Every alchemical phenomenon is both material and psychological at the same time...James Hillman
Alchemy was the precursor to Scientific Chemistry. The alchemist unlike the scientist allowed there imagination freeplay as they worked with chemicals. They imagined that what was occuring in the vessel that they cooked various combinations of chemicals in was also occuring metaphorically inside them, there bodies, minds and souls were being transformed alongside the chemicals. It was Carl Jung who stumbled upon this and recognised that Alchemy offers a metaphorical treasure trove of images and a complex understanding of mysterious psychological and cultural processes. Alchemy like Astrology and Christianity is part of our cultural heritage that every educated person should have rudimentary knowledge of.
This is the more philosophical task of Serio Ludere to open channels of conversation around the relevance of these ancient systems of thought.
Heres the late James Hillman, renegade Jungian Psychologist on the relevance of the alchemical metaphor.
How does the alchemical paradigm enliven a practice, an art, so that the practice, the art serves nature? Quite simply: by recognising the stuffs and tools, the places and constructions having each their enlivening spirits; by recognising the anima mundi- that all things are ensouled, with their own intentions, their own habits and pleasures. Treating things with regard for their properties. Alchemy is animism. Materials entrust themselves to us for their improvement. Nothing may be used without their willing cooperation.
There so much more to be said and for us to discover as we apply this understanding to our work of reneergising, inspiring and healing public spaces. I hope others will join the conversation of a complex topic.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
A Revolution is a Full Circle
Worldviews create worlds: Richard Tarnas
On December 21 2012 Serio Ludere will lead a procession beggining at Memorial Park Southbank going across the Goodwill bridge along the bike track and back across the river via Kurilpa bridge. Then we will complete the circle, the loop, the revolution by walking along the river past GOMA to Southbank finishing were we begun.
Our theme is : Its the end of the world as we know it and the beginning of the world as we want it to be. We envisage the procession will begin in the morning and travel leisurely over the entire day, led by the Creation Station with stops for food, drink, entertainment, open discussion, dance and general merriment and mischief.
Everyone, all ages is invited to join us for the whole day or any part of it. We are sending a special invite to all performing artists and musicians to come and do your thing.
Now a procession in and of itself is a great thing and is part of our goal to re-energise , inspire and heal public spaces. Processions are few and far between in Brisbane. And there is more to it for us. December 21 2012 and its significance to the ancient Mayans has become a symbolic moment, a line in the sand, a potential tipping point in the quest for a different and more life sustaining world and world view. Millions of people around the world will be celebrating, praying, meditating, performing every manner of ritual and ceremony to mark this momentous occasion. We will be joining with them in spirit and offering our take on how we can go forward together.
The performing, the actual walking of a complete circle, a revolution, a big loop is a act, a ritual designed to make concrete an idea that we are wanting to convey. We are in revolutionary times where the world is changing very quickly in all sorts of ways from the destructive to the deeply creative. Most people associate revolution with aggressive, destructive actions on the streets. The rising up of a oppressed group of people revolting at how they have been treated. The French Revolution being the paradigmatic example. In the 1960s we saw the uprising of many minorities that continue to change the nature of our world. Perhaps most importantly was the beginnings of green environmental groups revolting against the widespread destruction of our Mother Earth.
A revolution begins with a revolt. A re-volt. A re-energising. When we get sick and tired of the way things are, the way we are being treated, the way we see other people treated or the way we see our living planet being treated. I've been seeing graffiti that says "fuck the system". I love the energy behind that phrase its a expression, no matter how unformed of something we are all feeling. There is something deeply wrong, deeply sick with our culture when we will happily destroy the planet to live a certain lifestyle. For us the anger must be channeled into a new ways of thinking and looking at the world.
Just as often occurs in psychotherapy where individuals hit a dead end and have to circle back to earlier parts of there life in order to move forward. Its time for us, Australia to circle back to our beginnings in order to move forward. White Australia as we now know it was "discovered" in a time of revolution. Captain Cooks arrival in Botany Bay is nestled in between the French and American revolutions happening on other sides of the world. The Scientific revolution was just in itself coming into full swing amidst what we now call the Enlightenment era.
The scientific revolution was a revolt against the traditions of old. Christianity and its underground cousins Alchemy and Astrology. Science grew out of this matrix, the strange synthesis of all three and yet rejected them all as out of date, mostly useless, to be distanced from and largely forgotten. Alchemy and Astrology already being underground for all intents and purposes effectively died around the time of Australia's discovery whilst Christianity limped on, wounded to the present day.
