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In the present discussion of the Female Psyche and its potential as an effective (trail-blazing) leader, using the reference of "archetype" as a general means of deducing the recurrence of patterns is only partially helpful, and must be accompanied by an effort to deciper what, if any basic patterns can be identified from looking below the cultural definitions of cognitive behavior. This entails identifying and cataloguing patterns found amongst women (and men) occurring in whatever setting they are found in. While most of those who look at archetypes are satisfied with socio-cultural themes as described in the following image, others want to find more basic commonalities that are not limited by the application nor language of archetypes used for applied psychological or sociological models of terminology. An effort to unravel more basic themes necessarily beckons us to look into the past... prior to the present day use and application of behaviors described as archetypes. In other words, archetypes have an origin which may or may not be further back in time than an established usage of recurring (archetypal themes) even if humans were not aware of their existence... even if a given language could have been used to describe the idea of archetypes. As such, let us wonder and ask whether or not archetypes existed for early types of hominids (however we may view them as crude representations of our own ideas used today). Did archetypes exist during the time of Neanderthals or fufther back in time? Did Cro-magnons practice a social partitioning aligned to some notion of an archetypal linneage of activity, whether or not anyone was consciously aware of such, much less conversed about such with others? While some might want to conclude that some formula of Archetype existed in the past but that doesn't mean that form exists today, one must consider that such a conclusiog is itself based on a type of cognitive archetype, and that those who would disagree, harbor yet another type of Archetypal cognitive pattern.
In looking to the past, since we can recognize patterns in biology similar to those seen in social behavior... there is no subject that we must be afraid of examining to identify the depth and breadth of human cognition exercising basic themes of pattern... at least we may interpret the correlations based on a simple program of enumeration with which to establish what can be viewed as sameness or similarity if not some semblance of functionality devoid of a human inclination to impose one's ego on the subject matter of one's interest and claim that the interest is unlike any other. Thus let it be stated openly if the reader is not yet aware of it, the recurrence of patterns-of-three (though other number patterns may be used as well), suggests there is, or at least was an environmental influence which affected biology that in turn plays a part in affecting human psychology. Religion is a part of that psychology and affords us with a noted image of the "three" pattern as described by the Trinity. An approach at making a compilation of different types of a "Trinity" formula can be found here:
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One aspect of the Trinity (as a cognitive formula being exercised in different subjects with their own formulaic representations), is that it was once considered an item of mystery... of that which was an original idea springing up in the cognitive environment of a distantly primitive past as part of an ongoing developmental appearance occurring in the human brain. In other words, the idea of "three" items and their later developed qualities was once a very novel idea. And even though we may say that primitive peoples developed the triangle shape of a spear and arrow head due to an unrecognized triangle impression having occurred on the human brain without resorting to some biological explanation and instead arose by copying the head of a man's erect penis, the fact remains that a "three" arrangement was a new and mysterious conceptualization. As mysterious as primitive peoples attempting to account for an erect penis and the enlarging stomach of a woman followed by the birth of a child. They were all mysteries to the primitive mind whose search for explanations more often than not were defined by the action(s) of a god. When coupled to the pleasures of orgasm, it is easy to understand why primitive peoples came to worship both the penis and vagina... or parts thereof and presumed connection with. And it is easy to understand why later so-called educated peoples came to interpret such activities as "fertility" practices and those involved as a cult... though history has revealed such practices appear to have been ubiquitous. No less, though we find the usage of number-related words amongst some primitives to have exhibited a "three" limitation of cognitive application and explanation in the form of "one- two- many" (though "much" could be used as well), the primitive mind experienced a cognitive limit exhibiting a "three" organization, even if they were not aware of such a pattern. And nor should it be surprising when we find a recurrence of this "three" limitation being expressed in present day counting systems such that we have ones- tens- hundreds separated by a comma to indicate an applied limitation, followed by additional sets-of-three each with their own referenced stopping points indicated by a comma. The cognitive limit of "three" plays out like an archetype in numerous subject areas... and therefore warrants some investigation.
When looking into the past, since the word "mystery" is often associated with philosophy and religion, let us take a look at some "mystery" comments of reference in relation to the notion of the Christian Trinity. However, it must be acknowledged that the intent of the present essay is not to profess any subjective in any religion, in one way or another. There is no intent for the discussion to be interpreted as an historical Bible lessen, only that the role of present and past religious orientations are a part of the understanding involved in archetypal forms. The female psyche is not often given the credit for having so-called religious experiences which exceed those of men... at least in the articulated representations thereof.
