Hunger and Eating Considered Archetypally

[Rhayader]

I was just pondering earlier the nature of food/sustinence as I was vomiting. Food is catalyst and therefore necessary for survival. It is processed by digestion and we take what we need and discard the rest. Regurgitation is perhaps rejected catalyst and is something the body doesn't want to even process. The second part of my mental meanderings led me to think food as also the harvesting of the experiences of the living matter we chose to ingest. We harvest more than just the physical vehicles of these beings.

[Namaste]

Fun analogy indeed :¬)

Wolf - you know a hardcore seeker when they're pondering catalyst while vomiting :¬)

[Spaced]

Here's my view of how consumption of food would look thru the lens of the archetypal mind. I'm not sure I've got it down tho, I find it somewhat confusing because the archetypes involved in each complex vary. For example, in the mind complex hunger is the catalyst whereas in the body complex the food itself is the catalyst while in the spirit the feelings evoked by the digestion process would be the catalyst (maybe?).

This is just looking at the body complex:

MATRIX -> The body's energies are flagging, this departure from a state of Balance manifests as hunger pangs
CHOICE -> I can choose maintain vigilance over my food intake to avoid feelings of hunger or I can allow myself to go without food long enough to experience hunger. I can choose to expend energy on various pursuits or I can choose to conserve energy. etc.

POTENTIATOR -> Wisdom dictates that these pangs can be dealt with by consuming food for energy.
CHOICE -> I can take action to return the matrix to a state of balance or I can further explore this unbalanced state (suppression of catalyst). I can choose a healthy food or an unhealthy food.

CATALYST -> Food
CHOICE -> Eat the food or don't eat the food.

EXPERIENCE -> Reaction to the food at the time of eating/not eating.
CHOICE -> Yumm! Yuck! or I'm not eating that, I'm fat enough as it is (or some other reason)

SIGNIFICATOR -> How does the food make you feel?
CHOICE -> Reflect honestly on how your diet effects your mood, energy level, etc. or don't

TRANSFORMATION -> Does this experience cause you to change your relationship to food?
CHOICE -> Change your diet to better suit your body's needs or don't.

GREAT WAY -> The Alchemist has completed his experiment which has 2 benefits: 1) Allowing the seeker to further develop their relationship with food 2) returning the energies of the body to a state of balance.
CHOICE -> What's the next experiment?

Anyhow, that's my stab at it. Dunno how accurate that is, but I do like this kinds of exercise I'm trying to become more familiar with the archetypes.

[Adonai One]

I believe you understand the archetypal mind well, very well, Spaced. It becomes a bit perplexing when one attempts to unify the mind/body/spirit but it does serve as a challenging exercise that I am still struggling with.

I have been informed of the following:

You may wish to explore The Significator more deeply. You pierce its surface as one begins to transition from The Experience, and even with this you may still intuitively understand it. You pierce The Matrix and The Choice in a similar way -- with further exploration of these three (The Significator, The Matrix, The Choice) you will inevitably reveal much.

As far as I can see, you are very familiar with the archetypal mind with limitless potential. I think you have a near-complete understanding.

I've enjoyed reading your interpretation very much and it has revealed much for me.

[Spaced]

I think the relationship between Choice, Significator and Matrix is that in every step a Choice is made, the Significator holds the sum of all previous Experience which help inform the biases which determine how the Choice is made and the Matrix is the arena where these catalytic reactions take place. The Significator can be consulted with to identify and work with biases (Transformation) but this requires a conscious Choice and a high degree of honesty. The Significator of the Spirit is especially difficult to consult as the Experience of the Spirit can easily lead one astray

[Unbound]

Matrix:

Body - I am (hungry)
Mind - I exist (with hunger)
Spirit - I be (in hunger)

Potentiator:

Body - I can (be hungry)
Mind - I do (get hungry)
Spirit - I care (about hunger/being hungry)

Catalyst:

Body - I take (hunger)
Mind - I obtain (hunger)
Spirit - I receive (hunger)

Experience:

Body - I have (hunger)
Mind - I dwell (with/in hunger)
Spirit - I need (hunger)

Significator:

Body - I continue (to hunger)
Mind - I dream (of hunger)
Spirit - I speak (of hunger)

Transformation:

Body - I will (be hungry)
Mind - I desire (to be hungry)
Spirit - I seek (to be hungry)

Great Way -

Body - I sense (hunger)
Mind - I perceive (hunger)
Spirit - I imagine (hunger)

In a nutshell, my thoughts on the configuration of the hunger concept ran through the archetypes. I separate the concept of hunger from any other associative thoughts such as alleviation of the hunger or emotional feelings towards the hunger as I feel what is archetypal is truly a matter of absolute oneness of selfhood in being while still being part of the collective experience or transfer of energy. Thus, the "hunger archetype", in my mind, would only include those raw elements of the actual state of hunger itself, any new thought which can be mutually individually and universally applied must engage a complete new phase in the archetypal structure. This happens uncountable numbers of times per second, as far as I understand.

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Imo, hehe!

[GentleReckoning]

This would explain why people eat their emotions.

[michael430]

[deleted]