Alejandro Jodorowsky - Psychomagic - The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy

We begin by loving things: art, people, our work, everything. We dedicate ourselves to creating and to loving. Because the other attitude drove me to do nothing, to being foiled at every turn. Creativity, on the other hand, drives you toward what you do, what you should do. And what you do, you project. And if you project it, you receive it back. Everything you give to the world, the world gives to you. Everything you do not give to the world, the world does not give to you. You need to free yourself, using creativity, from the appeal. Instead of saying “I want to have talent,” we should say, “I have talent!” Why would I want to have talent, if I have it? I want to have success. But if I have success, everything I want, I have. So, I stop asking, and I start doing my work. That is it! If I want to play music, I play it. If I want to sing, I sing. If I want to write, I write. If I want to gain money, I gain it. Period.

Because at our side are always the barriers that prevent us from fulfilling ourselves. Father, mother, true? It is this damn mind-set that has said to us: be a victim, live like a victim, and make yourself a victim. Pester another. But this is already the subject of another less accelerated course.

*1 For some years now, Jodorowsky has been hosting, without publicity, a conference-happening to deal with therapeutic themes every Wednesday in Paris. The event is free of charge; five hundred spectators attend each week. At the end of the Mystical Cabaret sessions, volunteers pass the hat to collect the money necessary to pay for renting the hall. Three days before the conference, and always free of charge, Jodorowsky reads the tarot cards for some thirty people. At the conclusion of each reading, the person who received the reading is required to trace the words “thank you” with their index finger in Jodorowsky’s hands as payment.

*2 [Marjolaine, the name of the conference site, also means marjoram. — Ed. ]

*3 [Jodorowsky coined this term to define his specific kind of tarot reading. — Ed .]

*4 [An ancient Chinese technique of self-massage. — Ed. ]

Alejandro Jodorowsky is a playwright, filmmaker, composer, mime, psychotherapist, and author of many books on spirituality and tarot, and over thirty comic books and graphic novels. He has directed several films, including The Rainbow Thief and the cult classics El Topo and The Holy Mountain. He lives in France.