‘Ecforica Euforica Estetica Pathos’ .
This series of words is a linguistic chaotic ensemble of natural human practices that reflect onomatopoeically and semantically the turbulent nature of the human ability of feeling.
The word ‘Ecforìa’ expresses the action of reviving an experience of a memory through stimuli, literally it means ‘to bring out’. ‘Euforica’ is the state of fervour of the ideas and receptiveness to positive change. ‘Estetica’ is the knowledge of senses. Through ‘Pathos’ one feels, passionately.
The word ‘Ecforìa’ expresses the action of reviving an experience of a memory through stimuli, literally it means ‘to bring out’. ‘Euforica’ is the state of fervour of the ideas and receptiveness to positive change. ‘Estetica’ is the knowledge of senses. Through ‘Pathos’ one feels, passionately.
Humans constantly feel the need to be ‘productive’, active with the visible features of their bodies.
Materialism combined with capitalism generated the ominous monster of the ‘working (wo)man’, a being thought to grow interiorizing the unnatural necessity to produce, possess and accumulate goods, so that the status of ‘worker’ becomes an instrumental fictitious privilege in order to afford to possess and accumulate. But despite this ethos has lived rooted in our behaviours and cultures for centuries now, humans will keep nurturing forever a tangible propulsion towards the sentiment of a greater fulfilment, difficult to possess or accumulate through material means: bliss.
Materialism combined with capitalism generated the ominous monster of the ‘working (wo)man’, a being thought to grow interiorizing the unnatural necessity to produce, possess and accumulate goods, so that the status of ‘worker’ becomes an instrumental fictitious privilege in order to afford to possess and accumulate. But despite this ethos has lived rooted in our behaviours and cultures for centuries now, humans will keep nurturing forever a tangible propulsion towards the sentiment of a greater fulfilment, difficult to possess or accumulate through material means: bliss.
Bliss is a condition, an abstract feeling, truly reached only when life expectation meets spiritual and practical skills and opportunities. When these elements are unbalanced the person needs to learn how to create and practice the most harmonious conditions of life.
‘To bring out’ one’s Self – authentically – is a practice that require exercise. The research for the manifestation of our truest self can be a challenging and a deceptive path, to face such a quest, humankind has relied on personal or communitarian exercises of focus, will, patience, hope. These practices commonly called ‘rituals’, in philosophy are also called ‘technologies of the self’.
They describe structured practices able to facilitate and foster self- consciousness and self-control for the body as much as for the soul.
‘To bring out’ one’s Self – authentically – is a practice that require exercise. The research for the manifestation of our truest self can be a challenging and a deceptive path, to face such a quest, humankind has relied on personal or communitarian exercises of focus, will, patience, hope. These practices commonly called ‘rituals’, in philosophy are also called ‘technologies of the self’.
They describe structured practices able to facilitate and foster self- consciousness and self-control for the body as much as for the soul.
But in the race for productivity there is little time for performing rituals, as they are regarded as unproductive and time-consuming, unable to provide an immediate tangible result. For the same reason, we mistake self-care with exercise, ecstasy with leisure, effectiveness with efficiency.
As long as it is right here, right now.
As long as it is right here, right now.
To truly ‘bring out’ one’s self, it’s necessary to learn the effectiveness of immobility, for there can be emptiness in relentless movement and wholeness in absolute rest.
To dream, to imagine, to hope, are necessary steps for us to materialise the reality we wish to live in. ‘Fantasy is a fact’ said C.G. Jung, ‘Reality is the progress transfiguration of dreams’ according to Jodorowsky. ‘Spiritus instertus atomi’, ‘The atom has a soul’, according to Democritus, Niels Bohr wouldn’t disagree.
Analytical Psychology, ancient and modern Philosophy, Anthropology, Relativity would all convene that it’s foolish to conceive the world as made of exclusively tangible elements and linear events. Reality is chaotic and complex, made of ideas before than things, and to conceive, nurture, grow and harvest valuable ideas, reflection and meditation are fundamental. ‘Ecforica Euforica Estetica Pathos’ invites to practice wonder through instinctual exercises of stupor, to trigger meditation through emotional stimulation of the soul, walking an unforeseen path of discovery in an empiric treasure hunt to get acquainted with the hidden self.
