Roses for Bartel, for Pritchard...

...the namesakes of our square circle here in Windsor Terrace, and Roses for all the others who were killed in wars. Roses also for the victims of 911, for all victims of abuse, who in turn, often become abusers themselves. Poor humanity.

You should stop reading now if you have issues with psychological thought. You might feel some discomfort with what follows. I know "psychologism" is out in many circles.

Marion Woodman writes about the Power Principle and I am trying to understand what she means. I recognize something there, something very sneaky. I'm thinking the Power Principle is the will to cloak our vulnerability so that we don't have to suffer our feelings. We use power to abate our vulnerability. People's power tools vary, in some it's their sheer attractiveness, in others, drugs, coolness, intimidation and charisma, in many, money, who-you-know, status, IQ, talents, I suppose it goes on and on. The Power Principle has implicit and explicit methodology, and its clearest and most heinous appearance in this century was the Nazi's "final solution." In its most common appearance it is the way parents subtly and adamantly suppress a child's authentic state because it scares them. Children can be so wild, so messy. They have REALLY STRONG FEELINGS that they learn to split off into the unconscious territory of their bodies if their parents can't handle it.

Woodman writes: "When the veils that surround the addict are stripped away, the obsessive ritualistic behavior can be seen as protection against unendurable pain.*" That would be pain stemming from psychological and physical child abuse and neglect, I assume.

It seems this "obsessive, ritualistic behavior" involves self abuse or abuse of others, and maintains a self-defeating cycle. Often it's a will to shame, judge, punish others so that we feel better about ourselves, or it's an attraction to things that give only temporary, superficial gratification that distracts from the lurking terror of being and all our self-doubts, guilt, rage and and accusations. It's a chronic will-to-reduce dis-ease, a chronic over-valuation of the concrete, chronic self-reduction.

Marion Woodman would argue that there's something worthwhile on the other side of the pain, on the other side of the wasteland. She has seen it. Sometimes I believe it, sometimes I don't.

Any insight you might have into these questions is appreciated.

*The Pregnant Virgin, page 107.