MIND | CONSCIOUSNESS
Dare to Think | Deadly Ideas, Heretics, Intellectual Freedom, and Self-Actualisation
During the Dark Ages, it was dangerous to hold or communicate lofty ideas that were not part of the Catholic teachings. Daring to think could get you burned at the stake.
Mark Zuleger-Thyss
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Unfortunately, though, this transformation process took centuries. Trials and torture were used during the Dark Ages and the Spanish Inquisition to combat heresy, freedom, and the expression of beliefs born of even the faintest new idea.
Self-actualisation, leveraging talents to reach your potential, and "becoming a self," wasn't something the Catholic Church could imagine, nor something they wanted.
The Spanish Inquisition (1478–1834) was a judicial institution that helped to consolidate power in the monarchy of the newly unified Spanish kingdom, but it achieved that end through infamously brutal methods.
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In juxtaposition to the cruelty of the Dark Ages, Kurt Goldstein (1878 – 1965), a German neurologist and psychiatrist, ushered in a holistic theory of the human organism and coined the term "self-actualisation."
While in the United States, Goldstein met American psychologist Abraham Harold Maslow, who was greatly influenced by Goldstein's ideas. Maslow proposed a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs as a priority. It became one of the most cognitively contagious ideas in the behavioral sciences.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs was depicted as an upright triangle with stages of growth culminating in self-actualisation, the highest level.
You can imagine Maslow and Goldstein traveling back in time in a failed attempt to save Torquemada's soul. After a brief presentation of Maslow's theories, you can bet what Torquemada would do with that triangle, and a new form of torture would be born!
"To the Catholic Church, a Heretic was akin to someone with a contagious Disease."
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Self-actualization is the highest level of psychological development. This was contrary to the beliefs of the Medieval Church, which had a monopoly over spiritual life. The two stances were miles and centuries apart.
People in the twenty-first century seek open-mindedness to usher in new possibilities and develop greater consciousness.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory of psychology explaining human motivation based on the pursuit of different levels of needs. The theory states that humans are motivated to fulfill their needs in a hierarchical order. This order begins with the most basic needs before moving on to more advanced needs.
From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), love and belonging needs (friendship), esteem, and self-actualisation.
Needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to higher needs. This five-stage model can be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs.
"What a man can be, he must be."
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The Medieval Inquisition began in the 12th century, targeting Jews and Muslims, whom the Catholic Church identified as heretics. The Spanish Inquisition (started in 1478) investigated Jews and Muslims who had converted to Catholicism and whether it had been done correctly.
The Inquisition was a powerful office set up within the Catholic Church to root out and punish so-called nonbelievers throughout Europe and the Americas. The relenting and intensive questioning of suspected atheists was a tool of torture.
The Inquisition continued for hundreds of years and was infamous for the severity of its tortures and its persecution. Although the stated goal of monitoring people's ideas was to combat heresy, it was mostly about consolidating power by the Catholic Church.
Inquisitors wore red capes with large red crosses, and their heads were shrouded under hoods. Tomás de Torquemada (1420-1498) was the first grand inquisitor in Spain and the most notorious.
Torquemada used confiscation and unrelenting investigation to terrorize his targets, and his methods were cruel by design. The accused were sentenced in elaborate public expressions of the inquisition's power.
The condemned were presented before crowds, including royalty, and the proceedings were festive. The number of people punished and burned alive during Torquemada's time in office was estimated to have been about 2,000. The Inquisition remained a force in Spain and its colonies for hundreds of years, into the mid-18th century.
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Like Vlad the Impaler, Tomás de Torquemada had a passion for punishment and a lust for blood. He was brutal and responsible for thousands of deaths during the Spanish Inquisition, all in the name of keeping Catholicism alive in Spain.
Torquemada lived by a zealous dictate that said: Get with the Catholic Church or get out!
Torquemada was involved in almost every major event that occurred in Spain during his lifetime. Had it not been for Torquemada, Columbus may never have sailed to the Americas and the Spanish Inquisition may never have happened.