In the course of the 20th century spurred on by the catastrophe of two wars on European soil the Psychiatrist Carl Jung more then anyone else initiated a revolution, a return to these lost parts of our cultural psyche, our collective soul afresh. He has opened doors back into Christianity, Alchemy and Astrology in a way that the post modern individual can feel there relevance and healing potential for the one-sidedness of pure scientific materialism. In recent years with the publication of Cosmos and Psyche, the cultural historian, Richard Tarnas has opened the doors wide open to a return to Astrology that is truly revolutionary. Astrology has long been the gold standard of superstition for the educated individual. Proof of the advance of science over the ancient worldviews. And yet Astrology has returned and offers an enormous challenge to the scientific worldview. It has the potential to transform our relationship with the world. Astrology is built upon the notion of circles and cycles, loops and revolutions.
So for us to walk in procession that goes in a full circle over a day is a symbolic act that resonates much more widely and deeper than first meets the eye. Scientific materialism married to capitalism has been a blessing of sorts and a profound curse. This way of thinking has kept us in a box, confined unable to reach our potential as individual, nations and as a global culture. It has effectively led us down a path where the future of the planet is in threat. Its fostered a form of cultural craziness. As Richard Tarnas has said, Worldviews create worlds. To create a new world, the world as we long and hope and desire it to be. A more humane, just, caring, creative and life sustaining world we need a new world view. A marrying of science, religion(in its broadest sense ) and the arts. This is the revolution that Serio Ludere are committed too. A revolution in perception. A revolution in how we look at and relate to everything in our world.
We are convinced that Australia perhaps more then any other nation on the planet is ripe for this sort of perceptual, spiritual revolution. That if as a nation we took upon ourselves the task to deeply engage with the images, stories and metaphors embedded in Alchemy, Astrology and Christianity that we would have a platform, our own dreaming, to truly meet with our indigenous brothers and sisters afresh. That as a nation we could transform to a degree that is currently unimaginable and doing so we could step into the role of moral and spiritual leadership for the world. Australia could become the Awakener, the catalyst for a newly emerging Global culture. Come and join us on December 21 and let the conversation begin.
On December 21 2012 Serio Ludere will lead a procession beggining at Memorial Park Southbank going across the Goodwill bridge along the bike track and back across the river via Kurilpa bridge. Then we will complete the circle, the loop, the revolution by walking along the river past GOMA to Southbank finishing were we begun.
Our theme is : Its the end of the world as we know it and the beginning of the world as we want it to be. We envisage the procession will begin in the morning and travel leisurely over the entire day, led by the Creation Station with stops for food, drink, entertainment, open discussion, dance and general merriment and mischief.
Everyone, all ages is invited to join us for the whole day or any part of it. We are sending a special invite to all performing artists and musicians to come and do your thing.
Now a procession in and of itself is a great thing and is part of our goal to re-energise , inspire and heal public spaces. Processions are few and far between in Brisbane. And there is more to it for us. December 21 2012 and its significance to the ancient Mayans has become a symbolic moment, a line in the sand, a potential tipping point in the quest for a different and more life sustaining world and world view. Millions of people around the world will be celebrating, praying, meditating, performing every manner of ritual and ceremony to mark this momentous occasion. We will be joining with them in spirit and offering our take on how we can go forward together.
The performing, the actual walking of a complete circle, a revolution, a big loop is a act, a ritual designed to make concrete an idea that we are wanting to convey. We are in revolutionary times where the world is changing very quickly in all sorts of ways from the destructive to the deeply creative. Most people associate revolution with aggressive, destructive actions on the streets. The rising up of a oppressed group of people revolting at how they have been treated. The French Revolution being the paradigmatic example. In the 1960s we saw the uprising of many minorities that continue to change the nature of our world. Perhaps most importantly was the beginnings of green environmental groups revolting against the widespread destruction of our Mother Earth.
A revolution begins with a revolt. A re-volt. A re-energising. When we get sick and tired of the way things are, the way we are being treated, the way we see other people treated or the way we see our living planet being treated. I've been seeing graffiti that says "fuck the system". I love the energy behind that phrase its a expression, no matter how unformed of something we are all feeling. There is something deeply wrong, deeply sick with our culture when we will happily destroy the planet to live a certain lifestyle. For us the anger must be channeled into a new ways of thinking and looking at the world.
