Projection: We see outside what we have (or seek) inside

That's the idea behind the motto of the ancient Order of the Garter: Honi soit qui mal y pense. Then again, as the father of Gestalt Therapy, Fritz Perls, once noted: We never project upon a blank screen. Sometimes when we see a phallus instead of a cigar that's because psychologically speaking, that's what is really there.

Which brings me to today's pottery blog. I picked up this lovely little dish Imari dish in Japan years back. It's about 120 years old — late 19th Century — from what I can glean. The image of the leaping carp reminds me of salmon who swim upstream to breed and die. Sex and death. How Freudian!

Just to the right of the fish are two rocks jutting out of the waves. The one to the far right, well I don't think it looks like a cigar. The rock next to it, well, let's just say Japan does not really have a Jewish tradition.

Generativity, creativity and sexuality, are linked. And some cultures celebrate this with wit and a wink. And a reverent attitude to the power that flows from Source through all of us and all creative — an attitude that sees this power around us and available to us. An attitude that does not demonize this power, but takes pleasure in its natural expression.

Of course, you might see something completely different here. 

Comments

[Ron Slagle]

great insight and very thoughtful. I enjoyed several of the post and look forward to more comments about clay and pottery. Thanks