People say that an Angel came to Rocklin. If you saw an Angel of the Lord with you own eyes in Rocklin, what would you do? Immediately we find ourselves asking about the ethical implications of art as it uses various symbols. It is important to remember that symbols are beyond good and evil in their first blush of birth. It is only later that reason rightly undertakes to distinguish the constructive and destructive elements in a given symbol or myth. The word symbol comes from two Greek words syn and ballein meaning to draw together. The antonym of symbolic—a fact overlooked by most people—is diabolic. This word comes from the Greek dia plus ballein, and means to tear apart, to confuse, to throw into discord. In the Genesis story of creation, the devil functions in exactly this way: he divides, sows discord between Adam and Eve, and between them and God. We may recall, too, Hitler’s diabolic use of symbols—the swastika, for example—in the service of racism and genocide. This brief excursion into etymology implies a whole system of ethics. The good is that which makes for understanding, communication, communion. This is certainly true in relations between nations, and is as true if more ambiguous in intrapsychic and interpsychic relationships. It has been emphasized that psychological ill-health is due to a radical inability to communicate with one’s World, and that psychological integration is the capacity to establish enduring interpersonal relationships. #RandolphHarris 1 of 15

When we get our resentment off our chest, all of us have experienced the profound relief and the genuine catharsis. William Blake’s famous verse is as true as it ever was: “I was angry with my friend, I told my wrath, my rather did end. I was angry with my foe; I told it not, my wrath did grow.” As if to fit exactly into our discussion, William Blake goes into mythology to clinch his point in the last verse: “And it grew both day and night, till it bore an apple bright; and my foe beheld it shine, and he knew it was mine.” How enthralling is that artistic symbol of the apple—the apple as in the Garden of Eden. William Blake is saying that anger feeds upon itself; and one experiences the double punishment of personal humiliation in one’s for being able to the “that it was mine.” Evil, in this system of ethics, is that which tears apart, shuts out the other person, raises barriers, sets people against each other. Speaking intrapsychically, the individual is locked up with oneself alone. Like the damming of a river, one’s vitality backs up and becomes brackish and unhealthy and a breeding ground for germs. One is shut up from one’s life, not in contrast, shut up with something—which latter may instead be constructive solitude. Diabolism refers to evil inherent in the process of being torn apart, the spreading of calumny. Thus Hitler had to have a scapegoat to keep his regime going, had to have war as a necessary means of gaining unity among the German people by setting them against the rest of the World. #RandolphHarris 2 of 15

Hitler was a man with both a soul and a diabolic imagination. Strangely, he was so often right. He chose symbols which were directly linked to people’s deepest hopes and fears. I am not sure of Hitler’s values, there is a story that goes untold about him seeking revenge for a doctor who killed his mother and people who seemed to be infiltrating the government and unstoppable, but one can deal with symbols best by not running away from them. If his symbols were to work, Hitler had to pick some group to be the targets or scapegoats, for which he chose the Jewish people. That was the diabolic side of his symbolic imagination. The symbols he chose were shrewd, effective, tremendously powerful. With them he squeezed a tremendous war out of the German Army. Risenthal in his propaganda films used Hitler’s symbols effectively: you see the swastika, you hear the Wagnerian music, you see the marching armies and you see this charismatic leader speaking in his strong German. Symbols and myths are neither ethical nor demonic in themselves: it is how they are used that makes the difference. Hitler could not have been changed by rational or logical arguments. Our government could not understand this. We are in this country were rationalistic people and we did not allow what was happening to get inside our feelings—therefore we could not conceive of what Hitler was up to. If we realized that people can be devilish, we can be better prepared to deal with them. #RandolphHarris 3 of 15

