The "coniunctio" is the union of opposites in the alchemical work, combining high and low, good and evil, matter and spirit, and base and precious in such a way that the polarized conflict of opposites was united in a third point of synthesis. This synthesis neither negates nor reduces the opposites, but incorporates both in a third term. The alchemists believed that this synthesis resulted in the "lapis philosophorum," or philosopher's stone which transcended and combined those tensions inherent in physical existence. The stone had both tremendous healing powers as well as powers of destruction. Jung discerned that some alchemists realized that the true goal of the work, or "opus," was not simply the creation of gold, but rather the spiritual and moral transformation of the self.
Read MoreThe idea for this month’s column comes from an e-mail discussion with Eric “Butcher Boy” Hoffman (Omaha poet who wrote a column by that name in Mental Contagion). He said he was doing his column this month on “eXistenZ” and “The Matrix.” I said, “of course you will comment on the parallels in ‘The Matrix’ to Buddhist and Hindu conceptions of enlightenment, with a particular emphasis on lifting the veil of illusion (or maya).” Eric simply said “No, I’d never even considered that.” So, I guess it is left for me to write this column I had rather hoped to read. However, as I pause to read Butcher Boy’s manuscript, I see no reference whatsoever to “Matrix.” So, I will have to write on a slightly different subject.
Read MoreThe Wachowski brothers’ film, “The Matrix,” begins with Trinity’s descent into the world of the matrix. She is searching for “the One” by running code on a laptop, when she is interrupted by a group of policemen who she quickly overcomes in a display of supra-worldly fighting skills.
Read MoreHow is it possible to listen to the dark and despairing music of Joy Division and to somehow come out on the other side of despair, into a state of calmness and expansiveness? Or, again, how can something lead to its opposite, or perhaps a better way of putting it is how does extremity (violence, trauma, despair) lead to the possible outcomes of varying degrees of transformation and destruction?
Read MoreTransformation is the process of something changing into something else, sometimes this can be a bridge across paradox, for instance, something “good” comes out of something “bad.” The process of transformation is an amazing thing and something we know very little about. Various theorists have incorporated transformation into their theories of humanity, yet there is a danger of then viewing the paradox as only a dialectical vehicle toward a unitary concept (Jung: Individuation; Hegel: Spirit; Marx: Utopian (Communist) Society).
Read MoreAnarchism was an oft touted phrase for the punks, tear down the old, get rid of all the social structures which come between human being and human being, that come between a person and themselves, and replace it with a utopian vision. Various punk bands focused on one, the other, or both of these elements of change: the Pistols were primarily negationists; the Clash were more idealistic and utopian; Crass and Flux of Pink Indians were very much into the utopian idea of anarchism and were very constructive; Joy Division were, like the Sex Pistols, negationists, yet turned inward to negate the self, rather than outward to negate the social.
Read MoreThere are many different ways to divide something into inside/outside. There is the inside/outside of the group and the inside/outside of the individual. I can feel a part of a group, and thus, be inside it - or, I can feel apart from the group, unrelated to it, and thus feel I am on the outside. I can focus on what goes on inside my head or inside my body, as thoughts or pain or illness, or I can focus outside my body, yet still, the outside is mediated by the sense organs - skin, eyes, ears, tongue, nose. Is there really an inside/outside?
Read MoreWho was Ian Curtis? What was his “message,” his “vision” - did he have a vision/message? How does his suicide on May 18th, 1980, affect how Joy Division’s music is viewed today? What is the “truth” of Ian Curtis/Joy Division, what is the “lie,” what is the “myth?” How much did Joy Division (do all performers/artists) contribute to their own myth? What if myth, rather than truth is the reason that we are drawn to performers? What if we do not want to know the historical truth? What takes place in the space between the performer and the audience (Buber’s “Sphere of the Between”) and how does each shape the other?
Read MoreThis months’ issue is a largely a survey of “experts” on punk rock and their conceptions of what is and is not punk. The motivations for this are several, the foremost being that I will be on vacation next month and I thought this would be an easy way to fill a column. But, this is a question which I have returned to again and again in writing this column.
Read MoreWe are used to thinking in this culture that things exist as opposites and that opposites are not connected with one another, that they are distinct, different, and separate. We tend to have an allopathic approach to problems and crises in our lives, or, in other words, for a given problem, we apply its opposite. In order to get peace, we wage war. In order to get safety, we buy guns. In order to be happy, we shun sadness. In order to have well-being, we shun suffering. This is the path of opposition, and the risk is that it can entrench opposition and preclude transformation.
Read MoreFrom a strictly materialist perspective, music is superfluous. It does not seem to confer an evolutionary adaptation (unless it is analogous to the attraction of potential mates, as with birds), yet it is ubiquitous throughout historical and contemporary societies. Music tends to invoke a state in the listener - that seems to be a truth. Music is a tool or technique for invoking (in the listener) or expressing (in the performer) particular moods or emotional states. In this sense, music can be considered a technology whose purpose is an evocation/alteration of the emotional states of performers and listeners. Music is a technology of emotional transformation.
Read More“The escalating cycle of violence is typically welcomed by the harshest and most brutal elements on both sides,” (Noam Chomsky, "Interviewing Chomsky," Radio B92, Belgrade, from Z Magazine).
Read MoreDan Graham’s video, “Rock My Religion,” (1984-85). (Note that both the video and the book of essays, as well as one of the essays, all have the same title) begins with visual scenes of a Shaker revival meeting with a rock music soundtrack dubbed over it. Then the scene changes and a visual scene of a punk rock show is overdubbed with the sounds of a revival meeting. What is so intriguing about this is how well the shaking, twitching, rhythmic movements, and circular shuffling of the religious ecstatics resonate with the secular screaming and ranting of the rock music. Likewise, the moshing, slamming, pogo-ing, and head banging of the punk rock crowd meshes with the moaning, chanting, and wailing of the revival meeting soundtrack. The harmony of this visual juxtaposition of seemingly disparate practices speaks more to the underlying similarity of forms in rock and religion than any words can describe. In the following discussion, we will be referring to the video, as well as Graham’s written words, primarily his essays, “Rock My Religion,” “Punk as Propaganda,” and “McLaren’s Children.”
Read MoreThe idea of going deeper into darkness in order to reach the light is a concept that can seem counterintuitive. For the contemporary American, the idea that despair, trauma, or suffering could be “positive” is quite challenging. It would seem that a primary assumption of our populace is that life should be pain free, and if one experiences pain, it should be gotten rid of as quickly as possible. We have developed a number of different tools to rid ourselves of pain, such as medication, legislation, law suits, and escapist entertainment. However, this attitude of avoidance is not the only attitude toward pain and suffering. The attitude of shamanism, which is perhaps the most ancient spiritual practice, views suffering as an unavoidable aspect of transformation.
Read MoreI have just finished reviewing and formatting the “Coniunctionis” column for my Website and I felt like I should have some conclusion to the series. “Coniunctionis” started out as a forum for me to explore interesting concepts that did not fit easily in clinical or academic publications. The column was published in Mental Contagion, which my sister, Karen Kopacz, started and edited for many years. It was a great place for me to explore concepts that intrigued me. It also was a place where I could move between more scholarly work and more personal self-exploration and understanding.
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