{Secret Griefs [continued]}[3rd March 1988]

[Redbook5:33][19880304:1835]{Secret Griefs [continued]}[3rd March 1988]

19880304.1835

We have been very lucky with the weather this winter: the mildest winter for some time, apparently, enabling us to discover the defects of the house without suffering. Now we have a cold spell, with frost and snow: the best chance, it seems at least possible, of halting the spread of the meningitis.*

*[See last previous entry.]
[Which presumably might not then have spread so far as it did if the winter had not previously been so mild...? <20171013>]

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{Secret Griefs}[3rd March 1988]

[Redbook5:32-33][19880303:2347]{Secret Griefs}[3rd March 1988]

19880303.2347

Last night, at about bed-time, I was disturbed by images of a child of ours, perhaps [d], perhaps [s], perhaps neither – perhaps a little older than either – falling away down a long or deep hole in the ground with pitiful cries: 'Mummy! Mummy!' – while its mother knelt and watched in helpless agony of mind.

In bed, I was further troubled by ideas of [...] being taken from us by the Social Services, through a misunderstanding of signs.

During the night I dreamt that a room in our house was alive with bugs – insects – on walls, floor and ceiling: and on the cot of our child in the corner. We could do nothing about it. The room – a southward wing of our house, in actuality non-existent – was in danger of collapse. I passed a restless night.

This evening on the local news I heard that another small child had died of meningitis – this time in a village only ten or so miles south from here. I had no idea it had come so close.

Francis Bacon* wrote: 'The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears....'**

*[Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, PC KC, 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, and author. He served both as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of England. (– Wikipaedia.) He had no children.]

**[

'THE JOYS of parents are secret; and so are their griefs and fears. They cannot utter the one; nor they will not utter the other. Children sweeten labors; but they make misfortunes more bitter. They increase the cares of life; but they mitigate the remembrance of death. The perpetuity by generation is common to beasts; but memory, merit, and noble works are proper to men. And surely a man shall see the noblest works and foundations have proceeded from childless men; which have sought to express the images of their minds, where those of their bodies have failed. So the care of posterity is most in them that have no posterity....'

(Francis Bacon: Essays, Civil and Moral. VII: Of Parents and Children.)

]

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{Occupational Gender (1)}[3rd March 1988]

[Redbook5:30-31][19880303:1101]{Occupational Gender (1)}[3rd March 1988]

19880303.1101

Why, if creative Artists of various kinds are found on the G~ or 'female' hemisphere*, is there not a vast predominance of female Artists? And why does it appear that the majority of best-known artists are male?

The first question is perhaps partly answered by remembering that physical male and female sex does not necessarily, or altogether,* correspond to location on the male or female hemisphere. Each of us contains male and female aspects in varying degrees.

More immediately, however, we must take into account the nature of our Society. I take it as obvious that many people, perhaps most people, do not end up doing what they would like to do in life, i.e. with their lives. It follows from this, and from the findings of statistical research into occupations, that (at least as an implication) many people do not end up in the occupations for which they are suited by their natures. Given the high emphasis our Society places on material production, and the relatively low interest in genuine (i.e. inner-driven) contemporary creative **Art of any kind (e.g. visual, literary or musical), it seems likely that far more Artistic types will end up in unsuitable occupations than will (say) craftsmen, or logical types.***

In the face of the pressures which bring this about, a degree of determination may be required (in the absence of luck) | in order to pursue an Artistic life to the full. (I guess if you took account of amateur painting and dramatic societies, you might well find a general preponderance of females over males; but I don't know this). That degree of determination and will is more usually associated with the male hemisphere,**** particularly with Ordination (S~) and Action (M~), than with the female hemisphere. Hence, perhaps, the lack of an overwhelming predominance of females in Artistic occupations; and also the predominance of males among Artists of high reputation.#

*[Unclear whether in the context this means “completely” or “at all”; probably the former. <201701013>]

**[{Initial capitalisation inserted later}]

***(It is interesting that the Outer Working Day (see earlier [[Redbook4:263-264][19871227:0040b]{The Daily Grind}[26th December 1987]]) ends with food & drink & entertainment around Outer Circle J~-R~, as entertainment is how many people perceive Art.)

