Some people seem to have the spirit of a blade of grass that thrives in a crack in the cement. Freud posited two great biological drives - Eros, the life drive and Thanatos (though Freud apparently never used the term), the death drive.Īs with all qualities, the combination of Eros and Thanatos differs dramatically with the individual. To paraphrase James Hillman,”The natural direction of the soul is downward.” In romantic relationships, in relating to the body, in relating to life in general, many seem to have souls that long for the descent. The cause may lie in a soul that longs for the underworld journey. So the cause may not be reducible to someone’s genetics, personal history or personality, though all of these may have parallel reflections. This brother seemed to have the greater biological vulnerability to alcohol, but managed to control his addiction and was on a very positive and developmental life path. The other brother had that tendency too, could have nearly psychotic episodes on alcohol, but when sober was a very wise, centered person, an excellent father to two young children. In some cases you could more successfully try to assign a particular cause like alcohol, especially when there is a genetic proclivity toward the substance. While on parole he drove drunk with an open container in the car and caused a head on collision, and so forth, and so on - we all know the story, we’ve all seen different versions of it personally and in the celebrity carnival forever put before our eyes. By his twenties he had totaled four cars and in each case injured himself and/or others. When not acting out such impulses he was charming, often genuinely loving, charismatic, good-looking, funny and fun to be with, etc. One very literal form of this was a compulsion to slash himself, and once this was almost fatal. The family was very loving and supportive of both, neither experienced any shattering trauma, but one of them, ever since puberty, consistently acted out a will toward self-destruction. I know two brothers who grew up in almost the same environment, but took very different life trajectories. When self-sabotage is related to particular events in someone’s history, the links pointed out are likely to be relevant to the unfolding process of self-obliteration, but not necessarily the fundamental causes. Some people seem to have a primal will toward self-obliteration that is as close to their core as is their eros, and sometimes that dark will coincides with eros. We can attribute it to particular causes, but that sort of view always seems superficial to me, and not the core of what’s happening. The urge toward self-obliteration is often quite mysterious. This card may apply to a self-obliteration urge in you and/or people you are close to.
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