Yearning for Mother
Photo by Jomarc Nicolai Cala on Unsplash
Minecraft proves that abolishing child labour was a mistake. The children yearn for the mines.— Froggenþuſiaſt (@Froggenthusias1)
In 2022, a tweet by @Froggenthusias1 went viral and it became a meme. And it reminded me of Farmville a few years back, when it was the in thing and people would get so addicted to planting and stealing their neighbours' crops. My brother once said that it was an instinctual desire to farm like our forefathers did. It's strange. It has also made me wonder how we've replaced certain key things that used to be essential back then.
Therapy Replacing Confession
The phrase ‘mental health’ assumes human flourishing is ‘mental’ rather than spiritual, and that just like techniques of diet and exercise can restore health to the body, so some other technique can bring health to the mind.
We lost our way when we stopped talking about the soul.
— Dean Abbott (@DeanAbbott)
I'm sure many people would agree that there are many things that have replaced religion. When I look at my own life, I have almost certainly allowed other things to take precedence over my faith for many reasons, but that's not for today's discussion. What I've noticed in recent years is the kind of emphasis on therapy that has not been seen in the years when I was growing up. Suddenly, everyone online and even the older grown-ups are talking about how mental health is oh-so-important. The term mental hygiene was first coined by William Sweetzer which then gradually shifted to the term we all know today as mental health. Mental health almost usually doesn't just involve the mental faculty of a person. In fact, I think the term mental health is rather limiting and doesn't encapsulate what people really mean to say.
The Greek word for ‘psyche’ refers to the mind, spirit, and soul which makes me wonder if the problem with modern psychology is its obsessive focus on the mind at the expense of soul and spirit.— David Perell (@david_perell)
The overemphasis on the mental aspect has led many individuals to seek therapy instead of the divine as their first solution. Many people have also been saying how therapy has replaced religion, something that Jung noticed pretty early on.
It also wouldn't be too far-off to say that therapy has replaced confession, the practice of seeking penance from a priest. Many Protestants scoff at the idea, with some saying "Why confess to a priest when you can confess to God?" Maybe the reason why there is such a demand for therapy has to do with how confession has been delegated to something of less importance.
Of course, I'm not saying that therapy has no place in society and that both therapy and confession are one and the same. But maybe, the act of confession itself removes half the need for therapy - when you can plainly name your wrongdoings and ask for forgiveness, there's less of a need to dwell and ruminate on them.
Idols Replacing Icons
Lately, I've noticed that when fans call celebrities "Motherrrr" or "Queeen", it's like a hidden primitive yearning for Mother Mary. Catholics refer to her as Holy Queen, Mother of God, and I couldn't help but realise that for all the years that I grew up as a Protestant, I always wondered where was Mother, as I was told that God the Father played both roles of Father and Mother. It is rather interesting that while you can take a person out of church, you can't take the primal urge to devote to something or someone out of a person.
We no longer revere icons and statues, now we place posters of our favourite artists on the walls to showcase our undying devotion.
Alcohol Replacing the Spirit
There are many ways in which people try to fill the gaping hole in their psyche. Much like how a heavy smoker struggles to quit cigarettes, many individuals will attempt to fill their God-shaped hole with something bigger than themselves.
You see, 'alcohol' in Latin is 'spiritus' and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison.The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum.
— Carl Jung, Letters Vol. II, p. 623-624
Alcoholics Anonymous was very much influenced by Jung. In the early days, Jung worked with a patient named Roland. Roland's letter to Jung after his relapse led to Jung writing back to him, asking him to seek out a spiritual or religious experience. That advice had a huge influence on Roland, which led to his association with the Christian evangelical movement, Oxford Group, which then branched off into what we now know as Alcoholics Anonymous. The concept is simple, addicts need something divine to replace their addiction, as the void will soon yearn to be filled with something.
In Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood, the main character, Motes, is haunted by the religiosity of his own anti-religion, much to the landlady's perplexity.
"what do you walk on rocks for?"
"To pay," he said in a harsh voice.
"Pay for what?"
"It don't make any difference for what," he said. "I'm paying."
"But what have you got to show that you're paying for?" she persisted.
"Mind your business," he said rudely. "You can't see."
The landlady continued to chew very slowly. "Do you think, Mr. Motes," she said hoarsely, "that when you're dead, you're blind?"
"I hope so," he said after a minute.
"Why?" she asked, staring at him.
After a while he said, "If there's no bottom in your eyes, they hold more."