Dante et Jung, revisited

celebrating the birth of Dante... 21 May 1265

some of my thoughts that I have been drafting on Dante to date:

in current reading of Dante I note the "shades" in Dante and "the shadow" in Jung. Always loved Jung's Mysterium on alchemy and noticed Dante cites the "vessel".. writing in that critical gnostic era of the Holy Grail. Havent read Dante in ten years and my first thought was of Walter Benjamin.. connections/references/meanings. poets of history

DANTE:

b 1265, d1321

Dante a Guelf, of Pope, versus Ghibelline, of Emperor

Commedia set Easter 1300 (Jubilee Year, 1300)

-read Nov/Dec, 2000 post Sarfatti-

 INFERNO

Canto I: amazing statement in the woods..
savage animals

II with Virgil....start

“Amor mi mosse, che mi fa parlare,” “love has moved me, and makes me speak.” ahh to fall asleep with the universal thoughts of Dante moving in my head.. c'es magnifique 
identity: Paul or Aeneas? Jung personality 1 or personality 2?  
the divided will

Canto III to Hell, met Charon

Canto IV the unbaptised; Monsters @ each circle entry.

pre First  of Hell still light, quiet.

Reading Dante "Comedy" again.. thank you Pope Francis, no doubt those in the first circle of hell should all be in heaven now!

Canto V 2 o yet first, illicit love re: Boethius

Canto VI 3o Gluttons, in cold, rain & snow.

Canto VII 4o Avarice: weights crush down on each other;

Anger -smiting each other dark & marshy;

Fortune.
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/11/18/recapping-dante-canto-7-or-hell-by-the-numbers/

charity requires courage but it is what makes us human

End of the day giving thanks to understand that charity and compassion is what makes us all human. The idea of caregiving I learned particularly in reading Ann Burack-Weiss. "True charity requires courage: let us overcome the fear of getting our hands dirty so as to help those in need" -Pope Francis

My Mom would so love Pope Francis. She was born on the birthdate of her favorite Pope, John XXIII. I have the mass card she kept of his papacy.  What more can I say about a Mom who was the first person ever thanked by her County and the State of New Jersey for just listening to people with special needs, those most of us run away from. 

This past year I have been blessed to see the love between my Dad and a brother with special needs as they slowly said goodbye in our Dad's fight with Alzheimers. I asked over 200 people to get a ride and finally wonderful journeys. 


Thank you for parents that I witnessed rally to show love, charity and compassion for others. Proud that they loved me.

Thinking of the son of a neighbor who died about a year ago. He was so crippled but he was the biggest help in her eyes. Thank you universe that I knew him and always have that memory of their family.

carpe diem in la manana

Legacies of Mom, Dad...

Sent a letter to a local newspaper editorial, today.

"A joy to read on the advocacy work of State Senator Richard Codey, particularly on behalf of mental health.

On October 21, 2013, our Dad, the father of 9 children, died at age 86, after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's. His passing is so soon, his estate and legacy still to be sorted these days. I think now of our sister who died August, 2012, and of the death of our Mom in 2006 after a brief period of illness. 

The wake and funeral for our Mom included: family/friends, countless DailyRecord employees, and numerous people whom our Mom had befriended in her advocacy work for NAMI. This community of consumers advocated for a memorial to my Mom through Senator Codey. In early 2007, the first Sussex County Freeholder memorial for an advocate on mental health issues was held. I am sorry the event was never covered by the Daily Record but maybe as so many employees supported our Mom. Our Mom would not have wanted all the attention, she simply sat with people and listened.  From this event, $50k in stigma education was budgeted in her memory. 

Senator Codey did not receive recognition for his efforts but the event and legacy has been inspiring to thousands, many of whom cannot advocate for themselves.  I posted a video on the life of Rita Harding Wright at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQppEXGoSOk

Thank you Senator Codey. Thank you Daily Record for your notice of his work. "

Goodbye Dad.. RIP as I pray and will always love ya

RIP for my/our Dad this morning. He died at 4am, at age 86. A brother and I visited on Friday at the hospice. He had a strong will and it was a long goodbye with his Alzheimer's. My sympathy and love for us siblings, family, caregivers and friends

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailyrecord/obituary.aspx?n=robert-f-wright&pid=167699426&fhid=8694

Our Dad died on 21 October which is the feast day for the relatively obscure Saint Viator. My Mom's paternal family literally built that parish.. donated stained glass, parish councils, an Aunt and an Uncle worked at the church. My parents were married at Saint Viator's in August, 1953.. 60 years ago. http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=246 — at Saint Viator Roman Catholic Church