Trinitarian mysticism Pure God-mysticism is rare in Christianity, though not unknown, as Catherine of Genoa shows. Christ as God incarnate is the Word, the second Person of the Trinity, and Christian mysticism has, from an early era, exhibited a strong Trinitarian dimension, though this has been understood in different ways. What ties the diverse forms of Trinitarian mysticism together is the insistence that through Christ the Christian comes to partake of the inner life of the Trinity. The mysticism of Origen, for example, emphasizes the marriage of the Word and the soul within the union of Christ and the church but holds out the promise that through this action souls will be made capable of receiving the Father (First Principles, 3.6.9). The mystical thought of Augustine and his medieval followers, such as Richard of Saint-Victor, William of Saint-Thierry, and Bonaventure, is deeply Trinitarian. Meister Eckhart taught that the soul's indistinction from God meant that it was to be identified with the inner life of the Trinity—that is, with the Father giving birth to the Son, the Son being born, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from both. A similar teaching is found in Ruysbroeck. John of the Cross wrote of mystical union that “it would not be a true and total transformation if the soul were not transformed into the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity” (Spiritual Canticle, stanza 39.3). Such strong Trinitarian emphasis is rarer, but not absent from Protestant mysticism. Negative mysticism: God and the Godhead The most daring forms of Christian mysticism have emphasized the absolute unknowability of God. They suggest that true contact with the transcendent involves going beyond all that we speak of as God—even the Trinity—to an inner “God beyond God,” a divine Darkness or Desert in which all distinction is lost. This form of “mystical atheism” has seemed suspicious to established religion; its adherents have usually tried to calm the suspicions of the orthodox by an insistence on the necessity, though incompleteness, of the affirmative ways to God. One of the earliest and most important exponents of this teaching was the Pseudo-Dionysius, who distinguished “the super-essential Godhead” from all positive terms ascribed to God, even the Trinity (The Divine Names, chapter 13). In the West this tradition emerged later; it is first found in Erigena in the 9th century and is especially evident in the Rhineland school in the 13th and 14th centuries. According to Eckhart, even being and goodness are “garments” or “veils” under which God is hidden. In inviting his hearers to “break through” to the hidden Godhead, he exclaimed, “Let us pray to God that we may be free of ‘God,' and that we may apprehend and rejoice in that everlasting truth in which the highest angel and the fly and the soul are equal” (German Sermons, 52). The notion of the hidden Godhead was renewed in the teaching of Jakob Böhme, who spoke of it as the Ungrund—“the great Mystery,” “the Abyss,” “the eternal Stillness.” He stressed the fact of divine becoming (in a non-temporal sense): God is eternally the dark mystery of which nothing can be said but ever puts on the nature of light, love, and goodness wherein the divine is revealed to human beings. Christ-mysticism The earliest form of Christian mysticism was the Christ-mysticism of Paul and John. Although Christian mysticism in its traditional expression has centered on the desire for union with God, Christ-mysticism has always been present in the church. The Eastern Church emphasized the divine Light that appeared to the disciples at the Transfiguration, and mystics sought to identify with this light of Christ in his divine glory. Symeon says of a certain mystic that “he possessed Christ wholly.… He was in fact entirely Christ.” As a result of the influence of Augustine, in the Catholic West it is in and through the one Christ, the union of Head and body that is the church, that humans come to experience God. For Augustine the mystical life is Christ “transforming us into himself” (Homily on Psalm, 32.2.2). During the Middle Ages some of the most profound expressions of Christ-mysticism were voiced by women mystics, such as Catherine of Siena and Julian of Norwich. Luis de León spoke of the theopathic life in terms of Christ-mysticism: “The very Spirit of Christ comes and is united with the soul—nay, is infused throughout its being, as though he were soul of its soul indeed.” The Protestant attempt to return to primitive Christianity has led to strong affirmations of Christ-mysticism. The early Quaker George Keith wrote that Christ is born spiritually in humanity when “his life and spirit are united unto the soul.” The chief representative of Christ-mysticism among the early Protestants, Kaspar Schwenckfeld, held that Christ was from all eternity the God-man, and as such he possessed a body of spiritual flesh in which he lived on Earth and which he now possesses in heaven. In his exalted life Christ unites himself inwardly with human souls and imparts to them his own divinity. Source: "Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite, 2013. |
Along with mystery or mysticism, one might include the notion of having a secret knowledge or Gnosticism (with or without the presence of secret words, symbols, writing, rites, clothing, hand signs, etc...) A look at an early form of Gnosticism in context with the development of Christianity may be informative for some readers. (Notice the presence of a triadic structure involving two women and one man):
