“POEISIS” (7/14/2014) - It’s Greek: from the verb poiew (to make, to fabricate). It is the root of our word “poetry” which for us is a noun but in its Greek root it is a verb. It is a conjunction point: work & thought; matter & time; begetting & bringing forth; it is a sense of movement. In the twentieth century in both philosophy and literature the sense of “Poeisis” defines a movement “from” something “to” something: examples ...
“CLINAMEN” (7/14/2014) - Latin this time not Greek; from the ancient writer Lucretius (“De Rerum Natura”; “On the Nature of Things) His book was lost to us for a thousand years and then suddenly rediscovered by Poggio Bracciolini in 1417 in the library of a dusty German Monastery. Lucretius used the word “climanem” to describe a “swerve” an inclination, a bias, a movement that originates at the atomic level (Lucretius translating and expanding the thought of Epicurus) but impacts all areas ...
“HAUNTINGS” (6/19/2014) - Just completed the new book by James Hollis (“Hauntings”) a Jungian therapist, professor, author and extremely helpful to all of us in the consulting/counseling professions. He speaks of “hauntings.” For example: “The greatest haunting we all suffer is the lost relationship to the soul” (140) “Becoming a person is actually a very difficult project” (140) There is within us a “vox” (an inner call to vocation) and also “vocatus” (that which the outer world is ...
“SARISSA” (6/10/2014) - Philip of Macedon introduced it and his son, Alexander the Great used it most effectively; a very long spear or pike (typically 8-16 feet) which provided the phalanx with the opportunity to strike at some distance prior to being “hands on.” With the arrow it became short range strategic artillery and always in tight formation, the “cluster” effect. Between the “onrush” of cavalry (Alexander rode Bucephalus) and the “clustering” of compact strategic groups, it became ...
“Coniunctae Feminae” (5/19/2014) - Yes, it is Latin: “Coniunctae Feminae” (Women United). It was the title selected for a women’s retreat in recent days; there being some woman who wanted “more” than the typical business seminar. We divided the themes into four parts. Thus: An examination of Temperament (MBTI) and how we function with it A series of stories told by participants which we described as “numinous narratives” (stories of impact and intervention into our lives: a person, an ...
“Quaestio” (5/5/2014) - “Quaestio mihi factus sum” Yup, it’s Latin. . .from Augustine some 1600 years ago. Typically translated as follows: “I have made a question of myself” or “I have become a question to myself” Or let’s be more colloquial in translating: “I have become a puzzlement to myself” or “I puzzle me” How interesting that a statement so ancient sounds so modern and psychologically contemporary. It’s the statement one hears very often in coaching others; be ...
Positive Disintegration (3/27/2014) - Doing a fair amount of reading recently and came across this: A fundamental truth in professional therapies is “positive disintegration” stated by Polish psychologist Casmir Dobrowski. He posits that: “Most people grow as a result of falling apart.” In the Dialogue with another therapist it was suggested to Dobrowski that surely a person can grow through success. Dobrowski responded: “Theoretically, yes, we can grow through our successes, just as easily as we can through our ...
“STOCHASTIC” (3/24/2014) - Currently reading David Bohm: “Wholeness and Implicate Order” which is, perhaps, one of the more important books since World War II. He is exploring ways of making consciousness, rational thought, and physical reality (especially as defined by twentieth century physicists) weave together in a cohesive and sensible and understandable way. A lot of life is “stochastic” (from the Greek “stochos” which means “target” and thus “to aim”). In physics, in neuroscience, in biology, in higher math, ...
“Chindi” (11/22/2013) - A Navaho word which could be translated as the “hungry ghost” the “empty ghost.” This is a characteristic of the “empty self” as stated by J. P. Moreland (Love Your God With All Your Mind). The “empty self” is a cultural phenomenon in our society: Extreme individualism Narcissism (exclusive self-absorption) Lack of empathy for others Infantile personality (“puer aeternus”- – -the eternal child) Passivity thru consumption of entertainment and living vicariously Excessive materiality A multitude ...
Aquinas and “Vision” (11/22/2013) - Today’s business environment is loaded with “vision” talk (big picture) which often translates down to the individual worker (or job seeker in this economy); and everyone wants to know “what is the vision?” be it corporate or personal. Aquinas had a differing approach and thought: He called it “Visio” Visio is not “out there” It is not a starting point at all It is a “culmination” or a “completion” Visio is a “taproot” from which ...
