Jodorowsky, Alejandro - Psychomagic - The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy

DISSOLVE THE I

We have already created the space. The space is the here; the time is the now. In the here and in the now am I. What remains is to attack the I. We have seen the prisons of time and space in which we live, prisoners of the I. And here is the most difficult part: to make the I jump. This is the most difficult of all. Because we identify so much with this I that we defend and because we anchor onto it, we do not want to change. We are stubborn, we are recalcitrant, we are impossible, we are a monster. Purely and simply, we are a monster that we do not want to let go of. We say: “This is the way I am.”

The Romans and the Greeks said that the I was in the stomach; from there ideas are born, and they then take refuge in the brain. Other civilizations have put the I in the chest or in the nose. The I is hard to find. We entered into the work of shamans: the dissolution of the I. Actually, we see ourselves morphing, to use the terms of modern digital technology; we can animate ourselves and turn one image into another. That is to say, we must work to accept all the different changes in I, which is very difficult. Actors do this when they interpret a character, but they do not go very far because the actor is always the I and the character he interprets. But here we wish to enrich the I. And it is very easy. But no one can tell you how. If I open myself to the personality of everything, everything will talk through me. I convert myself into you; I convert myself into another. But how? In what way? I let you enter me and I express you. In this moment, I convert myself absolutely into the creator, because everything talks through me.

I am going to give an example. There is Cristóbal, my son, sitting in a wooden chair. I convert myself into him: “I am here sitting like a receptor of light, knowing that in infinite time, eternally before me, I am going to shine; that the light is going to show; that I am connected with everything.” Creativity consists in absorbing the other and expressing it—and not only in another, also in things. I convert myself into a chair: “I am happy because I like having someone seated on me. I play my role by being straight, and I am not weary; thanks to me he is here. Furthermore, my wood is not dead. There is not even one termite in me. I’ve preserved myself well. I maintain my strength, even though I am old. I am going to last a long time. Maybe I am going to last longer than him. He will disappear and I will still be here. There is no need to throw me out. I will support him. With my four legs, I am the material base upon which he can sit.”

When I began to study pantomime, the first thing they taught us was that to make gestures there is no need to make gestures. The principal of pantomime is to remain neutral. Later they will make all the gestures they want. At the same time, the basis of the imagination is to not have an imagination; it is to arrive at breaking everything imaginary. Then you can do what you want. If you do not crush the imaginary, there will always be parasites. Things are always moving in our imaginary worlds. We must cut off the internal dialogue and bring order to the emotional chaos, the invasion of desires, the undisciplined body. We must learn to dominate all of this.

BE A DOT

You can do a very simple exercise: the simplest thing we can think about is a dot. Correct? Suppose we have a pencil or a pen, and we are going to draw a dot. We have to truly create a dot with all of our spirit, with all of our emotion, as if we are opening a dot in space. We make a dot. If it is possible to create the dot, we will do many things with it later. But we must truly concentrate on creating a dot. It is the first thing one does in karate. Karateists are capable of creating a dot, a point of mental and emotional concentration. We create an intense dot, as if this dot were all the energy of the universe: a dot of total energy. Everything should be there. We must use a lot of force to create a dot. We must do it with our whole being. All concentration is on the dot, a dot, a dot . . . That is all! Well, can we make a good dot, a perfect dot, a concentrated dot? Bravo, it is a good effort. Now, we observe. I have a dot here in my forehead. My whole mind is a dot. I am concentrated on only one dot. I have an emotional dot, I have a dot here in my chest, and in my privates, all over. I can move the dot. I can put it in my mouth, here, there, in my eyes . . . My will is a dot! That is all! Do this exercise. Work with the dot. Concentrate on the energy of the dot. Introduce the dot into your bodies. It is like the exercise with space. Here all directions are concentrated at a point, the dot. All thoughts, all feelings, all desires. Once we’ve learned to make a dot, we can carry out any movement we want to. Whatever discipline we want to practice—dance, theater, karate, martial arts—everything is in place. Because it is no more than this: I make a gesture, and my intention goes there. I do what I do. Everything is concentrated, all my attention goes there, all my concentration is clear, precise. At heart, karate consists of creating a concrete point where one can hit, and that way one can break a table. But to develop the point takes years.

FINE ARTS

Now we are going to sing, but in an imaginary way, without the voice. We will sing the most marvelous song. Sing the most beautiful song without sound! Imagine that you sing with a marvelous voice. Let’s go. This is creativity. You have to sing like birds. That’s how one learns. With concentration, with strength—do it! We’re not just acting here . . . You can move, advance; don’t be quiet. Sing! Put all the intensity of a great singer into it. Put all your talent into singing. You like it, right? It’s wonderful. You can sing all you want in the most complete silence, with the mouth closed.

Okay, we’ve sung. Now we are going to create. Do what you can; I cannot give you what you do not do. As you sing, do it from deep within, with feeling, and everyone will do well, because you sing for the unconscious. Your unconscious is going to consider you singers if you sing like you know how to sing. The message goes to your unconscious, and it will be satisfied. You already know how to sing. Do you understand? Now, in my imagination, I can play the piano. You can use other instruments, but they are more difficult. We begin with the piano, using two hands, and then you can move to whatever instrument you want. Relax, play the invisible piano passionately and try to imagine that you are performing. Whatever you want, but play the piano. This exercise is wonderful. And when you tire of the piano, move to another instrument. And you will become your best. Go to the sublime with the music!

(An aside: Until now it was a child’s game. Children play like that. But now it is going to be your profession. Now, be the best that you can be! Not like a diversion. When you play, feel only the best of your soul, so that the best of your self does the playing. Give the music a limitless spirituality. Play that. I ask you for the best spiritual beauty, the sublime. You are the most beautiful. You can seduce all of humanity with your music. It’s no good to underestimate yourself; to the contrary, you must value yourself. This happens on its own. Begin, and then this happens. The concert could last all day. It’s best to do these exercises until you master them. Little by little, with practice, they begin to awaken your creative capacities, until you achieve the sublime.)

HAVE TALENT

Now I am going to propose a very simple exercise that will stimulate your talent. You do not have talent? Well, you’re going to have it right away. There is no need to doubt yourself. I have talent when I have power. And I have power when I have the right to life or death over others. From this moment on, I have power. God is all-powerful, because he can kill when he wants to. And because he can create me when he wants to. And if I am alive, it is because he pardoned me. Then the capacity to kill, to pardon, is going to create the talent. It is simple. I imagine that I am a cobra, that I have venom and that in front of me there is a monkey. I am in front of the monkey, concentrating, completely engrossed. I move, I look at it, I hypnotize it, and the monkey does what I want. It is an attitude of talent. I tell you the truth. I cause you to look at me. I cause you to be here. I have created you. There is no need for you to convert yourself into a cobra. Instead of always being a victim, the little rat that is always hypnotized, we pass to the other side. We are those who hypnotize others, okay? For this, we need to relax. Create a dot; make it rise. Then we balance ourselves because we are ready to jump, but we do not jump. We make like we are going to jump, but we do not jump. This is how we hypnotize the monkey. We do not bite it either. We only hypnotize it. You have to develop this capacity of the hypnotizing look. It is not to seduce; it is very different from seduction. With my mental concentration, I have the other in my power. Work this. This is talent. We are not attending a meeting of cobras, but a brotherhood of the wise who are like cobras, who respect one another because they know their knowledge is mortal.