As a child I enacted dramatic scenes with small toy animals to try to resolve the domestic tension between my parents. Didn’t realize I was engaging in something mystical.
In my field of psychology, there is something called a "corrective emotional experience," when someone who has experienced trauma or attachment wounds is healed through a good therapeutic relationship or in a healthy support system. In a sense, they get to "reenact" their trauma with a better outcome. Some of what you described reminded me of that.
That sounds fascinating! What you describe also reminds me of a more contemporary theatrical theorist—Augusto Boal and his "Theatre of The Oppressed." He worked extensively in Latin America to cultivate social change by dissolving the boundary between audience and stage, by encouraging spectators to become “spectactors”, change the script, and reenact traumatic narratives with more positive endings in their own bodies.
Great post! Have you studied any of the contemporary mystics? Also fascinating bc they're having these same experiences while having to also hold down a 9 to 5 job. Jim Marion is a great study.
I loved Jim's book "Putting on the Mind of Christ." The title is a little stuffy but the contents blew my mind out. The first 70 pages read like a good study on the levels of consciousness we can progress through on our mystical path and then after that it gets wild. Mystics have many of the same abilities that Jesus had and suddenly we can see what Jesus meant in John 14:12, where he tells his disciples: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these..."
Project this another thousand or more years into the future and you can begin to imagine humanity's true potential within the Divine Plan.
I have heard that the early Christians, and Augustine in particular, were ill at ease with theater. Have you encountered this claim before, and if so, do you find counter examples?
Absolutely! Many of the patristics—especially Augustine and Tertullian—condemned theatre as sinful and problematic for the church. However I consider most of their criticisms to underscore theatre’s religious power rather than dismissing it. First, they argued that attending theatre was a form of idolatry—citing theatre’s original purpose as a communal spiritual practice. Second, they resented that the theatre was the cite of much of Greco-Roman Christian martyrdom and general gore and debauchery. (Alright, fair.) But finally, Augustine’s distress with theatre as an art form concentrated on the ethical implications of its integrative power. He worried that actors and audiences alike would absorb any immoral attitudes experienced onstage and in so doing pollute the church. His worry is that theatre is too good at forming us, and because Greco-Roman theatre was so depraved, forming us badly. We also have reference to some early church voices redirecting Christians to the Eucharist as a “theatre of God”, offering examples that the liturgical bent of theatre was being acknowledged even in the patristic era. Christine Schnusenberg has an excellent book on this.
Thank you for your thoughtful piece and your experience with theatre. I don’t see the connection between Greek tragedy and Christian communion. I find the notion of katharsis or purgation problematic in the context of theatre. There is considerable scientific evidence that “catharsis” is not a healing element of genuine transformation. While it might be important to purge a negative emotion or “get it out”, it is also important to do something with the material so that you as an actor or we as an audience can move forward into new ways of thinking or doing. Purging does not heal anorexia but contributes instead to a “cycle of lament.” Theatre is often used as a social practice to “purge” audiences of negative emotions--to drain the reservoir—so that they can go back into a fallen world and fill up again until another purge is needed with another visit to the theatre. This might be what Augustine was getting at with his warning that theatre “is too good” at forming us culturally. I would be interested in learning about specific examples of how theatre can make us well. The comment from a reader on a specific form of theatre in Latin America sounds promising.
Thank you for this exploration. It makes me wonder how often forms of religion work to help us avoid suffering. And then to the differences between Catholicism — which displays the suffering Christ in its crucifixes — and Protestantism which claims an empty cross proclaiming victory.
As a child I enacted dramatic scenes with small toy animals to try to resolve the domestic tension between my parents. Didn’t realize I was engaging in something mystical.
In my field of psychology, there is something called a "corrective emotional experience," when someone who has experienced trauma or attachment wounds is healed through a good therapeutic relationship or in a healthy support system. In a sense, they get to "reenact" their trauma with a better outcome. Some of what you described reminded me of that.
That sounds fascinating! What you describe also reminds me of a more contemporary theatrical theorist—Augusto Boal and his "Theatre of The Oppressed." He worked extensively in Latin America to cultivate social change by dissolving the boundary between audience and stage, by encouraging spectators to become “spectactors”, change the script, and reenact traumatic narratives with more positive endings in their own bodies.
This is breathtaking. Well done. What a wonderful and full-throated endorsement of an ancient way.
Great post! Have you studied any of the contemporary mystics? Also fascinating bc they're having these same experiences while having to also hold down a 9 to 5 job. Jim Marion is a great study.
Please check out the writings of the little known contemporary "catholic" mystic Bernadette Roberts, especially her iconoclastic book The Real Christ.
Bernadette actually realized and incarnated the esoteric "mystical" message/calling at the core of the Christian tradition.
thank you, Jonathan. I'll grab a copy now.
I have not! Thanks for the recommendation!
I loved Jim's book "Putting on the Mind of Christ." The title is a little stuffy but the contents blew my mind out. The first 70 pages read like a good study on the levels of consciousness we can progress through on our mystical path and then after that it gets wild. Mystics have many of the same abilities that Jesus had and suddenly we can see what Jesus meant in John 14:12, where he tells his disciples: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these..."
Project this another thousand or more years into the future and you can begin to imagine humanity's true potential within the Divine Plan.
I have heard that the early Christians, and Augustine in particular, were ill at ease with theater. Have you encountered this claim before, and if so, do you find counter examples?
Absolutely! Many of the patristics—especially Augustine and Tertullian—condemned theatre as sinful and problematic for the church. However I consider most of their criticisms to underscore theatre’s religious power rather than dismissing it. First, they argued that attending theatre was a form of idolatry—citing theatre’s original purpose as a communal spiritual practice. Second, they resented that the theatre was the cite of much of Greco-Roman Christian martyrdom and general gore and debauchery. (Alright, fair.) But finally, Augustine’s distress with theatre as an art form concentrated on the ethical implications of its integrative power. He worried that actors and audiences alike would absorb any immoral attitudes experienced onstage and in so doing pollute the church. His worry is that theatre is too good at forming us, and because Greco-Roman theatre was so depraved, forming us badly. We also have reference to some early church voices redirecting Christians to the Eucharist as a “theatre of God”, offering examples that the liturgical bent of theatre was being acknowledged even in the patristic era. Christine Schnusenberg has an excellent book on this.
Wonderfully articulated. Thank you for sharing these connections!
Thank you for your thoughtful piece and your experience with theatre. I don’t see the connection between Greek tragedy and Christian communion. I find the notion of katharsis or purgation problematic in the context of theatre. There is considerable scientific evidence that “catharsis” is not a healing element of genuine transformation. While it might be important to purge a negative emotion or “get it out”, it is also important to do something with the material so that you as an actor or we as an audience can move forward into new ways of thinking or doing. Purging does not heal anorexia but contributes instead to a “cycle of lament.” Theatre is often used as a social practice to “purge” audiences of negative emotions--to drain the reservoir—so that they can go back into a fallen world and fill up again until another purge is needed with another visit to the theatre. This might be what Augustine was getting at with his warning that theatre “is too good” at forming us culturally. I would be interested in learning about specific examples of how theatre can make us well. The comment from a reader on a specific form of theatre in Latin America sounds promising.
Thank you for this exploration. It makes me wonder how often forms of religion work to help us avoid suffering. And then to the differences between Catholicism — which displays the suffering Christ in its crucifixes — and Protestantism which claims an empty cross proclaiming victory.