Gnosticism, from the Greek gno-stikos (one who has gno-sis, or “secret knowledge”), was an important movement in the early Christian centuries—especially the 2nd—that offered an alternative to emerging orthodox Christian teaching. Gnostics taught that the world was created by a demiurge or satanic power—which they often associated with the God of the Old Testament— and that there is total opposition between this world and God. Redemption was viewed as liberation from the chaos of a creation derived from either incompetent or malevolent powers, a world in which the elect are alien prisoners. The method of salvation was to discover the Kingdom of God within one's elect soul and to learn how to pass the hostile powers barring the soul's ascent to bliss. The Gnostics held a Docetist Christology, in which Jesus only appeared to assume the flesh. Although not assuming material form according to the Gnostics, Jesus, nonetheless, was the redeemer sent by God to reveal His special gno-sis. Irenaeus and other Christian theologians, as well as the 3rd-century Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus, dismissed Gnosticism as a pretentious but dangerous nonsense. Along with Irenaeus and others, the writers of the later New Testament books seem to have opposed early Gnosticism. The supporters of what would become orthodox Christianity stressed the need to adhere to tradition, which was attested by the churches of apostolic foundation. A more hazardous reply was to appeal to ecstatic prophecy. About AD 172 a quasi-Pentecostal movement in Phrygia was led by Montanus with two prophetesses, Prisca and Maximilla, reasserting the imminence of the end of the world. He taught that there was an age of the Father (Old Testament), an age of the Son (New Testament), and an age of the Spirit (heralded by the prophet Montanus). Montanism won its chief convert in Tertullian. Its claim to supplement the New Testament was generally rejected, and the age of prophecy was held to have ended in the time of the apostles. Source: "Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. |
While we of today may not refer to general ideas as being "mysterious" or that organizations of thousands constitutes a cult or necessarily a religion, this does not mean this same view will hold true several thousand years in the future. For example, though the ancient Roman government is not typically referred to as a cult, mystery, or religion, this might not be the case if there were no written documents from that time or that the language used on inscriptions was almost indecipherable. Bits and pieces of information or even lots of information which appears to have no discernible means of interpretation by using modernized standards of analysis and interpretation, can sometime render the artefacts into being described as a mystery and that the people of the era conducted cult-like behavior and when all else fails, it is easy to use the tool of religion as a means of dissecting and labeling otherwise unknown aspects of one or more discoveries. As time passes and the human brain begins to develop into different areas and representations of archetypal impressions, the usage of a Trinitarian view... for example, may be found to be a corruption of an earlier idea espousing a singularity or duplicity... though in the following example, the exact nature of the corruption(s) is not outlined, nor presented in the context of understanding developmental human cognition on an historical scale of examination:
Interest in religion and theology (Sir Isaac) Newton found time now to explore other interests, such as religion and theology. In the early 1690s he had sent Locke a copy of a manuscript attempting to prove that Trinitarian passages in the Bible were latter-day corruptions of the original text. When Locke made moves to publish it, Newton withdrew in fear that his anti-Trinitarian views would become known. In his later years, he devoted much time to the interpretation of the prophecies of Daniel and St. John, and to a closely related study of ancient chronology. Both works were published after his death. Source: "Newton, sir Isaac." Encyclopædia Britannica. |
In practical and more present day terms of analysis, the three dimensions of the female psyche are as follows, but should not be construed as a personally perceived and labeled enclave due to the uniqueness of a person's own self as an entity sojourning a realm of especialized discovery. In other words, these three are not suggesting a limitation, but a generalized cataloging in a form and fashion to be used as an organizational methodology (however crude they may initially be interpreted by some who feel they have been slighted or their ego somehow disadvantaged or their efforts effaced from any signification):
- The National Organization of/for Women which represents the vast majority of women representing the geometric model of a whole singularity involving three different components which may be described as novice- student- instructor, and are thus representative of 3-in-1 triple formula of organizational effort... and, for the most part, are not addressing most social issues from an obsessive-compulsive sexual orientation. Membership: More than 500,000 contributing members
- The next category, involving numerous types of pagan or neo-pagan orientations whether it is a membership of a single person's craft that may not be viewed as a religious expression, or a group ("coven") whose exercised ceremonies represent a different type of religious orientation containing old and newer elements of expression; is a membership that is difficult to assess, but is real and wide-spread enough to be counted as a separate realization of the female psyche, even though there may be practicing male members. Simplified, the pagan practices may be identified with specific labels such as Wicca-n and Witch-an, though not all Wiccans view themselves as witches and not all Witches view themselves as Wiccan, even though some use these two terms inter-changeably. Another label that may or may not be adopted by these two, or it to them, is the reference "neo-pagan" (or New Pagan). Some partitioners want a new identity, a new beginning, and greater power from an adopted origination as individual as each person views themselves, instead of one cast in the shadow of believed-in ancient practices. Typically however, there is a variation of a goddess worship or orientation frequently involving a triplicity, such as in some reference to a modernized version of a triadic complement (or pantheon) of females like those found in the ancient Irish tradition and given a modernized archetypal wardrobe. Let us take a look at one interpretation of Witchcraft alternatively viewed as Wiccan, in order to get some sense of how the practice(s) are being viewed from one academic perspective:
