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Paper The
Relationship of John to Jesus as an Archetypal Pattern Carol
D. Warner, M. A., M.S.W. When I had my first dream of John the Beloved Disciple, I had already been working with my dreams for over 15 years, and was well into my second Jungian analysis. Despite my long history of honoring my dreaming life, I stubbornly, and with great determination, resolved that I would keep this dream to myself, as it had absolutely nothing to do with what I came into this analysis to work on. Ah, yes, how the little ego can disrespect that part of the unconscious which most seeks to be heard. This resistance dynamic was, by the way, one that was to continue for many years, in many and ever-mutating forms. The dream was as follows: “I am in the consciousness of John the Beloved disciple, sometime after the crucifixion. He/I is standing in front of a puddle of water. The puddle has a faint oil slick on its surface. John remembers how, just days before, Jesus had slept on this spot. He realizes that the oil is oil from Jesus’ robe. A small black snake moves across the puddle, first balling up, then stretching out. The movement of the snake reminds him of the teachings on reincarnation that Jesus gave. It gives him comfort in his sorrow and desolation to know that life continues after death.”
This paper is about a process, and a dynamic. The process is one that began in a dream, and opened in the subsequent dreamwork. It continued as I reluctantly agreed to undertake the “scribing” of a manuscript. The psycho-spiritual dynamic underlies both the process, and the manuscript itself. Before I get into the material itself, I’m going to discuss some basic background theory that will apply to the material. Most of us are familiar with the concept of the waking ego, which contains conscious personal information about who we are, our personal history, who we interrelate with, our strengths, weaknesses, etc. As dreamers and dreamworkers, we are also familiar with the ego in relation to the unconscious, for, as we remember and work with our dreams, we assimilate previously unconscious material into our waking egos. This material may come from our personal unconscious, the repository of our personal histories, or may come from the collective unconscious, our inherited and shared psychic substrate, which contains material of a suprapersonal nature, the repository of our spiritual experience. Jung wrote: “For everything that will be happens on the basis of what has been, and of what—consciously or unconsciously—still exists as a memory-trace. In so far as no man is born totally new, but continually repeats the stage of development last reached by the species, he contains unconsciously…the entire psychic structure developed both upwards and downwards by his ancestors in the course of ages… What one sees happening in the world is not just a ‘shadowy’ vestige of activities that were once conscious; but the expression of a living psychic condition that still exists and always will exists.” (Jung, 1959, pp. 279-80). In other words, our consciousness grows out of the psyche, which is much older than our consciousness. When I had my first dream of John the Beloved Disciple, I had already been working with my dreams for over 15 years, and was well into my second Jungian analysis. Despite my long history of honoring my dreaming life, I stubbornly, and with great determination, resolved that I would keep this dream to myself, as it had absolutely nothing to do with what I came into this analysis to work on. Ah, yes, how the little ego can disrespect that part of the unconscious which most seeks to be heard. This resistance dynamic was, by the way, one that was to continue for many years, in many and ever-mutating forms. The dream was as follows: “I am in the consciousness of John the Beloved disciple, sometime after the crucifixion. He/I is standing in front of a puddle of water. The puddle has a faint oil slick on its surface. John remembers how, just days before, Jesus had slept on this spot. He realizes that the oil is oil from Jesus’ robe. A small black snake moves across the puddle, first balling up, then stretching out. The movement of the snake reminds him of the teachings on reincarnation that Jesus gave. It gives him comfort in his sorrow and desolation to know that life continues after death.” When I awoke, the dream puzzled me. For all its quietude, the dream was also compelling and numinous. I wondered why I had this dream. I could feel John’s love for Jesus, and the strength of a powerful bond between them. Yet, I did not know much about John, except that he was reputed to have written the Gospel of John, and the book of Revelation, and that his gentle personality was in striking contrast to that of John the Baptist. I also knew that he was the closest disciple to Jesus. Jung looked at the Jesus/Christ archetype as a Self archetype, that is, as an expression of the divine patterning inherent in the psyche. The Self archetypes is the experience of the power of the divine, in the depths of one’s being. It brings together such opposites as body and spirit. It is also the experience of the truth of God coming into incarnation through individuation, or the progressive integration of the ego with the centering energies of the unconscious. If Jesus represented that Self archetype, then what did it mean that I was not only having a dream of John in relationship with Jesus, but also that I shared John’s consciousness? This was a question I did not wish to look at, the magnitude of my resistance