SOURCES FOR THIS THEORY OF PATTERNED TUMULT

Renewed acknowledgement of the historic body of thought that included emotion and feeling revealed newly available materials.  People like Suzanne Langer were read and respected again.  Legitimizing non-logical thought also offered access to therapy-based psychologies, badly in need of reflection and release from Procrustean cultures.  (Why did Freud never realize he was in a Viennese torture chamber? Maybe he did, but what else did he know?)

Another source was theatre, my original education as an undergrad.  In particular, the acting "Method" provided real experience with using memory to manage one's consciousness and provide an ability to split into a "character" while staying active as an observer of theatre convention and plot.

The most surprising influence became available as the stigma was withdrawn from sexual matters and laboratory research like that of Masters and Johnson was joined by practical strategies from elite sexworkers.  Both fields explore the art of arousal, both negative and positive, using memory and story to reach into the core of people’s drives and assumptions.  Each has a “method” that joins experience with real physiology.

Today comes neuroresearch into the brain, the spine, and the systems of both voluntary and autonomic neurons, which is particularly fruitful with the addition of the polyvalent nerve of the autonomous system, neither sympathetic nor parasympathetic but directly affecting and recording emotion through the “frame of expression,” which is face (especially skin), neck, lungs and heart.  The immediacy and responsiveness of this connection intrigues both those engaged in relationship  and those seeking information or control, like "lie-detecting".  Blood flow and the gut are also demonstratively affected by thought.

All the arts — words, images, movement, music — are ways of reaching into people and arousing or calming them.  Therefore, now that the technology exists, a manuscript may include images, sound and video. It is no longer limited to what can be bound as pages within a cover.

The liturgies of churches -- and the ceremonies that develop according to the seasons to mark time -- both use these arts plus architecture and, in the instance of Solstices or Equinoxes, the planet and solar system itself.  Perhaps some of these reach more deeply into us that anything we could devise, but they are affected by location on the planet.  The alternation of night and day is a more dependable source of structure, though it is arithmetically elusive, always needing a bit of adjustment.

I admit that I took the status of an ordained clergy person to be permission to look into all human activities and, given our realization of the importance of our environment, to also be constantly aware of ecosystems and history.  I brushed aside the idea that there was something forbidden or impossible to understand.  This meant leaving the safety of what is expected and endangering service to congregations, particularly those with identities depending on familiarity.  So I left. 

Something is forming that is not religion as we know it.  This body of thought should not create a new profession nor a new institution, but rather ought to renew existing people in what they are doing.  It is part of the rebuilding of psych fields — even psychiatry since it includes the body — as well as arts and humanities of all kinds.  

An important dimension, something that many people claim is God, is that of “love.”  I find that too cultural, justifying patterns that can be destructive or confining, so I prefer the term “attachment” which is mammalian and physiological.   Developed by sensory experience and expectations based on memory, it is highly emotional and a strong motive to stay in contact.  Sainthood and faithfulness both may be expressions of attachment.  But there are trivial versions as well, like accustomed music or habitual icons or practices.

Our own Procrustean tendency is to conflate attachment with “sex” and luxury, which are ways to convert Holiness or Sacredness into institutional rules.  Fertility also comes into it, as institutions and the whole species are invested in making sure there are people who belong so as to sustain the coalition.  The trouble is that mutation and evolution cause generational drift so even the most devoted will be separated from their attachment as the object changes.  This is painful in a real way.

If a person, in whatever role, authorized or not, wishes to design a deep experience that will use these theories, he or she must realize that the results might not be what is expected and must be careful of the “celebrants” motives, both leader and participant.  It’s only control (and only effective) if based on a fairly deep understanding of the person or persons involved, particularly if trauma or rage or sorrow are involved.

This method can work on nonhuman mammals to some extent, but one must remember that all humans are mammals.  That level we can call epiphany can be reached by designed experiences, on purpose or not, particularly in situations referencing violence, extreme sex, or hidden deprivation.  Too many people are surprised when a provoked domestic animal hits the level of primal motivation and becomes destructive.  Humans can also become self-destructive.

But the same dynamics create joy, fulfillment, and the kind of attachments that create and sustain contentment in a culture.