Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
Table of Contents:
Autobiographical
More God-Talk
I speculate. I dare to do this, because nobody who has any authority that I respect says thou shalt not speculate, and anyway, it’s not about you or others, it’s just witnessing to what works for me. If it stimulates you, if you agree in any way, or you find you disagree, it’s all grist […]
More Kabbalistic Tree of Life Pictures
In a previous post I put up some of my Tree of Life pictures. Here are some more. This was done some 37 years ago, or thereabouts. It’s based on the way the snake symbol travels “down” and “around” in manifesting. The ten spheres of activity are portrayed in geometric designs. I’ve enjoyed exploring the […]
Movin’!
ll has been a-flurry! We sold our house in Sun City Texas and are planning to move to mid-coastal California, San Luis Obispo, half-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The railroad stops there, and we hope to use it more. So much “stuff” to pack. It’s our precious treasures! It’s our crap! It’s mixed. […]
Multi-Perspectival Man: Historical Background
2nd episode: Multi-Perspectival-Man didn’t come crashing out of the sky in a rocket ship. He emerged naturally in his human form as just this guy, a product of cultural evolution. But, wait! What about his ancestry, and the world in which they lived? I mentioned earlier that there’s a lot to distract one nowadays. Yes. […]
Multi-Perspectival-Man!
Chapter 1, in which our hero is introduced. (Pronounced multi- per-spect-ai’-vuhl (with the accent on the ai syllable): This postmodernist, sort-of hero’s main superpower is that of bending reality to his will—at least in his own imagination. In ordinary life, he remains disguised as mediocre-man, an unassuming drone in the great hive of humanity. But, […]
My “Shadow” Complex Cartoon Characters
“The Shadow” complex is the English word for what Jung called all those parts of the usually unconscious psyche that are repressed, that are incompatible with healthy self-esteem. Yet I am somewhat aware that I played with characters associated with this complex in some of my old drawings and cartoons. I’m a bit embarrassed about […]
My “Third Age”
In some ways it’s a denouemont; in some ways a penultimate performance. Priorities: Hang out with Allee, care for and be cared for by my daughter’s family; get to know the new community of San Luis Obispo, along Hightway 101, near the coast, half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It’s a return to […]
My (?) Identity
As another bit of mythmaking, this metaphor is useful: I’m but a cell on a finger-tip of God. We cells sort of know about the other cells that make up the skin, and there are other cells in the subcutaneous tissue, pressure receptors and such. Here the metaphor shifts over to the ranks of angels, […]
My Angels!
Dear angels, helping me to be. There’s a platoon of them, some 25 – 35, I guess, though I don’t know. More than 15 for sure, less than 70, but they do have access to liaison angels, consulting angels from another sphere, and so forth. The great God-of-Everything-Becoming is way too busy being a billion […]
My Angle on God (Part 1)
I assume, first, that there are innumerable ways to apprehend the Greater Wholeness of Being, the Everything that Includes the Dimensions of Mind and Realms-as-yet-Inconceivable, and That Which No Mind Can Begin to Imagine. There are bunch of other words or phrases that could be used. Second, I grant myself a unique viewpoint that reflects […]
My Approach
This list is about 24 years old, written while I was still practicing psychotherapy and serving as an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Louisville: 1. Weave “inner connections,” using arts, drama, the urge to creativity. 2. Develop “psychological literacy,” skills for managing thoughts and feelings, basic knowledge that such skills can […]
My Approach in Psychotherapy
I found a piece of paper listing “My Approach,” written 6/15/93, at the height (?) of my career: Indeed, I sorta did it. Looking back I think it was extraordinary, but it seemed to be what’s needed: 1. Weave inner connections, using art and creativity. 2. Develop skills of psychological literacy—basic knowledge, education, […]
My Autobiography
It is infinitely expandable—well, not literally “infinite” but a lot—and also capable of being edited down to a few lines for those who are not interested. How much to put into my obituary? For those who read my obituary, it seems that there could be several lengths: (1) addressing just the high points briefly, for […]
My Core Myth
Far from me considering that I can say what my own purpose on Earth is. I am deeply apophatic, meaning that I believe rather strongly that I cannot begin to think about what it’s all about, nor what I’m all about. Our accelerating discoveries about the universe prove to me that whatever our philosophies were […]
My Dharma
It seems to me that we have many dharmas, worthy paths, duties. Mainly my paths calls on me to be a loving man to my family. There are many other things to do, such as maintain my health. Aside from those, though, my dharma or path seems to be primarily to witness to ideas, and […]
My Faith (?)(!)
How embarrassing. I used to think of myself as an unbeliever! But I’ve come round. A friend really challenges me. He is where I was ten years ago. He made me realize that I have truly delved—what a portentous word!—and I don’t want to give that short shrift. I have taken LSD a few times; […]
My Karma
I’ve had it easy. No, Uncle Bud says, You were given the stresses and challenges you could handle, precisely calibrated to your talents and potentials. A small part of this judges—erroneously—and compares myself to the cultural ideal of the courageous and stoical Marine who takes on stresses of the training and the battlefield that would […]
My Offspringing Kidlings
I was feeling apologetic about my inability to really get into kids, stimulated by a comparison with Allee (my wife) and my daughter, who are more people people. Allee said, Your writings are you “offspring-ings” and I later had the thought, “Verily, the are my “kid-lings.” (Well, I didn’t say verily, but you get the […]
My Quiet Rebellion
Me? a rebel? No way. I was so intimidated by everyone who was so sure of themselves and I certainly wasn’t. But on the other hand, as mind is wont to do, I did secretly rebel. I didn’t know that it was a rebellion until a few decades ago. It was disguised as a simple […]
My Role Repertoire
Frank Sinatra, in one of his performed songs, “That’s Life,” sings: “I’ve been a puppet, a pirate, a pauper, a poet, a pawn and a king,” —and the song goes on. I realized I, too, have played many roles: I am a fairly good ballroom dancer—or at least I was—a folk and square dancer for […]
My Shadow Complex Characters
The ”Shadow” complex is the English word for what Jung called all those parts of the usually unconscious psyche that are ordinarily repressed, that are incompatible with most people’s self-esteem. Yet I am somewhat aware that I played with characters associated with this complex in some of my old drawings and cartoons. I’m a bit […]
My Son’s Soon-To-Be-Published Book!
Spectrums: Our Mind-Boggling Universe from Infinitesimal to Infinity due out from Walker Books, November, 2012
My Spiritual Myth
The first statement is that I don’t know; and my best guess is that I will never know. Nore, to take it a step further, do I think that any human mind can really grasp what it’s all about. This active abdication from the arrogance of trying to name or know “the Everything” goes by […]
My Spiritual Myth
Here’s my statement of faith. First a qualifier: I believe that I don’t know and in my best guess, will never know, nor—to take it a step further—can any human mind really grasp what it’s all about. The hi-falutin’ word for that position is “apophatic.” Another way to say this is that the highest mystics […]
My Visions for the Future
I am a visionary. I don’t claim to be all that great at it, but it’s what I do: I envision what could be. In terms of Jung’s theory of temperament, I’m an intuitive type, I naturally think about things in terms of future possible implications. I’ve also been exposes to a bunch of ideas […]