“It could be that this amazing array of intellectually superior beings that appear to be ghosting around in our midst have good reason to remain hidden.”
—Whitley Strieber, Afterword to The Key
I am going to make several (possibly contentious) statements in order to lay out my hypothesis:
Fantasy is a means to escape reality.
The ability to escape reality and retreat into fantasy is a necessary capacity.
This capacity is one that an infantile or immature psyche develops in times of stress, i.e., when reality becomes more than the psyche can process.
The psyche cannot mature except by interacting with reality.
A psyche forced to deal with an overwhelmingly stressful reality also cannot mature, because its temporary retreat into fantasy becomes a permanent state.
To the degree to which a psyche remains “enclosed” in its own self-generated fantasy—and/or is “abducted” by the daimonic, archetypal realms of the unconscious—it will remain in an arrested state of development, infantilized.
Cause and effect of such a fantasy-prison merge and become inseparable: the infant psyche possesses a prodigious power to “dream,” to create all-inclusive surrogate reality states; and within those surrogate reality states, since it cannot mature, its power to generate fantasy remains undiminished, and can even increase over time as it becomes more proficient (“matures”) within the fantasy realms it generates.
Such a psyche is creating and withdrawing into a false environment—one in which the “fantastic” is commonplace and in which it is immune to the maturing effects of reality. Like David Bowie’s Major Tom, or Ray Kurtzweil’s resurrected father, the individual stays closed up, “floating in a tin can, far above the world.”
Stories of such a realm have been passed down since time immemorial in the cross-cultural tales of Faeryland. Faeryland, like the Neverland of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, is a realm outside time in which a person does not age. Those who returned to the human world after a brief sojourn in Faeryland were said to discover that years, sometimes decades, had gone by in their absence. The same is true of the “missing time” experiences of abductees, of the fragmented timelines of dissociative identity disorder, and of the compartmentalized activities of MKULTRA lore, a la Candy Jones, trauma-engineered operatives who enter into “alter-personalities” to perform tasks which their dominant personality has no memory of. Strieber would seem to fit into all of these categories. Of course, this fragmentation of experience or removal from time does not prevent the body from aging. But the psyche that cannot develop as, or into, a unified, adult consciousness, is denied the possibility of ever individuating, of ever becoming whole.
A psyche that’s removed from time and cannot individuate remains perpetually in an infantile, or at best prepubescent, state of functioning. Like the puer aeternus (and J.M Barrie’s Lost Boys), it never grows up, and so it is spared the trials and troubles of adult sexuality and social responsibility. This is not true of the body, however. Whatever the state of development of the psyche, the boy must grow into a man and find for himself an identity, a persona, with which to navigate the world at large. Yet paradoxically, the refusal to grow up is sourced in early trauma caused (one way or another) by the absence/abuse of the father, who failed to protect the child—to “hold the space” necessary for it to mature inside. Since the dominant personality that forms is in defiance of the father, and of time itself (Saturn), it finds an identity for itself in this very “act” (unconscious will) of rejecting the father.
As I say, these are all contentious statements. They can’t be proved because the way the psyche operates, as with the UFO, means it doesn’t leave tracks. They are speculative models, formulas, metaphors, based on my own experience both with domestic trauma/dissociation, and with seemingly otherworldly or paranormal realities.
To read full essay, order Prisoner of Infinity: UFOs, Social Engineering, and the Psychology of Fragmentation
You are doing us a great favor. thank you for sharing. Respectfully, Dennis
Ah your a true Wizard now , with all the boring ordinary life that implies . Ourobouros seems to be the tenor of this post for me , and Amphisbae ..
Now “Shamantics”, thats a keeper
Poor Mrs Horsley must have got so sick of Whitley , fortunately she loves you !
Cheers mate
Speaking of fragments: maybe Odysseus was just a fragment of Ithaca that split off, went to war and then underwent a magical 10-year voyage in vivid PTSD that ultimately brought him home to his island family (and old dog Argos who was the first to recognize his master before he died – the dog I mean — the saddest moment in the whole Odyssey)
By his nature, the hero is a fragment seeking separation and eventual reunion…
I loved this part of yours:
“The ability to escape reality and retreat into fantasy is a necessary capacity.
