The soul’s first need is poetic madness

A chapter from one of my favourite books that helps in times of turmoil. (“Original Self. Living with Paradox and Authenticity” – Thomas Moore.)

The soul is not nearly as rational as the ego

The soul is filled throughout with discord and dissonance,
and so its first need is poetic madness. That way through
musical sounds we can waken what is dormant, through
harmonies calm what is turbulent, and through the blending
of various elements quell the discord and temper the different
parts of the soul.
– Marsilio Ficino

“It is essential in modern life to adore the ego, to think that our social problems and our personal struggles will be resolved once we understand the situation and gain control of it. The current idea of a well-adjusted person is one who is unusually conscious and in charge. It is assumed that the purpose of life is to be more of an ego, successful in the eyes of the world and sanctioned by a swelling egotistic bank account.

The self-reliance characteristic of those who live by the philosophy of modernism betrays its secular core. Other communities of the past and present who live by traditional values acknowledge the mystery of human existence and the immensity of nature. Faced with obstacles, they pray, sacrifice, praise, and petition the source of life beyond themselves. Their religion is not just belief, but a way of being in the world and a profound conception of the self. One way tends toward hubris and self-interest, while the other is rooted in humility.

When we live from a deeper place, we become palpably aware that life is fundamentally mysterious and is ultimately incomprehensible to our rational ways of thinking. We realise that we need other kinds of intelligence and skills. Traditional societies could instruct us in these areas. They worship their ancestors, while we blame our insecurities on our parents and grandparents. They instruct their children in the myths and rites that hold both society and the self together, while we teach our children how to count and use a computer. They heal body, soul, and spirit in one, while we break ourselves into compartments and rely on experts trained in isolated specialties.

As we move closer to soulful life, we learn to live with unruly passions and unpredictable fantasies. We live with our madness and move with it gracefully. Psychosis is not real madness, but is an excess of ego that fractures the envelope in which soul and self lie encircled in each other. Neurosis is the failure to weave autonomous fantasy and stirring emotion into life and is the visible sign of a divided self. The ideal is not to become sane and hygienic, but to live creatively by responding positively to the powerful moods, feelings and ideas that captivate us. If we don’t meet these life-shaping expressions of the soul creatively, they will quickly become adversaries, and we will develop the split of psyche so characteristic of our times, in which our sane lives are flat and aimless while our passions seem incomprehensible and out of control.

To deal with the powerful urges of the deep soul, a poetic attitude rather than a rational one is more effective. Wisdom rather than information guides us, providing the patience to become acquainted with the soul rather than the impatience that leads us into quick cures and explanations. The point is not to flee our depths but to reconnect with them.

The arts could serve us well in this process if we made connections between our experiences of drama, literature, painting, and music and our most personal conflicts and challenges. The arts meet us at the point of imagination, which is a blending of reason and mystery in images. In the arts we contemplate our world and have the chance no longer to be strangers to the deep self that is as opaque to reason as it is transparent to the imagination. An art image is psychosis contained, undivided, and constructive.

In a time of emotional struggle, it might be better to listen to a special piece of music than to consult an expert, and better to draw a picture of the situation than to try to figure it out. Reason is distant and has its own limited requirements for an ordered life, while the arts are intimate and can hold almost any conceivable human predicament.”

And so it comes back to this. As it always does. The need for the soul for expression in the arts for healthy soulful living. Simple coincidence or divine intervention that I flicked the book open to this page today? I prefer the second choice. Because boy is it relevant to me right now. Reading this, I feel like I have been sitting atop my grassy knoll at my beach, and have swallowed great lungfuls of cold, salty, revitalising Pacific Ocean air. Better maybe … that I have gone in for a quick dip and come out cool, alive and refreshed.

The ideas expressed in this chapter (specifically the words “poetic madness”)  remind me a little of Nietzche’s The Birth of Tragedy and the Dionysian artistic impulses. The passion and the tragedy. Living with unruly passions and unpredictable fantasties. Sane and hygienic is incredibly boring–as it says here reason is limited and cold as Siberia in winter. I’m all for the passion of delving into the magic and mysteries of life.

The arts as therapy. Could anything float my boat more? There was a time when I was in the final year of high school that I was considering becoming a music therapist. Not your average music therapist but a spiritual/wholistically based music therapist, from an Anthroposophical base.

This past week (meaning seven days) has been a rather disquieting one. An extended family member diagnosed with cancer. Another one dying suddenly and unexpectedly last night. And other more personal bullshit than I care to give a shit about anymore. I’ve done angsting. Anger and detachment feels so bloody good right now.

But only a temporary solution. A much more positive one is suggested above. So now, I am going to plug in the headphones, listen to all 6 of my Debussy and Ravel cd’s, and perhaps light all of my candles (and that’s a lot of candles). Lie back and just let the music do it’s therapy in an attempt to “deal with the powerful urges of the deep soul”.