Hitler’s intense attacks on modern art should have tipped us off, since artists cannot help telling the truth. They are our early-warning mechanism. The German artists like George Grosz and Max Beckmann satirized the German mood in the early 1930’s, painting armament builders smoking expensive cigars and watching a flapper show. Hitler called this decadent art, and held up the art World to ridicule. The less affluent in Germany went to the galleries to mock modern art. This was another early-warning mechanism which we in the United States ignored. However, a country’s or leader’s symbols obviously do not have to be diabolic, as Hitler’s were. The example of my experience of the symbol of the American flag in Istanbul illustrates two things. The other nations’ flags were signs: they stood for something, and I decoded and filed them away in my mind as discrete facts. However, the flag of my own country grasped me as a total being, even to the point of my loneliness, my pride and guilt feeling. Thus a symbol does not stand for something, but it is a symbol of something. A sign can be intellectualized. However, symbols can be apprehended only as images, and are most effective when taken thus, as artists do. The symbol of the American flag illustrates, in our post-Vietnam day, how a symbol becomes ambiguous and then goes through a process of metamorphosis. #RandolphHarris 4 of 15

Multitudes of citizens in this day of post-Vietnam, and of Watergate and of similar crises, which they interpret as deviance on the escutcheon of the Untied States, have expressed their moral indignation at the flag, this symbol of their country. Do we achieve anything by degrading the symbol, or by burning the flag? What is changed by putting it to utilitarian use, for instance, wearing clothes made from the flag? How does spitting on the flag show contempt for a national policy? In asking these questions, we are already assuming the symbol is the nation in some strange way. Many of us, trying to bring reason to bear on the evolution of a symbol, ask ourselves: Can the meaning of the flag be enlarged to symbolize the internationalism that we see as part of the wave of the future? Can the flag be stretched to encompass planetism? Can the loyalty it supposedly engenders be stretched to include other nations? How can we achieve a viable flag of the United Nations, or NATO? I cite these questions as illustrating the process of metamorphosis through which every living art and symbol must become understood as we move into a New World. It was suggested earlier that it is not usually helpful to withhold anger for fear that our anger is based on misinformation or misinterpretation. This does not mean that we should shut our eyes to our mistakes and remain blindly angry. #RandolphHarris 5 of 15

There will often be occasions when we will be mistakenly angry. Someone will say something, for example, that is intended innocently but which we interpret as a hostile slam against us, probably because of our own self-hatred. If we suppress our anger, we will brood about the situation and a barrier will exist between ourselves and the other person. If we express our anger, however, then the difficulty is out in the open. Then the other person has the opportunity to say, “I did not mean it that way at all.” Then, if one really convinces us, we can admit that we jumped to a conclusion and the incident can be forgotten without a breach of the relationship. Sometimes when we feel angry we will suspect our anger is based on a misinterpretation. And yet it still bothers us. The best approach, as in other situations, is to express all our feelings, not just the anger. Thus we might say something like this: “I may be reading you completely wrong, but that comment you made as you were leaving this morning has really been bugging me.” To be able to recognize, and let others know that we recognize, that we are prone (like everyone else) to misunderstanding others will often open the door to more creative resolutions of anger. Very often, of course, misinterpretations have occurred on both sides and a thorough airing of feelings will lead to a new understanding and new awareness of love. #RandolphHarris 6 of 15

Couples will sometimes go through years of marriage preserving their misinterpretations of each other’s feelings. One couple, married over then years, sought counseling. They had not had pleasures of the flesh for a year and prior to that only infrequently since early in their marriage. As they talked together with the counselor, it became clear that both of them very much desired pleasures of the flesh with the other and that both of them were convinced that if they showed any warmth or made any passionate and intimate advances the other would reject them. This fear was probably well founded; for with all the unexpressed anger and frustration each of them was harboring it would be unlikely that either of them could enjoy pleasures of the flesh without finding some reason to destroy the experience. There was a history of misunderstandings in the early years of the marriage, of course, that they could blame their problems on, but the point is that never until the counseling experience had either of them openly expressed their anger, frustration, desires, and fears of rejection. And that expression was a necessary prerequisite for any experience of love, since they were so full of mistaken notions about each other. For any reasonably talented person, creative ideas and behavior come not infrequently. However, for a truly creative contribution, an attitude of perseverance must exist. #RandolphHarris 7 of 15