This capacity is one that an infantile or immature psyche develops in times of stress, i.e., when reality becomes more than the psyche can process.
The psyche cannot mature except by interacting with reality.
A psyche forced to deal with an overwhelmingly stressful reality also cannot mature, because its temporary retreat into fantasy becomes a permanent state.”
Actually, this has been proven. When we are traumatized, we are frozen at that moment of time, and can not progress muck till that is released, felt and experienced for the 1st time, and then we can make sense of it. Another name for it is “Recovered Memory Therapy. Dr. Janov is one of the more notable ones for that but most therapists who treat Mind control victims and SRA victims also use this type of therapy, so your on solid ground.
Our “Journey” should be one of going back into our minds and allowing the scary stuff to come out so that we can truly heal and move on and increase in knowledge after. We get injured in the mind, and then put the cart before the horse and try to learn while being held back from doing so. REcovered memory lets us go back sequentially, from most recent to the deep past and finally live those things we were sheltered from when too young to handle them or too unprepared as adults to handle them. In theory, we should still be able to move on and learn, but for most, this does not seem possible. Whether possible or not, most need recovered memory to progress.
“New life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!” That was from the opening of the original Star Trek series of the 60s. But really, that new bold frontier is right in our minds, not out in space. Space is an excuse and avoidance. Dont like what is inside of me, so maybe i can run off into space and escape it all. But no matter where we go, our past goes with with us, demanding that we let it out and heal. So says I!
The timing of this comment is interesting, as I was just thinking that there seems, to me, to be a problem with memory retrieval that has not yet been addressed, and that is that it may not necessarily lead to wholeness but in some way prevent it. I base this not on any theories about memory-inceptions or the like (tho these may also occur, and even be related to the following), but rather on what I have observed about survivors who testify to their experiences (have retrieved memories), as compared to those who have no solid memories but are joining the dots in their history and mapping the scars. The former class seem to fall into what may be an inevitable trap of becoming witness to an abomination while testifying to the possibility of healing; yet in my experience, reading these testimonies (I am currently reading Wendy Hoffman’s Enslaved Queen), the two parts (the abomination-witness and the healing-affirmer) do not seem to be in balance, but more at odds. I find when reading/hearing of these accounts that I get into a state of mind that wants to hear more and more appalling facts without experiencing much real sense of the damage done by them ~ not a million miles away from imbibing Hollywood “entertainment” that verges on, or goes right into, torture porn. This causes me to wonder if there isn’t an alter created, intentionally by programmers or instinctively by the survivor, that is allowed to remember all this and report it, without actually taking it back into the body and releasing the trauma-poisons that prevented it from landing. Simply put, what if there is an alter of “survivor” that allows for recall but not for integration (look at Strieber!)? Conversely, my own experience strongly suggests that integration/release of trauma without any conscious recall is possible, and perhaps even more likely, precisely because the mind (constructed ID) can’t get a hold of those experiences and spin a new identity-fiction out of them. This is not to question anyone’s experiences, only the basic assumption that memory = integration…
I think it is possible to remember and yet not feel it, That is to say, not experience it with its full emotional impact. But therapy in the case of extreme long term abuse takes so damned long. Further, some make great progress and others do not. The saying is that you can lead a horse to water but you can not make it drink. Success of therapy/recovery is totally dependent upon the patient and how much they want it or not. Half-hearted never works. We all want a therapy that is guaranteed to work. But no therapy can ever work unless the patient is serious themselves about it. The therapist plays a small part by comparison. For what its worth.
I’d like to learn more about the theories behind the notion that finally (intentionally) experiencing the full emotional impact of past trauma is in some way “healing”- this seems counter-intutive to me… wouldn’t the body’s natural inclination to dissociate during extreme trauma be an indication that continued dissociated ignorance of trauma provides more overall well-being than forcing a vivid replay the of the memory? Perhaps I’m missing something… time to read up 🙂
Oh, and thanks again for the extreme thought provocation, Jasun. Between POI, the podcast, and the further research they both have prompted, I am without a doubt struggling to maintain somatic awareness!