ECFORICA EUFORICA ESTETICA PATHOS
is a ritual experience.
Not a religious rite, but a fragment of time stolen from your routine, gifted to your person, body and soul equally.
EEEP is inspired to the ‘technology of the self’ and the philosophic machine.
You will be accompanied in a philosophical exploration of your psyche. With the support of digital and analogic tools, you will have the chance to reflect on latent aspects of your persona, drink to the fountain of the collective unconscious and focus on the power of your tacit culture.
A busy environment it’s not ideal for this experience, you’ll need to relax, approach the exercise with an open mind.
Remember, all the steps you will undertake on this journey are simple tools for your mind to be encouraged into a state of receptiveness to synchronicity and stimuli, every elaboration of your mind is the result of your subjective way of reasoning and the sole scope of this exercise is meditation and self-consciousness
START THE EXERCISE
To begin the experience, you will have to be provided with the golden envelope containing the card with the diagram for the exercise.
To receive it contact me through my email or instagram profile.
***
***
When you feel ready to start, as a very first step you will have to take a picture of your card right in the way it is extracted from the envelope.
At the centre of the card you will find one of the four symbols below.
THE CARD
The card is a device that allows you to experiment with a mix of introspective practices. The entire experience is based and inspired by the research and theories of Carl Gustav Jung and his studies on analytic psychology. According to Jung every human being dreams, imagine, choses and behaves under the influence of some major archetypes: psychological representations of human paradigms.
To your card has been randomly assigned one of four major archetypes (from left to right):
the Self, the Shadow, the Persona, the Anima (or Animus).
You will find your archetype in the white space at the centre of your card.
When you feel to, you are ready to go to the next moment of the experience.
THE CARD
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
The card is a device that allows you to experiment with a mix of introspective practices. The entire experience is based and inspired by the research and theories of Carl Gustav Jung and his studies on analytic psychology. According to Jung every human being dreams, imagine, choses and behaves under the influence of some major archetypes: psychological representations of human paradigms.
To your card has been randomly assigned one of four major archetypes (from left to right):
the Self, the Shadow, the Persona, the Anima (or Animus).
You will find your archetype in the white space at the centre of your card.
Take some time to absorb the message of your discovery.
Comprehend the symbolism and the hidden meanings in it.
When you feel to, you are ready to go to the next moment of the experience.
The Self. The assigned symbol is the full circle. It represents the balanced coexistence of conscious and unconscious, it’s the wholeness. It could be imagined as a body able to embrace all aspects of a person’s identity.
The Anima. The assigned symbol is the two facing moons. Anima (Latin female word for ‘soul’) or Animus (Latin male word for ‘soul’) it is the representation of the person’s psychological counterpart. They are anthropomorphic archetypes, linked to the personal understanding of the physical sphere, so linked to the percept gender. They can be imagined like the embodiment of every feature that is opposite to the person’s psychological and emotional nature.
The Shadow. The assigned symbol is the circle with a shadowed half. It stands for all the unconscious aspects of one’s identity. It doesn’t have a clear negative connotation, it must be interpreted more like a hidden, uncoded state of mind that needs to be explored and revealed.
The Persona. The assigned symbol is the eight-pointed star. It is the mask. The archetype of the social impression one exhibits to the rest of the world.
The meanings of these archetypes have been elaborated by humans and interiorized through history with the use of narrative tools like myths, legends, fairy tales, religions and philosophies. All the human practices derived from these narratives follow the path that conducts to the sublimation of all human beings, what Nietzsche called the Übermensch: the Super human.
These practices/rituals of search and revelation are performed through the phenomenic sphere, namely the tangible world of Nature and its cycles, and all these practices are build on the human physical experience of the world. Through our tangible experience of the world, in fact, we sublimate our psyche. To understand these phenomena of human existence has been the purpose of psychology, philosophy and even mathematics throughout history.
