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Browse published articles attributed to John Smethers, with full-archive search.
Puer Aeternus is Latin for eternal boy. Senex is Latin for old man. However, this is just one archetype--a split archetype. Hillman (1970) explains "that the senex is a complicatio of the puer, infolded into puer structure, so that puer events are complicated by a senex background." (p. 146). ...
Approximately a month before I was released from the netherworld of the prison yard, I weighed more than I ever had in my life. Not knowing anything about fat, carbohydrates, or heart rate and exercise, I started fast-walking around the prison yard per diem, every day. While I managed not to ...
Was Sigmund Freud a twisted, deranged, sexual pervert with no evidence to support his theories? Or was he a competent physician, an effective theorist, and a creative professional exploring and developing new concepts? The answer to these questions is yes. He was a competent physician and ...
Critical thinking (sometimes referred to as directed thinking) is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed--it is thought and knowledge and the relationship between them. To break it down more: the critical component is the evaluation that is most often agreed upon, and thinking is obtaining the ...
In The Future of an Illusion, Freud (1961) shares that: "I am reminded of one of my children who was distinguished at an early age by a peculiarly marked matter-of-factness. When the children were being told a fairy story and were listening to it with rapt attention, he would come up and ask: ...
Sigmund Freud When I think of Freud in relation to addictive behavior, the id, ego, and superego come to mind. The id is hedonistic--sleazy, fun-loving and pleasure seeking. The id says, "John, use that money to buy bag of dope and then share it with her. You'll surely get laid for your ...
The roots of the word prison comes from prisune from before 1112, which means confinement. Prisune was influence by pris, which means taken. As a result of a growing and changing prison population in this country, I will reiterate statistics of the presence of an archetype. Personal observation ...
Chemical dependency has been beaten like a dead horse. There are causal theories from genetic predisposition to various theories of learning, which has contributed greatly to a social construction of reality--a clearing that needs to be re-visioned. Discussed here will be psychological and depth ...
Having previously written on prison stereotypes and archetypes, I separated them into two groups: the old prison stereotype and the new prison population who personify archetypes. In motion pictures, Humphery Bogart, James Cagney and many others have since portrayed gangsters, sociopaths and ...
To decide during childhood, whether as an ideal from a dream or fantasy, or from being impressed or influenced by others in the community, to delve into the netherworld of drugs and alcohol--actually choosing to live a life of chaos is one of those mysteries of human behavior. Most addicts do ...
The difference between a psychopath and a sociopath is blurred, at least according to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM-IV lists both definitions together under the heading of Antisocial Personalities because they share common traits. ...
I do not believe that I am now dreaming, but I cannot prove that I am Not." Philosopher Bertrand Russell 1872-1970 Freud: Are dreams relevant? The scientific community does not seem to think so. If it can not be proven by the scientific method, it does not exist. It must not exist then. Freud ...
The roots of the word prison comes from prisune from before 1112, which means confinement. Prisune was influence by pris, which means taken or seized. From Latin prehenso--to lay hold of, clutch at. Prysner--one kept in prison: probably 1350-75. Is prison a deterrent to crime? Judging by the ...
What is alchemy? Many of us are drawn to the mysteries of the past to enlighten the quality of the present. Mythology, astrology, the tarot, runes, and I-Ching have drawn the interest of many in recent years, and is being enjoyed and utilized in fresh and innovative ways. Ancient wisdom imbued ...
After having attended 12-step meetings for over eleven years, I still didn't understand what they meant when they shared about spiritual experiences. Since then, I did a research study with AA members to find out, and have consequently come to understand that there are many forms of spiritual ...
We rise upon the earth as wavelets rise upon the ocean. We grow out of her soil as leaves grow from a tree. The wavelets catch the sunbeams separately, the leaves stir when the branches do not move. They realize their own events apart, just as in our own consciousness, when anything becomes ...
According to Goswami (1995) "whenever we ask if there is some other kind of reality beyond the material reality, we are putting material realism on the spot. Similarly, a genuine discontinuity points to a transcendent order of reality and thus a breakdown of material realism" (p. 138). What ...
Part I Addictive behavior in parents often begets addictive behavior in their offspring. According to Nakken (1988), if a child grows up in a family in which one parent is an addict, the child is likely to develop an addiction. If both parents are addicts, the child's chances of addiction ...
In the course of a week approximately 15 million Americans will attend some kind of self-help group. Why is this happening? Because people have discovered that talking and listening to their fellow sufferers has a soothing effect on the psyche, sometimes more so than doing the same thing in the ...
What is alchemy? Many of us are drawn to the mysteries of the past to enlighten the quality of the present. Mythology, astrology, the tarot, runes, and I-Ching have drawn the interest of many in recent years, and is being enjoyed and utilized in fresh and innovative ways. Ancient wisdom imbued ...