Without introspection, Man cannot realize the violence he was subjected to, as a child. Therefore he cannot establish the links of cause and effect between his past and what he lives through every day. So, he tries to believe he is the victim of a dramatic present whose precarious balance he must constantly manage. The victims of the 11th September tragedy were sacrificed in the name of the suffering which is buried within all, and which tirelessly searches the ways (the voices) of its liberation.
Men's childhood is made in the image of the human drama each parent conveys. Terror lies at the core of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions. The adult must fear God, and God is fearsome in his punishment. Rituals are radical. Engraved in children's flesh and souls, they alter their relation to others and to life. So it is, as far as circumcision, excision and corporal punishment are concerned.
Although circumcision is not a Koranic obligation, it is practiced on all Muslim boys aged from 3 to 5. In the United States, a great majority of men are circumcised. And in the whole world, at least 100 million women have been excised. All these rituals systematically include a process of repression of the endured suffering and of the feelings aroused by the aggression. Practised without anesthesia, each ritual demands a total and blind submission to its commanders' laws, beliefs and ideals.
An incredible re-enactment.
Even though Man has got the ability to repress his suffering and to blind his consciousness, he cannot by all means master a process of liberation which is inherent to his nature. Thus he restages his traumas on the various stages of life.
The World Trade Centre towers used to embody the manly power of the Americans, but they also represented the terrorists'. They were hit at the symbolical level of the foreskin by two planes which revealed the weapon of transgression as well as parental inflexibility. The impact produced a terrible burning sensation that inflamed the whole extremity, before the entire "building" slowly collapsed on itself.
Beyond all explanations, the whole world witnessed the implementation of a determination that leads the terrorists to their own martyrdom. It is up to those who have endured circumcision to welcome their suffering and share this ordeal so we can all realize the consequences of a very widespread mutilating ritual.
Seen from the sky, the Pentagon, biggest building in the world, manifests the power of the vulvae. The Boeing 767 crashed on the south wing of the Security and Defense Department, leaving, after the blast, a gaping hole evoking excision. Woman naturally gives shelter to life. She protects and defends it and it is precisely at the core of this power that she is profaned, attacked and mutilated. The young girl's vital energy collapses and it is set ablaze under the blow, but she is forced to repress her feelings and to accept the traditions. In this case again, it is up to those who have lived through this traumatic experience to welcome their suffering and share it, so we can all measure the consequences of propagating or tolerating such a mutilation.
To preserve the illusion of a fair, righteous and heroic mother, father, chief or leader, Men have accustomed themselves to projecting on selected enemies what could tarnish their parents' idealized image. In this way, leaders hold full powers to assign the roles, organize the dramas and justify their acts.
Terror, blindness and falsehood have taken possession of the adults' hearts. Strength, truth and love remain in the children's heart, provided they have been welcome, acknowledged and respected in their physical, psychical and spiritual integrity.
Sylvie Vermeulen
© S. Vermeulen 2002.01 / www.regardconscient.net