During the Spanish Inquisition, thousands of Jewish and Islamic people were expelled with just the clothing on their backs.
To ensure the heretics were adequately expelled from their homes, the Pope appointed inquisitors to investigate each case. Though the inquisitors had been given relatively lax rules regarding what they could and could not do, Torquemada took his job a little too far.
Heretics would be subjected to something known as the "water cure," what we now call waterboarding. Those victims of the water cure torture were often women, as they were seen as weaker and more likely to confess their sins when subjected to pain. Other victims would be burned alive in "auto-da-fe" ceremonies, which literally translates to "act of faith."
They would be allowed to confess to avoid being burned alive – though that just meant that they would be garroted before their bodies were burned.
Torquemada used the dreaded rack, the head crusher, the saw, the breast ripper, and the knee splitter. He employed the most gruelling and painful torture devices of the Middle Ages, and he used them all liberally.
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Historically, revolutionary ideas and enlightened discourse were quickly beaten down by trials, torture, and killing, the worst of which was burning at the stake.
Specific ideas emerged that helped societies move forward and changed the course of civilization. Intellectual movements led by visionary thinkers and scholars have challenged the status quo, questioned traditional beliefs, and opened new avenues of understanding.
These new viewpoints have profoundly impacted politics, culture, science, and society from ancient to modern times.
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While Maslow believed "no one is perfect," Torquemada was an exemplar of adherence to old ideas and containment of self. There was no blooming, unfolding, expansion of thought or consciousness, transparency, and certainly no free will.
There was no therapy, integration of dissociated parts, and no growth based on self-reflection. People were kept unconscious, uninformed, and controlled – not free. Ideas and promulgating them were deadly.
One can only imagine the delight with which Torquemada used torture to extract confessions. He advocated burning at the stake for those declared guilty, and his name became synonymous with cruelty and religious intolerance.
Nowadays, we pay therapists to expand our minds, integrate the dissociated parts of ourselves, use EMDR to remove traumatic memories, and seek out massage and Reiki to relax our minds and bodies.
Therapists tend NOT to chop off your head!
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To say Torquemada set back progress by centuries is an understatement, a painful and sad truth, and one not to be repeated. His actions prohibited intellectual freedom, the pursuit of happy living, experiencing aliveness, and working to become a more conscious and better person.
For example, The Renaissance, which spanned from the 14th to the 17th centuries, was a transformative cultural and intellectual movement spread across Europe. This "rebirth" marked a revival of classical learning, arts, and sciences after the Dark Ages.
The Renaissance was characterized by a renewed interest in humanism, individualism, and a departure from the dominant religious worldview of the Middle Ages.
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As far as cruelty, no one understood this better than St. Joan of Arc. Born in 1412, Joan of Arc was a peasant girl who, believing she was acting under divine guidance, led the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans. Captured a year afterward, Joan was burned to death by the English and their French collaborators as a heretic.
St. Joan of Arc became her compatriot's most significant national heroine, and her achievement was a decisive factor in the later awakening of French national consciousness.
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Self-Actualisation | A Process of Fully Developing & Using Your Abilities for Self-fulfilment
The most basic definition of self-actualising yourself is to become the best version of yourself. Maslow believed that no one is perfect, and the most critical aspect is exploring and discovering yourself to become whole.
Becoming self-actualised is a process, not an endgame. There's no single point where you "should" end up on the journey.
Self-actualised people live independently, have a sense of reality and truth, and are comfortable with the unknown. They have compassion, kindness, acceptance, and a good-natured sense of humor. Furthermore, they understand justice and possess "social feeling."
Self-actualised people focus on things bigger than themselves, have a sense of spontaneity, and are creative, all while stopping to smell the roses. Most importantly, they enjoy meaningful friendships.
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To an astonishing degree, Torquemada was sadistically uptight and needed decades of therapy. It's too bad he lived in the wrong century and the wrong place, but then again, some people cannot be helped, especially if he (Torquemada) is the one calling the shots.
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