being one more indicator of the power of the material for me. As I see it now, John represented an animus figure for me. He was a guide who could help bring my ego into closer relationship with the Self archetype of Jesus. However, I had a lot of historical baggage to sort through before I could move on. I received a Master’s Degree from the University of Virginia in Religious Studies, where I studied religious traditions world-wide. My emphasis was on Buddhism, Jung and dream studies. My individualistic nature never found the forms of organized religions appealing. However, I was strongly drawn to the inner esoteric and metaphysical truths expressed in all religious traditions. I had studied Jesus from the perspective of the Edgar Cayce readings, and had been studying the Alice Bailey readings for a number of years. Both of these traditions view the inner Christ as an archetype of wholeness and divinity, and encouraged inner growth and individuation through dreams, meditation and prayers. They dovetailed with my interest in Jungian psychology. Yet, despite these interests, I still got stuck when it came to Christian tradition, and even regarding the early Christian community surrounding Jesus. It is well known in psycho-spiritual circles that misfortune befalls those who resist or try to repress their inner callings. I had already had more than my share of this dynamic in my life, in my misdirected attempts to maintain a semblance of normality in my life. The latest, and most seriously disabling manifestation of this was a very serious bout with Chronic Fatigue Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or CFIDS, which is also known by the misnomer Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a name that completely overlooks the viral and immunological aspects of the disease. I was at this point in my 8th or 9th year of the disease, and was told I would never be well, and would never lead a normal, healthy life. I believe that I understood on an intuitive level that the CFIDS and the John material were related and intertwined. This did not keep me from fighting looking at the John material however. Finally, under strict direction from my inner guidance, I consented to address the dream with my analyst, who helped me to enter the image of John, and to explore his relationship with Jesus. It felt freeing to explore the relationship. When explored more closely on a psychological level, this relationship seemed to correspond to the relationship between my waking ego (symbolized by John) and the essence of wholeness, or Self (symbolized by Jesus). Murray Stein, in his book, Jung on Christianity, says: “In religious matters it is a well-known fact that we cannot understand a thing until we have experienced it inwardly, for it is in the inward experience that the connection between the psyche and the outward image is first revealed as a relationship or correspondence.” (Stein, 1999, p. 190) He adds, “So long as religion is only faith and outward form, and the religious function is not experienced in our own souls, nothing of any importance has happened.” (Jung in Stein, 1999, p. 189). During this time of exploration of the John-Jesus imagery, and while meditating, I heard a clear inner voice. This voice instructed me that I was to take down John’s story. The voice further said that the story would be given to me from start to finish, and that all I would have to do would be to pray and open to the material as I opened each session. I would be told when it was time to begin. I have written in the preface to the book in more detail about this process, and my temerity about it. When, some months later, I was told in a meditation that it was time to begin writing, I approached it with an attitude of trying it out. I gave myself permission to stop the process, if I ever grew uncomfortable with it. I established some boundaries around the process: 1. I did not want it to take away from my already limited life energy, and so I set a schedule where I would write for an hour or a page a day, whichever came first; and I would write 5 days a week. 2. I wanted to be completely conscious throughout the process. The story flowed rapidly from the very beginning. I type about 90 words per minute, and the words came as fast as I could type. Each day’s words picked up where the previous days’ left off. Though I was conscious during the process, the material came too rapidly for me to digest it, and I chose not to read it between sessions. Neither did I do any research, as I wanted the material to come through as untainted as possible by my personal thoughts and ideas. Very early on in the process, I decided that I had to let go of whether or not I believed the material to be true, for there was no way for me to ascertain its validity. The story is now published in book form, titled At the Feet of the Master, a title that was also given to me. It took me many years to get the book out, as I had to come to terms with “going public” with my story. After all, I’m a psychotherapist in private practice, and have worked hard to build a sold clinical reputation. How would it look for me to confess in public to being a “channeler?” Nonetheless, the psychic facts were what they were. It would be hubris for me to say that I wrote the story, for I knew nothing of the subject, and did no research. Besides, I think the material is extremely well written, by someone who writes a whole lot better than I! The main aspects that stand out for me about this story are: 1. The story was a warm, personal account of John’s relationship with Jesus, and of his spiritual awakening and training. 