In the Name of the Father: Patriarchy and Prohibitive Law.

 In the Name of the Father: Patriarchy and Prohibitive Law.

 (Lacanian psychoanalysis and matters of Spirituality)

Foreword

A long time ago I had “a fling” with Lacanian psychoanalysis. You are welcome for the slip…:)) The insights from that “past life” experience have been coming back to me in unexpected ways, like a Christmas card from someone you knew a million years ago… I am not an expert in Lacanian notions, but his insights seem applicable to the waters many are wading through in the spiritual tides. My hope is that these reflections will help to increase our awareness of where we have come from and where we are headed.

The fact that the age of Pisces has been one of patriarchy is not one I intend to prove. The evidence that proves is ample without any additional statements from yours truly. What is less obvious, is how the strings of patriarchy are attached and continue to micromanage our psyche.

The Name

Fatherndom dominates. We enter the world and are instantly adopted into its system by the very name we take on that points out our sonhood or daughterhood: Jen-sen, Swend-sen, Polyak-ov, Olavs-dotter, bin Judah, ibn Hassan… to list but a quick sampling from different cultures. It is a space where from the very childhood the lens of perception formatively discerning  one’s origins is directed to the Founding Fathers and where the popular culture lightsabers full blast :“Luke, I am your Father!”

”The Name of the Father” in Lacan's philosophy is more than a last name and is not limited to paternity. It becomes a symbol, a cumulative amalgamation of values, principles and a legacy our fathers stand for and/or have left behind.

You could say that the symbolic legacy of the Name outstrips the mortal fathers by the cumulative weight of tradition, generational values and authority. After all, an individual father is but a link in the long chain of fathers with a massive historical dimension. And the chain always outweighs the link.

For any patriarchal  institution  to work and remain functioning there needs to be a recourse to a Name, a symbolic element with an authorising function that goes beyond any one person in time.Thus the Name of the Father becomes an out of this world entity, that comes from a different realm, like the Ghost of Hamlet’s Father, looming over us and directing what we should do. 

The Dead Father

The Name of the Father is that of a  dead father.The legacy, the laws, the institutionalised values that came from the father are made stronger when the actual physical being of the father is dead. 

Thus going against the Name of a dead Father(s), as opposed to rebelling against the personhood of a living dad, becomes exponentially more challenging. Much like it  would be to “unengrave” the presidential profiles from Mount Rushmore. Or as preposterously unthinkable as it would be to extricate the ‘B’ and the ‘Y’ out of BYU and reduce it to the ostentatious rival … the U. 

Papa

The Name of the Father carries with it a clout of insignia, much like a royal or presidential seal, an authority that extends beyond any one man. Such authority is often  deemed divine, God-given. The divine anointment presumed as present has turned many a man into a king, president, clergyman and a demigod.

The Catholic world believes such authority to be held by the Pope. The English language conceals from our perception the connection of that word from its Greek origin…Papa. Thus a head of the church also becomes a Father figure in our perception of history, world and current reality. The fatherly figure of a prophet, supported by the hierarchy of fathers on all levels, is inviting one and all into its tight embrace.

The claim to possessing the Priesthood authority amplifies the authoritative factor of the Name a thousand fold!!! When coupled with spiritual experiences, the knowledge of earlier divine manifestations of the said authority being restored, one’s confidence in the claim becomes unshakable. One assumes that the restored authority, the divine insignia and approval are still in place.The precedent of the priesthood being taken away, wholly or in part, from those who have proven unworthy of it, perhaps unbeknownst to themselves, is not one we like to talk about or admit the possibility of…But it’s there. It is those in priesthood authority that have been known to burn martyrs at the stake or send the innocent to Golgotha. Albeit driven to preserve the faith of their fathers…

Faith and Name

The Name of the Father sets the rules of the game, establishes a set of values that allows the participants to operate within a social structure. Culturally we have come to call it “the faith of our fathers”.

By faith we no longer mean the unbreakable connection to divinity and one’s ability to act in its accordance. It is not the delusional audacity to build an ark or a boat we admire, an unreasonable decision to uproot a family and cross the ocean nor is it the guts to challenge the integrity of those in ecclesiastic  authority, or oppose the Caiphusatious majority. What we mean by faith is staying safely within the framework of rules, cultural norms and traditions we have inherited, trusting that those will keep us infallible and impenetrable to spiritual adversity. It is, simply put,  “honouring the Name of our Fathers'', adopting their ways and continuing to make them our own. Of course, the Lord kindly points out the distinction between our ways and His ( Isaiah 55:8).

