Bridging the Ideal and the Real

This talk was given by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. on 4/18/2001. Pittman describes his near death experience when he was a five year old child. He was critically burned over 1/2 of his body and for 3 days was near death. This amazing story was blocked out as an important event in his life when he entered therapy as a 30 year old priest. Seeing he needed therapy himself when he began counseling people who came to his ministry, it was six months into it before he realized it was an important event to tell his psychiatrist. There is so much we don’t want to remember that we repress, project, deny, whatever it takes to not have to experience the pain, the loss, the memories as that is our psyches way of surviving. He tells two more personal stories of life and death and then ends with the meaning he derived from these experiences.

This talk was given by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. on 4/7/91. Pittman describes how the holiness in each of us is projected when we meet a highly developed soul such as the Dalai Lama. Resurrection, a new birth is continuous throughout our lives as it is deeply desired in the psyche of everyone. It is infectious to us when we meet someone of this stature and consciousness as we are seeing and feeling our own divinity in his presence. As spiritual beings with a deep unconscious need to express rebirth time and time again.

In part 4 of the series given by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. in April of 2004, Pittman describes the nature of the Jungian concept of the Self with a capital “S”. A synonym is God within, Buddha nature, Christ, etc. The Self occupies the center and circumference of our life which includes everything about us, conscious and unconscious including our shadow. Our Ego tends to take up residence in a safe corner with our attachments and ego defenses until we make the conscious effort to surrender to the urges of the Self. The Self will orchestrate accidents, illness, bankruptcy, divorce, etc. to get us to change. It's goal is to beckon us to become our whole self. Establishing our connection to this intrapsychic relationship (which Ed Edinger calls this the ego-Self axis) melds us to a transpersonal goal to become self-validating and true to ourselves. This empowers us in the arena of meaning, authenticity and our deepest truth.

These audios are not the best but the content is so good, I felt it was worth it to publish them. Please share them with whomever you feel would enjoy this very thought provoking series on analytical psychology. — Rebeca Eigen, web master

In part 3 of the series given by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. in April of 2004, Pittman is describing the nature of the Jungian concept of complexes, (where we have coalesced energy around a particular archetype), how they are formed and what we can do to in the second half of life to integrate our complexes so that they can serve us instead of us serving them. As Jung said, “We don’t have complexes, they have us.” He elaborates clear descriptions of the two primary archetypes we all have, the Mother and Father complexes. Other complexes clearly give us what he called a body bell. We get a visceral response to something said or done in the environment that causes us a reenactment of our complexes. This gives us an opportunity to become aware of what is driving us in order to integrate them into consciousness. We don’t get rid of them, we integrate them.

In part 2 of the series given by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. in April of 2004, Pittman elaborates on the attachments and defenses we all express. He gives detailed examples of suppression, repression and denial along with idealization or illusion (which is also a form of denial) we use to hang on to the romantic delusion of the magic other. To have these defense mechanisms is a natural part of our ego development and encourages us not to shame ourselves for being human. He says as long as we are going two steps forward and one backward, we are still headed toward in the right direction to individuation.

This 4 part series was given by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. in April of 2004. Pittman begins with a humorous and mind provoking song by Terry Allen that gave him the title for the series. He then goes on to elaborate on the developmental stages of the ego as it leaves the unconscious. By nature we lose soul when we are developing ego so the process involves becoming our own authority and this is a long, slow process that we all embark on. The Self is guiding us all along to let go of the defenses and attachments we developed along the way that keep us from subordinating to the Self and fully embracing our individuation.

This talk was given at Bridget’s Place by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. on March 5, 2005. Pittman describes our ego’s evolutionary development starting from childhood to  becoming an adult. Our ability to make choices in the beginning is shaped by our parents, surrogate parents, church, government, society, etc. He emphasizes the struggle everyone faces to become ourselves not what everyone expects of us. This talk given in 2005 is helpful to guide us in our ability to exercise our freedom to choose in the present day when we are pressed to make choices that go contrary to what society expects of us. He describes the importance and spiritual necessity of becoming our own authority.

This Sunday School class was given by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. on 6/18/1989. (scratchy in places but very worth hearing anyway).

This talk has two parts by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. on October 20 and 27th, 1996. In part two, Pittman recites two poems, one by William Butler Yeats and another one by William Blake. Then tells us what the poems mean to him. He describes the sacred task we each have to become conscious in order to evolve the creator. As Jesus said, “One discovers one’s life by giving it up.” Ultimately the entire Cosmos benefits by our becoming authentically ourselves. In his profound way, he has another view of the human being’s role in the 2nd coming.

This talk has two parts by J. Pittman McGehee, D.D. on October 20 and 27th, 1996. In part one Pittman explores six basic reasons we all fear change. He is speaking from the standpoint of developmental psychology and part two will be based on theology. Pittman explains the process of how our developing ego and its attachments to outer world people and rewards will be taken from us by the Self (the center and circumference of the soul) if we derive our identity and meaning from anything or anyone outside of us. He says the ultimate fear behind all fears of change is non being or death. This fundamental anxiety is in every human being and becoming reconciled with our own death is the ultimate meaning of the Christian myth.