Two Strange Bedouins

About this poem

Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed and asserted that dreams have two types of content (intimating two levels of consciousness): ‘manifest’ content ( expressed by the dreamer in his/her “waking” moments), and ‘latent’ content (experienced by the dreamer while “asleep”). Thus, the ‘manifest’ content represents the actual, literal, yet still rationalized subject matter of the dream, while the ‘latent’ content refers psychologically to the underlying, “rhema-like” meaning of these archetypal symbols, ever alchemically churning, and merging from a chthonic realm that is anciently divinely inspired. This poem acknowledges Freud’s proposed two stages of consciousness: the one of ego consciousness (of the material things of the world), and the other of The Great Unconscious (recognized by those in the world of psychology as the Autonomous Psyche; by the Judeo-Christian Faith as The Almighty Holy Spirit, by other Faiths as Allah, as Atman, or as Brahma, and by the field of theoretical physics as “The Source” behind “The Theory of Everything”). ‘The Two Strange Bedouins’ referred to in this poem, are cast as metaphorical anthropomorphic images of, firstly, the ‘Personal Unconscious’ of Freudian and Jungian psychology and, secondly, of Carl Jung’s hypothesized archetypal ‘Collective Unconscious,’ a psychological realm existing universally, beyond the Freudian Personal Unconscious realm. Readers are asked to reflect on the purpose and function of the poet’s use of an Inclusio (a poetic device where the first and last stanzas of a poem are identical; and where there is repetition of verses in the poem’s composition). Finally, this poem is to be regarded as a companion to my previously written poem entitled “Two Strange Bedfellows.” These two poems are also linked intimately and semantically with an earlier written third poem entitled “What We Fear The Most.” Together, these three poems constitute a collective whole. They depict the timeless ritual of a repeated eternal struggle between the Ego and the Psyche (what Jung describes as ‘The Divided Self’), each component of the Psyche fearfully suspicious of the other, each nevertheless graced with a higher, ethical sense of purpose, striving to resolve the human rivalries and disputes (the unethical aspects of their natures) that, although driven or motivated by fear, are modified by an innate predisposition of ‘Correction’ markers, or ‘Instruction’ signals to seek wholeness and find peace, recognizing, ironically, that what we fear the most, is not fear itself, but the awesome “Know-Thyself” fear of who we really are, or of who we potentially can become, as a connected and integrated universal, compassionate spiritual being. more »