On the Value of Feeling Fear
Unfelt, fear becomes a dangerous underground force: not only in our individual unconscious, but it creates and adds to a collective unconscious.
To understand this, we need to gather together three conceptual understandings of ‘phenomena’ arising from not feeling fear.
The first is Biodynamic Psychology’s, concept of ‘charge’ — the build up of unfelt — unmoving material: when bio-electromagnetism, our healthy flowing state, shrinks down to bioelectricity. A word with consciously electric, contractual, financial and legal implications; often associated with hidden undisclosed and underhand information.
The second is the ‘trauma informed’ understanding that this comes into existence when someone experiences a ‘freeze’ response — because their natural defences identify their life is at risk and then they never return to a feeling or place of safety. A modern understanding of the true nature of shock and it’s capacity to persist.
The third was observed by Wilhelm Reich as he witnessed ‘The Mass Psychology of Fascism’ in Germany between the wars: where he saw fear working as an ‘emotional plague’, and ‘shock’ was used to switch off individual autonomy. Biodynamic Psychology’s physical understanding can account for this: ‘charged’ material has a bioelectric charge, so it ‘gives off’ a jeopardy, an unease to those around — which, if they are conscious enough, becomes fear and caution, and often avoidance.
With these three concepts woven together, we can see how fear is initially and necessarily not felt; how, unfelt, it manifests physically (also leading on to the potential for ill health); and how, unfelt, it goes on automatically to affect and even implicate others.
If you work in the law, in hospitals, in prisons or in the corridors of power, nationally or internationally — the various qualities of charge will be familiar to you — and likely you have found yourself in some way intimidated by it and so unavoidably colluding to some degree with it.
Whether it be through sympathetic freezing, the implied threat of violence or, when anger is also not being felt, an experience of the explosive quality within a person or situation. A distortion of our natural integrity and coherence can come about by simply being in its presence — we do not have to join its gang or corrupting agenda — but our life energy can have already been ‘recruited’.
The ‘explosive’ quality is generated by valuable anger — which properly channelled — is a drive to return to full consciousness — either by the frozen off part of the charged individual or the healthy part of the one encountering them. The danger is insufficient consciousness becomes violence and generates more and more charge.
When encountered directly under whatever circumstances the only way to remain in charge, in the presence of charge, is to halt any other proceedings and address it directly. To bring it to the consciousness of the person ‘giving it off’.
This is, of course, easier said than done. The profound feeling — on encountering and being affected by charge — is a desire for literally ANYTHING else. Especially when the carrier/s of the charge has/have an arsenal at their disposal.
Unfortunately this material often has a drive — an acting out — where the fear encapsulated in the charge is not addressed but rather projected onto others when they in any way come close to touching it: even ‘charging’ them with whatever the original crime was. This can then lead to demonisation, and violence or punishment, or intimidation to restore collusion: in a distorted journey to ‘safety’.
This is how we ‘choose’ charged leaders, firstly because we are intimidated — and people who are full of charge like the control leadership can give them — secondly because we hope our enemies will be intimidated.
Leaders coming from a bona fide place in themselves can nevertheless be overwhelmed and distorted by engagement with the presence and effects of this increasingly ubiquitous material.
Where a community has been systematically discriminated against, and feels dehumanised, the drive to reclaim lost ground, especially if they are faced with ‘genocidal’ intentions and behaviours, can lead to organised violence against the oppressors, or those demographically similar. By returning similar or darker feelings and actions to the oppressing group, there are then further attempts to discriminate, ‘control’ and kill.. and so on.
This is why wars and civil conflicts don’t create peace, just more charge.
And this is how people with damage from infancy (where their freeze begins young and without respite) grow up to bring so much disorder to those around them.
Demonising maintains charge’s status quo, without contradiction. Gaslighting fear can allow people closer without the charged material having to deal with a challenge: suggesting fear is to be avoided or lessens the status of the one feeling it, a ‘macho’ message and culture, is a VERY effective way to keep everyone off the scent — because feeling fear is the best diagnostic tool for the presence of such material.
The truth is fear felt compassionately and allowed to inform us is a route to greater consciousness — fear is only an issue if we let it intimidate us or use it to intimidate others. And intimidation is not the same as caution: fleeing from danger can be lifesaving.
Where we have been ‘infected’ by coming into contact with ‘charge’ we need to be compassionately allowed to recover our coherence. And the simplest way to do that is to recognise the fear it was not safe to feel when we made this contact.
To the extent that each of us is carrying our own charge — we are more prone to intimidation, so perpetuating charge’s role in the other and the world. And the less we are in it’s grip in our selves, the less hold another’s can have on us.
When we go into shock — because we have encountered a life threatening experience (increasingly often at the hands of another charged individual or group) — it is not always easy to recognise and recover. But by emphasising and seeking safety and the importance of FEELING fear we create a culture and milieu which tolerates and encourages the necessary basis for the challenge of charge.
No conscious individual alone is able to solve the charges affecting us globally. However a growing consciousness of its nature and existence is the beginning of the collective consciousness required to begin to effectively address, call out, ‘detonate’, halt, feel, know the ravaging effects of charge unchecked.
Feel the fear, and begin to know what you have encountered; what you could be dealing with; and what has been ‘getting away with it’, so far. Feel the fear, and know you are becoming conscious. Feel the fear and know this can be the beginning of your return to your humanity.