{[–] Particularly right-hemisphere [sic – in Circle, not brain, terms, presumably] types – see [[Redbook5:9-16][19880212:1155]{Multiple Viewpoints and Single Minds}[12^th February 1988],] p10 – who might be expected to succeed most in the Outer Working Day.}

****{Well, we knew that already! – But it fits.}

#[Feminism might have something to say about what is not said here. <20171220>]

[See [Redbook5:33][19880304:1835]{Occupational Gender (2)]}[4th March 1988] p33.]

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{Extraverts and Introverts}[2nd March 1988]

[Redbook5:30][19880302:2357b]{Extraverts and Introverts}[2nd March 1988]

19880302.2357

[continued]

On the much-covered subject of Extraverts (near* S~) and Introverts (near* J~): perhaps the key is to see Introverts as basically loners (in a crowd), therefore near to Separation (A~ and the outer quality of Fragmentation (J~); whereas Extraverts are basically sociable (not the same word as social) types who get on with others, therefore near to Unity and Attraction (+C†I~), and more particularly, at S~, Ordination and (especially) Harmony.

*[statistically by birthdate – see many earlier discussions of the original (independent) research results. <20171218>]

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{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (7)]}[2nd March 1988]

[Redbook5:29-30][19880302:2357]{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (7)]}[2nd March 1988]

19880302.2357

*What about Comedians? – whose occupational birth-date is shown statistically with musicians, near R~. Well, I think that they are not actors,** but are in a category by themselves. Humour is a strange thing, perhaps linked to creativity, perhaps not. It is, or requires, a kind of detachment from the subject-matter, generally the World or the Self, which is characteristic of the R~-+C†I~ arc or area.*** It may be that humour assists the development of the detachment which it requires,**** so as to become a healing power against potential breakdown and schizophrenia. I think I have suggested Love as a possible cure for these ills; whether this is correct or not, the best humour (I suspect) is founded on detachment from, and love of, its subject.

*[See last previous entry.]

**{(pace the Bishop in [2]) [which was and/or will be revised subsequently.]}

***[& of a certain type of religious outlook; cf. Sufi (e.g. Nasruddin) and Jewish humour (see next fn****). <20171006>]

****{cf. “Rabbi [Lionel] Blue”? (spelt right? [Yes]) <891006>}

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{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (6)]}[2nd March 1988]

[Redbook5:28-29][19880302:1842d]{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (6)]}[2nd March 1988]

19880302.1842

[continued]

There are wider* implications. The image in my mind is of the Circles pattern in one particular aspect:

[Text of ms rough diagram, in which straight lines lead from +C†I~ at the top to all of the other 7 cardinal/diagonal points:]

				+C†I~
		R~ Musicians				S~	(Research and Theoretical Scientists)
	(Poets)
G~	(Creative Writers)			☼			(Technicians)	M~
	(Drama)
		J~ (Visual Artists)				U~ (Craftsmen)
				A~

The lines of 'influence' from +C†I~ are emphasised. The relative length of the lines suggests something about the transparency or force of the influence (but bear in mind Tarot XVI, The Tower (struck by lightning), at Inner J~). The same applies in reverse, of course, for the influence of A~ and the Separation on each 'station'.

*[See last previous entry; & [Redbook5:25-30][19880301:2152c]{The Letter and the Spirit}[1st March 1988]ff.]

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{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (5)]}[2nd March 1988]

[Redbook5:28][19880302:1842c]{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (5)]}[2nd March 1988]

19880302.1842

[continued]

All this* speculation has some implications for me. I want to learn Mathematics, Music and Welsh. There simply isn't time** to learn them all. If I am where I think I am, I should concentrate on Music: and indeed I am finding that my intuitive grasp of harmony is increasing dramatically at present, enabling me to consider the possibility of improvising while playing (and also making practice much more enjoyable). Welsh (and other languages) might follow closely at around the G~ area, where creative literature belongs; Mathematics should then be left, I guess, until last, although there may be a chance for a brief study of the subject straight away.***

*[See last previous entry.]

**{at present}

***Currently, hardly any time on Music, but rewarding when I do extemporise; Welsh doing OK; maths abandoned in early 1989 due to lack of uninterrupted time. <891006>

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{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (4)]}[2nd March 1988]

[Redbook5:27-28][19880302:1842b]{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (4)]}[2nd March 1988]

19880302.1842

[continued]

Drama is, I believe, a form of creative Literature, perhaps slightly to the A~ side of G~.

