NINE PSYCHO-ANALYSTS IN SEARCH OF A MYTH

C.A.V.Camargo, E.H.Sandler, E.Z.F.Botelho, F.T.Serebrenic, G.L.M.S.Cesar, L.T.L.Mattos, M.L.L.Rivera, P.C.Sandler, S.G.Wetzel

ABSTRACT

This paper deals with a group exercise. Nine psycho-analysts gathers into a group to study 'Cogitations' since 1993. With the stimulus provided by the forthcoming centennial commemoration to be held at Turin, 1997, the group decided to 'try its hand' at writing a paper that could deal just with the living experience of a group contact with the work of Bion. Unwittingly, as if it was nourished by many of the ideas contained in the book, it was observed that a free associative course was taken in putting some ideas on the paper, after a proposal made by one of the members of the group, namely, to use the myth of Ajax, in Sophocles version, as a spring to free associations. The group mirrored in its functioning the movements between PSD. There was a turning point in the possibility of shaping up a paper: someone was able to spot a 'selected fact', namely, one of the papers contained in 'Cogitations': Tower of Babel: possibility of using a Racial Myth. (Bion, c. 1960, 'Cogitations', p. 226) and also its more compacted developments contained in 'Elements of Psycho-Analysis' (Bion, 1963).

We called 'associations' some sets of free associations which included clinical excerpts, daily observations, associations to the myth and its characters, theoretical articulations. The group proceeded to examine the relationships of those associations to the myth, without altering the basic elements of the myth, and the result was the discovery, not of the myth, but of psycho-analysis. Ajax's story was not used as a subject to interpretations, but to enlighten our problems and experiences, which ranged from individual to institutional problems. The study is mainly composed by the many questions that aroused, emphasising some epistemological problems. It dealt with the nature of the very exercise the group had undergone and its possible value as well as its possible shortcomings. The paper includes a short reminder of Sophocles' version of the myth of Ajax as well as brief quotations extracted from Bion's writings, together with our own uses and transformation of Bion's hints on the use of myths as 'facts-findings tools' to the practising psycho-analyst.

There is an annex composed by the associations which is not intended to be read, but perhaps it would be useful to the possible discussions as an illustration of the steps and building blocks of the paper -- we regarded the paper is as realization in alpha; the associations would be regarded as its alpha-elements.

NOTE: The annex of this provisional draft includes only two of the 'associations' in order to give to the readers a gist of them. There are five associations in the original paper.

NINE PSYCHO-ANALYSTS IN SEARCH OF A MYTH

This paper's conception and working through took a singular course. During a group reading of 'Cogitations', one of the members of the group took seriously a specific Bion's proposal (Bion, circa 1960, p. 239) and started to freely associate to Oedipus' myth. He divided it into some themes and started to freely write down some ideas that flowed in his mind. Pressed by daily survival commitments he left aside the issue. Bion's proposal, the myth and the willingness to develop it were doomed to remain dormant and forgotten in a drawer, amongst some other psycho-analytic paper.

A full year later, perhaps more, when the group started to explore a proposal of writing down a paper dealing with the experience of a fairly lengthy contact with Bion's writings, this very same person, forgetful of his previous attempts with the Oedipus myth, proposed the exercise to the whole group, but now with the myth of Ajax. The group accepted the proposal with some reluctancy, without linking it to the texts that contained it. The texts were previously read, discussed and equally 'forgotten'

Time got by and the person who brought the proposal also brought the first 'association'. This fact was stimulated conversation amongst the group as well as it also provided stimulus to another member in bringing his own individual association; and so on.

It seemed to be a surprising move for us, since the immediate group reaction was of doubts and apparent lack of ressonance to many of its members. Although not all the members 'produced' a text out from the proposal, everyone, without any single exception, came to actively participate and to contribute in multifarious ways.

The exercise was felt as inspiring, useful. But we still did not have any ideas of what to do with the products we already had. For we also entertained a set of doubts and uncertainties in what regards to the feasibility of communicating our experience to other people. What to communicate? How to do it? And what for?

At this stage another member of the group recalled the study 'Tower of Babel: Possibility of Using a Racial Myth' (Bion, c. 1960, p. 226). The 'recall' was accompanied by an emotional experience, namely, of having 'discovered' what we were doing all the time. This sense of 'discovery' allowed for a Second move in the group, towards the working through of what we had produced hitherto. This time, the work advanced in what can be described as an intense, mutually co-operative workgroup.

