Outer Reaches of the Palindrome Page: 24
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return that typifies the hero myth, even though the aspect of return sometimes doesn't
materialize, as can be the case with not only the schizophrenic episode but also the LSD
experience. Campbell says that the LSD phenomenon is, "... an intentionally achieved
schizophrenia, with the expectation of a spontaneous remission- which, however, does not
always follow.15" What remains notable, whether or not the subject of the trip or of the
schizophrenic journey returns safely to the point of departure, is that the middle part - the axis of
the palindrome, if you will - contains experience that is striven for. "Yoga, too, is an intentional
schizophrenia: one breaks away from the world, plunging inward, and the ranges of vision
experienced are in fact the same as those of a psychosis.16"
Moving further on into the "breaking away from the world" motif, I now note the
spiritual practice of "contrariness" amongst indigenous peoples of North America. Joseph Eppes
Brown talks about "clowns" as being contraries, or trickster beings, within traditional types of
societies.17 These clowns are different than the carnivalesque clowns in modern circus; according
to Brown:
In traditional societies in general, I would say that the role of the clown serves an
enormously important purpose in that it opens a door, in a very subtle and effective way,
into a realm of greater reality than the realm of the ebb and flow of everyday life. And
this is accomplished, I think, essentially by two means. There is first of all the element of
shock. Clowns among the Pueblos, for example, in the context of their ritual dance
dramas, engage in, among other activities, sexual types of display which normally are
quite taboo in such societies, and this causes a rupture with the ordinary everyday pattern
of life. It does that by immediately catching the attention: it helps the people forget their
petty little concerns about the routines of daily life. It shocks them out of that. Secondly,24
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McConnell, Michael Constantine. Outer Reaches of the Palindrome, thesis, December 2003; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4407/m1/27/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .