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Lesson 28 Introduction to the Transference III

Allegories, Symbols, and Signs When a person’s level of consciousness lowers, the images are moved more internally in the space of representation. Simultaneously, time is modified for the consciousness. During vigil one can easily distinguish between what one remembers (past), what one perceives or represents now (present), and what one projects in one’s imagination in either a directed or associative way (future). But as one descends to deep sleep, the representations corresponding to past, present and future times become jumbled, and will even sometimes all be summarized into a single object. Thus, in a short time the dreaming person may experience a very rapid sequence of images. Because each single image may itself be composed of many separate elements from different times, this will give the person the sensation of having a great variety of experiences. In only a few seconds the subject can experience a dream scene that would take several minutes to remember and describe later. In contrast, it can also happen that the apparent time that elapses from the beginning to the end of the dream will contract, and many hours will then be experienced as just few moments. All images are formed based on data from the memory. One can either remember an old scene, or imagine a new one by making it up with different elements from places and things one remembers; in both cases one uses the memory. In the second case where one imaginarily composes an image, a great variety of attributes from different objects may be concentrated into just one image. For example, suppose a person first remembers a scene once seen with trees near a river and a mountain in the background. Then, suppose through imagination the person adds other elements to this original scene; now the person sees a horse drinking from the river, and a snake coiled around a tree; high overhead an eagle soars while a column of smoke is rising from a fire on the mountainside. The elements added later to the first scene were not part of the original image seen and remembered; rather they were drawn from many different scenes. Perceptions recorded at many different times were concentrated into this single image. In the first image where the subject saw the trees near the river, he or she remembered something in a deliberate or directed way. Later on, the subject added elements in an associative or freeway. One can combine even more diverse images as in the following example: “There is a tree on top of a mountain. Water runs freely from the tree and turns into a gurgling stream that flows on down the mountain. A great winged dragon is attacking the tree; the dragon is breathing billows of smoke and fire from its mouth. It has strong legs like a horse and is like a huge snake with the wings of an eagle.” The first image we have presented of the mountain is a remembered scene (actually perceived in the past). The second image of the water is an imaginary scene (one never seen, but made up of actual perceptions), and the third one of the dragon is an allegorical scene (not formed from perceptions). An allegory is a concentration of many associations into a single represented object. This is quite distinct from objects which arise through simple association where the next object derives from the previous one without either object losing its original identity. There are also other representations that originate neither from memories nor from a concentration of associations such as allegories. These images appear in the work of the abstractive pathways of the consciousness. We call these representations symbols. In a symbol an image is stripped of any secondary or accessory elements, and only its most general formal characteristics are preserved. For example, in abstracting a symbol from the visual image of a beautiful green farm, one would eliminate all details and wind up with a simple rectangle that can be precisely measured. The common geometric symbols are representative cases of the work of the abstractive pathways. Finally, we briefly mention those symbols or representations typical of the work of the abstractive pathways that fulfill some function assigned them by convention. Such is the case of numbers, arithmetic signs, musical notes, the letters and numbers used in chemistry and other sciences, traffic signals, danger signals, and the many other symbols that fulfill specific conventional functions. In the organizational chart of a company, for example, the directorship may be represented by a rectangle, management by a circle, and other personnel by triangles, etc. On a map, the political capitals may be represented by stars, sea routes by continuous lines, land routes by dotted lines, etc. Not only symbols, but also objects from the perceptual world or allegories may serve signic functions as long as custom or convention has assigned them a specific use and meaning. For example, two crossed bones underneath a skull are objects of perception universally used to mean “danger.” Allegories may also be used as signs, as for example in alchemy where a dragon means a certain kind of acid. It will be of great interest for our work with transferences to master some elements of the study of both Symbols and Allegories. We will not, -however, concern ourselves with the study of Signs.

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Symbols

From the point of view of the transformation of impulses, symbols are the result of the abstractive deformation or translation of impulses. We distinguish several types of symbols. There are symbols with no frame (a point, straight line, broken line, curve, crossed lines, crossed curves, a crossed line and curve, spirals, etc.). There are also symbols with a frame. These are formed when lines and curves are connected in a closed circuit which separates the external from the internal space. We call the enclosed space the “field.” Examples of symbols with a frame are the circle, the triangle, the square, the rhombus, and any other mixed forms that enclose space. We define a manifest center as the point generated by the intersection of any two straight lines and/or curves. Symbols with a frame, that is, ones which include a field, all possess a tacit center which is determined by the intersection of the imaginary lines that join the vertices or manifest centers. For example, in a square the tacit center results from the intersection of the diagonals drawn from the four vertices or manifest centers where the sides intersect. If one symbol is included within the field of another one, it becomes a manifest center of the one it lies within. Some symbols without frames tend to transfer the “energy” of the image towards the outside (as indicated by where one’s eye moves when looking at the symbol). This happens in general with points. Other symbols tend to transfer the energy towards the inside, as in the case of curved symbols. In symbols with a frame the energy is concentrated in both the manifest and tacit centers; however, it is concentrated with greater intensity in the manifest centers. The point, because it has no frame, is a manifest center that can carry energy in any direction. The circle, having no manifest centers, concentrates all the energy towards its tacit center. If the subject either imagines or dreams a scene in which he is included, he himself will be the most important manifest center. If he is outside the field, he will be an excluded center, and the energy will be transferred into the interior field. For example, suppose the subject dreams about a small park where there are statues and a lake. And suppose he cannot get into the park because there is a dog guarding the entrance.

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In this symbol, the energy tends to be transferred towards the interior of the field, and inside the field it moves towards the manifest centers. But the impediment in the form of a dog makes strong tensions arise.

Exercises with Symbols

Exercise 1 Reduce the image of the room you are working in to a symbol and study the manifest and tacit centers. Explain at which points energy is accumulated, dispersed, and transferred. Try to understand the points of tension.

Exercise 2 Reduce the different kinds of relationships there can be between two people to symbols. Study the manifest and tacit centers, and the points at which energy accumulates, disperses and transfers. Try to understand where the points of tension are and how they work.

Exercise 3 Reduce the various possible relationships among five people to symbols. Distribute the people in the following way depending on their affinities or interests: a) if they share a common interest, distribute them within a circle; b) if there are two opposing interest or factions, distribute them in the two manifest centers of a mandorla; c) if there are more than two interests, put the people in the manifest centers, in the tacit center, and perhaps in some excluded center of the figure; for three different interests use a triangle; d) in the case of four different interests, use a square.

Exercise 4 Take an image from one of your dreams and reduce or abstract it to a symbol, studying the manifest and tacit centers, and the points where energy accumulates, disperses and transfers. See how the difficulties and impediments in the image are reflected as points of tension in the symbol. Notice the points of relaxation, and understand how they work. In general, observe how every “resistance” in the dream is a tension, and every “over-coming of resistance” is a relaxation. Note the vertical height and internal depth within the space of representation where the scene and the “resistances” take place.

Exercise 5 Practice reducing the same everyday situation to a symbol several times. Point out the manifest and tacit centers, and the points where energy is accumulated, dispersed, and transferred. Try to locate and understand the resistances and the points where the resistances are overcome.