Poetry is the marriage of creative Literature and Music, so I guess on the G~-R~ arc.

Music itself may be at +C†I~ so far as composition is concerned, R~ being for musicians in the sense performers of music: the link of +C and music is emphasised in all the fictions of the [0] series so far written. Music is unique, I think, in that it can be composed on a basis either highly inspirational or highly logical (mathematical) and still remain Music.* It might be possible to describe music as being as near as one may come in this World to Content or Substance without Form: within this World there is obviously some Form to it.

Dance, I speculate, on the basis of [0] (and [1]**?) is at A~, and of course*** is the most corruptible of the Arts (I am not sure that I regard a pornographic film as Drama so much as simply a recording of the sexual act); but there is a link and a consequent ambiguity, manifested in all three books, between R~ (Musicians) and A~ (Dancers). (There is also a link between A~ and S~, where Harmony is found as the Inner Quality; Musical Harmony is of course dependent on mathematical relationships, although (like mathematics?) approachable intuitively.)

I speculate that as the emphasis in a written performance shifts from the written work to the actors themselves, so the location [on the Circles] moves further from G~ (creative literature) through J~ (visual art – stage design etc.) to A~ (dance – there is a tendency for modern productions of, for example, Shakespeare to become part choreographed dance, and for the actors to be gymnasts of an impressive versatility.). (Shakespeare himself, as a poet-dramatist, would tend in the other direction, I suppose.)

*[cf. J.S. Bach]

**[[1] extensively revised and expanded in 2016-2018]

***[Naturally!]

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{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (3)]}[2nd March 1988]

[Redbook5:26-27][19880302:1842]{The Letter and the Spirit [continued (3)]}[2nd March 1988]

19880302.1842

*I think I have commented on **this before: that the other hemisphere, the +M~ hemisphere,*** being of course analytical rather than inspirational, would tend to show a less artistic emphasis (I do not mean by this that those born on that side cannot be involved in the Arts). But I should expect some 'overspill': craftsmen at U~, perhaps, technicians at M~, theoretical and research scientists at S~? I might find mathematics at +C†I~?**** – or, with philosophers, in the +C†I~-S~ arc. I don't know: I am only speculating; but mathematicians at least have some claim to be the secularised 'Holy Fools' of knowledge, drawing their structure from some pure or remote source within the Mind.

*{BUT cf. IV. [[Redbook4:44-45][19870712:1840b]{The Muses (2)}[12^th July 1987],] 44. (Muses)}

**[See last previous entry, final sentence, i.e. 'But where does this leave the other side of the Circle?']

***{& see [[Redbook5:46-47][19880312:1326d]{Art and Game}[12th March 1988],] p46.}

****[cf. Neil M. Gunn, 'The Green Isle of the Great Deep' (1944): the slightly flustered comment of ‘perhaps the Green Isle’s most brilliant mathematician’, after debating mathematics with God. ‘Presently a glimmer came to the face of the Master of the Fifth, a faraway look such as occasionally troubles the face of an ordinary idiot, and he murmured softly: “One thing I will say: He fairly knows His mathematics.”’ <20171006; 20171213>]

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{The Letter and the Spirit [continued]}[1st March 1988]

[Redbook5:26][19880301:2152d]{The Letter and the Spirit [continued]}[1st March 1988]

19880301.2152

[continued]

Certainly, and sadly, you are least likely to find religious subjects in the visual arts today, unless commissioned; perhaps slightly less [un]likely in creative literature,* at least by implication; and more likely (I have the impression) in musical compositions, even now. Religious themes explode the notion that form and content (or at least substance) are indistinguishable. The belief that (to adapt a famous legal dictum of the 19^th century about the legal status of husband and wife)** in Art, form and content are one,*** and that one is form**** – is characteristic of Separation.

- - - -

But where does this leave the other side of the Circle?

- - - -

*[See last previous entry, 2^nd para.; & cf. [Redbook5:11-12][19880212:1155c]{Multiple Viewpoints and Single Minds [continued (3)]}[12^th February 1988], 12.]

