Author Topic: The matricide  (Read 5396 times)

Matswin

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The matricide
« on: August 19, 2012, 05:00:12 AM »
Seth committed patricide. He murdered Osiris and took over his kingdom. This follows the Oedipal mode of procedure. Osiris was dismembered by Seth who scattered the body parts all over Egypt. This is a classical symbol. The dismemberment of the deity means that he dies and enters the conscious realm. It stands for a level of culture where people have integrated the cunning of the agricultural deity, Osiris. They have learnt to till the land, have acquired technological know-how, and dutifully abide by the law. The integration of the fatherly deity, besides denoting a phase of personal development, relates to a legislative society where people dutifully follow the Law (of Maat), reminiscent of the Old Testamental frame of mind. This is the phallocentric, paternalistic society, which is furtively matriarchal, because Isis is still live and well. However, she keeps herself in hiding, together with her child Harpokrates, who is the child Horus. Accordingly, women in phallocentric society generally remain in the background, often hidden under a cloak. Isis had recovered the bodily remains of Osiris, and enlivened him temporarily in order to become impregnated with his seed. This seems to be a typical pattern after the death of a god. It is partially vitalized by another deity, i.e. it lends energy from another archetype in order to resume its existence, although it will now remain in the background. Thus she begot Harpokrates who was a feeble child. He abided for a long time hidden in the thicket of the Nile delta (i.e., the unconscious), before he was ready to make his appearance as a contender for the throne.

Whereas Seth is a patricide, Horus is a matricide. When the Mother goddess is mutilated it implies that the phallocentric deity Seth is dethroned, and the patriarchal era begins. The motherly wisdom is integrated with consciousness. From now on the law abides in the heart, and the guiding rule is to always pave the way for individual consciousness, to allow the feeble child deity to grow to maturity, protecting him from danger. This is a motherly characteristic, to discern the faint voice in the unconscious and allow it to mature. It is characteristic of individuation, which is halted in phallocentric society where people blindly follow rules and refrain from choosing a personal path in life. In keeping with the archetypal revivification procedure, whatever it means, Isis is revived by Thoth and fitted with a cow's head. It means that she will continue to have influence from the unconscious, but won't be a dominant force, anymore. Oedipal patricidal persons are replete in today's society, to the dismay of the many individuated individuals. To a degree, it seems a reversion has occurred in that there are also many people who are under the influence of the matriarchal archetype of Osiris and Isis. But Western culture can only be maintained by the matricidal personality, the man who rejects the goods of life. It is necessary to kill the illusion of society as a good mother. The welfare society, the orderly machinelike state, and the caliphate, etc., have today attained proportions of a Mother goddess. Horus severed the head of the Mother goddess and went into reclusion. The individuant ought to follow the example of Christian recluses in history, in some way or another.

Psychoanalysis centers upon the motif of patricide and the Oedipal complications. It seems the problems associated with the motif of matricide is being overlooked, despite the fact that the heroic motif is ubiquitous in history and in modern myth. The lone cowboy who rides into the desert sunset is essentially an heroic recluse. He sleeps on the ground and eats a can of beans. This kind of hero, who is a rejectee, and who is poor and lonely, and goes through great sufferings, but is victorious in the end, is part and parcel of a Christian consciousness. It is enormously popular, because he is a Christ figure and a matricide. I use the term matricide as a symbol. Jesus is a matricide in the sense that he declares his independence of Mother Earth. He said "In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world" (John, 16). When being tempted by the devil in the desert, he rejected all the riches and the power that would befall him if he accepted a worldly kingship. He also rejected his mother Mary and said "My true brother and sister and mother are those people that do the things God wants." (Mark 3). Jesus renounced the world and saw poverty as ideal. He would not depend on anything worldly and voluntarily confronts torture and death. He has "overcome the world" and no worldly allure can ensnare him. Jesus is very radical. He says that one should have no worldly possessions. "Consider the birds", he says. They do not store food in barns, for the heavenly Father provides for them (Matthew 6).

In psychoanalysis, the term patricide is not interpreted in concrete terms, either. That would imply a regress to the archaic psychology of the "Urhorde". It is not necessary to actually kill your father to overcome the father complex and become a father yourself. The father is a complex, and not the real father. The integration of the fatherly principle (as the the Oedipal blood-sacrifice) means that the individual experiences that he is in control. He will always endeavour to take charge of the situation. He is himself the father who makes the rules. That's why phallic-narcissistic people are "control freaks". They see themselves as "rulers". They are like little kings, if not deities. That's why the phallic notion is so apt. They are akin to little erect phalli that are seated upon a pillar. That's why they are always trying to predict what's going to happen so that they can take relevant measures and remain in control. They are not prepared to meet reality as it presents itself, but want to remain in charge of the situation, because they see themselves as controllers of the universal situation.

