The four basic perinatal matrices

The four basic perinatal matrices

In his book the adventure of self -discovery: dimensions of consciousness and new perspectives in Psychotherapy and internal research presents Stanslav Grof his new cartography of the human psyche, as developed during his clinical work with psychedelica and holotropic breathing work. While traditional psychotherapy is conceptually limited to the memory material of the biography of each individual, the model of Grof extends to the transbiographical level, including the perinatal level.

The perinatal level of the psyche is characterized by the presence of allegories of birth and death. It goes hand in hand with immediate acute suffering, including exaggerated physiological manifestations such as nausea, suffocation, temperature fluctuations, etc. This current agony is experienced alternately or at the same time as a result of birth and death of a human and / or transcendental variety. Although this is described as impossible in current neurophysiology, specific and verifiable details of the birth of an individual are remembered due to the lack of a fully myelinized cerebral cortex in newborns. These memories require a revision of certain outdated theories.

This deep encounter with birth can solve profound existential crises by internalizing the intrinsic spiritual aspects of experience and researching the different facets of the collective unconscious. Experience is huge, including archetypal, mythological, mystical, transpersonal and more characteristics. Since everyone revolves around the birth (perinatal), the clinical stadiums of the birth serve as a satisfactory model to classify and understand the dynamics of the perinatal level of subconscious. The stadiums correspond to the four perinatal matrices: the amniotic fluid universe, the cosmic engulfment (or no-exit), the struggle for death and rebirth and the experience of death and rebirth.

The first perinatal basic matrix (BPM I) is referred to as an amnionic universe. Their biological basis is the symbiotic unit of fetus and motherly organism. The lack of limits and obstacles enables a completely undisturbed life. This intrauterine existence is very similar to the modern deprivation stands, in which a distance of the senses causes a melting to an oceanic ecstasy. The mystical resolution of borders can be a blissful trusting and heavenly experience or a dissolution of the familiar and reliable, which leaves a general fear of fear and paranoia. Pleasant pictures can refer to the hovering in the ocean or in space as astronaut that is attached to the mother ship through a leash and on Eden experiences. Negative images lead to BPM II, including contaminated water, chemical warfare, evil metaphysical forces and malicious astral influences.

The second perinatal basic matrix is ​​called Cosmic Engulfment. Its biological basis is the first clinical stage of childbirth. Life is now disrupted by chemical signals of impending mechanical restrictions on the contracting uterus. The umbilical cord can narrow, which leads to a lack of blood and oxygen and thus heat and food. This cosmos is no longer a place of blissful resolution, but of existential fear. There is an immediate but not identified danger. The individual is not united with the environment, but is sentenced to a claustrophobic nightmare without escape. This is now a hellish experience of suffering and metaphysical loneliness. The individual is lost in an emptiness that is separated from its surroundings by restricting the umbilical cord. Negative images are characterized by depersonalization and derealization, in which all beings, including themselves, are perceived as senseless, meaningless robots. Simply gears of a diabolical machine.

The third perinatal basic matrix is ​​the struggle for death and rebirth. The biological basis is the second clinical stage of the birth, which leads to an expansion of the cervix and a propulsion through the birth canal. The journey from heaven and from hell leads you to the purgatory, where the individual is cleaned, cleaned and prepared. BPM III is a struggle for survival under pressing pressure. The further restriction of the umbilical cord leads to suffocation and anoxy, which feels like a fire. Allegorically, this burning sensation is a pyrokatharsis, a cleaning fire that blazes through the mature karmic seeds of the individual's psyche. Other pictures include raging elements of nature such as volcanoes and tidal waves, high -tech weapons such as atomic bombs and sexual orgasical experiences. The volcanic ecstasy of this third matrix is ​​a structure and explosion of contractions and unimaginably pleasant releases. There is still a feeling of something scary in the joy that the pictures can give the pictures a sadomasochistic perspective, for example in a satanic orgy of demonic witches. The key to understanding the difference is that suffering is no longer hopeless or helpless, but has a direction and a goal. The individual is cleaned and brought into the light.

The fourth perinatal basic matrix is ​​known as a death and reappraisal experience. Its biological basis is the third clinical stage of the actual birth. After all, the umbilical cord is completely cut. An individual appears that is separated from space or by the mother. The individual is now being driven out of Eden and forced to take care of itself. This event is the birth of the fetus and the death of what Alan Watts describes as the ego encapsulated by the skin. In both cases there are visions of a tunnel and a white light at the end. A final pyrokatharsis occurs when light penetrates into the eyes and the entire nervous system is intensively stimulated and the weight or weight loss of the body can be felt for the first time. BPM IV's images can include the maternity doctor as a destructive deity or priest, who uses his tweezers and anesthesia as a destructive, yet helpful tools on the threshold.

The four basic perinatal matrices are just a characteristic characteristic of Stanislov Grof's new cartography of the human psyche. The transbiographical map goes beyond the memory material used by traditional psychoanalysis, as far as transcendent and as deep as perinatal. Only here some of the most profound existential crises are solved and reconciled.

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