Tuesday, June 02, 2009
What is Psychomagic?
Well, the short answer would be that it's a form of psychotherapy invented by Jodorowsky and practiced only by him, his son Cristóbal Axel (who starred as Fénix in Santa Sangre) and his wife Mariana Costa, that combines art, Eastern philosophies (particularly Zen Buddhism), mysticism and modern psychotherapy to heal patients with emotional problems. Louis Mouchet's 1994 documentary La Constellation Jodorowsky contains footage of one of Jodorowsky's weekly Paris workshops in which he treats patients at no charge.
So, is Psychomagic just a rehash of previously existing religions, philosophies and schools of thought? Not at all. To better understand what Psychomagic is, read what Jodorowsky says about it.
What does it take to be a psychomagician?
According to Jodorowsky:
# A true therapist cannot be trained in less than five years and a psychomagician in no less than seven years.
# A psychomagician must first be an actor, artist, poet, writer, painter, mime, musician, etc. He should have mastered all art forms.
# Studied a martial art, Eastern philosophies and shamanism.
# Experimented with hallucinogenic mushrooms and other elements.
# Have an occupation outside of being a therapist to work free of financial pressures.
# Be familiar with tarot, alchemy and cabbala.
# Had contact with a well known healer.
# Been psychoanalyzed, know the history of psychoanalysis and its many theories and know the works of Freud, Jung, Grodeck, Lacan, Erickson, Dolto, etc.
Psychomagical advice
1. A ten step recipe to being happy, by Alejandro Jodorowsky. When in doubt between "doing" and "not doing," choose "doing". If you're wrong at least you'll have the experience.
2. Listen to your intuition more than your reason. Words forge reality but they are not it.
3. Make some childish dream of yours come true. For example, if you wanted to play but were forced to become an adult before your time, save some 500 euros and go play them at a casino until you lose it. If you win, keep playing. If you keep winning, even if it's millions, continue until you lose it all. It's not about winning, but about playing with no end.
4. There is no greater relief than to start becoming what one is. Since childhood, we're coerced into other people's destinies. We are not in this world to pursue the dreams of our parents, but our own. If you're a singer and not an attorney like your father, abandon your law career and record your album.
5. Stop criticizing your body right now. Accept it as it is without concerning yourself with the stares of others. You're not loved because you're beautiful. You're beautiful because you're loved.
6. Once a week, teach others the little or lot that you know. What you give to them, you give to yourself. What you don't give to them, you take away from yourself.
7. Every day, look for a positive story in the newspaper. It's difficult to find one. But, amid all the atrocities, somehow, there always is one. A new species of bird was discovered; comets transport life; a boy who fell from the top of a five story building landed unharmed; the daughter of a president intent on drowning herself was saved by a laborer with whom she fell in love and married; young Chilean poets bombarded the palace of La Moneda where Allende was assassinated with 300,000 poems from a helicopter; etc.
8. If your parents abused you when you were a child, calmly confront them in a neutral place that is not their territory, developing four aspects:
This is what they did to me.
This is what I felt.
This is what, because of that, I now suffer.
And this is the reparation that I ask. Forgiveness without reparation has no use.
9. Even if you have a large family, assign yourself a personal territory where no one may enter without your permission.
10. Stop defining yourself: allow yourself every possibility that could be, and change paths as often as necessary.
# Failing does not exist. With each failure, we change paths. To arrive at what you are, you must go through what you are not. The greatest happiness is to become what you are. In every sickness there is: A prohibition: You are prohibited from being what you are.
# A lack of consciousness: When you don't realize what you are.
# A lack of beauty: When you lose beauty, you become ill.
Well, the short answer would be that it's a form of psychotherapy invented by Jodorowsky and practiced only by him, his son Cristóbal Axel (who starred as Fénix in Santa Sangre) and his wife Mariana Costa, that combines art, Eastern philosophies (particularly Zen Buddhism), mysticism and modern psychotherapy to heal patients with emotional problems. Louis Mouchet's 1994 documentary La Constellation Jodorowsky contains footage of one of Jodorowsky's weekly Paris workshops in which he treats patients at no charge.
So, is Psychomagic just a rehash of previously existing religions, philosophies and schools of thought? Not at all. To better understand what Psychomagic is, read what Jodorowsky says about it.
What does it take to be a psychomagician?
According to Jodorowsky:
# A true therapist cannot be trained in less than five years and a psychomagician in no less than seven years.
# A psychomagician must first be an actor, artist, poet, writer, painter, mime, musician, etc. He should have mastered all art forms.
# Studied a martial art, Eastern philosophies and shamanism.
# Experimented with hallucinogenic mushrooms and other elements.
# Have an occupation outside of being a therapist to work free of financial pressures.
# Be familiar with tarot, alchemy and cabbala.
# Had contact with a well known healer.
# Been psychoanalyzed, know the history of psychoanalysis and its many theories and know the works of Freud, Jung, Grodeck, Lacan, Erickson, Dolto, etc.
Psychomagical advice
1. A ten step recipe to being happy, by Alejandro Jodorowsky. When in doubt between "doing" and "not doing," choose "doing". If you're wrong at least you'll have the experience.
2. Listen to your intuition more than your reason. Words forge reality but they are not it.
3. Make some childish dream of yours come true. For example, if you wanted to play but were forced to become an adult before your time, save some 500 euros and go play them at a casino until you lose it. If you win, keep playing. If you keep winning, even if it's millions, continue until you lose it all. It's not about winning, but about playing with no end.
4. There is no greater relief than to start becoming what one is. Since childhood, we're coerced into other people's destinies. We are not in this world to pursue the dreams of our parents, but our own. If you're a singer and not an attorney like your father, abandon your law career and record your album.
5. Stop criticizing your body right now. Accept it as it is without concerning yourself with the stares of others. You're not loved because you're beautiful. You're beautiful because you're loved.
6. Once a week, teach others the little or lot that you know. What you give to them, you give to yourself. What you don't give to them, you take away from yourself.
7. Every day, look for a positive story in the newspaper. It's difficult to find one. But, amid all the atrocities, somehow, there always is one. A new species of bird was discovered; comets transport life; a boy who fell from the top of a five story building landed unharmed; the daughter of a president intent on drowning herself was saved by a laborer with whom she fell in love and married; young Chilean poets bombarded the palace of La Moneda where Allende was assassinated with 300,000 poems from a helicopter; etc.
8. If your parents abused you when you were a child, calmly confront them in a neutral place that is not their territory, developing four aspects:
This is what they did to me.
This is what I felt.
This is what, because of that, I now suffer.
And this is the reparation that I ask. Forgiveness without reparation has no use.
9. Even if you have a large family, assign yourself a personal territory where no one may enter without your permission.
10. Stop defining yourself: allow yourself every possibility that could be, and change paths as often as necessary.
# Failing does not exist. With each failure, we change paths. To arrive at what you are, you must go through what you are not. The greatest happiness is to become what you are. In every sickness there is: A prohibition: You are prohibited from being what you are.
# A lack of consciousness: When you don't realize what you are.
# A lack of beauty: When you lose beauty, you become ill.