The proposed exercise will intercept ancient ethnic intuitive practices, with narrative and synchronic ones to decode and reveal unconscious features of our Self. I Ching, the book of Tarots, the phases of the elements, the trajectory of the universe, even the calculation of mathematic probability, are all narrative/philosophical systems that aim, not at all to unfold the future (as it’s commonly believed), but for humans to understand the intimate and collective unfolding of their thoughts and actions related to space and time.
WRITE YOUR DIRECTION ON THE BACK OF YOUR CARD.
The Anima. The assigned symbol is the two facing moons. Anima (Latin female word for ‘soul’) or Animus (Latin male word for ‘soul’) it is the representation of the person’s psychological counterpart. They are anthropomorphic archetypes, linked to the personal understanding of the physical sphere, so linked to the percept gender. They can be imagined like the embodiment of every feature that is opposite to the person’s psychological and emotional nature.
The Shadow. The assigned symbol is the circle with a shadowed half. It stands for all the unconscious aspects of one’s identity. It doesn’t have a clear negative connotation, it must be interpreted more like a hidden, uncoded state of mind that needs to be explored and revealed.
The Persona. The assigned symbol is the eight-pointed star. It is the mask. The archetype of the social impression one exhibits to the rest of the world.
The meanings of these archetypes have been elaborated by humans and interiorized through history with the use of narrative tools like myths, legends, fairy tales, religions and philosophies. All the human practices derived from these narratives follow the path that conducts to the sublimation of all human beings, what Nietzsche called the Übermensch: the Super human.
These practices/rituals of search and revelation are performed through the phenomenic sphere, namely the tangible world of Nature and its cycles, and all these practices are build on the human physical experience of the world. Through our tangible experience of the world, in fact, we sublimate our psyche. To understand these phenomena of human existence has been the purpose of psychology, philosophy and even mathematics throughout history.
The proposed exercise will intercept ancient ethnic intuitive practices, with narrative and synchronic ones to decode and reveal unconscious features of our Self. I Ching, the book of Tarots, the phases of the elements, the trajectory of the universe, even the calculation of mathematic probability, are all narrative/philosophical systems that aim, not at all to unfold the future (as it’s commonly believed), but for humans to understand the intimate and collective unfolding of their thoughts and actions related to space and time.
WRITE YOUR DIRECTION ON THE BACK OF YOUR CARD.
FILL THE CARD
1_
Continue your exercise by filling the groups of four boxes at the four angles of the card.
• TOP LEFT: Write down the two cifres of your day of birth in the boxes of the first row and the two cifres of your month of birth in the boxes of the second row. This is a constrain intimately related to your person.
• TOP RIGHT: Check the time. Insert in the boxes the two digits that indicate the hour in the first row and the two digits that indicate the minutes in the second row. This is a constrain of time.
• BOTTOM LEFT: Fill the boxes with the first two digits of the coordinates assigned to your latitude and longitude. This is a constrain of space.
• BOTTOM RIGHT: Fill the boxes with random digits. This is a constrain of human interference.
2_
Now that all the boxes are filled with digits, we will proceed to calculate the four final numbers.
These will be the resulting numbers of the calculation of each of the four matrices. These numbers will go in the circles near the boxes and will define your personal four archetypes.
To calculate the matrix it’s super easy! Multiply the numbers of the first diagonal (top left X bottom right) and subtract to the resulting number of the multiplication of the second diagonal (top right X bottom left).
Es:
(2 x 6) - ( 7 x 0) = 12 - 0 = 12
If the number you obtain is bigger than 21, sum the digits of your number until you obtain a number between 0 and 21.
If it happens that two or more of your numbers are repeated, substitute one of your numbers with one chosen from the group of number assigned to your major archetype (the one at the centre of your card, see below).
WRITE THE RESULTING NUMBERS EACH ONE IN THE RESPECTIVE CIRCLE.