Just as often occurs in psychotherapy where individuals hit a dead end and have to circle back to earlier parts of there life in order to move forward. Its time for us, Australia to circle back to our beginnings in order to move forward. White Australia as we now know it was "discovered" in a time of revolution. Captain Cooks arrival in Botany Bay is nestled in between the French and American revolutions happening on other sides of the world. The Scientific revolution was just in itself coming into full swing amidst what we now call the Enlightenment era.
The scientific revolution was a revolt against the traditions of old. Christianity and its underground cousins Alchemy and Astrology. Science grew out of this matrix, the strange synthesis of all three and yet rejected them all as out of date, mostly useless, to be distanced from and largely forgotten. Alchemy and Astrology already being underground for all intents and purposes effectively died around the time of Australia's discovery whilst Christianity limped on, wounded to the present day.
In the course of the 20th century spurred on by the catastrophe of two wars on European soil the Psychiatrist Carl Jung more then anyone else initiated a revolution, a return to these lost parts of our cultural psyche, our collective soul afresh. He has opened doors back into Christianity, Alchemy and Astrology in a way that the post modern individual can feel there relevance and healing potential for the one-sidedness of pure scientific materialism. In recent years with the publication of Cosmos and Psyche, the cultural historian, Richard Tarnas has opened the doors wide open to a return to Astrology that is truly revolutionary. Astrology has long been the gold standard of superstition for the educated individual. Proof of the advance of science over the ancient worldviews. And yet Astrology has returned and offers an enormous challenge to the scientific worldview. It has the potential to transform our relationship with the world. Astrology is built upon the notion of circles and cycles, loops and revolutions.
So for us to walk in procession that goes in a full circle over a day is a symbolic act that resonates much more widely and deeper than first meets the eye. Scientific materialism married to capitalism has been a blessing of sorts and a profound curse. This way of thinking has kept us in a box, confined unable to reach our potential as individual, nations and as a global culture. It has effectively led us down a path where the future of the planet is in threat. Its fostered a form of cultural craziness. As Richard Tarnas has said, Worldviews create worlds. To create a new world, the world as we long and hope and desire it to be. A more humane, just, caring, creative and life sustaining world we need a new world view. A marrying of science, religion(in its broadest sense ) and the arts. This is the revolution that Serio Ludere are committed too. A revolution in perception. A revolution in how we look at and relate to everything in our world.
We are convinced that Australia perhaps more then any other nation on the planet is ripe for this sort of perceptual, spiritual revolution. That if as a nation we took upon ourselves the task to deeply engage with the images, stories and metaphors embedded in Alchemy, Astrology and Christianity that we would have a platform, our own dreaming, to truly meet with our indigenous brothers and sisters afresh. That as a nation we could transform to a degree that is currently unimaginable and doing so we could step into the role of moral and spiritual leadership for the world. Australia could become the Awakener, the catalyst for a newly emerging Global culture. Come and join us on December 21 and let the conversation begin.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Tommy Franklin Legend
and an inspiration !
How a small thing like dancing in the rain can change a life !
Monday, September 24, 2012
Shield project, 1st stage
As we approach towards discovering our instrument in the orchestra of existence
We start to feel it, learn it, play with it
The realization of our eternal diamond comes into consciousness
The detective
Inspiration and inspirers Pt1
For me (Jefferson) Serio Ludere grew out of a discontent with Western approaches to therapy and counseling.
I worked for a time with African refugees offering counseling for torture and trauma. I would explain how counseling worked, it was usually done individually and would focus on troubling emotions that would arise from the traumatic experiences they had been through. All good. Then I would ask how they would deal with this in their culture. They would basically say, we get the whole community together around a fire, sing and dance all night long, laugh, cry and share stories together. It was like a revelation for me! What a amazing way to approach healing.
I then began to research and discovered the tradition of carnival in Europe and how it begun in pagan festivals morphed into Christianity which was originally totally ecstatic and very similar to Dionysian death/rebirth rituals. Over time it separated from the church and then from the 17th century begun to die out as science, individualism and capitalism kicked in.
