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Lesson 31 The Transferential Probe II

The three principal techniques of transference are the Technique of Levels, the Technique of Transformations and the Technique of Expansions.

I. The Technique of Levels This technique works by moving (in a spatial sense) through different vertical levels within the space of representation. One should not confuse the spatial levels with the levels of consciousness. For example, a sleeping person can “ascend” or “descend” in their internalì space of representation, but this certainly does not mean they are waking up. To begin this technique, the guide suggests that the subject start by representing or imagining himself or herself at a level which we call the “middle plane.” This is the level where images typical of everyday, normal perception occur. That is, the objects that appear are ones that one commonly sees, they are objects from everyday life. Once the subject has visualized an image of himself or herself, the guide then suggests that the subject descend. Here, the first difficulties or resistances may appear, because the subject will have to discover how to move downward. Knowing the indicators of resistance and the indicators of the solution of resistances, the guide will assist the subject (with allegorical aids) each time difficulties appear. Although the general rule for every transference is that all resistances must be overcome in order to displace and free the stuck charges, we still have to see how to do this. In general, the guide works so the subject can face any difficulty that appears and not escape or evade it; the guide always helps the subject look for possibilities to overcome any resistance. This is important because if a resistance is too strong for the subject, and the subject does not successfully overcome it, his frustration will then increase the resistance later on. A very important point in working with the transference is to use what we call an attitude of “persuasion” in overcoming resistances. By this we mean if the resistance is not stronger than the subject, the subject should face this resistance directly, but that whenever the resistance is too strong for the subject, the guide should intervene and assist the subject in the scene with appropriate allegorical resources that persuade or reconcile the contents. Or the guide may instead invite the subject to seek another easier way to again approach the same resistance, but this time from a more favorable angle or point of view. To amplify this idea of “persuasion” in overcoming resistances, it would be by all means preferable for the guide to suggest that the subject find a way to become reconciled with a defender who is aggressively barring an entrance for the subject, than to suggest or permit a violent fight to occur. Another similar resource in such a case is to pay (an allegorical exchange) the defender in some way in order to persuade this being who is making the access difficult (resistance) to open the way. When the subject descends within the space of representation, strange and sometimes threatening things will frequently appear, and the guide can help the subject convert these beings into allies so he may continue his movements. As the subject descends, the space of representation practically always becomes darker. This is due to an association with the characteristics of visual perception in everyday life, in the sense that what one normally sees below one is dark whether in the depths of the earth or in the sea. The opposite occurs when once ascends in the space of representation - it becomes lighter, just as up above one sees the sun, the bright sky above the storm clouds, etc. There is another phenomenon that occurs, which although it follows the same pattern as one’s perception of the external world, does not necessarily depend on it. In general, as the subject descends within his space of representation, he gets further away from his optical centers, the scene he sees becomes darker, and the representations that appear on the “screen” are translations or deformations of the signals or impulses from the intrabody (for example, caverns with animals in them may be translations of one’s own mouth, tongue, and teeth; tunnels down which one falls may appear as an allegory of the esophagus; balloons or winged beings that move rhythmically may appear as representations of the lungs; walls may appear that imitate the diaphragm; one may see creatures with tentacles or labyrinths and passageways that relate to the different parts of the digestive system; warm and humid caverns lighted by pale fires are deformations or translations of sexual cenesthetic register; one can see watery, muddy, or sticky textures as representations of bodily fluids; etc.). In contrast, as the subject ascends in his space of representation, it becomes lighter while his breathing becomes higher in his chest; this produces translations of the sensory impulses from the lungs which appear as winged beings like angels, birds, etc. There is a certain limiting depth below which it is not possible to descend in the space or representation; at this point everything is dark. Similarly, as one moves up in the heights, above the brightly illuminated sky, above the sun and the stars, the same thing will happen and everything will become dark. This final darkness one encounters in descent as well as in ascent coincides with the end or limit of one’s body. These limits are difficult to reach because one will experience frequent “rebounds” on the way. However, in any case these rebounds are useful in allowing the scene to continue to develop. In the technique of levels, one should not confuse light that comes from a localized source (underground lights, volcanic fires, illuminated underwater cities found below, or conversely, the sun, moon, stars, city of light, crystalline or radiant objects found above) with the general degree of illumination present which reveals the vertical height one is located in within the space of representation. There is an important exception to everything we have explained here which sometimes occurs after one reaches the farthest limits of darkness in either ascent or descent. In this exceptional case, the entire space of representation becomes illuminated. This illumination does not come from any localized source, although its source may previously have been localized. While this does not usually occur in transferential processes, it is a phenomenon well known to the mystics of different times and places. Knowledge of this phenomenon has also been acquired from the testimony of persons on the verge of death, those who have “returned” to life after clinical death has been declared. To summarize the transferential technique of levels, one begins from the middle plane, then descends to the lowest point where once can still visualize and mobilize images; then one returns retracing the same path traveled on the way down until one again reaches the middle level. From the middle plane one ascends to the upper limit one can reach, and then descends again retracing the same path back to the middle plane. One always begins and ends this process in the middle plane where the guide finally extracts the subject from his more or less irrational scenes, and brings him back to an everyday system of representation. When the process ends, the subject’s free associations begin to diminish as the guide begins to make more rational and logical comments. The main idea is for the subject’s sensation of “coming out” of the transference to be gradual and easy-going. In no case should the guide abruptly suggest that the subject “come out,” nor should the subject return from any plane other than the middle one.