Even tough this description might seem replenished with our own idiosyncrasies, we think it illustrates the group's move from the paranoid-schizoid to the depressive position (Klein, 1946; Bion, 1961) through the discovery of a selected fact (Bion, 1962b, p. 72; after Poincaré). The elements: the ideas and the individuals of the group which were previously scattered and discrete were able to cohere and to furnish meaning to the emotional experiences ignited by the proposals.

We utilised the Myth of Ajax as it appears in Sophocles' version (Sophocles, c. 440 BC). The associations and correlations which occurred to each partaker were presented to the group in such a manner that it seemed to hover and to resonate: they continuously galvanised still more associations and conversations. The proposal resulted in using the myth as a tool in ´the promotion of psycho-analytical intuition´, of repair and reawakening of each group member's alpha-function. (Bion, c. 1960, p. 240)

We endeavoured to follow two hints, namely:

1. Ajax's story was not subjected to interpretations, but rather utilised to enlighten our own problems and experiences

2. The basic elements of the story were not subjected to alteration.

Pondering over our associations we recognised that the elements they contained, either taken in isolation or taken in constant conjunction, could be emphasised through the use of The myth of Ajax. To paraphrase Bion, the result was the discovery, not of the myth of Ajax, but of psycho-analysis. (Bion, c. 1960, pp. 226-228)

This paper not only deals with the psycho-analysis we discovered, but also with the nature of the very exercise and its possible value. (What we call here 'the psycho-analysis we discovered' are some psycho-analytical issues which were apprehended with the aid of this specific myth, namely, projective identification, paranoid-schizoid position, arrogance and stupidity, depression coloured with persecutory feelings, transformation in hallucinosis). The paper also deals with some second thoughts about our 'results' and the relationship between this discovered psycho-analysis and our scientific points of view, some offshoots of the study of Bion's work, chiefly the reading and discussion of the contents of the book 'Cogitations', a task this group has been making during the last three years.

MYTH, DREAM, THEORY: CONCEPTS USED THROUGHOUT THE EXERCISE

In 'Cogitations' the course of the ideas and observations formulated by Bion concerning the genesis and role of thought processes, their disorders and the nature of human psychic reality stroke us in a powerful way, even taking in account we were fairly aqcuainted with those earlier published Bion´s contributions. The alpha-function 'theory' lives and pulses throughout this book which is in itself a realization in alpha. Therefore we could not remain ntouched by the emotional experience of this reading. The expression of the impact was twofold: in the stimuli for the discussions and in our daily clinical work.

The access to the unique Bion's ways which resulted in those highly condensed and sophisticated formulations (in terms of the Grid´s horizontal axis) as published earlier in 'Second Thoughts', 'Learning from Experience', 'Attention and Interpretation' and 'Transformations' enlightened how much of his work we did not grasp before, thus allowing further realization of some phenomena Bion described as being linked to alpha-function.

The relevance and some developments of the many phenomena appertaining to what Bion called 'dreamwork alpha' and at a later date, 'alpha-function' are fairly known and permeated our exercise.

It follows a brief summary of some of his ideas related to the myth as a tool for psycho-analytical work: the manifest content either of the dream or of the myth should be considered as individual and group versions of the same fact: the assertion that some alpha elements are in constant conjunction. The myth is a theory in the narrative form which enables the individual and the race to observe and to maintain the constant conjunction of the group's emotional experience in time and space. The narrative form, which results from the processing of emotion through the alpha-function of writer of a specific version is regarded as 'imposing an appearance of coherence and integration to these elements whose coming together might otherwise demand explanation'.(Bion, c.1960, p. 228)

Emotional experiences can be stored, communicated and published in the guise of an universally significant manner, in terms of time and space. The story is intended to deal with the emotional situation; the visual images that are verbally conveyed have to be considered alpha elements.

Bion's proposal is to use the myth as a psycho-analytical tool for exercising psycho-analytical intuition, in the same way the mathematician uses the mathematical formulation,

'...the analyst should have at his disposal certain myths, as the scientist has certain mathematical procedures; he should frequently produce his free associations to them so that he is familiar with them and their use; and he should then learn to detect from his patient's material, which is the appropriate myth and from that, what is the appropriate interpretation. Free associating to his chosen myths would then become the form of practising his craft so as to remain in training for his work.' (Bion, c. 1960, p. 239)

Free associating turns itself as an equivalent to attributing values to elements as if they were variables in a mathematical equation.

