Image 1 (see section below)
Recent Art by BTS, through the Lens of My Objective Psyche
By Wade D. Peterson, Minneapolis, MN
A guest blog by a long-time Speaking of Jung listener.
This little essay is an analysis of recent art by BTS, made through the lens of my objective psyche. By that I mean I use a process of active imagination called the “…signal that registered in my mind…” technique.¹ I clear my mind, focus on some stated goal, and then write down my thoughts verbatim, including any associations I might have. It’s a running dialogue of thoughts and images, usually recorded as a collage.
It’s also an example of what Jung called the objective psyche, meaning that it’s an objective record of how my conscious Ego, as influenced by my unconscious, reacts to and filters whatever I am presented with. In this case the stated goal is: “to understand the symbolism of recent art produced by BTS.” ²
This past week I made a connection (projection) between the story of Jesus Christ and the recent works of BTS. I first made this connection after reading the following two tweets by Laura London:
“[T]o find their #soul, the ancients went into the #desert." ~C.G. Jung, The Red Book, p. 236
4:45 PM · Jun 16, 2022 [link]“The official MV for ‘Yet To Come’ and ‘PROOF Live’ were both filmed in the Nevada desert.”
4:49 PM · Jun 16, 2022 [link]
The ‘…signal that registered in my mind…’ was:
They’re [BTS] talking about taking a break from music, and at the same time they came out with two pieces of art with suggestive metaphors for Christ in the desert, and The Last Supper.
They both happened at the end of Christ’s life. Christ was baptized, then he fasted alone in the desert for forty days, and then he met with his disciples for the last supper, was betrayed by Judas, crucified, and then resurrected.
Image 2 (see section below)
In Jungian thought this is also the story of the hero’s journey during the individuation process. The hero always gets crucified in the individuation process. This almost sounds like the band is breaking up. They’ve been baptized, and now they’re going into the desert. And then they’re going to be crucified, and then resurrected.
I suppose that means that there’s going to be some politically incorrect revelations, because they think they’re going to be crucified. That reminds me of when I decided to leave the Worldwide Church of God, I thought I was going to be crucified. But that was about leaving a church cult. But could the band be thinking [unconsciously] that they’re living in a cult? They’re under heavy social controls to portray the right media image. And to say and do the right things. The politically correct things. They won’t let them date. That’s certainly a hallmark of a cult. To control the associations of the members. Or, maybe it’s merely that they think they’re going to be crucified for disbanding?
Come to think of it, their [BTS’] last album was called ‘Proof.’ When you study the story of Christ, in the Bible the resurrection was considered proof that Jesus really was the Son of God. Some theologians say that without the resurrection, it’s doubtful that Christianity would have ever taken off. Christ would have been just another charlatan. I wonder if BTS thinks that the proof of their art will come in the form of a resurrection. Or, only the band members who are eventually resurrected are the true artists?
Ω
FOOTNOTES
1 According to Sharp (1991): “Active imagination. A method of assimilating unconscious contents (dreams, fantasies, etc.) through some form of self-expression. (See also transcendent function.)
The object of active imagination is to give a voice to sides of the personality (particularly the anima/animus and the shadow) that are normally not heard, thereby establishing a line of communication between consciousness and the unconscious. Even when the end products – drawing, painting, writing, sculpture, dance, music, etc. – are not interpreted, something goes on between creator and creation that contributes to a transformation of consciousness.
The first stage of active imagination is like dreaming with open eyes. It can take place spontaneously or be artificially induced. In the latter case you choose a dream, or some other fantasy-image, and concentrate on it by simply catching hold of it and looking at it.” (p. 3) Cite: Sharp, Daryl. C.G. Jung Lexicon: A Primer of Terms and Concepts. Inner City Books, 1991.
2 C.G. Jung, in his Red Book, (a product of active imagination), stated his goal as: “My soul, where are you? Do you hear me? I speak, I call you – are you there? I have returned, I am here again.”
IMAGES
Image 1: (Top) The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci (1495); (bottom) BTS (방탄소년단) ‘찐 방탄회식’ video still
Image 2: BTS in the desert collage, stills from their music video ‘Yet To Come (The Most Beautiful Moment).’
The middle image shows what I think is Lucifer, an angle cast down from heaven (the statue with the wings). To my eye this is a reference to the temptation of Christ by Satan while he was in the desert. In this context, all of the props in the BTS video seem to have meaning.
The best depiction in art that I know about Christ in the desert is from the 1988 Martin Scorsese film ‘The Last Temptation of Christ.’ In this scene we see Jesus draw a perfect circle in the ground, and then he sits in the middle of it. This looks to me like a perfect mandala, with Christ himself occupying the center of the circle...the point in the mandala that Jung says is where the Self resides. From his vantage point at the center of the Jungian Self, Jesus fends off Satan and his temptations.
In the desert Christ fasted (went without food) for 40 days, and was completely alone. It was a night sea journey.