I'd experienced but this quickly turned to grandiosity. It was as if this most beautiful thing I had found began to rot, and I had to keep fighting to try and see it in a light where it was still beautiful and pure.
I still value the experience and everything that came after, as it taught me about the ego and how unwittingly it can adopt the clothes of the 'guru' or the 'enlightened one' if you don't have strong enough roots established. A striking quality I notice looking back at myself from that period and at others I see going through something similar is a lack of ability to laugh at one's self. Nowadays I try to make a habit of occasionally letting the good-natured jester inside take me down a few pegs.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Thank you for this review! I'm super interested in the three ways we've learned to cope with our grandiosity- accepting it as the self, projecting it onto a person, or projecting it onto a tribe. I'm intrigued by the idea of humans evolving to project that grandiosity onto the human race as a whole. I feel that still ignores the natural flow and inherent connection of universal energy and continues the dualistic paradigm of thought that hides us from harmony. Do you think that we might evolve to project grandiosity onto the unity of all energy?
I think individually we can move towards healthier projections, and that maybe as a society we can get better on average. But the work is never done! It wouldn't take much for a person or group to start inflating again
As someone that went trough the same kind of manic psychosis followed by a descent in hell trough the use of psychedelics like you, i always say to people i dont think i could have found my way back if i didnt already had read this book ( and a few others from other jungians ) before my trip.
Excellent review :)
Great review!
This was a fantastic review, I’m happy the book managed to help you on your journey :)
Good article. I don't think the Dragon is thinking anything, the Dragon is unconscious, it is the unconscious. Just the Hellish part of the Infinite ocean of Mind.
This was spectacular. What an amazing summary of the book I loved the respect with which you summarised and slapped the book. It's what we should all be striving to do - kill your darlings and all that. I think you did a good job of separating the wheat from the chaff in it. I like that you covered his death as well and thought you handled that well. And above all I loved the personal aside. Might be my personal taste but I just love to see how someone has digested the book and the meaning it has but in this case it was particularly effective: firstly because you handled the book so even-handedly that to read about its effect on you was a surprise and secondly because you did such a thorough job outlining the book it didn't make the piece seem like an opinion piece at all it seemed like a cherry on top. I've struggled with this in my work and have tended to separate my relationship to the work into a different piece but seeing how you've done it I actually thought it was amazing. So all in all a very long winded way of saying that I loved this piece and am looking forward to reading more. Keep up the fine work!
Big fan of Moore's work, thank you for sharing!