Green Man/Quaternity pt 2
In Jungian psychology, the quaternity refers to a concept representing totality, wholeness, or the union of opposites. It's a symbolic structure often appearing in dreams or other unconscious expressions, encompassing four elements, such as the four cardinal directions or the four seasons. The quaternity is considered a symbol of psychic wholeness and the integration of different aspects of the psyche.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
· Symbol of Totality:
The quaternity represents the idea of a complete whole, encompassing all aspects of the psyche.
· Union of Opposites:
It signifies the integration of opposing forces, such as the conscious and unconscious, or masculine and feminine.
· Archetype:
Jung viewed the quaternity as an archetype, a universal pattern or image that appears in the collective unconscious.
Examples:
The quaternity can be seen in various symbols, including the four points of a compass, the four elements (earth, air, fire, water), or the four stages of life.
· Individuation:
The concept of the quaternity is closely related to the process of individuation, where an individual strives to achieve a sense of wholeness and self-realization.
__________
Dave Pollard writes in his blog:
In essence, the quaternity in Jungian psychology is a powerful symbol representing the potential for integration and wholeness within the psyche.
"From birth, we are taught to suppress and deny our emotions, and that some emotions are inherently good and others bad. [Karen] McLaren asserts that all emotions serve a vital rebalancing purpose that is unachievable when we don’t allow it to be expressed naturally. So either we repress it, or we let it explode in improper and unhealthy expression."
https://howtosavetheworld.ca/2009/02/06/finding-balance-jungs-quaternity/
Our modern society’s way of coping with this is to live in our minds — to let the air/mind quadrant of our identities dominate. We squelch our emotions (often without much encouragement, if we suffer personal trauma; with encouragement from traumatized children and incompetent adults otherwise). We ignore our senses, replacing perception with conception (reinforced by the school system). We are taught to distrust our instincts (they are “irrational”). So we end up completely out of balance.
Children (and adults) who are traumatized by abuse, deprivation or the horrors of war tend to learn to dissociate, take themselves out of reality. This, McLaren says, is a normal, healthy coping mechanism,but when the trauma is recurrent or chronic it can lead to a chronic unbalanced identity, as emotions are repeatedly either suppressed or expressed in violent and unhealthy ways.
When our emotions are out of balance, we tend to use one or more unhealthy coping mechanisms. One of these is dissociation (common among abused children and women, and PTSD-afflicted war survivors). Others will turn to addictions, distractions, escapes, and numbing techniques
______________
We see through the lens of Jung and Karla McLaren an incomplete unit. Not only is Julie an incomplete individual, as she refuses to acknowledge some of her emotions, leading to coping mechanisms; but she also is refusing to complete the quaternity of her family. She is not balanced in any form of her life. She is constantly on the run.
Something I’ve written about recently is this idea of the absurd, as explained by Albert Camus. A person is faced with a world that is unintentional, chaotic, and unpleasant. The first thing is to realize this, your position in relation to an unfeeling existence. Then, you can deal with this in multiple ways:
1. Refusing to participate in the world through total removal of self (nicest way I can think to phrase it)
2. Turning to substances, food, or other pleasures to distract yourself
3. To live in denial
4. To pretend things are fine
5. Create art
6. Get political
(summary as provided by Philosophy Tube)
Camus suggests that people live a life of revolt. He argues that the only way to live is to acknowledge the unpleasantness of the world, and then to live in it anyway, and to work against it. This is considered brave.
Here, we see Julie not facing it. Whatever her particular issue is, she is masking her voice and her desires in order to live in denial. Maybe she believes if she continues to be joyful, then she is performing her role. Maybe she forces joy in order to fit into a space that she is expected to occupy.
We see a relationship developing between Frank and Eddie, and Julie is facing losing her only real source of comfort. She can’t be with her family for whatever reason. Frank is the only one she is close with. If Frank and Eddie get together, she is alone. From what I’ve read, most people don’t think she is jealous or doesn’t want happiness for them, she just loses whatever place she had.
This is also reflected in her relationship with the flower. The flower is pretty much a personification of the unfeeling chaotic world that she has no control over. She considers her ability to make flowers bloom to be her “one thing.” Like the only thing she has of her own, what makes her special. And she is doing it wrong. We know from her siblings that she is expected to be part of “the band.” She is supposed to be playing the drums in order to complete her part of the quaternity. The text goes out of the way to point out that she “is her own instrument.” This can be taken to mean that she is singing, which she is, but it is also highlighting the fact that she should have an instrument.
You can see why this complicates her interaction with the flower. She has made a stand and is obstinately doing this in a non-traditional way, and if she fails, it will be her fault. In her inbalanced state (not fully actualized in the four quadrants), she acts impulsively and (maybe) violently. She is seen being this way by Frank, which is possibly a worse outcome because now he sees her imperfection and violence.
That was a lot. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I am sure it could have been stated more simply.
