A Return to Textual Practice: The Soul’s Code
An unanticipated turn of events has me reading James Hillman’s ‘The Soul’s Code’ something that came up through an encounter with ‘imaginal psychotherapy’ and a seminal text in the realm which I happened to find on my shared bookshelf, handed down from a much respected and beloved mentor.
It picks up the thread I dropped off. My soul craves philosophy but upon delving too deep I feel untethered, my only true way to metabolise the theory through material, bringing the textual back through the lens of the tactile.
In Nepal I picked up a book called Caste, I was interested in understanding the theory of being born into social allotments. That one’s destiny is foretold, chosen in some way beyond class structures. The book did not really satisfy this curiosity of mine, but rather outlined the rise and fall of several individuals and movements in the anti caste struggle, one which appears much more related to perpetuating class structures through bloodlines than any esoteric philosophy. In the opening pages of the souls code, Hillman refers to Plato’s Myth of Er, in which the idea that ‘each person enters the world called’ is introduced. This idea posits that ‘the body, the parents, the place, and the circumstances that suited the soul and that, as the myth says, belong to its necessity’ are elected by each individual soul before entering the world.
What feels relevant to me here at this moment, is that I have been reflecting on what the next iteration of my studio becomes. I have space, I want to work in solitude but i also need connection. People have been asking me for workshops for years and that is not something I have been ready for, have wanted. However, I am feeling the craving for gathering now. I am not interested in outcome based gathering, but in creating a space for connection, for creativity, for community, conversation and play. Following this interest I have been thinking about how to incorporate the many limbs of my creative practice, material, mind and movement into an offering. Art therapy is something that has emerged, and now, seemingly entirely unrelated, I am back reading into psychology.
Biography as mythology, the story of self, and the underlying themes of truth that it holds
To read
Albert Rothenberg- study on creativity / motivation
