CG Jung had extraordinary insights while working with schizophrenic patients. My favorite is this:
There is a membrane separating the conscious from the subconscious. The subconscious is the source of our base urges and our greatest light, and in some people it dribbles up like a tired water fountain. Others have a greater flow rate, and they find inspiration in dreams and their interior. There are still others whose membrane is so porous that the waters of the collective subconscious rush in and drown the conscious self. These were the schizophrenics (or, in older cultures, the shamans who could navigate the psychic realms, but that’s another story). Jung had a fascinating realization: the ramblings of some of his patients matched up to his own explorations in consciousness. What he found was that he and the psychotics were encountering the same archetypal beings. They were experiencing the same realm.
The first mind is dominated by the conscious.
the second is one is balanced between the two,
and the third mind is drowning in the subconscious.
This topic comes to mind now that Agnes Martin’s work is being featured at the Tate.
Martin’s psychosis/ schizophrenia was likely caused by childhood abuse by her Mom. Childhood trauma weakens and destroys the boundaries of the self. What she did with those weakened boundaries is incredible! Because she unfettered her self-identity, she apprehended the Sublime, and created from her trans-egoic location. She saturated herself in Being. Here’s to Agnes.
(For those struggling with schizophrenia, please visit RecoveryfromSchizophrenia.org
I look forward to the day when schizophrenia will be discussed as a brain issue not a mental disorder. I can only hope that the future will provide people with these concerns some actual assistance instead of incarceration, street life, or locked wards. Wonderful post!