**[It seems possible that this is a more recent academic description of the legal situation, rather than a judicial or other pronouncement in court. <20171006>]

***The first bit is OK (as paradox);

****the second is the error. <891006>

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{The Letter and the Spirit}[1st March 1988]

[Redbook5:25-30][19880301:2152c]{The Letter and the Spirit}[1st March 1988]

19880301.2152

[continued]

It appears to be commonly believed that there is no distinction between form* and content. I cannot hold to this, for the simple reason that I am aware of a perfection of content which I can only express through an imperfection of form. The perfection, of course, is beyond me:** and in this sense, the common belief has a point. But in my case, the difficulty is curiously emphasised by the fact that, so far as I can tell, I write better when the more fully realised of my fictional characters*** are expressing themselves, worse when I am trying to express myself – as in the link-passages between Archetypal manifestations.

****

In its extreme contemporary form, the common belief is that there is no content, only form.# I suspect that this tendency towards superficiality is characteristic of cultural decadence, parallel to sensationalism and the cult of gratification. Interestingly, it seems most pronounced in the visual arts; moderately so in creative literature; #* and least in music.#** In terms of occupational birth[-]date statistics, (visual) artists are associated with J~, and Musicians with R~; ever since I began creative writing on Archetypes, I have associated my own,#*** and the creative writer's, position with +K, or G~#****. The J~ of this arc could of course be more expected to be concerned with form, being nearer to A~; the R~ end with content, or spirit, being nearer to +C†I~.

*I mean 'form' in the current idiomatic sense of 'shape' or 'appearance'. <891006>

**(In both senses)

***(A happy ambiguity) [This marginal note is at the ms. line which starts with 'realised' and finishes with ‘characters’.]

****{This piece I think arose out of awareness of my failure to reach a high standard of craftsmanship in my fiction writing. 'The Letter killeth, the Spirit giveth Life.'}##

#[There is, perhaps, an interesting analogy or parallel with the view at the time that there is no such thing as mind, only the brain which itself can only be considered as part of the body. <20171006>]

#*cf. [[Redbook5:11-12][19880212:1155c]{Multiple Viewpoints and Single Minds [continued (3)]}[12^th February 1988],] 12.

#**Really?

#***occupationally – not, in my case, by birth. (My imagination is strongly visual.)
[At some stage, probably with the development of the diagonals, this writer’s view of his own station, degree or location in at least some aspects moved towards J~, probably as a sub-ordinal of G~. <20171214>]

#****[+K and G~ identify two different aspects or manifestations of the same horizontal cardinal station or degree. <20171214>]

##[

And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

2 [St. Paul's Letter to the] Corinthians 3:5-6 Authorised/King James Version.

]

Some of this may have been covered earlier.

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{Creation, Depression and Sleep}[1st March 1988]

[Redbook5:23-24][19880301:2152b]{Creation, Depression and Sleep}[1st March 1988]

19880301.2152

[continued]

Finishing the job* has allowed immense fatigue to appear. Slight depression occurred, fastening upon a minor incident (or nothing), but actually resolved by sleep. Almost invariably now I can attribute my few depressions to lack of sleep or lack of creative work. I guess that in earlier phases of my life, when I was more frequently and far more intensely depressed, I must have been shorter of sleep and of creative outlet. This does provide some support for the possibility that sleep and creative mental activity are linked, or are similar processes. The nature of my writing, and of previous types of my dreams and other sleeping experiences, suggest this. Both are, I suppose, re-creative activities.

When I have a complicated job to do, like building a series of partitions or writing a novel, I do not like to start another type of job – i.e. one requiring a different frame of mind – until I have finished the current one. This may be compartmentalisation* in action: making use of Time which, as I once wrote, enables us to be now one thing, now another:** and Gemini and Time are around A~. Anyway, as a result of this I put off recording thoughts about the Arts, Form v. Content, [sic] for several days.***

*[See last previous entry.]

**(approx.)

[ref [Redbook2:105][19780228:1310a]{Time and Diversity}[28^th February1978]]

***[See next entry.]

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{Openness and Compartmentalisation}[1st March 1988]

[Redbook5:22-23][19880301:2152]{Openness and Compartmentalisation}[1st March 1988]

19880301.2152

I have finally built the partitions which I wrote* about building on or after 1^st January [1988]. The actual building took eleven days:** the delay in starting was almost entirely due to my previous suppliers. We now have four rooms on the ground floor – study (or 'stuffy'), office, living room and dining room – plus a hall and kitchen; where previously we had one L-shaped room, and the kitchen. The extra warmth and lack of draughts is noticeable, even though I have one doorway (hall to office) left to build, and three other doors still to hang.