In her article, "Towards a structural theory of matricide: psychoanalysis, the Oresteia and the maternal prohibition", Amber Jacobs says that "[m]atricide, unlike patricide, has been untheorized in psychoanalysis. If patricide in the Oedipal myth has been interpreted as the Name-of-the-Father, allowing for filiation, symbolic loss and genealogy, matricide in the Oresteian myth has not been translated into such clear conceptual terms. This means that the mother is not theorized within the terms of the underlying cultural laws that determine our socio-symbolic organization." ('Women: A Cultural Review', Volume 15, Issue 1, 2004).

However, she takes the view that the matricidal symbol allows us to transcend the Western patriarchal paradigm. This cannot be correct, as the archetype is foundational to our culture. Perseus severed the head of Medusa, and Horus did the same with Isis. Dragon killers are ubiquitous in our culture. Nevertheless, Jacobs may be correct when she says that psychoanalysis is insufficient in this respect. It is well designed for the portion of the population that has an Oedipal problem, but it is lacking in the theoretical understanding of the "normal" Western individual who fulfils the heroic ideal of individuation. For this reason, there is a tendency in psychoanalysis to look upon the narcissistic psychic economy as more or less normal. Some even argue, along with Kohut, that the foremost motivational factor is narcissism. Although this is relevant to the average member of phallic-narcissistic culture, it does not suffice as a model for the average Westerner. Psychoanalysis cannot achieve universality because the model is insufficient. Amber Jacobs wrote a book on the subject, "On Matricide: Myth, Psychoanalysis, and the Law of the Mother". She has published an online article, "Why matricide?" (here).

Horus is an archetype. An archetype doesn't have an earthly mother. So what does it mean when an archetype kills another archetype? A typical feature is the severing and the partitioning of the archetype. Osiris was cut into pieces, too. It seems like the archetype who does the killing has reached a level of energetic excitation sufficient to push the older archetype over the edge into the conscious realm. Energy is transferred from one archetype to another, causing the latter to pass the threshold of consciousness, where its inner opposites fly apart. It is immediately appropriated by the ego and undergoes intellectual abstraction. To an archetype, this is experienced as being torn apart. In Scandinavian fairytales, the trolls explode when being exposed to sunlight. They turn to a heap of rocks. Sooner or later it becomes the fate of all trolls. (There is only one troll who can tolerate sunlight to a degree. This is Humpe, because he was born with sunlight in his eyes.)

In Egyptian myth, Seth attempted to rape Horus. The transfer of semen would signify that psychic energy is transferred from one archetype to another, with potentially fateful consequences for the latter. However, the act of killing is usually carried out with less obvious phallic symbols, such as a sword or a spear. In this context, matricide denotes the death of an archetype. It does not mean the killing of a human being. The death of the archetype does not seem to signify repression. Narcissus dies because he becomes conscious. He is frozen by his own mirror-image. This means that he is caught up in the self-reflecting realm of self-consciousness. The seer Tiresias prophesied: "Narcissus will live to a ripe old age, provided that he never knows himself."

Mats Winther

Matswin

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Re: The matricide
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2012, 01:31:25 AM »
Of course, an archetype cannot really die and disappear, which is why it is soon revived in myth. The archetype, as such, is not integrable with consciousness. It will continue its unconscious existence, although in less resplendent form, as Isis with a cow's head (signifying unconsciousness), or as Osiris as regent of the underworld. Nevertheless, the killing of the archetype is an important motif. It is also illustrated with restrainment and continuous torture, which is the fate that befell Prometheus. It signifies his death insofar as his autonomy is eliminated. The sacrifices made by the gods always bring boons to humanity, whose conscious world is enlarged.

The quantitative notion of psychic energy cannot fully account for the archetypal transference process. Narcissus is captured by "beauty". So is Actaeon at beholding the beauty of Diana. This fateful meeting in the forest is what caused Actaeon to be torn to pieces. It seems like the sublime qualitative characteristics of an archetype is capable of generating psychic energy. However, it needn't have this fateful consequence. The alchemical lapis, or the red tincture, is said to have a transformative capability. It probably signifies the self having undergone a process of refinement, denoted 'circular destination'. Everything that is touched by the wonderworking "stone" is enlivened and ennobled.
http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73784/thanatos.htm

Mats Winther

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Re: The matricide
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2012, 11:47:40 PM »
Quote
This means that he is caught up in the self-reflecting realm of self-consciousness.

This is a trait that I seen in myself, more than a bit.  My lifestyle has led me to become that of a hermit, and, unfortunately, I like my own words far too much.  Thanks for the insight.