Bion also denotes that the given values are those relevant to a particular problem, and this particular problem is the personality of the person producing these free associations. The choice of the myth for this purpose might also be a clue of scientific affiliation. The myth embodies the constants and variables valid for any time span of life; the free associations attribute immediate current values to the variables; the scrutinising of the material reveals the problem, which is an essential step for its solution, is there is any.

As Italo Calvino puts it in the introduction of 'Italian Fables':

'Ora che il libro è finito, posso dire che questa non è stata un'allucinazione, una sorta di mallatia professionale. È stata piuttosto una conferma di qualcosa cui prima accennavo, que l'unica mia che mi spingeva al viaggio tra le fiabe; ed è che io credo questo: le fiabe sono vere.

Sono, prese tute insieme, nella loro sempre ripetuta e sempre varia casistica di vicende umane, una spiegazione generale della vita, nata in tempi remoti e serbata nel lento ruminio delle conscienze contadine fino a noi; sono il catalogo dei destini che possono darsi a un uomo e a una donna, soprattutto per la parte di vita che appunto è il farsi d'un destino: la giovinezza, dalla nascita che sovente porta in sé un auspicio o una condanna, al distacco dalla casa, alle prove per diventare adulto e poi maturo, per confermarsi come essere umano. ...la comune sorte di soggiacere a incantesimi, cioè d'essere determinato da forze complesse e sconosciute, e lo sforzo per liberarsi e autodeterminarsei inteso come un dovere elementare, insieme a quello di liberare gli altri, anzi il non potersi liberare da soli, il liberarsi liberando; la fedeltá a un impegno e la purezza di cuore come virtú basilari che portano alla salvezza e al trionfo; la bellezza come segno di grazia, ma che può essere nascosta sotto spoglie d'umile bruttezza come un corpo di rana; e soprattutto la sostanza unitaria del tutto, uomini bestie piante cose, l'infinita possibilità di metamorfosi di ciò che esiste.' (Calvino, 1956, p. 14-15)

THE MYTH OF AJAX

Achilles was the hero of the mycenaeic coalition and now he's dead. There arises a question: who, among the possible candidates, really deserves the possession of Achilles weaponry? There were two candidates bidding for it, outstanding warriors: Ulysses and Ajax. The latter fought bravely and thought himself as the one and only person who merits the arms. Nevertheless Ulysses was the chosen instead. Filled with spiteful hate Ajax makes up his mind. He decides to murder all the chiefdom of the Achaians, the whole triumvirate of warlords: Ulysses, Agamemnon and Menelaus. Palas Athena interferes, leading him into error: in the belief that he is killing the micaenic leaders, in fact he slaughters the livestock which was taken as war remains from the defeated Trojans. Before long this bloody fact occurred, the goddess allows him to realize his mistake and deed. As soon as his perceives the truth of his condition, Ajax commits suicide.

Sophocles' tragedy does not begin at the twinkling of the dispute; the scenario is set when Ajax realizes his mistake. It also displays many other elements, such as the role played by Palas Athena, the relationship between Ajax and his wife Tecmessa and in a following act, the contention over the appropriate fate to Ajax mortal remains. Our associations emerged out from this Sophocles' version of the myth.

ON THE ASSOCIATIONS

The individually formulated associations were presented to the group. The very presentation for its turn stimulated discussions, correlations and renewed associations. Since the meaning of this effort was not to achieve an end-product but to exercise ourselves, we choose to present the many contributions in the form of an annex to this text, with an illustrative function; we shall proceed now to our second thoughts and questions.

THE ELEMENTS OF THE 'ASSOCIATIONS'; SOME CONSTANT CONJUNCTIONS; GROUP DISCUSSION

Bion suggested that each psycho-analyst should build his (or her) own inventory of myths, his or her 'fact finding tool' (Bion, 1963, p. 66). Mating our previous experiences with the working through of the present paper, we considered that some manifestations can attain the status of a 'myth': texts and excerpts from classical authors; fables; fairy tales; Biblical themes; some personal experiences stemming from each psycho-analyst personal life. Briefly stating, anything that concerns psychic reality that was worked through dream work (chiefly in each one's individual analysis), something that enables one to freely move from particulars to universals and back.

