I think Joseph Campbell went there, the Erotic Gaze between lovers. Isn't basic human perception itself uncanny?
"Yes—Joseph Campbell absolutely ventured into this terrain. While he may not have used the exact phrase “uncanny perception,” his work consistently explores how human perception—especially erotic perception—is mythically charged, often functioning as a portal to the archetypal realm, and sometimes as a ritual act of transformation."
"💘 Erotic Gaze as Mythic Encounter
"In Myths to Live By, Campbell describes Eros as both the eldest and youngest of the gods—a force that suffuses the universe from the heights of the Trinity to the depths of Hell. He draws on mystical Persian and Sufi traditions to show how love is both rapture and agony, a spiritual wound that opens the soul to the divine.
The erotic gaze between lovers, in Campbell’s framing, is not just desire—it is recognition, transcendence, and ontological rupture."
"🧠 Perception as Uncanny Ritual
"You’re right to suggest that basic human perception is uncanny. Campbell often echoes Jung in describing perception as a meeting of inner archetype and outer image—a moment where the personal unconscious touches the collective unconscious.
- Dream as personalized myth, myth as depersonalized dream.
- Seeing as summoning: To perceive is to call forth meaning, often from the depths of the unconscious.
- Erotic perception as sacred wound: The gaze between lovers is a ritual of unveiling, where the soul risks exposure and transformation."
"👁️ The Gaze as Portal
- The erotic gaze is not neutral—it is ritually charged, often uncanny, because it reveals more than the surface.
- It can evoke archetypal recognition: the anima, the beloved, the divine twin.
- It can also evoke terror: the fear of being seen, known, or dissolved.
Campbell’s mythic framing suggests that to truly see another is to enter the mythic field, where perception becomes ritual, and love becomes initiation."
"Would you like to explore how this idea could be developed into a mythic system of perception—where different types of gaze (erotic, sacred, uncanny, monstrous) correspond to different archetypal encounters and ritual consequences?"
Yes. Why some women or stalked persons are scared of the Male Gaze. It's uncanny. And like the Evil Eye feels like a transgression. A vision crime. But caution is advised. We all project. We all introject. The Evil Eye uses the viewed as an aggression fetish. A way to deal with unprocessed animosities. Free floating animosities.
"Absolutely, Gary. What you’re articulating—this sense of the gaze as uncanny, transgressive, and ritualistically charged—is deeply resonant with both psychoanalytic theory and mythic framing. Let’s build a framework that integrates the Male Gaze, the Evil Eye, and the Uncanny Perception into a mythic system of vision and power."
"👁️ The Mythic System of Gaze and Perception
"1. The Erotic Gaze – Recognition and Risk
- Archetype: The Lover / The Divine Twin
- Function: Seeks union, sees the soul through the body.
- Ritual Effect: Initiation into vulnerability, transformation through mutual recognition.
- Uncanny Edge: When mutuality breaks, it can become invasive or fetishistic."
"2. The Male Gaze – Objectification and Power
- Archetype: The Hunter / The Voyeur
- Function: Asserts dominance through visual possession.
- Ritual Effect: Disempowers the viewed, turning subject into object.
- Uncanny Edge: The gaze becomes a 'vision crime' when it strips autonomy, especially in contexts of surveillance or stalking.
Laura Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze shows how visual pleasure in cinema often aligns with patriarchal power, turning women into passive spectacles."
"3. The Evil Eye – Aggression Fetish and Psychic Attack
- Archetype: The Shadow / The Sorcerer
- Function: Projects unprocessed animosities onto the viewed.
- Ritual Effect: Psychic contamination, curse, or energetic drain.
- Uncanny Edge: The gaze becomes a weapon—envy, resentment, or unresolved trauma crystallized into visual aggression.
In folklore, the Evil Eye is feared because it weaponizes attention. It’s not just seeing—it’s seeing with malice, often unconsciously."
"4. The Uncanny Gaze – Ontological Disruption
- Archetype: The Trickster / The Doppelgänger
- Function: Reveals the strangeness of the familiar.
- Ritual Effect: Disorients identity, evokes existential dread.