2. Much of John’s attention is spent in trying to understand the inner workings of Jesus’ relationship to the Divine. Through this relationship of ego (John) to the experience of wholeness (Self archetype, or Jesus), we come to understand the fully realized soul (Jesus) in perfected relationship to God. 3. In all things, John learned of Jesus’ ongoing connection with his higher Self, which kept an ongoing balancing dynamic of opening to, and assimilating unconscious material into the ego. 4. As perfectly as Jesus was able to maintain the balancing of conscious and unconscious forces, John struggled with his own human resistances at every step of the way. Sometimes he gets it right, but often he struggled with working through a profound sense of inferiority or its opposite, psychic inflation. 5. Dream material is critical to each stage of the story. John has dreams throughout which announce trends, and help him open to and assimilate what he is learning in waking reality. Dream material is valued equally with waking or other visionary material. There is never a sense that it is even considered as a possibility that dreaming life is inferior in any way, and in many cases, it is a far superior source on information. 6. Jesus’ teachings to the disciples often include dream lessons. Early on, he teaches them: “In dreams, we enter God’s world. Through dreams, he enters ours.” On several occasions, Jesus seems profoundly moved by his dreams, though he does not share the content. John’s dreams are shared often in his journal. Jesus teaches the disciples about dream journeys and dream healing, and they continue their work and learning at night. John’s relationship with Jesus is especially close, and they do a great deal of dreaming journeying together. The ethics of this night journeying is laid out from the beginning. As in daytime healing work, a request must be made for healing. 7. The journal documents a process that is always dynamic and relational in nature. John, through his relationship to Jesus, learns to relate to God, through his Jesus/Self archetype. Jesus as Soul/Higher Self is in a continual dynamic of surrender to God. In this ongoing dynamic of John surrendering to the Self archetype that is surrendered to God, we see a process of personality surrendering to Higher Self that surrenders to God. This process of alignment to God is described repeatedly in the Alice Bailey readings. 8. Jung’s main critique of Christianity as organized religion is that it is light only, and does not hold the tension of the opposites. This is no doubt true. We are painfully aware of the long shadows that have been cast by this religion as institution. At the Feet of the Master, however, gives an intimate look at a process, and a dynamic, through which Jesus achieves and maintains wholeness. This wholeness is NOT a static state, but rather, in an ongoing acknowledgment of, and balancing of the tension of the opposites. The journal’s observations of Jesus’ process, and what he taught privately to his disciples, demonstrate the individuation process as an ongoing assimilation of, and surrendering to, the collective unconscious. There is constant acknowledgment of human frailty, and the need to seek guidance from the higher realms, which voice comes from within, through the collective unconscious. Once more, the dynamic is the surrender of personality (John) to the soul or Self archetype (Jesus), who continually surrenders to God, all the while acknowledging and balancing his personal limitations, and invoking the limitless power of God. 9. Jesus’ healing work is described in detail as an energetic process. Not only is the healing power of God invoked by Jesus in the many healings, but he also teaches his disciples how to read the energy field for the purposes of diagnosing and healing illness. This is gone into in much detail throughout the book, and coincides with the discoveries of modern healers such as Barbara Brennan and Carolyn Myss. In conclusion, the picture that emerges of John and Jesus through the course of this manuscript is of a deepening friendship and love, one that is enriched by many shared healing and dreaming experiences. John’s call to follow Jesus opens him up to the world of possibility that lies beyond the reach of his personal ego, and teaches him about the beauty and wisdom of the unseen worlds. Spiritual and dreaming experiences become a way of life, yet, as ego relating to Self, he battles with himSelf at each stage of growth. (Footnote: Incidentally, and perhaps not coincidentally, it was after I finished taking down this material, that I determined to find a way to heal from my CFIDS. I am happy to report that I have been free of the disease for 5 years now, and am happily enjoying the best health and vitality of my lifetime.) For more information on At the Feet of the Master, go to my web page at www.trafford.com/robots/01-0117.html References Dourly, John P. The Illness That We Are: A Jungian critique of Christianity. Toronto: Inner City Books, 1984. Jung, C.G. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1959. Jung, C.G. The Development of Personality. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1954. Jung, C.G. Two Essays on Analytical Psychology. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1953. Stein, Murray. Jung on Christianity. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1999. Warner, Carol D. At the Feet of the Master. Victoria, Canada: Trafford Publishing, 2000. Carol Warner - author of At the Feet of the Master. |