Finding Meaning and the Role of the 'Daemon'
Art by: https://www.instagram.com/ibayarifin/
We live in a time that seems so free and yet we experience such high rates of individual psyches suffering. But what is our soul suffering from?
The reasons are many and cannot be seen in black and white, but what I want to focus on in this article is the loss of meaning that is seen in our society and a perspective to allow meaning to be regained. This article is inspired by the Jungian psychoanalyst James Hollis, who wrote quite on point:
“...we are the living being who suffers when we are separated from meaning.”
So, the hypothesis I work with is that our psyche suffers from the loss of meaning.
For me personally, by gaining the following knowledge, I realized a couple of things. How I lived my life in the past and how I live it now and why I have always feel drawn to certain themes, music and stories. It's as if something lives inside me that has a mind of its own.
For I don't consciously choose what I'm drawn to, what inspires me, what occupies me.
Something unconscious directs my attention to these topics. And most likely the same is true for you.
You don't decide where you are drawn to, something deep inside you, something unconscious decides for you.
But what is it? What decides what inspires us? To this end, I would like to take a swing into mythology. Mythologies are also described as the ancient source of human psychology.
They are ways of making sense of the world. Yes, scientifically they don't describe the world, but they make sense when you read between the lines and when you look at behavior instead of facts.
There is a myth created by Plato, the myth of He. In summary, the myth talks about the idea that the soul of each of us receives a unique daemon before we are born.
This daemon has its own ideas and preferences. However, in the process of birth, we forget everything that has happened and believe that we come into this world empty.
The daemon remembers everything and tries to find expression in our life, growing with us and getting better and better at getting our attention.
In other cultures you can find similar symbolism: In Rome, it was called the Genius and the Christians called it the Soul and in Egypt it was Ba.
What all definitions have in common is that they are unique to each person, that they speak to us, and that they represent our potential. It is the power within us that calls us to be what we could be. This daemon has a single purpose: to manifest our potential.
Art by: https://www.instagram.com/talentless.fool/
Now I speak in metaphors for a good reason, because we numb our lives by the way we perceive them through our rational minds.
Of course, there is not another person living inside of you, this is just a mental concept for communication and viewing life through the lens of mystery and beauty rather than pure rationality.
Still, to bring it down to the rational ground for a moment: We are nature. Nature wants one thing: to grow, to evolve, to reproduce.
Besides, we are all unique, by that I mean not only our bodies but also our psyche. The Daemon stands for exactly that, it is of unique nature and its goal is to grow.
The great challenge in today's world is to be aware of what is trying to be expressed in our lives.
With the ever-increasing distractions, we are losing contact with this daemon. Instead of creating time and space to listen, we find ourselves in distractions again and again.
“When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.”
We are constantly bombarded and respond to the demands of the outside world.
We may work for a company that demands most of our attention.
We may spend up to 4 hours a day on our smartphone.
According to the National Science Foundation, the average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of these, 80% are negative and 95% are repetitive thoughts.
This leaves little room to understand and perceive what kind of life we actually want to live.
We live a life that may not be aligned with our personal values, we may live a life that is characterized by a certain emptiness.
We try to fill the loss of meaning with materialism, compensatory hedonistic excesses, a romantic partner and many other ways.
At a certain point, we realize that the life we live is not fulfilling. This can become apparent through major life events, midlife crisis, or through other ways our psyche is suffering.
The daemon tries to get attention in many ways, through dreams, through visions, through flashes, through our inexplicable preferences and if that is not enough it finds expression through the suffering of the psyche.
“If it’s your calling it will keep calling you.”
Our life loses meaning because we lose contact with that voice, with what gives us depth. The sense of personal calling, that there is a reason why we live.
Well, how can we connect to that voice?
By paying attention to what excites us and setting out on a journey to follow it.
By following the call outside of our comfort zone. Overcoming obstacles and building resilience.
But also practices that provide powerful experiences help. Experiences that get us out of our daily rut and constant and repeating mental dialogues. These are practices like Breathwork, experiences like Vipassana, Vision Quests, psychedelic substance, or Fasting.
The Witness by Tomas Sanchez
To be clear, this is not primarily a journey to happiness, primarily it is a journey to more meaning and with that more happiness will come. I think it is important to mention this to make it clear that such a journey is not always easy and peace and joy. But it leaves you with great deep satisfaction.
If you're looking for a completely hedonistic lifestyle, this probably isn't for you - there will be obstacles to overcome, but they will come with a great sense of satisfaction, more satisfaction than you will experience by just following the next ecstatic high.
And finally, here's another gem from Carl Jung:
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”