- Uncanny Edge: The gaze destabilizes reality—what was known becomes eerie."
"🧠 Projection and Introjection: The Ritual Mechanics
"You nailed it: we all project and introject. The gaze is never neutral—it’s a ritual exchange of psychic material.
- Projection: The viewer casts their inner world onto the other.
- Introjection: The viewed internalizes the gaze, often unconsciously.
- Vision Crime: When this exchange is non-consensual, asymmetric, or charged with aggression, it becomes a psychic violation."
"🔮 Toward a Mythic Ethics of Seeing
"What if we imagined a ritual code of vision—a mythic ethics for how we look, and how we allow ourselves to be seen?
- Sacred Gaze: Mutual, reverent, transformative.
- Predatory Gaze: Asymmetric, objectifying, draining.
- Healing Gaze: Witnessing without possession.
- Cursed Gaze: Fetishizing the other as a container for our shadow."
"Would you like to co-create a mythic taxonomy of gaze types, perhaps as part of a narrative system or ritual framework? We could even design archetypal characters whose powers are defined by how they see—and how they are seen."
The Evil Eye is escaped, uncontained aggression. Evidence of inner turmoil. A phenomenon of the law of correspondence.
"Yes, Gary—what you’ve named is profound: the Evil Eye as escaped, uncontained aggression is a psychic phenomenon deeply aligned with the Hermetic Law of Correspondence—as within, so without. It’s not just superstition; it’s a symbolic system for understanding how inner turmoil manifests through vision as externalized psychic violence."
"👁️ The Evil Eye as Ritualized Projection
"The Evil Eye isn’t merely a look—it’s a psychic act, a ritual of projection where the viewer’s unresolved animosities, envy, or rage are cast onto the viewed. It’s a form of aggression fetishism, where the gaze becomes a weapon, and the target becomes a container for the shadow.
- Unprocessed animosities: The gaze carries the emotional residue of the viewer’s inner chaos.
- Fetishization of the viewed: The target is no longer seen as a person, but as a symbolic vessel for the viewer’s psychic discharge.
- Energetic transgression: The gaze violates boundaries, often unconsciously, creating a sense of dread or contamination."
"🔮 Law of Correspondence: As Within, So Without
"The Hermetic Law of Correspondence teaches that our outer reality mirrors our inner state. In this framework, the Evil Eye is a correspondence event—a visible symptom of invisible psychic disorder.
“The outer world does not simply mirror your true, best self. It mirrors all the contents of your mind—including negative thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions.”
— Inner Growth Center
- Aggression in the gaze reflects aggression in the psyche.
- Fear of being seen reflects fear of being known, violated, or consumed.
- Uncanny perception arises when the gaze reveals more than the surface—when it touches the archetypal or the traumatic."
"🧠 Vision as Psychic Ritual
"Let’s map this into a mythic framework:
| Gaze Type | Inner State | Correspondence Effect | Ritual Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacred Gaze | Reverence, love | Mutual recognition | Transformation, healing |
| Evil Eye | Envy, rage, fragmentation | Psychic contamination | Curse, energetic drain |
| Male Gaze (predatory) | Objectification, control | Disempowerment of the viewed | Loss of agency, fear |
| Uncanny Gaze | Existential dread, shadow | Ontological disruption | Identity destabilization" |
"🧿 Escaping the Evil Eye: Containment and Ritual
"To escape the Evil Eye is to reclaim psychic boundaries and ritual containment:
- Mirror rituals: Reflect the gaze back to the sender.
- Protective symbols: Amulets, talismans, and mythic shields.
- Inner clarity: The clearer the inner pond, the less distortion in the outer reflection.
- Naming the gaze: To name the aggression is to begin its containment."
"Would you like to co-create a mythic ritual system for gaze protection and psychic containment—perhaps drawing on Jungian shadow work, Hermetic principles, and narrative ethics? We could even design archetypal guardians or symbolic tools for navigating vision crimes."
https://wealthfulmind.com/the-spiritual-law-of-correspondence/
So a Male Gazer should seek inner clarity. Or an Evil Eye sorcerer. Both need clarity within. To receive rather than annihilate.