Academics tend to dismiss contemporary witchcraft (known as "Wicca"), at the heart of the modern Neo-Pagan movement, as a silly fad or an incompetent technology, but some now understand it as an emotionally consistent but deliberately anti-intellectual set of practices. Adherents to Wicca worship the Goddess, honour nature, practice ceremonial magic, invoke the aid of deities, and celebrate Halloween, the summer solstice, and the vernal equinox. At the start of the 21st century, perhaps a few hundred thousand people (mostly in North America and Britain) practiced Wicca and Neo-Paganism, a modern Western reconstruction of pre-Christian religions that draws upon the diversity of worldwide polytheistic religions to create a new and diverse religious movement. The rise of Wicca and Neo-Paganism is due in part to increasing religious tolerance and syncretism, a growing awareness of the symbolism of the unconscious, the retreat of Christianity, the popularity of fantasy and science fiction, the growth of feminism, the ascendancy of deconstructionist and relativist theory, and the emphasis upon individuality and subjectivity as opposed to intellectual coherence and societal values. Most modern Neo-Pagans, distrustful of the demands of traditional religions, eschew doctrine or creed and engage in the ritual expression of “symbolic and experiential” meanings. Although Neo-Paganism incorporates the emotional involvement and ritual practices associated with religion into its tradition, many Neo-Pagans prefer to think of themselves as practicing magic rather than religion, and although their emphasis is on opening themselves up to hidden powers through rites, chants, or charms, most do not call themselves "witches," as Wiccans do. Both Wiccans and Neo-Pagans also have strong ecological and environmental concerns, worship the Goddess and other deities, and celebrate the change of seasons with elaborate rituals. Whether magic or religion, these groups reject intellectual coherence and objectivity in favour of personal experience and dismiss science as well as traditional religion. Source: "witchcraft." Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite, 2013. |
Whereas some may read the above excerpt and come away with the impression that those who indulge in Wicca-n or Witch-an ideology rely more on imaginative themes as a pair of sunglasses through which they perceive reality, it is well to remember all current academic subjects have their origins in pasts of speculative inquiry. While it is easy to misjudge contemporary "pagan" forms of ideology and practice in those terms which look to the past as a means of defining present ideological orientations, it is sometimes necessary for a community, if not a species, in as much as it is for a person to take one, two, or a few steps rearward in order to acquire an enhanced perspective to proceed forward. Granted that an immersion in the past as if it were a living future is little more than an illusion which may breed a delusion that can breech a state of neurosis to become a psychosis, it is of need to realize that present forms of academic pursuit were assisted by those... such as the present thesis is attempting to do... in presenting a new path along which the older ideas can be modified to produce enhanced results. Need the reader be reminded of chemistry's origins from "pagan and arcane" alchemy, or that Astronomy owes its origins to mythology and nature worship, or mathematics to imaginative digressions from simplistic accounting efforts using shells, rocks, knots, and etched lines on rocks, bones, or smoothed-over sand as the assumed medium frequently used by ancient peoples while doodling? Is it necessary to present an imaginative scenario in which the description of humanity unfolds into the regressive orientation of a distant past if all of humanity woke up the next day to a world in which all forms of electricity did not work, or humanity somehow collectively lost its memory... or if even large segment of humanity lost the skills of memorization which found solace in past ideas which could be remembered? Is this how we are to view an increased interest in the female psyche with "arcane", "pagan" or "ancient" ideas? Are female psyches being affected by a disease that many men are not immune from either, or is it a regression... like a reincarnation or a death, prior to a re-birth... a necessary stage of evolution that is not fully understood and is extravagantly misrepresented by Eastern philosophies and religions? Must the reader be reminded of how often throughout history passages of progression have been discovered by a revealed new interpretation of existing materials whose origins were the result of step-wise occurrences, many of which have been forgotten, misrepresented, or misinterpreted by gap-filling efforts which have meant well, but are little more than "educated guesstimations" that far too many accept as a definitive truth? ...A definitive truth established by a conventionalized system of institutionalized academics involving ego, status, reputation and monetary rewards from lectures, teaching, books and the like... that mounts a barrage of negativity against alternative interpretations which rarely if ever are placed side by side in illustrative contexts?