To most of the group's members, the myth of Ajax evoked considerations relative to transformation into hallucinosis (Bion, 1965, 1970). It came out a question: 'Are these the considerations exclusive of any other contained in the myth?'. There is an assumption calling to investigation: why does this group evoked in itself this specific kind of consideration out of this myth? What are this group's 'mythical' postulates?

It was suggested by one of the members that we should return to the myth in order to make an attempt to meet this question, in the same way Bion exemplifies, in 'Tower of Babel', with the Myth of Narcissus. Therefore we would have to scan the elements of the constant conjunction presented by the myth were correspondingly present in the associations. If the scanning fails to find the counterparts of the myth in the associations, this could lead us to conclude that perhaps another myth would be more fit for the task. We did not carry on this task; there was a discussion about its need and its feasibility.

There emerged other ideas, ranging from the suspicion that this specific myth should bring -- at least to this group, in an inexorable way, those associations -- to the hypothesis that, if some elements were present, it would suffice that each one of us would build a myth, or would select out from the myth the needed elements. Would be the exercises, clinical work and theoretical bridgings in psycho-analysis a false question, since we are bound to demonstrate what we already believe, to see what seems to be familiar to us? Would we ever foreordained to experiment a kind of déjà vu, as Bion warns us in this very same paper?

There was no doubt that from from the point of view of each individual as well as from the point of the view of the group, the proposed exercise was a stimulus to free associations, correlation and discussions. It also allowed for the 'notation' of some concepts and constant conjunctions and their 'publication' via a narrative form. To what they are pointing at? We think that, first and foremost, to our scientific affiliation.

One of the 'associations' made a comparision between the quarrel over the ownership of Achilles' weaponry with some attitudes within the psycho-analytic movement: quarrelling and contentig over the ownership of 'our Absolute Truths' and the 'Supremacy' of our own points of view (Bion, 1975, p. 49).

Perhaps our great heritage of our affiliation is the possibility of putting ourselves into a halt in order to have second thoughts and thus we may interrogate ourselves about our 'science', our practice, our conceptual systems and not simply to abandon ourselves to the worshipping of 'myths', now using other meaning oftenly ascribed to the term, namely, lies, falsehood and hallucination, the field of minus K [-K] (Bion, 1962b, p. 95).

We think that some myths, such as this one of Ajax, are of the utmost importance to the survival of the human species in the sense they perform a function of 'containers' (Bion, 1962b, p. 89), a preservation medium as well as expression of a specific constant conjunction which conveys that unlimited and ineffable arrogance, violence, cravings to 'unlimited ownership' of whatever it be, possibly associated to greed for an omnipresent, inexhaustible breast leads to tragedy

Transformations in hallucinosis are an plea to survival in the absence of psychic development, but they bring with themselves a painful ambivalence: in the extent they warrant material survival, they destroy the possibility of obtaining real growth, life. In this fin-de-siécle, during this Bion's centennial, what should we consider as a matter of necessity in order to ensure the real survival of psycho-analysis and to its development?

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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

BION, W.R. (circa 196?).Tower of Babel: possibility of using a Racial Myth. In 'Cogitations', p. 226. Francesca Bion, ed. London: Karnac Books, 1992.

_________ . (1961). Experiencias en Grupos. A.Nerbia. Buenos Aires: Paidós, 1963.

_________ . (1962a). A Theory of Thinking. In Second Thoughts. London: Heinemann Medical Books, 1967.

_________ . (1962b). Learning from Experience. London: Heinemann Medical Books.

_________ . (1963). Elements of Psycho-Analysis. London: Heinemann Medical Books.

_________ . (1965). Transformations. London: Heinemann Medical Books.

_________ . (1975). A Memoir of the Future. Rio de Janeiro, Imago Editora Ltada. Also London: Karnac Book, 1992.

CALVINO, I. (1956). Fiabe Italiane. Roma: O. Mondadori, 1993.

SOPHOCLES (C. 440 B.C.). Ajax. In The Great Books of the Western World, vol. 4: The Plays of Sophocles, translated by John Moore; Chicago: The encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 1994.

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Paulo Cesar Sandler

©1997 - Copyright by C. A. V. Camargo