01/09/2024
Paradox
Paradox challenges the orthodox, but paradox is not achieved in thought, for paradox is about the ‘union of opposites’ and as Tom Chetwynd ©1982 correctly states in his Dictionary of Symbols Thorsons edition 1998 p314,
“The UNION of opposites cannot be achieved by the Thinking FUNCTION, or the Conscious Ego, which always stands opposite the Unconscious, where everything is reversed as in a MIRROR. Paradox expresses the two sides of life and nature, which are double-sided, double-edged, both conscious and unconscious. These two sides can only be reconciled through will and action, when Conscious and unconscious work in unison, with the Ego related to the higher SELF. Paradox is despised by the intellect, but prized by the whole person. By holding both sides of truth in conscious opposition, paradox can become the agent of their union. It stays rather close to the feminine archetype of Life, rather than the masculine archetype of Logic. It has a value in expressing intuitions about the Future and in relating to the UNKNOWN.
Paradox was of particular importance to the ALCHEMISTS, who used it to describe their Philosopher’s Stone, the goal and product of their labour: Their work was to heal the SPLIT in consciousness first by clearly differentiating the opposites and then by expressing both sides in one breath.”
Repairing the = sign, reconnecting E to mc²