systematically study Carl Gustav Jung’s book “On the Psychology of the Unconscious.” Some excerpts from the learners’ reflections on this topic will be published in this book.
April 28, 2024: Guild of Autonics
Roman Evgenievich Akimov:
“Spoke a lot about the creation of the world and how much we’ve lost by immersing ourselves in the illusions of its description. Hinted, albeit indirectly, that they are the ones who could become the guides capable of pulling weary humanity out of its centuries-long slumber.”
April 29, 2024: Guild of Plastics and Dance
Elizaveta Yuryevna Matvievich:
“Chaotic, yet very warm and positive. Everyone is so musical! The strong beat is both our strength and our curse. It seems that most people have come to believe that plasticity isn’t just ‘dancing around.’”
Book Club / Sergey Bosov:
Read the first chapter. Many things resonated with me:
1. Unconscious processes distort/block the perception of reality (despite the body’s proper functioning – hearing, sight) to protect us from forbidden, painful, or frightening things.
2. The unconscious can build entire chains of events, leading to the outcome it seeks to resolve an inner conflict or satisfy unconscious intentions and needs. I’ve repeatedly observed this in my life and made use of it. It’s astonishing how the unconscious can construct and execute complex schemes with minimal involvement of a person’s conscious mind. This immense psychic energy – combined with intuition, the ability to pick up on subtle nuances, forecasting, and creating strategies and behaviors – can be harnessed in life and art if we acknowledge, observe, articulate, and become aware of it wherever possible.
3. The therapeutic effect of articulation or expression – through drawing, dancing, movement, or sound – allows one to step into the role of the observer, gain awareness, and either heal or deeply connect with another person or a character as an actor.
4. Trauma isn’t the key root cause of neuroses (it’s often a trigger that activates programs or beliefs). At the root of many psychopathologies lies an unconscious conflict or unmet needs, often in the sphere of love, touching on vital human necessities.
April 29, 2024: Guild of Plastics and Dance
Elizaveta Yuryevna Matvievich:
“Barely managed to fit everything into three hours. Today was a day of ‘exploration through touch.’ Many pleasantly surprised me, both with their physical abilities and their desire to understand their bodies. Everyone left energized, as if it weren’t already 10 PM. It was… and it was wonderful.”
Book Club / Sergey Kramarev:
Read the first chapter in one breath. Despite encountering unfamiliar terms frequently, I managed to immerse myself in the material, and now I want to read it through to the end. Of course, how strange it is… how strange we are… that even the smallest “mistake,” such as in childhood, can radically alter your life as an adult.
MAY
May 1, 2024: Guild of Autonics
Roman Evgenievich Akimov:
Spoke in the guild about a case from my practice that deeply resonated with the participants. Naturally, it directly pertains to theater and the complexity of human life – a complexity often overlooked.
The story was about a woman and her daughter visiting her mother (the grandmother of the child). At the end of their visit, the woman faced her daughter’s disobedience, expressed through hurtful words and accusations directed not only at her but also at the grandmother. Afterward, the woman wrote to her husband, asking him to discipline the daughter and put an end to the “little surprises” her father liked to create. When the husband refused, the woman erupted in anger, hurling accusations, insults, and suspicions of infidelity and betrayal at him.
But was that really the case? Unraveling this complex – yet commonplace for many families – knot began with understanding and uncovering the root causes buried deep in the woman’s childhood. She had experienced a profound, unexpressed psycho-emotional trauma, so intense that it had been hidden deep in her unconscious, surfacing only under opportune circumstances. Her request to her husband to punish their daughter was nothing more than an unconscious plea: “Avenge me.”
As a child, the woman had been abandoned by her father. Within this context, it became evident that, on one hand, she was seeking protection for herself from “her” man (through the image of the father who had left), and on the other, she was unconsciously trying to exact revenge on the world for her past suffering. This drove her entire life, affecting all aspects of it, isolating her further and creating an aura of detachment and alienation. In every situation involving her daughter and husband (where the young daughter symbolized herself, and the husband symbolized the absent father), the man was always to blame, while the daughter became a tool for resolving her “internal issues.”
What happened was both a tool for addressing a great trauma and a purpose in itself – a horrifying confirmation that the male figure was the root of all problems. Until the issue was resolved, everything remained a vicious cycle for everyone involved.
In the context of this example, I also spoke about the persistence of illusions, as the unfortunate woman lived within them, unaware that these deceptive lies were pulling everyone around her into the same situation. The most tragic part is that neither she nor they were to blame – after all, how can you fault a child whose father disappeared from her life, causing it to halt for an indefinite and torturous period? The hopelessness of an unresolved issue or deeply rooted illusions leads only to death and the destruction of all potential.
The term “awakening” means breaking free from illusions and honestly answering oneself. Even one step in this process – questioning: What am I doing? Why am I doing it? How am I doing it? – without self-justification is a step toward liberation.
One must reach the very essence of everything. And how is the life we create in cinema or theater any different? After all, this story is but a fragment caught in the vast sea of psychological phenomena raging within each of us. To do theater, we must shake ourselves free, awaken in the best sense of the word, and then light the lanterns for those standing on a road without stars.
Book Club / Victoria Kurbanova:
The phrase about the neurotic syndrome having a “psychogenic” nature – originating in the psyche – struck a chord with me. It also noted that for an effect to occur, a shock must coincide with a particular mental predisposition. These words immediately made me think about genetics and the inheritance of various mental illnesses. The first chapter doesn’t directly address this, but I believe that “mental predisposition” is closely tied to genetics.
Another surprising story was about a patient who ran away from horses, only to find that the root of the problem was her love for her friend’s husband. That flight from the horses was the unconscious desire triumphing.
I immediately drew a parallel to myself, recalling an incident where my conscious mind sought peace, but my unconscious mind leaned toward conflict. At first, I also thought it all happened on its own and that I had been provoked into the conflict. But after reading this chapter, I came to think that, most likely, I was ready to “be provoked” and enter the conflict myself.
May 5, 2024: Guild of the M. Chekhov Method
Ivan Viktorovich Dementyev:
It was incredible to visit Konstantin Sergeyevich – for the first time! Until now, there was always someone