Hi AG! let me explain just a little about dissociated trauma. The instinct, the subconscious if you prefer, is one of two forms of “consciousness” without our seemingly single mind. the instinct is like a great protector we each have built into us. It works are far greater speeds than the intellectual mind, but its routines, pre-programmed actions, are far more simple, elementary and most useful when young and the intellect is not well formed yet. If it senses something very overwhelming happening, it automatically, in super high speed, diverts the signal sensory input to a area of circuits to be locked away hidden, reserved for a time when danger is long gone and maybe we have developed enough safety and security and curiosity and desire to get better, usually much later in life, middle ages maybe, and then if the intellect super consciousness gives the signals that i wants to know and heal, and it is convincing to the instinct, then the instinct will start with bad dreams and nightmares revealing some things in symbols. then maybe quick brief flashes of visual memories or other memories, even feelings.
We might fall into certain moods like depression or anxiety or anger or whatever. then ultimately, perhaps with an experienced therapist who acts as a guide, one can, in a safe setting, finally let the original trauma come up and out, or often just portions and pieces as the whole trauma might be too much to get all out at once. Long term incest is often like that. The mind tends to go backwards sequentially, as it brings up traumas, one at a time, with time to process and heal from each one. Its not a fast process but each released trauma also brings insight and more harmony inside, like a weight was lifted up and away. AS well, The conscious intellect never experienced the trauma before. When it comes up, it comes into the conscious mind for the first time. The sub-conscious had been holding it hidden for years. Most traumas remain hidden and unaware so that in theory, the intellectual brain can still function adequately, and yet, it seems not progress well, until traumas start coming up and out for process, fulfilling what should have happened at first, had we been prepared for it, sort of.
I don’t want this to get too long, so let me say that while I started reading all about this in “THE Primal Scream” by Arthur Janov 1970, in 1987. but its has been my studies into the brutal horrific massive doses of mind control programming with rape and torture that even make incest look mild by comparison, and seeing how their sadistic programming works, that I really began to understand the whole of the mind. How a mind is ruined is also a good knowledge as to how it could have all been done right with love instead. Governments love Mind Control programming for its ability to hide things in the mind that can never be released without the right codes, even with horrific torture. governments are sick beyond comprehension.
To me, I thought that in many ways, reading accounts of certain mind control victims as well as therapists who treat them, that these demonstrate hidden memory recovery much better than much of Janov’s stuff. I thought Daniel Ryder’s book, “Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse” better explained many of the challenges of recovered memory treatment. And there are plenty of his book used on Amazon for 99 cents. An unprecedented bargain for what it yields. Governments are also clever at using bizarre rituals so that if the memories are recovered, no one will believe the victim with talk of Satan worship, monsters, creatures, costumes, unbelievable stuff to screw heads over with and fool therapists at first. Sick minds do sick things. But Ryder’s book explains many things Janov. I’d recommend it all but there is that time factor. Ryder would be the quickest and most through treatment for just one book. Its just an amazing journey of learning about the human mind. Ask anything you want and I’ll try to answer.
I have a “Psychology Topics” on my site, on the menu on the front page but its way behind my reading and research, I am sorry to say. So you’ll probably have to ask. Also this has a fair amount of books listed with picture and brief reviews.
http://truth1.org/1-books-health.htm
Anyway, choose as you please. but for me, the mind is the most amazing study there is and in the books, you’ll come across Marvin Minsky who is also remarkable in a different for his mind work. Enjoy!
Very insightful writing about Kurzweil’s pattern transcendence by means of (the same old) patterns. What’s lurking in these ‘patterns’? Can they be expanded? Like, Puer AeTERNuS?
I know this web site gives quality based articles and extra material, is there any other web sitewhich gives these data in quality?