Celebration Launch Of The Revised Std Edition Of The Complete Psychological Works Of Sigmund Freud 2024; Revised, Supplemented & Edited By Mark Solms
The Celebration Launch of the Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Revised, Edited and Supplemented by Mark Solms, was a magnificent affair!
130 people packed the Avalon Theatre at the Homecoming Centre, in District 6, Cape Town, for the live event, which was also live streamed online to almost 200 friends and colleagues from more than 30 countries and around South Africa.
To the sounds of Abdullah Ibrahim’s anthem, “Manenberg,” the audience trooped in, sipping glasses of Solms Delta wine. A beautiful film (made by Johannesburg Candidate Psychoanalyst, Deborah Ashdown, see below) and exquisite poem, "The Dawn of Consciousness" (by Johannesburg Candidate Psychoanalyst, Nshediseng Tlooko, see below), located us in Africa and in honouring the achievements of our founding member, Mark Solms.
The President of SAPA, Mary-Anne Smith, then set the scene and introduced our 3 speakers. Mark began by discussing the immense project he has undertaken, and this was then followed by Prof. Wahbie Long and Prof. Pumla Gobodo-Madikikela, each of whom spoke with originality and passion in their responses. This was followed by further discussion and an interesting and meaningful audience Q&A. Psychoanalysis in Africa was showcased, and everyone wanted more!
Jiving to the beat of Miriam Makeba, we all went on to eat, drink and have fun….
The full recording will be available for purchase on the website shortly.
The Dawn of Consciousness
by
Ntshediseng Tlooko
Lest we forget
Perhaps we must first get
Where it all begun
From whence we have come
The dawn of the sun
It was emotion
That set energy in motion
And gave birth to a global nation
Cultivated
Within a reticular system that activated
What three hundred and thirty five thousand years have generated
Buried deep within the African soil
Is the collective umbilical cord that holds us all
This land is the bearer of the soul
The embryonic formation of wokeness
The burgeoning wisdom of our existence
The inherited unconscious
That knows and says
I feel, therefore I am
Naledi’s footsteps from the cave
Motivated by what curiosity craves
Heritage only favours the brave
Survival of the fittest?
The emotive ones will inherit the Earth
We are the sentient being
Bipedal and breathing
Rock art and singing
Pyramids and drum beating
Because of the Hidden Spring
Deep in the hindbrain
Genesis beginning
Not with an apple
But the mind that begun to grapple
With the forbidden fruit of knowing
The mind that says
And the brainstem that knows
I feel, therefore I am
Our ability to learn
Derives from the drives that can discern
It is safe, we can turn
It is hot, we will burn
It is love, we need not have concern
Learning from experience
Improves our conscience
Lessens our grievance
Informs us in advance
So we may not take that chance
It is the synaptic dance
Between brain and mind
Kelello le boko
Ubuchopo ne ingqondo
For
You feel, therefore you are
It was all in a dream
Oh so it may seem
How does one prove it real
What we all feel
A project for a scientific psychology
Was the original heartbeat
That transplanted across seas and continents
And can now be rendered complete
Replete
With neurological evidence
To prove
What we now know to be true
Rooted in affective states
The drive that emotion creates
So we can now stop the debates
For yet again
I clearly proclaim
I feel, therefore I am