II. The Technique of Transformations One always works with this technique in the middle plane of the space of representation. As usual, the subject represents himself in the scene. The guide invites the subject to move “forward” and see himself walking through whatever scene he (the subject) has proposed to begin working on. When the scene acquires the characteristic “looseness” of the processes of free association, the guide begins to propose changes, for example, a change in the clothes worn by the subject, and then changes in the other images that appear, until resistances to such changes appear. Each resistance that is detected should be adequately overcome by the subject using allegorical aids and encouragement from the guide. Sometimes the subject will encounter no resistance in transforming one image into another, but when passing from one environment to another or coming out of or going into an enclosed space, the subject does find resistances that must be overcome with the help of pertinent allegorical aids, or by transforming one image into another. This technique is finished by having the subject return to the initial starting point. From here the guide proceeds to bring the subject out by beginning to speak in a more rational way about the scene using a friendly and gradual manner.

III. The Technique of Expansions This technique can be used in conjunction with both the transferential Technique of Levels, as well as with the Technique of Transformations in the middle plane. The Technique of Expansions is called for whenever the subject comes across situations where he feels enclosed, obstructed, or there are disproportions in size between the image of the subject himself and some object through which he wishes to pass (for example, passageways that close in on him, keyholes, steps that are too far apart or too high to climb, etc.). Another case that may occur is a disproportion in the size of objects the subject wishes to put inside himself (for example, a piece of fruit he wishes to eat becomes too large or too small, etc.). Similarly, there may be difficulties in the relationship between beings (giants and dwarfs) or disproportions in parts of one’s own body (a tremendous head and spindly limbs), etc. When one encounters difficulties of this kind, the guide suggests expansions or contractions of the appropriate image until the scene becomes proportionate. Sometimes allegorical resources are needed to help integrate the images into a given plot.

When Should Each Technique Be Used? In general, the guide begins the transferential work by directing the subject to follow the Technique of Levels. But as they follow this technique, resistances will appear for the subject, resistances related not only to vertical movements, but also to horizontal movements or to the sizes of the images. Therefore, they use the Technique of Transformations and Technique of Expansions whenever they detect the corresponding resistances within the general Technique of Levels. Only when in previous sessions it has become clear that without question the subject’s fundamental problem is related to a resistance in transformations or expansions would one proceed directly to these techniques and do without the movements between vertical levels.

Exercise: Transferential Probe of Movements First the guide asks the subject to tell a joke. Then the guide asks the subject to represent or imagine himself as perhaps the principal character of the joke or as one of the other characters, and then to proceed to exercise the Technique of Levels, that is, to see himself moving downward and then upward within the space of representation. Each time the subject comes across a resistance, the guide helps him overcome it, and depending on the case, the guide will suggest the Technique of Transformations or the Technique of Expansions. The subject narrates to the guide everything that happens in the scenes, and also describes the climates that accompany them. When the subject completes the probe and has overcome any resistances, both guide and subject discuss the meaning of the resistances found as well as the difficulties in overcoming the resistances, trying to relate them to both the subject’s daily behavior and to past biographical events. The subject could also attempt a simple symbolic reduction of the general frame and a short synthesis of the themes and plots. Then, the guide and subject exchange roles and repeat the exercise. The Transferential Probe is a practice that does not require much preparation or previous knowledge. It can even be carried out in the level of consciousness of vigil as long as the subject can put himself into a relaxed state of non-rationalization so his free associations can run loosely. We summarize this by saying that with only two procedures, the Cathartic Feedback Probe and the Transferential Probe, an experienced guide can lead a subject to a discharge of tensions or a transference of some depth. All this can be done even in subjects who have no preparation in these matters. Of course, in order to carry out cathartic or transferential processes of greater depth, the. subject will require a great deal of information, similar to that needed to be an effective guide.