3_
Assign the archetype to your four numbers. Scrolling down you will find a list of 22 archetypes with numbers from 0 to 21. Write the name of your four archetypes in the four spaces of intersection between rectangles (spaces in yellow), in the order that you please.
Negative numbers are allowed. The archetype assigned to a negative number is the same assigned to its positive version, but it has to be charged with the opposite semantic meaning to the positive number.If the card was extracted from the envelope upside down, change the positive numbers into negatives and vice versa, this apply to all four numbers.
Below you will find the list of archetypes.
0 TO 21
THE ARCHETYPES
0(zero). Amens
(Amens = a- mens, no mind)
Originality, madness, folly, mystic folly, obsession, loss of reason, journey, path, road, footpath, loss of possessions, wandering, tramp, irresponsibility, lightness, childhood, youth, ignorance, carelessness, lack of self care.
1. Arstifex
(Arstifex = that who masters the craft, who makes)
Youth, , endless possibilities yet to express, craftiness, mischief, prestige, holding all the cards, being immature, scoundrel, rogue, crook, trade, trader.
2. Dea
(Dea = Godess)
Feminine mysterious, feminine eternal, wisdom, blasphemy, lunar spirituality, night, initiatory knowledge, secrecy, charm, unattainable, female divinity, life mystery, secret womb, fantasy.
3. Domina
(Domina = empowerd feminine)
Strong feminine, feminine strength incline to dominate, determined feminine, feminine wit, lunar power, irresistible attraction, imagination, secular power.
4. Dominus
(Dominus = empowered male)
Dominant Solar nature, strong man, manliness strength incline to dominate, , power, dominion, tyranny, rationality, logic, systemic order, despotism, wealth, political and diplomatic intelligence.
5. Deus
(Deus = God)
Solar spirituality, dogmatism, individual unable to question themselves, subjugation, spiritual power, acritical devotion, divine knowledge.
6. Motus animi
(Motus animi = impulse of the soul)
Choice, indecision, love, crossroad, sentimental doubts, uncertainties, momentary immobility, need to choose, passion, promiscuity, vice, virtue.
7. Auriga
(Auriga = Leader)
Success, victory, leader, battle, war, confrontation, triumph, self-confidence, physical manliness.
8. Equitas
(Equitas= Equity)
Equilibrium, severity, problems of or legal victories, equity, peace, harmony, punishment.
9. Solus
(Solus = Solitary person)
Solitude, unclear emotional and spiritual moment, introspection, turbulent heart, incline to doubts, tormented situation, light in the darkness, search for silence and concentration, noble spirituality, profound spiritual search, absence of dogmatism, enlightenment.
10. Fors
(Fors = Chance)
Change, instability, victory and defeat, mobility, elevation, decline, crushing, whirl thoughts, game, gamble, fate, chance, destiny, inability to stop and to become master of one’s ideas.
11. Vis
(Vis = Energy)
Physical and spiritual strength, subjugation, inner strength, vigour, struggle, victory, dominion, torment, submission, captivity.
12. Everto
(Everto = Upside down)
Constriction, immobility, absence of escape roads, money loss, abandonment, surrender of the ego, loss of interest in earthly goods, equilibrium on the abyss, change of perspective, letting go, stream of consciousness, calm.
13. Finis
(Finis = End)
End, clean cut, new life, unexpected interruption, equality, sneer, cruelty, mind lost, incapability, fatality, disgrace.
14.Temperantia
(Temperantia = Temperance)
Balance, time, passing of time, calm, privacy, containment, discretion, tranquillity, stability, firmness, determination, being centred.
15. Dáimōn
(Daimon = Daimon)
Magic, dark forces, chtonic forces, unconscious, deep forces, shadow, darkness, brutality, sexuality, disintegration and aggregation, major force, sensuality, uncontrollable force, instinct, impetuous passion, bright darkness, wickedness.
16. Mobilis
(Mobilis = Instability)
Adversity, fall, shift in social status, destruction, loss of certainties, dematerialisation, act of God, sanctuary, fair judgement, fair decision, fatality, unstable construction.