Coincidentally and not surprisingly depression then begun to rise. Psychiatrists and psychologists have been warning for a number of years of a rising tsunami of depression in Australia without giving any good reason as to why. I had a dream in which the late and great anthropologist/philosopher Gregory Bateson appeared and told me I didn't know the mind of the city and that I would get to know it by interacting and rubbing up against it.
Then begun a wandering journey that's still unfolding as I begun to stumble upon a myriad of amazing empty and under-utilized public spaces. I began to dream of a team of creative people who could go into these empty public spaces and create moments akin to cultural acupuncture. A short sharp shock of creativity that would energize, inspire and heal whoever happened to stumble across us. Alongside this was my growing fascination and love for Astrology and its sister Alchemy that had emerged out of Jungian psychology. It struck me that not only did the Africans have a community space for healing they also had a overriding philosophy that grew out of there spiritual/religious beliefs.
White Australia was born in the time when science was rising the so called age of Enlightenment. Alchemy, Astrology and Christianity all begun to die off as science rose. Whilst Europe and even the U.S. had memory and culture of the ancient ways Australia begun as a secular experiment. Christianity never really took root here and Carnivale was not part of our cultural heritage. Which brings us to now where we are still seeking an identity building our future on the rape and destruction of our beautiful land. Not surprisingly depression, suicide and sexual crimes are all amongst the highest in the world. We are peaceful yet incredibly boring compared to other cultures.
Over the past 18 months we have begun to meet more and more people who have been each thinking and feeling along identical lines and we have begun to experiment in bringing more and more of the arts into public spaces in a way that essentially brings love, openness, creativity and spontaneity into the open, available to anyone who wants to receive them. My dream is that the idea explodes and that we inspire others to do their own experiments in public spaces. That we create something that is the complete opposite to terrorism, perhaps its celebration or maybe alchemical punk shamanism. Of that I will write more soon.
I worked for a time with African refugees offering counseling for torture and trauma. I would explain how counseling worked, it was usually done individually and would focus on troubling emotions that would arise from the traumatic experiences they had been through. All good. Then I would ask how they would deal with this in their culture. They would basically say, we get the whole community together around a fire, sing and dance all night long, laugh, cry and share stories together. It was like a revelation for me! What a amazing way to approach healing.
I then began to research and discovered the tradition of carnival in Europe and how it begun in pagan festivals morphed into Christianity which was originally totally ecstatic and very similar to Dionysian death/rebirth rituals. Over time it separated from the church and then from the 17th century begun to die out as science, individualism and capitalism kicked in.
Coincidentally and not surprisingly depression then begun to rise. Psychiatrists and psychologists have been warning for a number of years of a rising tsunami of depression in Australia without giving any good reason as to why. I had a dream in which the late and great anthropologist/philosopher Gregory Bateson appeared and told me I didn't know the mind of the city and that I would get to know it by interacting and rubbing up against it.
Then begun a wandering journey that's still unfolding as I begun to stumble upon a myriad of amazing empty and under-utilized public spaces. I began to dream of a team of creative people who could go into these empty public spaces and create moments akin to cultural acupuncture. A short sharp shock of creativity that would energize, inspire and heal whoever happened to stumble across us. Alongside this was my growing fascination and love for Astrology and its sister Alchemy that had emerged out of Jungian psychology. It struck me that not only did the Africans have a community space for healing they also had a overriding philosophy that grew out of there spiritual/religious beliefs.
White Australia was born in the time when science was rising the so called age of Enlightenment. Alchemy, Astrology and Christianity all begun to die off as science rose. Whilst Europe and even the U.S. had memory and culture of the ancient ways Australia begun as a secular experiment. Christianity never really took root here and Carnivale was not part of our cultural heritage. Which brings us to now where we are still seeking an identity building our future on the rape and destruction of our beautiful land. Not surprisingly depression, suicide and sexual crimes are all amongst the highest in the world. We are peaceful yet incredibly boring compared to other cultures.
Over the past 18 months we have begun to meet more and more people who have been each thinking and feeling along identical lines and we have begun to experiment in bringing more and more of the arts into public spaces in a way that essentially brings love, openness, creativity and spontaneity into the open, available to anyone who wants to receive them. My dream is that the idea explodes and that we inspire others to do their own experiments in public spaces. That we create something that is the complete opposite to terrorism, perhaps its celebration or maybe alchemical punk shamanism. Of that I will write more soon.
The soul
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Tree huggers on Sexton
The surprise
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