Good morning 22 October. Thanks for the sympathies.. it means a lot. I didnt sleep well; a brother phoned as he is fighting with everyone where he lives; I know it must be devastatingly final for some of my sisters. We will always love our Dad and thank him for doing the best he could. A tough time. My neighbors are kind.. chats, especially with one of the fathers whose 2 boys were born in Park Ridge, IL. We have had so many chats about Park Ridge in the basement cafe in Newark, NJ. Watched Palm Springs videos and got bored, so... dunno.. back to carpe diem! thanks and hugs to all

In the last year of our Dad, we went from 9 chldren to 8 after the death of our sister Mary. Mary pretty much became the center of the family and outreached to all of us siblings. After her death in August, 2012, our Dad began a pronounced decline. My sister died after a long illness but David Sedaris has a poignant story of his family. So many similiarities! Love the story!http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/28/131028fa_fact_sedaris?utm_source=tny&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weeklyemail&mbid=nl_Weekly+%2860%29

Judith Butler is brilliant on the nuances of Benjamin.. the messianic qua revolutionary spark crystallized when oppressed history breaks out of the banal normal of history. Thunderclap Newman 1969.. the revolution is here and we/i believed it was.. we knew it was right to blast out and get it together now, jetzt! Thanksgiving 2011 at Occupy Newark.. another zeitgeist when what we were doing was right in a moment of pregnant messianic possibility! In a small way, being with my brother and Dad in the hospice, an awareness of DAD's lifespan, crystallization of death, and the reality of jetzt in life. I was there in the messianic but....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtRwOkGV-B4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK_6TU1T7V8

A beautiful sympathy card from some of my neighbors, given to me. Over the past year I had frequently talked about having my Dad visit with me here.. the elevator, store, transit, ease of being here. He would have enjoyed the attention here. I am touched by the kindness and remembering, Thanks so much.

RIP Eda Goldstein

RIP Eda Goldstein! Re-reading "Ego Psychology and Social Work Practice", 1995. A brilliant seminal text and paradigm. Amazing writing of case studies. She definitely had major impact as a theorist. She was also a girl who could party!

Of course, I have no idea to the context nor reason, and it was summer in one of the 10 richest towns in the USA, and all women. A friend shared stories of Eda and a friend topless in the Hamptons. Def a European-inspired woman! I loved to say hello to her at social work events. She had no clue I knew the stories, but I always thought what a fun person. What a contrast to the boors when I think of the clinicians who are "all that" with their officiousness and hocus pocus jabber!

Dr. Goldstein def was da big BOSS in social work and I loved her for being a real mensch! Always to be missed and remembered, and reading her writings! I wish I could have given her a big hug!

http://www.nyu.edu/socialwork/news/79378

RIP Susan Mills, former United Nations CFO

http://www.peckandpeck.net/feenstra.htm

1990, February photo at surprise party for a friend. Susan Mills, then UN CFO, one of the most powerful women in the world at the time, with husband.

RIP Susan Aug 2011. A year has now passed (sept 2012) and I could write a book about Susan Mills. She axed my optioning for a job at the UN in 1993. I knew all about her personal life and def she protected herself. The UN is an arena! I met with HR people, discussed salary and posting. I then got the fastest rejection letter. I later found out she had visited with the interviewers. Anyhow, She always argued with me and of course she always had to be da boss. Well, I could be posted in a malaria infested place or dead in one of the ambushes against UN people.

I am just surprised that there were no real memorials for her in her passing considering her power. I can only think what is a life. Perhaps her husband will leave more of a living legacy in her name in lieu of the huge rural mansion she erected and now almost empty. She did leave funds for several organizations. She was quite a dynamic lady so it is weird to know she is now dead. She was such a booster for the ideals of the United Nations at least! da stories of life!

Christian Dominionists and AIDS

oy today my building's Christian Dominionist rapture wannabees leaving pamphlets on "what would you do if Jesus knocked on the door?" No doubt, I would go on psych meds as I would be hallucinating! I have been blessed! I always remember sitting with over a thousand AIDS patients as they died. At times, the nun, a nurse and I oft only there. Many of the deserted had lovely "Christian" families too embarrassed, bourg, or caught up in their own salvation. Who would really want to spend eternity with people like that? The universe allowed me to have glimpses into the meaning of others. I have zero doubt these "sinners" had angels cradling them!