The Lord identifies Abraham as our father ( Isaiah 51:2)...Understanding what it means to be not only the benefactor of the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, that we cling to with anxious anticipation of heavenly bestowal, but an active participant in it,  is a subject for another essay. 

Mosiah 15 beautifully describes Christ as our Father, erasing the boundary between the Creator and the Son. This knowledge, the understanding of this simple verity never seems to be fully within our grasp. Just how inseparable we are from Him, His name, His  Love and Being, woven into the very fabric of creation, severed only through false belief or ego-driven insistence. Like a nametag, this notion never seems to make it past the outward lapel and into our heart, where it already is and belongs.

Prohibitive Law

Lacan points out the prohibitive and legislative power of the name of the Father. In religious terms it is the “thou shalt nots” of the Mosaic Law. Moses, who too is our Father, must have felt utterly exasperated trying to bring to the people a higher Law, while at their level of consciousness all they were ready for is a set of definitive instructions of conduct for all aspects of life. While the majority of Christendom believes we have transcended those, our experience reveals the opposite. And we allow ourselves “to be commanded in all things”: from the very minute - as to what drink, to what we wear, to the very things that create our reality and lives - what we believe.

Since the difference between Heavenly Father and the multitudes that claim to operate in  His Name has become opaque, we simply equate the two. The poignant thing is that those bearing the insignia of the Name of the Father will condemn one to hell for consuming a cup of coffee… Only to turn around and endorse a safe and effective lethal injection. It is here that the taking of Our Father’s name in vain is demonstrated. When behind the whited sepulchre those claiming  the authoritative status of “paternity”  are acting and engaging in  causes and activities that could not be “farther” removed from all things Holy.

Lacan suggests that the father’s prohibitive “no”  pronounced out of a place of an authoritarian compulsion, sets in motion the inauthentic proclivity to act out of fear, rather than a genuine desire for Good. And let us add… for God.The Name is so preoccupied with maintaining external performance and compliance that like a surgeon it bypasses the heart altogether. It cripples one’s capacity for spiritual advancement by inserting artificial valves and openings into the fleshy tablets. A pacemaker that can only attune and lockstep to itself, the Name.

Failsafes

In order to remain operable the Name produces a series of failsafes.  The Name of the Father needs to be constantly reaffirmed to maintain influence and  authority. The ‘go to method' is guilt and a sense of indebtedness to the Name. An attempt to reduce who one is, to the means by which they came into the world, the paternal lineage and heritage. It is here that gratitude for our upbringing and experience is replaced with being beholden to the ones who provided it. The guilt of going against the Name of the Father strengthens the law and reinforces the patriarchal order.

The name of the Father prohibits the very “speaking against the Lord's anointed”, reserving that status for itself and none else. It reaches out demanding our constant attention through the practice of “return and report”, interviews or other checks of performance. It thrives when the need for ecclesiatical endorsement and approval is in place. It dictates what is recommended and what isn’t. Its primary prerogative is to lead, guide and walk beside, rather than allow others the spiritual independence to find THE Way for themselves. And as  we pay homage to the Name, we are held hostage by it.

  The Unnamed Name

The Name of the Father as an entity is strongest when it is unrecognised, when one operates under its unseen jurisdiction and spell, on autopilot. It is then that it has the greatest and most compelling power over us…One has a sense of seeming autonomy and acting out of free will. Much like in a vehicle that is in neutral gear and is towed by the unseen driver we are following. Since the car is in motion the sense of freedom is in place. Of course, where one is moving to is completely at someone else’s discretion. 

When it comes to matters of spirituality the  patriarchal grip targets not so much the wrist, but the jugular, choking all and any attempts of sovereignty or independence. It inserts itself in our awareness and consciousness, replacing the authentic results of our spiritual DNA test with a falsified claim to paternity. It obliterates the unifying force of THE Name behind all Creation, leaving us disconnected from our Source of being and from each other. May we have the courage and discernment to call things by their name and break free of the grip…