“Images” or Wrong Conclusions

“Images” or Wrong Conclusions

On these concealed, unconscious levels, misconceptions are formed in early childhood. These distorted perceptions of reality continue to influence the behaviour of the adult. They develop into firmly held conclusions about life, which I like to call “images,” because they form rigid patterns as if engraved on the soul substance.

An image is made up of misconceptions, distorted feelings and physical blocks. A conclusion drawn from distorted perception is a wrong conclusion; therefore images are actually wrong conclusions about the nature of reality that are so firmly embedded in a person’s psyche that they become behaviour-controlling signals in life situations. A person may have several images, but underlying them all is a main image, which is the key to the basic negative attitude toward life.

Let me give you some examples. An image formed because of a particular situation in the child’s family might be that the display of emotion, especially of warm feelings, is a sign of weakness and will lead to one’s being hurt. Although this is a personal image, it my be reinforced by the societal mass image that, especially for a man, the display and physical expression of warm feelings are unmanly and weak because they mean losing control. An individual with this image will then, in any situation where he could emotionally open himself, obey the signal of the images instead of spontaneously responding to the actual situation or to the person, which would be the positive, life-affirming response. He will also act toward others in a way to which they will respond negatively and confirm his false belief. In this way he deprives himself of pleasure and restricts the flow of the life force, creating inner tensions and further feeding his image. Thus, negative compulsive patterns, or self-perpetuating vicious circles, are created.

Or, a baby cries because she is hungry, but the mother does not respond. however, when she does not cry, the mother will come and feed her. So the little girl draws the conclusion that if she shows her need, she will not be heard, but if she does not, she will get attention. then the following conclusion is drawn: "In order to have my need fulfilled, I must not show that I have a need." With this particular mother, perhaps not showing the need actually did work for a while, but, obviously, in later years such an attitude will produce the opposite result. Since no one will know that this woman has any special needs, no one will fulfill them. However, since she is completely ignorant of her "image," that is, the wrong conclusion about showing needs, because it has long ago sunk into her unconscious, she will go through life showing her needs less and less, hoping that eventually someone will reward her for being so unassuming, and not understanding why she is so unfulfilled. She does not know that it is her behavior that makes life confirm her wrong image. For images have a magnetic power.

The Pathwork of Self-Transformation
Eva Pierrakos