Monday 7 July 2008

Specjewcles

specjewcles-final

Nadler's Specjewcles are based, I believe, on assertions made by Jung in his 1918 essay "The Role of the Unconscious" in which he states:

"As a rule, the Jew lives in amicable relationship with the earth, but without feeling the power of the chthonic. His receptivity to this seems to have weakened with time. This may explain the specific need of the Jew to reduce everything to its material beginnings; he needs these beginnings in order to counterbalance the dangerous ascendency of his two cultures. A little bit of primitivity does not hurt him; on the contrary, I can understand very well that Freud's and Adler's reduction of everything psychic to primitive sexual wishes and power drives has something about it that is beneficial and satisfying to the Jew, because it is a form of simplification."

I've never really been able to warm to Jung; I wonder why.

What's particularly galling of course is that some of what he says is quite true. I have very little feeling for 'the power of the chthonic'.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG! I totally get what you are saying. "I also find it somewhat ironic that this crypto-fascist Swiss penknife of a human being is pretty much the source of all the so-called humanistic, crystal-stroking, incense-sniffing therapies of the last few decades, therapies that are based on almost wholly banal and puerile existential simplifications.← Now that's funny.

I ordered this book from Amazon about exploring our hidden dark side. I don't remember the title, but it was full of
quotes by Jung, & others like... C.S. Lewis, comes to mind.
Gag me with a spoon!

I took the damn thing down to the local Laundromat & tossed it in among the other rags... old Readers Digest Condensed books, out dated knitting magazines, & dog-eared Zane Grey paper backs. At least THOSE publications have some nostalgic appeal.

Steve said...

"Gag me with a spoon!"

Love it. Going to be using that non-stop from now...

Anonymous said...

i... i... i just need to learn this new word, "chthonic" - it will be my new "gag me with a spoon." possibly.

Anonymous said...

ah! chthonic! ok, i can work that in, np

Steve said...

Very handy word if you want to sound intellectual and/or make sure that no-one knows what the fuck you're talking about.

As in: I love Joni, but I think Laura Nyro has a more chthonic way with melody.

As can be witnessed here. I love this video. Sad that in this post-feminist, Girl Power world, there ain't anyone like Laura Nyro, and probably never will be.

Mim said...

loved loved Laura Nyro, non stop record playing in those days.
I'll have to look up chthonic. Good to learn something new everyday

Steve said...

Am very excited, cos I've finally got to use handmaiden's quirky phrase in a blog-comment:

http://theflowfieldunity.com/2008/07/03/twinkle/#comment-12248

Check me out! Using 'valspeak' with the best of them.

And only 28 years late!

Steve said...

Maybe that's the way to do it. When your yank-slang becomes so 'uncool' that npt even your Silver Surfers are using it anymore, ship it on over to our little island and let us get some usage out of it!