Must the reader be reminded of how the Christian church adopted many pagan ideas by refashinoning... over time, to create the illusion of being connected with a pagan ideological practice while at the same time move closer to a male-psyche fashion of ideology which came to assert its dominance over women and those men who shared a female orientation; one of which was the usage of a male trinity to supplant the worship of a female trinity which occurred in different formulas in different places, some which originated without the apparent knowledge of any other triadic worship? Must the reader be then to open their eyes to the realization that the present three-branches of the U.S. government is an adopted variation of a Trinitarian structure used to supplant the Christian model with its attendant priests and Laws, with those of Legislators advancing themselves the entitlement of a priest-like functionality and governing over their own made-up laws that the populace... including those of the church, are to defer to and worship by way of a social shadow of intimidation, threat, and subjugation to paying a tithing called taxes? And that an attempt to rid themselves of such a false god, a false priestly class and a false set of laws, the people are seeking some means of empowerment over them?
Here is a male interpretation of contrasting the Christian Trinity with those which are viewed by today's interpretations as representing former, or "pagan" Trinities:
Is the trinity based on paganism?
While watching this video it was easy to discern the discrepancy of information being used to describe a comparison outlined by a strict observation of separate details. Of course there is not direct one-to-one correspondence of identity if our appraisal is limited to idealized and semantically articulated emotional attachments between different triad structures where the word "trinity" is used to describe the preservation of personalized emotional contexts of individualized interpretations. All "trinities" are different if one is to judge them in the context of personal emotion and how one intellectually drapes them in particularized intellectually-derived attributes. However, while there are clear differences, there are obvious similarities. Because the word "trinity" (according to a Webster's dictionary), did not come into usage until the 13th century, though there were no doubt verbal uses before the word was committed to writing and thus discovery by historians, no actual "trinity" existed before this date. Whereas if we say they were "triads", this word did not come into usage until the 1500s, and the Indian word "Trimurti" did not arrive until the 1800's. Though again, such words may have had a slightly earlier linguistic usage before being committed to a document that was later found by historians. Nonetheless, the point to be made is that our present day conceptualizations of what we denote with the word "trinity" are not necessarily the perceptions held by those in the past. No less, what word do we ascribe to the usage of similarly constructed pantheons, even if such pantheons are the result of present day perceptions being imposed on historical information? In other words, though we of today may recognize three major gods of one or another past culture doesn't mean those in the past revered them as a set-of-three, regardless of what label we of the present use to describe them.
Using the words triad, trinity, trimurti, etc., though each may be applied to represent personalized emotional attachments, must be recognized as a present day orientation which is a later-born development of the human mind. We are not compartmentalizing pros and cons for structures of gods and goddesses into groups of 4, 5, 6, etc... There is a limitation. The fact that we can recognize the Christian Trinity as a group-of-three and that earlier gods referred to as "pagan" can likewise be viewed in the same pattern, attests to the fact that many of us in the present are sharing the same basic organizational theme to reference perceptions being made in a context called religion. The fact that the Christian Trinity is male dominant and that it came after Trinities that were Female dominant, clearly states this as an act of the male psyche supplanting the worship of females for males. However, this arrangement fails to go further back in time or proceed into the future... our present with a circumscribed length of time in the past with respect to our governmental structure. The views concerning the Christian and pagan Trinities are like the squabblings of a middle child syndrome, when there are older and younger views which need to be placed into the context of discussion. The following comment left at the site of the above video barely scratched the surface of a presumable "three" archetype. It must be noted that I have been finding more and more frequently, that my comments are not permitted for publication on various sites who do not want to provide contrary opinions, unless they are in the context of disagreeing with the same nonsensical arguments that the author(s) have a ready made rebuttal to. Original argumentation is not permitted. Not only did the Catholic church want to suppress new ideas in the past which did not coincide with doctrines and beliefs, but so do present day individuals involved in a personal religious crusade.
Page Origination: Wednesday, 4th July 2018... 6:35 AM
Initial Posting: Sunday, 16th September 2018... 1:05 PM