I remarked earlier*** that the previous tenants are apparently both Capricorns. Their intention, if they had bought the house,**** was to demolish the one original internal wall, separating what is now the Stuffy from the kitchen, which would have left the ground floor completely open-plan with the stairs rising near the centre. [W] and I of course are both Geminis, and couldn't wait to rebuild the walls. I speculate that a structured compartmentalisation is characteristic of the A~-J~ arc.#***

Capricorn, next to +C†I~ on the R~ side, has always been enigmatic (to me, at least). Years ago I suggested to a philosophy lecturer, a distant cousin,# that Unity, if fragmented to its limits, would eventually become Unity again:#* after more than one attempt to get this across, I was silenced by his remark that he did actually lecture in the subject. But this point perhaps throws light on the curious nature of Capricorn, in whom the process of Complication, Distraction and Fragmentation has caused such a complete breakdown that it has returned to Unity again, similar in some respects (I suspect) to the state in the C†I~-S~ arc. Thus we should not be surprised to see two Capricorns demolishing internal partitions, and two Geminis rebuilding them.#*** Each is a perfectly valid approach to reality, and to handling reality, if you can handle the approach.

*ref IV. [[Redbook4:275][19880101:2330]{Compartments}[1st January 1988],] 275

**I am not sure whether I recorded how an inner focus on God made the work go more smoothly; I think it was that way round. <880307>

***IV. [[Redbook4:298][19880109:0947j]{Birth dates [continued (10)] – Two Capricorns}[9th January 1988],] 298

****[When we first visited the house [CH] I told them that if they were being forced to leave because the house was being sold we would not proceed. They said that they were happy to leave as the seller was helping them financially to acquire their own house. <20170929>]

#[NN]

#*(Already referred to, I think.)

{(In the context of multiplication of rules, I think.)}

[ref. [Redbook2:355][19841208:2300b]{The Centre Point: Here, and There}[8^th December 1984];

& e.g. [Redbook2:268-270][19830510:2030d]{Malvinas [continued]}[10^th May 1983] (final sentence);

but this is one of the fundamental ideas of this series of volumes.]

#**{cf. [[Redbook5:12-13][19880212:1155d]{Multiple Viewpoints and Single Minds [continued (4)]}[12^th February 1988],] 12}

#***I speculate that organised compartmentalisation may be characteristic from S~-M~ to/through A~-J~. <880611>

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[Extract from Letter to [XQ] (2)][1st March 1988]

[Redbook5:23A][19880301:0000][Extract from Letter to [XQ] (2)][1st March 1988]

1^st March 1988

*'It is immensely encouraging to have someone immediately respond – as you did – “archetypes”, “wisdom literature” etc,. (Although I am not usually able to recall which are the Wisdom Books, I had noticed a similarity between [xS] and σοφια,** Sophia, personification of wisdom, a concept of apparently unique status as a – ?Being somewhere between Angel and Divinity, and of uncertain origin? – but I am getting out of my depth!).

'I write, specifically and deliberately[,] to explore a pattern of Archetypes (– a conscious intention to guide and to make use of a mostly “unconscious” process –) of which the Christ archetype is, without doubt, paramount. I hope it does not offend you to hear Christ described in such terms: many people assume that by describing something in non-material or “inner” terms one is invalidating its reality; but that is, of course, the reverse of the truth. If I have to discover Christ partly through the art of fiction (however poorly expressed), that may well be because my natural station is very far from Christ: so that I have to explore the darkness in order to discover the Light. Fiction seems to be a way of doing this. Such fiction is of small interest to anyone who does not share (or at least understand) its priorities: it must seem at best childish (perhaps in mistake for qualities aspiring to the Child-like).'***

*[See [Redbook5:5A][19880126:0000][Extract from Letter to [XQ] (1)][26^th January 1988].]

**[Correctly, presumably: σοφία]

***[A photocopy of a letter inserted here in the ms to Canon [XQ], the recipient of the letter of which an extract is included at [Redbook5:5A][19880126:0000]{[Extract from Letter to [XQ] (1)]}[26^th January 1988], includes the words above.]

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