The implications of the creative idea or of the resulting product must be explored, the embryonic idea must be matured, the subject matter must be lived with so that it can be thoroughly worked through. There is sometimes a feeling that the product should stand as it was spontaneously produced. For most products, this does not hold. Stories must very often be rewritten many times before they convey the feeling intended by the author, pictures must be worked over, ideas must be considered and reconsidered from several different approaches before the result is sound. One issue involved in perseverance may be called the conflict between the blind lover and the Don Juan. On the one hand, it is possible to stick with an idea or creation too long, beyond the point when it is fruitful. The high status accorded the term flexibility indicates the value our culture places on giving up an idea of one’s own and being open to the ideas of others. One the other hand, an idea can be rejected prematurely, before it has had a chance to develop. The history of science is replete with cases where great discoveries were made because the discoverer persisted with his or her idea in the face of determined opposition. Dr. Freud, Galileo, and Pasteur are obvious examples. The problem then is to avoid dramatizing the blind lover by staying with one effort far beyond the point where clearly it will not develop into anything of value. #RandolphHarris 8 of 15

There are likewise many reasons for Don Juan behavior. When the product is tested, sometimes there is the fear of failing. Or interest many fall because the excitement of discovery is past and the development seems unrewarding drudgery. Sometimes the creator does not know how to proceed, since the phase of perseverance takes a different type of activity than the act of creation. Perhaps one of the most critical forces influencing premature surrender is social or interpersonal pressure. One’s World often tells a creator that one who sticks to one’s own idea is selfish, self-centered, rigid, inflexible, and pretentious. Sometimes the inability to follow through is related to attitudes toward authority. To produce something new has, for some people, the meaning, “I can do something better than established experts [authorities].” Because they have not resolved their authority feelings, this implication is much too threatening for these people and prohibits them from carrying their idea to fruition. If the connotations of selfishness and disrespect regarding a creative act can be removed, it is very likely that perseverance can be enhanced. There are also many reasons why people perseverate on an idea beyond usefulness. The authority issue may enter here, too, but in a way opposite from the above. For some children or adults who are rebelling against authority, a non-creative or conforming act has the symbolic meaning of submitting to authority, a feeling they cannot countenance. Therefore, everything they do must be done their way. #RandolphHarris 9 of 15

This attitude of my way or the highway lead to creative acts, and indeed gives strong motivation to complete the act.  Even when it is appropriate, the difficulty is that the rebel cannot make a good use of already established ideas or products. Thus one’s own creation suffers. Another factor entering into blind lovership is a strong need to succeed. Sometimes a person needs to achieve so desperately that one cannot acknowledge to oneself that one’s creation is inadequate. One feels that it cannot be, it must be good, one must succeed! This may manifest itself also in what appears to be slow work on one’s part, but what is, in fact, an inability to let go of one part of the work and go on to the next. The next method seems to provide a setting for developing the ability to persevere. At a workshop that lasts for one or two weeks, people are placed in dyads early in the week and asked to meet together for about an hour each day, often divided into two half-hour periods. The essential condition is that they continue to meet no matter how difficult their relation becomes. This requirement puts them into a situation that rarely occurs in everyday life, where a common reaction to strife is withdrawal. Remaining together forces new modes of dealing with the situation, modes which normally have been used only rarely. This allows for an expansion of typical behavior, and forces perseverance in an interpersonal relation. #RandolphHarris 10 of 15

The results of this exercise are usually very good and quite surprising. The surprise is that people are successfully able to work out relationships that they felt at one point were virtually hopeless and very unpleasant. Having this successful experience enhances the potentiality for coping and increases confidence in one’s ability to follow through a situation to a successful outcome. This new perception of one’s ability to persevere usually generalizes to other situations. The following awareness, though not exactly a technique, is an application of these ideas about perseverance. Stand was caught up in a discussion about marriage and creativity. Some of the conversation suggested an idea to him. Why not have a premarital group like the present encounter group, one where some friends and relatives of the prospective couple are invited? They are encouraged to speak openly and honestly of their impression about marriage, the problems they would anticipate for the couple, their strengths, and so forth. Excitedly he began expanding his idea when Anne interrupted, “The Italians have been doing this informally for years.” Stan kept going, but soon began to feel dampened. Anne’s comment had deflated him. She has said in effect, “Your ideas could use some improvement, this idea has been around awhile.” By concentrating on the aspect of Stan’s ideas which may have been antiqued, rather than looking at the innovative part, Anne had throttled Stan’s creativity. #RandolphHarris 11 of 15

