Shiff, Shalit, and The Cycle of 'Life'

Benjamin Shiff's painting Life 
on the cover of The Cycle of Life

A primary tenet of my perspective on the journey through life, as I describe in the newly published The Cycle of Life, pertains to the confluence of fate and destiny, and how conscious choice and the unexpected turns of the tide flow together. How do predetermined fate and individual destiny cohabit in one’s life, how does fate determine one’s prospects, and in what ways can the individual determine the course of his or her possibilities? Everything is foreseen, and everything is laid bare, yet everything is in accordance with the will of man, says the Talmud. Likewise, as Jung observed, something that remains unconscious in the individual psyche, may become manifest as external fate. Sometimes, what has powerfully constellated in one’s psyche, yet remains below the level of consciousness, may materialize in physical reality.

Little did I anticipate that this would become apparent in my search for a cover image, the face of the book. I traveled along rivers of time and traversed cultural continents, ending up, so it seemed, with a coverless book in my hands. Then, in a sudden bliss, I remembered a painter whose name was at the tip of my tongue. As I extracted his name, Benjamin Shiff, from the layers of my memory, I was reminded of the balance between lyric harmony and pensive concern, which characterized the dream-like painting I recalled.

MADNESS IN 3-D

by Randall Mishoe, D.Min., IAAP

Let’s talk about madness. Madness is in the air, both as a topic of conversation and as a description of senseless acts of individuals and groups.

Just prior to this writing, the shooting in Tuscon, Arizona, occurred, prompting many references in the media to the alleged shooter’s “descent into madness.” This violent act is, of course, only one in a series of what has become random acts of murder and terror that kill and maim innocent people. Meanwhile, Black Swan, a movie that had been nominated for an Oscar, filled the airways and movie houses with a jarring portrayal of mental illness. At this time, also, still hovering in the minds of many psychologically curious individuals is C.G. Jung’s description with pictures, of his self-professed “creative illness,” recorded in the century’s-old Red Book, recently published and now in its seventh printing. 

Of course, madness is a phenomenon with many portals: clinical, biological, genetic, developmental, social, environmental, cultural, archetypal, and political. Consequently, there may be many explanations for why someone does not stop in traffic at the red light or go on the green. But within the scope of this paper, I intend to return to a very basic understanding of the natural urge of life to follow a pathway that permits a human being to live out one’s capacities to the fullest extent possible and the realization of mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body). And, I ask, what happens when this archetypal urge is frustrated or denied? My underlying assumption is that this frustration, blockage, or misdirection may occur because of: (1) disturbances within the collective consciousness, leading to the ego’s impairment of perceptual and cognitive functions, states of dissociation, as well as projections of one’s shadow upon others; (2) the unbalancing and fragmenting intrusion of the collective unconscious, prompting states of possession, regression, and psychosis; (3) both of these happening simultaneously.

In with the old, and in with the new!

Are you a certified Jungian analyst who would like to resurrect an out-of-print book? Over the years a number of fine Jungian publications have fallen by the wayside. Perhaps these books were published ahead of their time, before the collective could receive the concepts offered, when those old king patriarchal values and religious fundamentalisms demanded blind faith and restricted the acceptance of matriarchal values and the exploration of the unknown.

Fisher King Press is of the belief that many of these out-of-print Jungian publications have an eternal quality and should be brought back into their own. If you have such a book -- preferably a new or extremely clean copy in scannable condition -- and would like to have it back into print, send word to queries@fisherkingpress.com

Keep in mind that we have international distribution and our titles ship from fulfillment centers in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia.

Fisher King Press publishes an eclectic mix of worthy books including Jungian Psychological Perspectives, Cutting-Edge Fiction, and a growing list of alternative titles.

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Eros and the Shattering Gaze: An Introduction

I want to be able to fly. I want to hover around you like a 

winged Cupid in attendance on his Goddess.(1)

From The Golden Ass by Apuleius. Lucius here pleads with his lover, a witch’s apprentice, to steal a magical potion so that he can be transformed into a god. Instead, he is given the form of an ass and must submit himself to an existence as a loathsome beast of burden.

We live in a time and culture predisposed toward life at the surface. Ours is a society that privileges eternal youth and beauty, consumer-driven instant gratification, and narcissistic preoccupation with self-centeredness, not self reflection. Like Narcissus we often look no deeper than the reflection in the mirror, seeing only skin-deep beauty, never daring to know our own—nor the other’s, inner depths.

Contemporary thought has attempted to respond to this cultural climate that, in the words of Stephen Frosh, “[fights] against the deepening of relationships [and love], against feeling real.”(2) Psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, and philosophy have addressed the contemporary individual’s crises of the heart, separation from authenticity, and repudiation of the other. They offer a variety of viewpoints on the problem of narcissism, from its ontological and healthy conformations to its pathological forms, and its grandiose illusions leading to growth or to defense.

Oriki: ‘The Call of the Head’

by Kehinde Ayeni

Oriki is ‘The Call of the Head.’

It is poetry loved by the Yoruba of Western Nigeria and perhaps other parts of Africa and had been taken by the black race into the Diaspora because a vestige of it was featured in the movie “Ali,” in which the character of Drew Bundini Brown played by Jamie Foxx, repeatedly sang poetry to Mohammed Ali before, during and after his fights, calling on Ali’s ‘head.’ There is a poignant scene in which Ali had kicked Brown off his entourage after he admitted to selling Ali’s championship belt on the street for $500 to feed his heroin addiction, Brown shows up to beg for his job back and he was clean of drugs; Ali relents when he starts the call of the head poetry—“Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee,” and the two of them finished the poem in unison.

At the lips of talented orators, it is something to behold. An example was the Premier of Western Nigeria in the early 1960s Chief S.L. Akintola all of whose political speeches be it state of the union address, canvassing for votes, cursing out his enemies, or lauding his supporters were poetic orations powerful enough to hypnotize a person.

Oriki includes family history, praise, warnings, admonishments and admirations. It is not flattery, but based on real accomplishments and failures of the family. It goes back many generations, thus each family has the Oriki unique to them. It is sang for a person usually by his parents and loved ones in times when he/she is depressed, challenged, going through trials or tribulations, or after the person has accomplished something remarkable like moving from one threshold to another, or as an appeal to the person. If the individual is in despair, it reminds the person whom he is, where he came from, and where he is hoping to go. It is one of the rituals to accompany the person through the challenging tasks of life and for him/her to know that others have faced the challenges before and have succeeded.