17. Ad Astra
(Ad Astra= Towords the Stars)
Abandon, letting go, erotism, abstraction from time, femininity, lunar polarity, feminine, lightness, imagination, immortality, absence of morality, celestial spheres, polar star, cardinal point, fixed point, obscurity.
18. Lunaris
(Lunaris = Lunar)
Flux and reflux, attraction and repulsion, high tide, night, darkness, lunar, feminine, secret, mystery, unconscious, access to the inner self, fantasy, imagination, irrationality, dreams, nightmares, autumn, winter.
19. Solaris
(Solaris= Solar)
Rationality, reason, order, brightness, day, reunion, meeting with loved one, achievement of a goal, intimate reconnection, intimate acceptance, harmony, summer, warmth, spring, blooming, joy, wellbeing, overcoming the obstacle, falling in love, decision.
20. Ethos
(Ethos = Ethics)
Decisive choice, forced choice, external judgement, judgmental, severity, solemnity, announcement, begging for mercy, fear, reverential fear, rebirth.
21. Omnia
(Omnia = Totality)
Objective achieved, victory, conquest, wholeness, holistic vision, totality, fulfilment, sensitive vision, being open to becoming whole, triumph, nudity, revived paradise.
SELF
The world of the Human
(Humanity)
The world of the Human
(Humanity)
1, 0, 6, 15, 7, 9, 12
ANIMA/ANIMUS - SHADOW
The world of the Noumenon
(Knowledge)
The world of the Noumenon
(Knowledge)
2, 3, 4, 5, 14, 11, 8
PERSONA
The world of the Phenomenon (Environment)
The world of the Phenomenon (Environment)
19, 18, 17, 16, 20, 10, 13
TRANSLATION
WELL DONE!
Your card is now complete, you can start your introspective journey.
Allow yourself to have an open mind, and try to be truly honest with yourself.
There is no right or wrong way to interpret the symbols and the messages you’ll come across during the translation of the archetypes.
To narrow down your search for psychological pathways, focus on a specific aspect of your life that you would like to meditate on and read the archetypes with that context clear in your mind.
Now, that you have filled your card with your data, focus on your five archetypes. Each one of them are symbols, representations of human paradigmatic behaviours and psychological patterns.
It may sound unbelievable but, one of the most complete and reliable sources of socio-semiotic knowledge, with a convincing record of archetypical notions, is the book of Tarots. The Tarots have crossed centuries and countries of the world, and in all cultures various representations of the same meanings of the 22 arcana constantly recur hidden in the narratives of myths, folk tales and religions. This constant symbolic presence had convinced C.G. Jung that there is a permanent, shared tacit consciousness in all ethnicities that he defined as ‘the collective unconscious’.
See this card as a device for stimulating the receptiveness of your collective unconscious, and the disposition on the card of your archetypes as a logical pattern to be translated and transposed from your unconscious to your conscious state.
The 22 archetypes that you have approached are a revisitation of the 22 major arcana.
In the traditional reading of ‘the 5 cards Tarots spread’, every card is charged with a particular meaning and context depending on their position on the table (present, past, future, reason for the enquiry, potential). This habit to fix a systematic pattern to the Tarots reading is a common anthropological aptitude recorded in all practices of divination and synchronicity with nature, from superstition to the calculation of probability.
Feel free to elaborate the meanings of your archetypes, the sole scope of this exercise is reflection through the application of subjective logical patterns.
The future doesn’t exist without understanding the present.
While you explore the adaptations of the archetypes’ meanings to your life, I invite you to take notes of the stream of consciousness you will experience.
Write your thoughts in the spaces left on your card; it will help you to connect the dots and to formulate a coherent and complete analysis on which you could keep reflecting later on.