This does not mean that the observers’ responses to creative activity should be only supportive. In all reactions, it is of the utmost importance to be realistic. The important consideration is to appreciate the novel parts of the product and be very certain before commenting on the lack of novelty. Often the idea is psychologically or personally creative, even though historically it has precedents. Further, it usually happens that the precedent is not exactly the new idea. In the example above, it turned out in subsequent discussion tat the Italians did not do precisely what Stan was advocating, and the differences were very important. This ploy is used very often in business discussions with the phrase, “we tried that years ago.” The improvement in skill in the area of perseverance, like that in evaluation, results from awareness, overcoming emotional blocks, and practice. Gratification attending the ability to follow through a task to completion is very great. Many people suffer from vacillation and the difficulty referred to in the theatrical Word as third act trouble. In common with techniques used to enhance the other aspects of the creative process, perseverance methods attempt to unleash forces that are already present and, through training, develop these forces and bring them under the conscious control of the individual oneself. The surge of pride and feeling of accomplishment and competence that results is indeed a major source of joy. #RandolphHarris 12 of 15

This completes the organized presentation of techniques for enhancing the elements of creative functioning by developing each aspect of the creative process. Two other techniques for removing emotional blocks, and for gaining more access to a person’s internal feelings, have proven so effective that they will now be treated separately and in somewhat more detail. One of these methods is derived from psychodrama and the other is a relatively new and ingenious method using the capacity for fantasy and imagination. The even balance, an image of equal relations of strength, is the symbol of justice from all antiquity, specially in Egypt. It may have had a religious purpose before being used for commerce. Its used for commerce. Its use in trade is the image of the mutual consent, the very essence of justice, which should be the rule in exchanges. The definition of justice as being made up of mutual consent, which is found in the legislation of Sparta, probably originated in the Aegeo-Cretan civilization. The supernatural virtue of justice consists of behaving exactly as though there were equality when one is the stronger in an unequal relationship. Exactly, in ever respect, including the slightest details of accent and attitude, for a detail may be enough to place the weaker party in the condition of matter, which on this occasion naturally belongs to one, just as the slightest shock causes water that has remained liquid below freezing point to solidify. #RandolphHarris 13 of 15

Supernatural virtue, for the inferior thus treated, consists in not believing that there really is equality of strength and in recognizing that one’s treatment is due solely to the generosity of the other party. That is what is called gratitude. For the inferior treated in a different way, the supernatural virtue of justice consists in understanding that the treatment one is undergoing, though on the one hand differing from justice, on the other is in conformity with necessity and the mechanism of human nature. One should avoid both submission and revolt. One who treats as equals those who are far below on in strength really makes them a gift of the quality of human beings, of which fate had deprived them. As far as it is possible for a creature, one reproduces the original generosity of the Creator with regard to them. This is the most Christian of virtues. It is also the virtue that the Egyptian Book of the Dead describes in words as sublime even as the Gospel. “I have never caused anyone to weep. I have never spoken with a haughty voice. I have never made anyone afraid. I have never been deaf to words of justice and truth.” When it is pure, gratitude on the part of the unfortunate, is but a participation in this same virtue, for only one who is capable of it can recognize it. Others experience the result of it without any recognition. #RandolphHarris 14 of 15

Such virtue is identical with real, active faith in the true God. The Athenians of Thucydides thought that divinity, like humanity in its natural state, always carried its power of commanding to the extreme limit of possibility. The true God is the God with think of as almighty, but as not exercising his power everywhere, for he is found only in the Heavens or in secret below. Those of the Athenians who massacred the inhabitants of Melos had no longer any idea of such a God. The first proof that they were in the wrong is possessed in the fact that, contrary to their assertion, it happens, although extremely rarely, that a mortal will forbear out of pure generosity to command where one has the power to do so. That which is possible for mortal is possible also for God. The examples of this may be challenged, but it is certain that if in one or another example it can be proved that the sole motive is pure generosity, such generosity will be generally admired. All that mortal is capable of admiring is possible with God. The spectacle of this World is another, more certain proof. Pure goodness is not anywhere to be found in it. This personal freedom to think and feel and speak authentically and to be conscious of so doing is the quality that distinguishes humans. The existence of evil here below, far from disproving the reality of God, is the very thing that reveals him in his truth. #RandolphHarris 15 of 15