April 1, 2020
April Fool invites us to look at the archetype* of the fool & find new ways to address a new problem*
In Jungian psychology, an archetype is an inherited symbolic image from the past collective experience of humanity, present in the unconscious of the individual. At critical moments in our lives, we can draw upon these living forces within us to create real turning points.*The fool invites us to forsake known ways and beliefs and tread new lands In search of our own development as human beings. In joy and without fear
The world has gone to pieces - the one we knew ! In this time of transition, a major new event is taking place. Whilst some are fear mongering on the media and social media and adopting the old means to attack a new problem, a wide portion of the world population are looking to new means of claiming their health : Our collective wisdom is back onstage.
This is the wisdom that has taken our Human Kind across a few millions of years of threats and dangers, climate changes and natural disasters. This tribute to our elders was even paid by the Spanish President Sanchez in his communication of the state of emergency vowing not to forsake their path. The witch hunt against natural remedies, plants, homeopathy, meditation, breathing and other therapies is sensibly giving way to our natural instinct for survival and a collective effort to boost our immune system and turn to a milder form of medicine, non invasive and preventive. Natural foods and supplements companies as well as homeopathic laboratories have been overwhelmed by backlogs of orders and the social media crumbling under techniques and advice on how to reinforce immunity.
This is not to say that mainstream medicine is wrong. In these 350 years of hardcore science, we have obviously made giant leaps.....
But let us play the KIng’s Fool.
Why is it that of all places it is in a technological hub with more than 350 R&D institutes and 1 656 companies dealing in advanced technology like Wuhan where the coronavirus was being studied that it all spread out ? Leaving out all theories of conspiracy or that it sprang from the market place (since according to the Lancet, 13 of the 41 first cases had no link whatsoever with it), setting aside what is trying to control the world or what got out of control, we can venture a psychological reading.
Psychologists and those who closely study themselves and their fellow human beings observe the natural phenomenon of compensation and balance, a safeguard for our health and sanity The natural organism has its own hidden ways to restore balance. When one has gone too far in a certain direction and the whole organism is threatened, ailments and disorders appear. A workaholic will suffer from burnout. A lack of love in early childhood can lead to overeating. An excess of power can produce nightmares of utter helplessness.
What if this sudden change in our whole global picture : desert highways , closed shops, vacant squares, dramatic drop in pollution - was an attempt at the restoration of the balance of a now global organism grown sick of the cult of immediacy, of overindulgence in non-essentials, of artificial creation of pointless stress, of binges and immediate resort to drugs with their cohort of side effects, of our deaf ear to our environment and Mother Earth ?
Even as our instinct rushes us to parks and natural settings in search of health and exercise, fresh air, sunlight and trees, (didn’t the Boston Health Dept use open air hospitals in 1918 to slow down the spreading of the Spanish Flu ?), we can't but keep within closed doors, tie our kids down, stay away from our elderlies and let them die alone whether from the CV 19 or from isolation.
And whilst not going out is for many the time to go in, to open up to our real needs in silence and quiet, to bond with our close ones, to take up this activity or learning we have been procrastinating for so long now that the internet is flooding with new possibilities, beer consumption has increased by 78% in Spain, our kids already addicted to video games and the like are all day on their computer whether online studying or gaming. Once the coronavirus is subdued, then will come the time to treat depressions and the rise of antidepressants during this period, the effects of increased dosage of medication for hyperactivity, the sequels of lack of exercising on diabetes, the upsurge of gambling, the escalation of obesity and other disorders this confinement measure will likely cause if it settles in for too long ....
The Ultimate Predator of all Creatures tantalised by the weeniest teeniest of them in just three months ? Could 't that be the depiction of a search for balance ?
This is when the archetype of the Fool can lead us to new ways of addressing our existence, with an open mind and an open heart, questioning our beliefs in the light of what has happened and creating new spaces of life with the learnings of the past. Because as Einstein said, ........................