It may sound unbelievable but, one of the most complete and reliable sources of socio-semiotic knowledge, with a convincing record of archetypical notions, is the book of Tarots. The Tarots have crossed centuries and countries of the world, and in all cultures various representations of the same meanings of the 22 arcana constantly recur hidden in the narratives of myths, folk tales and religions. This constant symbolic presence had convinced C.G. Jung that there is a permanent, shared tacit consciousness in all ethnicities that he defined as ‘the collective unconscious’.
See this card as a device for stimulating the receptiveness of your collective unconscious, and the disposition on the card of your archetypes as a logical pattern to be translated and transposed from your unconscious to your conscious state.
The 22 archetypes that you have approached are a revisitation of the 22 major arcana.
In the traditional reading of ‘the 5 cards Tarots spread’, every card is charged with a particular meaning and context depending on their position on the table (present, past, future, reason for the enquiry, potential). This habit to fix a systematic pattern to the Tarots reading is a common anthropological aptitude recorded in all practices of divination and synchronicity with nature, from superstition to the calculation of probability.
Feel free to elaborate the meanings of your archetypes, the sole scope of this exercise is reflection through the application of subjective logical patterns.
The future doesn’t exist without understanding the present.
While you explore the adaptations of the archetypes’ meanings to your life, I invite you to take notes of the stream of consciousness you will experience.
Write your thoughts in the spaces left on your card; it will help you to connect the dots and to formulate a coherent and complete analysis on which you could keep reflecting later on.
You have reached the final moment of this exercise.
Hopefully you have had the chance to nurture the knowledge of your most intimate self.
This practice aims to stress the importance of working on our consciousness through pathways of introspection and discovery.
We constantly change. Our expectations, hopes, dreams evolve and transform with us through our life experiences, that is why it’s healthy and wise to stay connected with our psyche and the behavioural manifestation of its mechanism.
Inside your golden envelop you might have found, or not, some glittery stars.
Everything is a symbol for our psyche.
Educate your mind to recognise them, play with them, master them to master your intimate and collective communication skills.
‘Describe the tree as if you’ve never seen a tree before’ said Flaubert to a young Maupassant.
Give a meaning to the stars or to their absence, something totally new will come to you, if only you pay attention.
* THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME *
If you have any question or curiosity, feel free to contact me.
Below you can consult the bibliography that informed my research.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(The books titles are in Italian but most of them can be found in english too.)
Campbell, Joseph, Le distese interiori del cosmo. La metafora nel mito e nella religione. (Milano: Edizioni nottetempo, 2020)
Castiglioni, Luigi, Mariotti, Scevola, IL. Vocabolario della lingua latina. (Milano: Loescher, 1996)
Colamedici, Andrea, Gancitano, Maura, Prendila con Filosofia: manuale di fioritura personale. (Milano: HarperCollins, 2021)
Fox, Matthew, Sheldrake, Rupert, La fisica degli angeli. Un dialogo eretico tra scienza e spirito. (Citta di Castello, PG: Edizioni Tlon, 2016)
Han, Byung-Chul, La salvezza del bello. (Milano: Edizioni nottetempo, 2019)
Han, Byung-Chul, La scomparsa dei riti. Una topologia del presente. (Milano: Edizioni nottetempo, 2021)
Nietzsche, Friedrich, Così parlò Zarathustra. (Milano: Feltrinelli Editore, 2017)
Ouspensky, Petr D., Il simbolismo dei tarocchi. Filosofia dell’occultismo nelle figure e nei numeri. (Citta di Castello, PG: Edizioni Tlon, 2017)
Palmieri, Daniele, I Tarocchi e la tradizione iniziatica. La sapienza delle carte. (Citta di Castello, PG: Edizioni Tlon, 2019)
Sorgi, Giuseppe, Segni Particolari. Astrologia, miti e sabotaggi in amore. (Citta di Castello, PG: Edizioni Tlon, 2020)
Von Franz, Marie-Louise, Divinazione e sincronicità. Psicologia delle coincidenze significative. (Citta di Castello, PG: Edizioni Tlon, 2020
Interview with Dr Carl Jung 1957, YouTube link here.
Face To Face | Carl Gustav Jung (1959), YouTube link here.